Reform Leader Gunther Plaut Dies at 99
Image by Wiki Commons
Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut, Senior Scholar at Holy Blossom Temple, died February 8 in Toronto at the age of 99. Holy Blossom, a Reform Synagogue, is the oldest congregation in Canada’s largest city. Rabbi Plaut was the longtime senior rabbi there, from 1961 to 1977.
Plaut was born in Munster, Germany, the son of Jonas and Selma Plaut. After earning a law degree in 1935, he fled the Nazis and went to the United States, where he was ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1939. After serving as a chaplain in the American military during World War II, Plaut took pulpits in Chicago and St. Paul before moving to Canada.
The late rabbi’s name is most familiar as the author of “The Torah: A Modern Commentary” the Chumash used widely by Reform congregations.
Plaut, an internationally recognized preacher and religious leader, was also a prolific writer and scholar, with several dozen titles to his name. He was a former president of the Canadian Jewish Congress and served as vice-chair of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. He was also made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1978 and promoted to Companion in 1999. Rabbi Plaut’s papers are housed at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa.
Plaut is said to have had Alzheimer’s Disease in his last years. He was pre-deceased by his parents, brother Rabbi Walter Plaut, and his wife Elizabeth. He is survived by his children Rabbi Jonathan V. and Carol Plaut and Judith Plaut, and his grandchildren and great grandson.
A notice that went out from Holy Blossom from Rabbi John Moscowitz and President Mark S. Anshan announced that funeral services will be held for the late Rabbi Plaut at Holy Blossom on Sunday.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
