By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 16, 2000; Page C01

The White House officially named Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg, a provocative theologian and one of the founders of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, to chair the museum's governing body.

Greenberg, 66, is an Orthodox rabbi and president of the Jewish Life Network--an activist group dedicated to building a better life for American Jewry. His appointment had been expected for several weeks, according to those familiar with the selection. Miles Lerman, the powerful former chairman of the council who resigned last month, had strongly supported Greenberg as his successor.

Greenberg was in Jakarta yesterday attending the International Scholars Annual Trialogue, a meeting of Christian, Muslim and Jewish scholars. In a statement issued by the museum, Greenberg said, "Remembrance and drawing lessons of the Holocaust are inherently above our poor power to achieve. Nevertheless, the museum has had an extraordinary impact through its work. It is an awesome and humbling privilege to walk in the footsteps of the survivors and my honored predecessors in advancing this sacred mission of remembrance, repentance, and moral renewal."

While his acceptance emphasized the philosophical, and often emotional, underpinnings of the museum, others addressed Greenberg's scholarship. The White House, which by law is charged with picking the chairman of the museum, described Greenberg as "one of the nation's most respected scholars of Jewish thought."

Lerman said, "It is so appropriate that the museum should have as its chair someone who is regarded as a prominent intellectual in both Jewish and non-Jewish circles."

Among his partisans, Greenberg is considered a bridge builder, one who wants pluralism practiced in religious, cultural and educational matters. Two years ago his book "Living in the Image of God: Jewish Teachings to Perfect the World," written with Shalom Freedman, was published. Such outreach is not universally appreciated in some conservative circles. The reviewer in the Jewish Forward wrote: "Rabbi Greenberg has exerted a broad influence among the leadership of the Jewish federations, even as his ideas have put him at odds with some in the synagogue world."

Greenberg's drive to consensus will probably be tested frequently as he takes over what has been a controversial post.

The museum, which opened six years ago and has had 13 million visitors, has a history of pointed and tumultuous debates, including an uproar over an invitation to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 1998. The visit did not take place, but the controversy provided an insight into the embattled internal workings of the popular museum.

In his statement Greenberg didn't speak of the politics of the museum but emphasized its singular story. "Nothing so bespeaks the nobility and desire for goodness of the American people than this retelling, which includes a searing self-critique. . . . We all share a common commitment to memory itself and to prevent a recurrence of such evil."

Greenberg was born in Brooklyn and still lives in New York. He graduated from Brooklyn College and earned master's anddoctoral degrees in American history from Harvard. He was ordained in 1953 by the Beth Joseph Rabbinical Seminary.

Over the years he has held many teaching posts, including City University of New York and Yeshiva University, where he was chairman of the history department. He was the founding president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership from 1979 to 1997. He is married to Blu Genauer Greenberg, a prolific author who is considered the mother of Orthodox feminism. They have five children.

Greenberg's association with the Holocaust Museum dates back to its organizational days in the 1970s when he served as executive director of the President's Commission on the Holocaust under Jimmy Carter. He served on the council from 1980 to 1988 and was reappointed in 1997.