Leibel was the life-long Jewish social justice activist who (in 2013) could write with conviction, “Social Justice Does Not Need God.” At the same time, of the 1,570 (!) of Leibel’s writings in the “Leonard Fein Collection” in the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner, 424 contain references to the God in Whom social justice activists need not believe. Leibel, known for his bons mots, often remarked, “All of Jewish theology may be summed up in the following: ‘If there is one, there’s only one.’”
Rashi Fein, a Harvard professor known for his contributions to medicine and social policy, has died.
EDITORIAL: The wide array of people mourning Leonard Fein is a testament to his unique talent: the ability to touch those with diametrically opposed political views.
Leonard Fein’s most enduring legacy may be his rejection of dualism: the idea that Jews must choose between assertiveness and compassion, between tribalism and universalism.
Hasia Diner will always remember Leonard Fein as the man who initiated her and her fellow campers into a radically empowering — and demanding — Judaism.
Leonard Fein was an inspiration to generations of progressive Jews. Kathleen Peratis, who had dinner with him on the night he died, remembers her ‘king of the Jews.’
Tamara Brooks, who died of a heart attack, was a distinguished conductor in her own right. But she was above all a treasured companion to Theodore Bikel, writes Leonard Fein.
With Passover around the corner, Leonard Fein is bedazzled by ‘New American Haggadah,’ the brainchild of writers Jonathan Safran Foer and Nathan Englander.
Most Israelis didn’t sympathize with an Arab-Israeli judge who refused to sing the national anthem. That could be because they have little real interaction with Arabs, Leonard Fein writes.
Newt Gingrich likes to raise the specter of dire consequences. So how does he get away with describing himself as ‘cheerful,’ Leonard Fein asks.