Two men of extraordinary conscience, faith and action, within the Jewish community and across the world, died within just a few days of each other, leaving thousands of us saddened and inspired. Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, Leader of Valley Beth Shalom synagogue in Encino and a man of great passion and faith, died on December 18th, ending a lifetime of work bringing the Jewish faith to the world and the world to the Jewish faith. He founded the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, to honor those who had risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust and Jewish World Watch, to encourage Jews and others to stand up against genocide no matter where it was found. Rabbi Leonard Beerman died on Wednesday December 24 at the age of 93. The founding rabbi of Leo Baeck Temple, Rabbi Beerman was a man of great courage and vision, always pushing us to think of social justice and not simply to parrot the values of a majority, whether they be friends or congregants. A pacifist who thought that hate was the greatest enemy of healing, he encouraged us to see how similar we were to our supposed enemies. Let us resolve, in their honor, to lift our voices as they did, against injustice and hate.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 02:15:00 +0000
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