‘Not fully of this world:’ Joe Lieberman’s rabbi delivers his eulogy
Joe Lieberman. January 2020. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
By Rabbi Daniel Cohen March 29, 2024
Rabbi Daniel Cohen shared the eulogy he delivered Friday morning for Sen. Joe Lieberman at Congregation Agudath Sholom in Stamford, Connecticut. Among those who also spoke, former Vice President Al Gore, who ran for president in 2000 with Lieberman as his running mate. Lieberman was the first Jew to run for national office on a major party ticket.
We have heard stirring tributes to Senator Joseph Lieberman this morning from his family whom he loved so dearly and Senators Blumenthal, Murphy and Dodd and Governor Lamont, a spectrum of people reflecting on his personal and public personas. To the Senator’s everlasting credit and our benefit, the personas are one.
One of the greatest accolades for a human being is that their inside is like their outside. Senator Joe walked with dignity, grace, faith, courage, honesty, kindness, and love with his effervescent smile in all spheres of his life, whether as a husband, father, grandfather, statesman, Senator, and friend to all and stranger to no one.
I want to begin by offering a prayer. Judaism teaches us that Senator Joe’s soul is very much present this morning. He is here. The body is only a vessel but the soul is eternal.
No matter how much we say about Senator Joseph Lieberman, it will never be enough to capture the fact that he was an angel among men.
Yet, the greatest honor we can pay him is not in words alone but in deeds. When we leave today, will we have been transformed in some way by the life and legacy of Senator Joseph Lieberman?
His soul is like a flame and this morning, we are fueling his light. I pray that when we rise in a number of minutes, we can rise not only in body but in spirit. I pray that the words we heard this morning and that I am about to share which come from the heart enter yours and the legacy of Senator Lieberman will leave an indelible impact on us personally and as a nation.
I am speaking this morning on behalf of our beloved shul Agudath Sholom, the city of Stamford, the Jewish people and citizens of our country. I am not a family member nor an elected official but his Rabbi, one of many, and friend of Senator Joe, a remarkable human being. He was one of the rarest souls who is so universally and deeply admired and loved.
He was born in Stamford in 1942 to his beloved parents Marcia and Henry, whom he loved and admired so deeply, he had his Bar Mitzvah at Agudath Sholom, attended Stamford High and then Yale but throughout his life did not lose sight of his spirit.
He was not fully of this world. He never wavered from the mission for which God sent his holy soul to this earth. All of the accolades we are hearing from his family, friends, politicians, world leaders and humanity from every walk of life, are a reflection of the fact that he never confused his role with his soul. He was endowed with a Divine spark like all of us. To his everlasting credit
and our eternal benefit, he lived with a higher purpose and walked this world with humility and grace.
Leading with your soul and not your body as Senator Joe did is life’s greatest challenge but the rewards are enormous. When we do not simply exist but seek to live with transcendence, joy, courage, love, kindness, and purpose, our souls are on fire. Joe Lieberman lived this life in spades.
He shared with me and today with all of us –
“Navigating life with clarity of purpose is not easy but the rewards for leading a life of legacy are enormous. Imagine for a moment if we lived our lives with the awareness of the eternal resonance of our words. Imagine if we harnessed all of our potential every day to improve ourselves, families, community and the world. Leading our lives in tune with this higher calling would infuse our nation with greater civility, unity, happiness, kindness, honesty and realized personal potential.”
As Senator Lieberman ascends to Heaven, we believe God will ask him four questions. These are the four questions that God will ask each and everyone of us, a litmus test for leading a life of legacy.
The first question is whether you are devoted to your family.
The second question is whether you were devoted to your faith
The third question is whether you were a person of honesty and integrity
The final question is whether you never lost faith in the possibility of making the world a better and brighter place.
Senator Lieberman Joe can answer in the most profound ways – Amen, Amen, Amen and Amen.
His name, which we believe reflects the essence of his soul, served as a navigational guide for his life. He was named Joseph, reminiscent not only of his grandfather Joseph but of the Biblical figure.
As the Biblical Joseph, Senator Lieberman was a man of deep faith.
According to Jewish mysticism, Joseph composed the words of Psalm 23 – although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me. He shared with me that his prayers in the morning, afternoon and evening anchored him throughout the day. Rather than ask what I want, he asked as often as he could what God wants of me. As a man of faith, he fortified our community and people of all faiths to stay true to tradition while embracing modernity. I have heard story after story of how his presence inspires generations of Jews. He was and is a hero. He was and is the embodiment of a walking Kiddush Hashem sanctification of God’s name. He lifted us all.
