Everett Gendler (August 8, 1928 – April 1, 2022) was an American
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
, known for his leadership of and involvement in progressive causes, including the civil rights movement, Jewish nonviolence, and the egalitarian Jewish
Havurah
A ''chavurah'' or ''chaburah'' (חבורה Hebrew language, Hebrew: "fellowship", plural ''chavurot'') is a small group of like-minded Jews who assemble for the purposes of facilitating Shabbat and Jewish holiday, holiday prayer services, sharing ...
movement. From 1978–1995, he served as the first Jewish Chaplain at
Phillips Academy
("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness
, address = 180 Main Street
, city = Andover
, state = M ...
, Andover. He has been described as the "father of Jewish environmentalism".
Biography
Gendler was born in
Chariton, Iowa
Chariton is a city in, and the county seat of, Lucas County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,193 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. Lucas is the primary distribution center for and the former corporate headquarters of the Hy ...
, in 1928 to a religious Jewish family who moved to Des Moines in 1939. He graduated from
Theodore Roosevelt High School and went on to earn a B.A. from the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
in 1948 during the height of
Robert Hutchins's leadership. He remained at Chicago until 1951 studying with the philosopher
Rudolf Carnap
Rudolf Carnap (; ; 18 May 1891 – 14 September 1970) was a German-language philosopher who was active in Europe before 1935 and in the United States thereafter. He was a major member of the Vienna Circle and an advocate of logical positivism. ...
. In 1957, he was ordained as a Conservative rabbi by the
Jewish Theological Seminary.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Gendler served as rabbi to a number of
congregations throughout Latin America, including the Beth Israel Community Center in Mexico City, Mexico (1957–1959), the Associacao Religiosa Israelita in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1961), and the five congregations of Havana, Cuba (High Holidays and Passover, 1968–1969). From 1962–1968, Gendler served as rabbi at the Jewish Center of Princeton, New Jersey.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Gendler, along with his wife Mary Gendler (born 1940) was involved in several alternative residential communities, including
Ivan Illich
Ivan Dominic Illich ( , ; 4 September 1926 – 2 December 2002) was an Austrian Roman Catholic priest, theologian, philosopher, and social critic. His 1971 book ''Deschooling Society'' criticises modern society's institutional approach to ed ...
's Centro Intercultural de Documentación in Cuernavaca, Mexico (1968–1969) (alongside
Harvey Cox
Harvey Gallagher Cox Jr. (born May 19, 1929) is an American theologian who served as the Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, until his retirement in October 2009. Cox's research and teaching focus on theological developments i ...
) and the inter-racial inter-religious living center Packard Manse in Stoughton, Massachusetts (1969–1971).
In 1971, Gendler became rabbi at Temple Emanuel of the Merrimack Valley and in 1977, Gendler was appointed by
Ted Sizer
Theodore Ryland Sizer (June 23, 1932 – October 21, 2009) was a leader of educational reform in the United States, the founder (and eventually President Emeritus) of the Essential school movement and was known for challenging longstanding practi ...
as the first Jewish chaplain at Phillips Academy, Andover as part of a Catholic–Protestant–Jewish "tri-ministry" Gendler remained in his position at Phillips Andover, alongside his position at Temple Emanuel of the Merrimack Valley, until his retirement, at the age of 67, in 1995.
From 1995 to 2022, Gendler, along with his wife Mary Gendler, was involved in community education work among the Tibetan exiles on Strategic Nonviolent Struggle. In 2007, they played a central role in the founding of the Active Nonviolence Education Center in Dharmasala, India.
He is the father of two daughters,
Tamar Gendler
Tamar Szabó Gendler (born December 20, 1965) is an American philosopher. She is the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yale as well as the Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy and a Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences ...
, who is Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, and Naomi Gendler Camper, who is Chief Policy Officer at the American Bankers Association.
Civil rights work
Gendler became involved in the
civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
in the mid-1950s, sparked by his involvement in the American Jewish Society for Service 1955 summer institute at the
Highlander Folk School
The Highlander Research and Education Center, formerly known as the Highlander Folk School, is a social justice leadership training school and cultural center in New Market, Tennessee. Founded in 1932 by activist Myles Horton, educator Don West (e ...
in Monteagle, Tennessee. During the 1960s, he played a pivotal role in involving American Jews in the movement, leading groups of American Rabbis to participate in prayer vigils and protests in Albany, Georgia (1962), Birmingham, Alabama (1963) and
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. Abou ...
