Founding Rabbi Harold L. Kudan is a native of Glens Falls, New York. He received his B.A. from Skidmore College. He received his Bachelor of Hebrew Letters, Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters and Doctor of Divinity, Honoris Causa from Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. He was ordained at HUC in June 1959.
Rabbi Kudan served as Rabbi of Moses Montefiore Temple in Bloomington, IL from 1959-1962. For the next ten years, he was the Assistant and Associate Rabbi at North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, Illinois. In 1972, Rabbi Kudan became the founding rabbi of Congregation Am Shalom in Glencoe.
Rabbi Kudan has been actively involved in issues of education, family counseling, and interfaith relations throughout his career. He initiated an interfaith project to honor the Righteous Christians who saved Jews during the Holocaust. This project has a park in Evanston, called the Avenue of the Righteous.
Rabbi Kudan has served as Hillel Counselor at Illinois State University and was on the faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University and Barat College. He was Chaplain at Lincoln State School, Pontiac Prison and Dwight Prison. He has served and participated on the Boards of the following organizations: Board of Jewish Education, Chicago Board of Rabbis, Chicago Association of Reform Rabbis, Religious Education Association, Glencoe Human Relations Forum, Community Foundation for Jewish Education, North Shore Interfaith Housing Council, Avenue of the Righteous and the American Jewish Committee. He has served on the faculty of two national institutes of the National Federation of Temple Youth and was technical consultant in Illinois for the White House Conference on Children and Youth. In 2006 Rabbi Kudan was asked to serve on the Board of the North Shore Senior Center in Northfield, IL.
Rabbi Kudan was the founder of a Reform Jewish Congregation specifically geared to Russian immigrants and their families. The Synagogue was called Shaarei Atid and was housed at Am Shalom.
His Rabbinical thesis was entitled, "Current Trends in Christian Religious Education". Rabbi Kudan retired in 2002, and was honored with the title "Founding Rabbi."
Rabbi Kudan and his wife Phyllis are the parents of four sons: Rabbi David Kudan (Dr. Barbara Abrams), Mark, Jonathan and Jeremy. Their two grandchildren are Ariel and Talia, the children of Rabbi David Kudan and Dr. Barbara Abrams.
Email Rabbi Harold L. Kudan or call him at 847.835.4800 ext. 251
Am Shalom is proud to be a member of the Union for Reform Judaism.