Senator Lieberman served as the commencement speaker at my college graduation from Yeshiva University, and most recently the university announced the establishment of the Senator Joseph Lieberman-Mitzner Center for Public Service and Advocacy whose goal is to empower the next generation of government leaders and public advocates who are deeply rooted in Jewish values and tradition.
Even a wink from Joe made a difference. A recent visitor to Stamford told me, I will never forget, when I was at a rally for Senator Liebrman when he was running for Vice President, I was the only person with a yarmulke. I caught the Senator’s eyes, and he winked at me. It was a gesture of affirmation of my Judaism that was unforgettable. Walking to the White House on shabbos for a vote, observing Kashrut, wearing his yarmulke, is nothing short of the embodiment of the Abrahamic mission not to isolate but elevate our world.
Secondly, like his namesake, Senator Lieberman was a man of deep principles. He lived by the motto of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a Portuguese diplomat who risked his own life to save the lives of thousands of refugees during the Holocaust, “I would rather stand with God against man than man against God.”
Senator Lieberman drew his strength by emulating the Biblical Joseph. He made God his copilot, answering thank God when asked how he was doing and God willing when asked about his plans.
In a world increasingly devoid of faith and infused with moral relativism, Senator Lieberman’s own words must serve as a guiding light for all of us. Now more than ever, he would not cower in the face of pressure but speak strongly of the unbreakable bond between America and Israel and our shared values. When reflecting on his choices, he shared, “When I decide on a course of action, it is not for fear of failure. If I lose because I stood for my beliefs, I will always be at peace. I never want to be remembered for playing life safe, I want to be remembered for doing what was right.”
Thirdly, like the Biblical Joseph, Joe saw the face of God in another human being. He understood that with a few words we may not be able to change the world but we can change the world of one person. When the Biblical Joseph chooses not to lament his fate while in the dungeon but turns to the butler and baker and asks how they are doing, he changes his destiny and the future of the Jewish people.
I would venture that anyone here who spent any time with the Senator felt that he was your friend. He would pray, drink scotch, enjoy a good kiddush, offer advice, mentorship, and simply listen, say hello. He was truly a stranger to no one. He saw the Divine in everyone he met regardless of background, faith, or political opinion. He walked with humility.
He drew his inspiration from his faith which describes the greatest intellectual adversaries Hillel and Shamai who battled it out in the Talmud yet whose children married each other. We are all
here today, Democrats, Republicans, and Independants to honor a man who believed in the unifying values and vision of our country.
Finally and perhaps most importantly, legacy starts and ends with family. Joe first and foremost placed family at the center of his universe as we heard so movingly from Matt, Rebecca, Ethan and Hani. Hadassah, our hearts are with you. Your love of Joe and his of you is eternal and we are all embracing you and wishing you so much strength and comfort. He loved his sisters Rietta and Ellen who shared his love in return.
In one of the most poignant scenes in Genesis, the Biblical Joseph merits not only to raise his children but his grandchildren. Joe saw and knew his grandchildren. Each one of you Nesya and Willie, Maddy and Camilla, Eden, Yitzchak and Yoav, Akiva, Binyomin, Meir, Avrohom Shmuel, Shlomo and Nava Elka are tasked with carrying your grandfather’s legacy forward.
What you may not realize is that he was tasked by his grandmother to do the same. When speaking with Senator Lieberman about his life, he told me that while at Yale, he struggled with remaining an observant Jew. When his grandmother died, he shared, “I experienced a feeling that now that she was gone, the chain in Jewish history was no longer there and that I now had a choice to put myself in the chain and be part of the future. I was compelled to return.”
In this spirit, as Joe physically leaves this earth, we are compelled to put ourselves in the chain and be part of the future. The void in our community, our city, our country, Israel and the world is deep. Yet, we can amplify Senator Lieberman’s light and be part of a better future.
Let us not leave today only saying we were at the funeral of a remarkable human being. Let us pause and recommit to his values. Our lives matter. Joe believed his life, the imprint of his soul on earth mattered. God willing, if we refortify our commitment to the values of family, faith, Israel, courage, coupled with a willingness to take the road less traveled and seeing the face of God in every human being as Joe did, we will all make a difference and merit a time soon of greater unity, peace, humility and inspired living.
On behalf of everyone here in person and virtually around the world, we say to you, Joe, thank you for being our friend, mentor and muse. Thank you for being a champion of faith, fortitude and civility. Thank you for being an independent thinker whose humility and commitment challenges us all. You were a voice of moderation and reason which we need now more than ever. Your legacy to perfect the world as God’s partner will be recorded in the annals of American and Jewish history.
May the memory of Senator Joseph Isadore Lieberman be a blessing always.
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