Rabbi Joshua Haberman, Champion Of Adult Jewish Education, Dies At 98
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — Rabbi Joshua Haberman, rabbi emeritus of the Washington Hebrew Congregation and founder of the Foundation for Jewish Studies, has died.
Haberman, who represented the Jewish community during the memorial service for the victims of 9/11 held at the National Cathedral, died Sunday at his home in Washington, D.C., at 98 and following a rabbinic career of 72 years.
Haberman “brought the light of Torah to countless followers not only as a rabbi, but also as a brilliant visionary in the field of Jewish Adult Education,” Elaine Amir, president of The Foundation for Jewish Studies, said in a statement. “His leadership, kindness and humanity will be long remembered.”
Haberman, a Vienna native, was enrolled at the Vienna Jewish Theological Seminary when the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938. An invitation by the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio, enabled him to come to the United States, where he received ordination from HUC in 1945.
He served as clergy in several Reform synagogues before becoming senior rabbi at the Washington Hebrew Congregation in 1969. He retired in 1986, becoming rabbi emeritus, and remained active in the congregation as a teacher and spiritual leader until his death.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
