I was associated with Rabbi Hillel A. Fine for 0ver 15 years. He first was my teacher, mentor and then my boss at the Hillel center. Before he left the city and moved to New York he gave me his kittle. Every Friday night we would celebrate Shabbat dinners with the students from New Orleans.

In honor of his memory - Rabbi Fine was my teacher. He influenced what I am today. Thank you Rabbi.

Note: I don't remember the person's name scooping up the soup. Rabbi is standing behind.

Rabbi Fine was born in Birmingham, England, and attended the University of Pennsylvania and the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati where he earned his doctorate. He was the author of "Studies in Middle Assyrian Chronology and Religion"

Dr. Hillel A. Fine C’43, New York, retired director of the New Orleans Hillel; May 25, 1998. He was an adjunct faculty member of Loyola University there. He had earlier served as rabbi of Reform Temple Ohev Shalom in Harrisburg, Pa., from 1956 to 1970.

Rabbi Hillel Fine, 77, Expert on Languages

Rabbi Hillel A. Fine, an educator, expert in Semitic languages and, most recently, director of the New Orleans Hillel Foundation, died of a heart attack on May 25 in New York City. He was 77 and had lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan since his retirement in 1986.

Rabbi Fine was ordained in 1948 at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, where he also earned a doctorate in Semitic languages. He briefly served as assistant rabbi at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan before returning to Hebrew Union in 1948 to lecture in the department of history.

He served as rabbi of Reform Temple Ohev Sholom in Harrisburg, Pa., from 1956 to 1970, when he accepted the post in New Orleans. The foundation serves Jewish students at Tulane University and Newcomb College, the University of New Orleans and Loyola University, where he also taught as an adjunct faculty member and introduced credit courses in Hebrew and Judaica.

He was born in Birmingham, England, and attended the Universities of Pennsylvania and Cincinnati before completing his rabbinical studies.

He was the author of many articles on Judaica and Semitic languages. He also wrote ''Studies in Middle Assyrian Chronology and Religion'' (Hebrew Union Press, 1955).

Rabbi Fine is survived by two sisters, Jean Trichter of Hollywood, Fla., and Miriam Miller of Allentown, Pa.; and a brother, Aaron M., of Swarthmore, Pa.