(1965), and persuading
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Abraham Joshua Heschel (January 11, 1907 – December 23, 1972) was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Judaism, Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. Heschel, a professor of Jewish mysticism at the ...
to participate in the famous
march from Selma to Montgomery (1965). Gendler was instrumental in arranging Martin Luther King's important address to the national rabbinical convention on March 25, 1968, 10 days before King’s death, conducting what was to be the final interview with MLK.
Gendler was also an early proponent in Judaism of equal rights for gays, women's ritual participation, and Palestinian rights.
Jewish nonviolence
Gendler advocates the position that religious nonviolence is as much a part of Judaism as it is of other religions. His most widely distributed article on this topic is "Therefore Choose Life" anthologized in Roots of Jewish Nonviolence and The Challenge of Shalom. Gendler served on the board of the Jewish Peace Fellowship and on the board of the Shomer Shalom Institute for Jewish Nonviolence. In 2021, his translation of the works of Rabbi Aaron Samuel Tamares was published by Ben Yehuda Press, to critical acclaim. In 2013, he was honored with a Human Rights Hero Award by the T'ruah Foundation in recognition of a lifetime of work on behalf of nonviolence, human rights, the environment.
Egalitarian Judaism
Gendler was an early member of
Havurat Shalom
Havurat Shalom is a small egalitarian chavurah in Somerville, Massachusetts. Founded in 1968, it is not affiliated with the major Jewish denominations.
Havurat Shalom was the first countercultural Jewish community and set the precedent for the ...
, a founding member of the Alternative Religious Community in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and an important contributor to numerous progressive Jewish liturgical prayerbooks, journals and anthologies.
Jewish environmentalism
During the 1960s and 1970s, inspired in part by the work and writings of his friends and mentors
Helen
Helen may refer to:
People
* Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world
* Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress
* Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
Places
* Helen, G ...
and
Scott Nearing
Scott Nearing (August 6, 1883 – August 24, 1983) was an American Political radicalism, radical economist, educator, writer, political activist, pacifist, vegetarian and advocate of simple living.
Biography
Early years
Nearing was born in Mor ...
, Gendler became involved in the conservation and environmental movements, and was an advocate and practitioner of
organic farming
Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...
and
vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat ( red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetaria ...
.
In 1978, he installed the world’s first solar-powered eternal light on the roof of his Synagogue in Lowell Massachusetts.
Over the next 30 years, he published dozens of articles on Jewish environmentalism and gave hundreds of lectures on the topic. In 2008, he received a Lifetime Achievement award for his contributions to Jewish environmentalism from the
Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center
Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center is a project of Hazon that sits on 400 acres of forest and meadows in the foothills of the southern Berkshires in Litchfield County, Connecticut. Isabella Freedman hosts organizational retreats, Jewish spiri ...
. In 2013, he was honored with the Presidents' Medallion from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in recognition of "a life of passionate devotion to humankind" and a "lifetime of commitment to social justice and environmentalism." Also in 2013, his lifetime of work was recognized through the creation of the Gendler Grapevine Project, a six-year initiative designed to celebrate and perpetuate Gendler's life work, and serve as a permanent repository of his articles and teachings.
See also
*
Jewish vegetarianism
Jewish vegetarianism is a commitment to vegetarianism that is connected to Judaism, Jewish ethics or Jewish identity. Jewish vegetarians often cite Jewish principles regarding animal welfare, environmental ethics, moral character, and health ...
*
List of peace activists
This list of peace activists includes people who have proactively advocated diplomatic, philosophical, and non-military resolution of major territorial or ideological disputes through nonviolent means and methods. Peace activists usually work ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gendler, Everrett
1928 births
Living people
American Conservative rabbis
People from Chariton, Iowa
University of Chicago alumni
American expatriates in Mexico
American expatriates in Brazil
American expatriates in Cuba
Theodore Roosevelt High School (Iowa) alumni
21st-century American Jews