The Kosher Bookworm: Covenantal Imperatives

Covenantal Imperatives

Essays by Walter S. Wurzburger edited by Eliezer L. Jacobs and Shalom Carmy

He was a distinguished community and rabbinic leader in our community for over three decades. He served a rabbi of Congregation Shaaray Tefila in Lawrence from 1967 to 1994 and as rabbi emeritus until his passing in 2002. In all those year, Rabbi Dr. Walter Wurzburger came to symbolize the best in the rabbinate as well as to our faith as one of its premier theologians and expositors of Jewish thought and practice. It was through his eloquence both in speech and writing that the beliefs of Judaism were to experience a modern cast in language and tone that was understandable to both scholar and layman alike. It has been said that Modern Orthodox theology has abandoned the field of popular religious thought to the shallow advocates of mindless interpreters of the extremes at both ends of the religious spectrum. Rabbi Wurzburger, during his long career, proved to be one of the few exceptions to this unfortunate situation. Now, six years after his passing, we witness the publication of yet another anthology of his writings, covering a broad range of issues dealing with ethics, Jewish community relations, the roles of modern orthodoxy and religious Zionism and their prospects for survival in an atmosphere charged with extremism and the issues dealing with morality, darkei shalom and what he referred to as “human purpose,” as it relates to traditional Jewish thought and practice. To this writer, the centerpiece of the book deals with Rabbi Wurzburger’s treatment of Jewish thought by utilizing the roles of four personalities who helped shape his religious beliefs: Maimonides, Samson Raphael Hirsch, Rav Hayyim of Volozhin and acharon, acharon chaviv, Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik, his mentor. Each essay delivers a powerful theological and spirited defense of our faith and present in clear terms the roles played by each of these rabbis in their respective eras in giving Judaism a contemporary intellectual garb, without compromising the essence of the faith’s basic beliefs and practices.

Rabbi Dr. Walter Wurburger

Rabbi Walter S. Wurzburger, Ph.D. (1920-2002), a distinguished leader and teacher in the Jewish community for nearly 60 years, was a vital force in modern Orthodox thought. He taught philosophy at Yeshiva University for 35 years and held rabbinic posts in Boston and Toronto prior to leading Congregation Shaaray Tefila in Lawrence, New York from 1967 to 1994, remaining rabbi emeritus until his death.

During his quarter-century as the editor of “Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought,” he helped shape the agenda of the modern Orthodox community and elevated its ideological discourse significantly. Rabbi Wurzburger served as the President of the Rabbinical Council of America, the Rabbinical Council of Canada and the Synagogue Council of America. He is the author of two books: “Ethics of Responsibility: Pluralistic Approaches to Covenantal Ethics” and “God Is Proof Enough.”  He also co-edited “A Treasury of Tradition.”

Rabbi Wurzburger received rabbinical ordination at Yeshiva University from Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and remained one of his most faithful students. He received his MA and Ph.D. from Harvard University. He is survived by Naomi, his wife of 55 years, and their children and grandchildren.

This volume was expertly edited by Rabbi Shalom Carmy of Yeshiva University, editor of the distinguished rabbinic journal “Tradition,” a publication of the Rabbinical Council of America that was edited for over a quarter century by Rabbi Wurzburger. Elie Jacobs, a graduate of Rutgers University and a former student at Yeshivat Sha’arei Mevaseret Zion in Israel, assisted Rabbi Carmy in this work. Rabbi Carmy’s elegant introduction also serves as a heartfelt tribute to Rabbi Wurzburger together with Rabbi Norman Lamm’s preface tribute, both of which accurately place Rabbi Wurzburger’s role at the center of Jewish thinking for our time. I conclude with a personal and emotional tribute to Rabbi Wurzburger, sent to me by his lifelong friend, Rabbi Dr. Pesach Schindler of Hebrew University and a former congregant at Shaaray Tefila. “Rabbi Wurzburger spent the great part of his public life as a transmitter of Torah Sheba’al Peh in the trenches as a pulpit rabbi and university teacher and as editor for many years of Tradition magazine. Our lives unexplainedly paralleled his presence in Toronto and Far Rockaway. It seems that Walter preferred to play the role of a teacher, preacher...often, prophet, as well as standing at the gates of communities as the fulcrum of ben adam l’chavero and ben adam la’makom. “Our personal lives interacted much earlier having emerged from our respective origins in pre-war Munich to meet again in an unexpected opportunity of tikkun in North America. The Walter I knew was always with the ordinary mensch in genuine dialogue, concern and empathy. His menschkeit transcended the harsh deadlines of articles. His gentleness was not hardened by weekly the weekly unrelenting ascendancy to the pulpit. This is the Walter whom I was privileged to know. The one I wish to remember.” I could not have said this better myself. Many of his congregants at Shaaray would concur with Reb Pesach’s sentiments. This book deserves your attention as apt reading this coming Rosh Hashanah, and for all year round. Shana Tova to all our loyal readers, from the Kosher Bookworm.