Leonard Irving Beerman (April 9, 1921 – December 24, 2014) was an American

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

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 t ...

. He served for 37 years at

Leo Baeck Temple Leo is the Latin word for lion. It most often refers to: * Leo (constellation), a constellation of stars in the night sky * Leo (astrology), an astrological sign of the zodiac * Leo (given name), a given name in several languages, usually ma ...

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as founding rabbi. He was known for his liberal political activism, his support of

interfaith dialogue Interfaith dialogue, also known as interreligious dialogue, refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religion, religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spirituality, spiritual or humanism, hum ...

, and his advocacy of peace and a

two-state solution The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the esta ...

in the Middle East.

Biography

Beerman was born in

Altoona, Pennsylvania Altoona ( ) is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan area, w ...

, also availabl
here
at

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. to Paul and Tillie Beerman. His father was a traveling salesman of women's lingerie, and his mother was a homemaker. He spent some of his later childhood in

Owosso, Michigan Owosso () is the largest city in Shiawassee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 14,714 at the 2020 census. It is located west of Flint, and northeast of Lansing. The city is mostly surrounded by Owosso Township on its we ...

, then returned to Altoona and studied at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, from which he graduated in 1942."Rabbi Leonard Beerman Interviewed at Leo Baeck Temple"
,

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

California Social Welfare Archives, April 3, 1997. He served but did not see combat in the

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, studied for the rabbinate at

Hebrew Union College Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...

in Cincinnati, and briefly joined the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

in 1947 while studying for his rabbinical degree in Israel. In a later interview Beerman said that his pacifist convictions arose during his five months experience with the Haganah. After receiving his rabbinical ordination and a master's degree from Hebrew Union College, he and his wife moved west in 1949 to take the pulpit at Leo Baeck Temple, which was then a new congregation with 28 families. As the temple grew in size and influence, and ultimately moved to a campus in Bel Air, Beerman became known for his political activism, his opposition to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, his support for interfaith dialogue with Christians and Muslims, and his willingness to criticize actions of the Israeli government and its defense forces. He held a longtime position as "rabbi-in-residence" at All Saints Episcopal Church in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

. Beerman acknowledged his own

agnosticism Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer t ...

and found a structure for his personal theology in the

pantheism Pantheism can refer to a number of philosophical and religious beliefs, such as the belief that the universe is God, or panentheism, the belief in a non-corporeal divine intelligence or God out of which the universe arisesAnn Thomson; Bodies ...

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...

.Beverly Beyette
"Roast Yields More Light Than Heat: Event Kicks Off Celebrations for Retired Rabbi Beerman"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', December 10, 1986. Beerman retired from Leo Baeck Temple in 1986. His first wife, Martha, died suddenly a few days after his retirement celebration.Martha (Fechheimer) Beerman Obituary
, ''

The American Israelite ''The American Israelite'' is an English-language Jewish newspaper published weekly in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1854 as ''The Israelite'' and assuming its present name in 1874, it is the longest-running English-language Jewish newspaper st ...

'', December 14, 1986. He also lost an 8-year-old granddaughter to sudden death in 1993.

Personal life

Beerman married Martha Fechheimer of Cincinnati in 1945. After living in Israel for a short time they moved to

where Leonard was hired to lead Temple Beth Aaron. In 1949, that congregation became Leo Baeck Temple. He had three children with Martha: Judith Beerman O'Hanlon (b. 1951), Eve Beerman (b. 1953) and Elizabeth Beerman Rothbart (b. 1957), Martha died suddenly following a brief illness at the age of 63, just two days after Leonard's retirement celebration in 1986. A few months later, Leonard was set up on a date with recently divorced Joan Willens, and the two were married the following year on March 19, 1988. They were married until Leonard's death in 2014.

Death

Beerman died at the age of 93 of congestive heart failure in the early hours of December 24, 2014 at

Cedars-Sinai Hospital Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital has a staff of over 2,00 ...

. His time of death is said to be fitting, as it was the early hours of

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

, while that evening would also be the eighth and final night of

Hanukkah Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd ce ...

. The weaving of interfaith relations was prominent in Leonard's work. He had been ill for a few months after dealing with multiple health issues. His last public appearance was at Leo Baeck Temple on October 4, 2014, where he gave his Yom Kippur sermon. He is survived by his second wife, Joan, three children, Judith (Neil) Beerman O'Hanlon, Eve Beerman, and Elizabeth (Lew) Beerman Rothbart two stepchildren, Elara Willens and Scott (Marina) Willens and four grandchildren—Matthew and Emma O'Hanlon, Emily and Michael Rothbart and two step grandchildren, Leo and Evan Willens."Rabbi Leonard Beerman, known for political activism, dies"

Jewish Telegraphic Agency The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service that primarily covers Judaism- and Jewish-related topics and news. Described as the "Associated Press of the Jewish media", JTA serves Jewish and non-Jewish news ...

, December 25, 2014.Kurt Streeter
"Leonard Beerman dies at 93; pacifist rabbi of L.A.'s Leo Baeck Temple"
''

'', December 24, 2014.

Legacy

David N. Myers, Chair of the UCLA History Department and a close friend of Beerman, has edited a collection Rabbi Beerman's writings, "The Eternal Dissident: Rabbi Leonard I. Beerman and the Radical Imperative to Think and Act," which was released May 16, 2018. A celebratory event in honor of the release was held a few weeks later at Leo Baeck Temple. The Leonard I. Beerman Foundation for Peace & Justice was launched in 2015 in Leonard's honor, to recognize and support organizations and individuals who similarly work to improve the human condition and further strive for peace and justice in the world. Civil rights leader and Congressman

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

was the inaugural recipient of the Leonard I. Beerman Award for Social Justice in Action in the summer of 2017.

References

External links