The End of An Era? Dr Eugene Borowitz, z’l

Dr Borowitz passed away yesterday. Many of you may not be familiar with him. He was a teacher at our seminary, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, in New York. He was, for over 50 years, arguably the most prominent Jewish theologian in Liberal Judaism. Generations of rabbis have used his books. I had the honor of studying with him for one class, he taught the theology class for the Doctor of Ministry program when I went through it. His class was demanding and challenging. When he asked you to write out and then defend, in front of everyone, your own personal theology, it was, to say the least, a challenging class.
His passing will be noted by the entire Jewish community. He, in many ways, was an proud example of “sacred aging”. He continued to be a presence at the school, to inspire and prod students to think and examine their own theological positions. He carried himself with dignity and grace. He demanded a lot from students in class and as such, gained a huge amount of respect.
In many ways, I feel, Dr. Horowitz’s death may mark the end of an era of deep thinkers and theologians who speak to a liberal Jewish community. There will be a huge amount of tributes, all well deserved. May be rest in peace and may his memory and life continued to an inspiration.
Shalom,
Rabbi Richard F. Address

Rabbi Richard Address

Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min, is the Founder and Director of www.jewishsacredaging.com. Rabbi Address served for over three decades on staff of the Union for Reform Judaism; first as a Regional Director and then, beginning in 1997, as Founder and Director of the URJ’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns and served as a specialist and consultant for the North American Reform Movement in the areas of family related programming. Rabbi Address was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1972 and began his rabbinic career in Los Angeles congregations. He also served as a part time rabbi for Beth Hillel in Carmel, NJ while regional director and, after his URJ tenure, served as senior rabbi of Congregation M’kor Shalom in Cherry Hill, NJ from 2011-2014.