It is with heartfelt sympathy that we inform you of the passing of Rabbi  Reuven Hammer, husband of Rahel Hammer and father of five children.   Rabbi Hammer was born in Syracuse and grew up at Temple Adath Yeshurun.  He was the first person from Syracuse to receive a rabbinic ordination and doctorate of Theology from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York City.  He went on to earn a PhD in Special Education from the School of Speech at Northwestern University.  He wrote the book The Other Child in Jewish Education , which was the first in its field and is still used today as the basic text for Jewish education programs serving children with special needs.

Rabbi Hammer was one of the founding members of the Masorti (Conservative) Movement in Israel and was the founding director of the Institute for Jewish Studies, today known as the Schechter Institute, which serves as the school for the training of Masorti (Conservative) rabbis and educators in Israel.  In 2017, Rabbi Hammer was Scholar-in-Residence at Temple Adath Yeshurun.

Funeral services and burial were held in Givat Shaul in Jerusalem.