DOLGIN, SIMON ARTHUR

DOLGIN, SIMON ARTHUR (1915–2004), U.S. Orthodox rabbi and Mizrachi leader. Dolgin was born in Chicago and studied at the Hebrew Theological College there, where he was ordained in 1939, and received his doctorate in 1959. He also received a doctorate in theology from the University of Southern California in 1954. From 1939 until 1971, he served as rabbi of Beth Jacob Congregation, Beverly Hills, California; he was vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America from 1966 to 1968. A prominent member of the Mizrachi, he was a member of the National Council of the Ha-Po'el ha-Mizrachi, 1943–55, and vice chairman of the National Council of Religious Zionists of America. On immigrating to Israel in 1971 he was appointed director-general of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, holding the office until 1977, when he became head of the Midrashah Gevohah le-Torah in Jerusalem, serving simultaneously as rabbi of Ramat Eshkol in Jerusalem. In 1978 he was appointed chairman of the World Organization of Mizrachi-Ha-Po'el ha-Mizrachi.