Rabbi Samuel M. Stahl is Senior Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Beth El, in San Antonio, Texas, who had served previously as a Chaplain in the United States Army.  Deeply committed to enhancing interfaith relations, he is the first Jewish leader to receive religious leadership awards from the Texas Conference of Churches and an Honorary Doctorate from The Roman Catholic Graduate School of Theology in San Antonio, as well as from his alma mater, Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. Theologian-in-Residence at Chautauqua in 2003, he has been a lecturer and Associate of the Department of Religion every Season since then.