Alfred J. Kolatch, a graduate of the Teachers' Institute of Yeshiva University and its College of Liberal Arts, was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, which subsequently awarded him the Doctor of Divinity degree, "honoris causa". From 1941 to 1948 he served as rabbi of congregations in Columbia, South Carolina, and Kew Gardens, New York, and as a chaplain in the United States Army.
Rabbi Kolatch authored more than fifty books, the most popular of which are "The Jewish Book of Why" and "The Second Jewish Book of Why", "The Jewish Book of Why: The Torah", "The Jewish Mourner's Book of Why", "Inside Judaism", "The New Name Dictionary", and "The Comprehensive Dictionary of English and Hebrew First Names".