Solomon Gutstein (born June 18, 1934) is an American lawyer and author and authority on Illinois Real Estate Law and he is the first ordained Rabbi to serve as Alderman (1975-1979) on the Chicago City Council of Chicago, Illinois.[1]
Gutstein was born to Rabbi Morris Gutstein and Golda Gutstein in Newport, Rhode Island. Gutstein moved with his parents and brother, Naftali Gutstein, to Chicago in 1943. He received his degree from the University of Chicago in 1953 and his in 1956. From 1955 to 1956, Gutstein was the associate editor of the University of Chicago Law Review. While at law school, he took classes at the Hebrew Theological College, and on July 31, 1956, Gutstein was ordained as a Rabbi by a Jewish orthodox Beit Din in New York City.
Gutstein was encouraged by his friend, Seymour Simon, to become more politically active. Gutstein ran for and won a seat as Alderman of the City Council in 1975, representing the 40th ward of Chicago. Though Gutstein did not emphasize his stature as Rabbi in his campaign, Mayor Richard J. Daley and the Cook County Democratic Party ("Democratic Party" or "the Party") supported his candidacy as the ward had been predominantly Jewish.[2] In winning a seat on the Chicago City Council, Gutstein became the first ordained Rabbi to serve as Alderman.
Gutstein lost the 1979 election in a close race owing largely to his loss of Democratic Party support.
Gutstein resumed his legal practice full-time after his term ended as Alderman. In 1983, Gutstein began practicing of Illinois real estate law.[3] In 1992, Gutstein merged his legal practice into Tenney and Bentley, LLC, where he now continues his real estate and business transaction practice. Gutstein was a lecturer in business law at the Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago and an adjunct professor in real estate at John Marshall Law School. He became a business mediator in 2012. He is a member of the Illinois Bar and the Federal District Court Trial Bar for the Northern District of Illinois.
On September 3, 1961, Gutstein married Carol G. Feinhandler. They were married until her death in 2014. They had four sons.
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