BRENER, PYNCHAS

BRENER, PYNCHAS (1931– ), chief rabbi of Unión Israelita de Caracas, Venezuela, president of the "Committee of Relations between Churches and Synagogues Established in Venezuela." Born in Tyszowce, Poland, where his father was a rabbi, he moved with his family to Lima, Peru, when he was four a half years old and was raised and educated there. After obtaining a teacher´s diploma and a B.A. at Yeshiva University, he received the Distinguished Rabbinic Alumnus Award and was ordained a rabbi in 1955. He was honored by the University of Bar-Ilan with an honorary doctorate and with the "History of European Jewry and their Destruction during the Holocaust" Chair. He was recipient of important awards from the Government of Venezuela and one of his books was sponsored by the Venezuelan Congress. A prolific author, Brener published El Diálogo Eterno, Fe y Razón, Las Escrituras: Hombres e Ideas, Tradición y Actualidad, Luto y Consuelo. The Synagogues of Venezuela and the Caribbean and a revised version of his siddur and maḥzor received the 1999 and 2000 Venezuelan National Prizes. (Jacob Carciente (2nd ed.)