A great soul passed this morning. Rabbi Arthur Ocean Waskow, scholar, activist, teacher, spiritual leader, and so much more celebrated his 92nd birthday on October 12th with a Zoom hosted by The Shalom Center, the organization he founded in 1983 and led until last year. The Zoom was also the occasion for sharing the two books Arthur finished in this last year, which will be published in January. (They are being offered as a special fundraiser for The Shalom Center.) Though rapidly losing his sight to wet macular degeneration, and his stamina to the years and the ailments they brought, he accepted the help that was offered and necessary to finish these projects that were so essential to him, so urgent to complete.
Arthur left behind so many books, stories, acts of civil disobedience, so much creativity in the service of spirit, love, and justice, to list them all would take another book. Here’s a short bio at The Shalom Center site. And a detailed article published today by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
So I will just tell my story of Arthur, my friend, my brother, my teacher. I met him in 1998, when Rabbi David Wolfe-Blank z”l, the leader of Congregation Eitz Or in Seattle, died suddenly in an automobile accident at 47. I stepped into the role of Tsofah, which means scout or watcher and was the name that community gave to the president of the congregation. With many others, it was my role to offer whatever consolation and support I could to a community immersed in grief. David was deeply engaged in the Jewish Renewal movement (you can read about it at the ALEPH website; it is also a main subject of my new book, The Intercessor). From far and wide came Jewish Renewal rabbis and other spiritual leaders to lead services and support the congregation. That is when I met Rabbis Arthur Ocean Waskow and Phyllis Ocean Berman.
It was pretty much love at first sight. Not long after that mourning year I was asked to join the ALEPH Board. At that time, The Shalom Center was one of several projects under the ALEPH umbrella, so I got to know Arthur much better. Although Jewish Renewal is a project that often braids spirituality and social action, 25 years ago the strands didn’t seem entirely compatible to everyone. As with some other Jewish organizations, the strong stances Arthur had taken for peace and justice in Israel-Palestine and on other important issues made some people uncomfortable. I don’t think Arthur received the credit he deserved for being a cofounder of Jewish Renewal with Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi, the two of them bringing spirituality and social justice together. For some years, I was co-emcee of the ALEPH Kallah, a large biennial gathering of Jewish Renewal folks. In 2007, my closing remarks included an acknowledgment of that partnership and I became determined to support Arthur’s work in any way I could.
The Shalom Center soon spun off to be an independent organization, and I shifted to its Board in 2007, becoming Board President a year or two later. Thus it was my pleasure to be in close touch with Arthur, to stay at his and Phyllis’s wonderful home for Board meetings and Shalom Center events, to work together, to share stories and meals and celebrations. When I resigned in 2019 after a decade of service to the organization, we stayed in touch, talking regularly by Zoom or phone, and taking part together in Shalom Center projects. Arthur called last week to say goodbye. Despite his many accomplishments, he always wanted to do better, and even then, after he said he’d been sleeping a great deal, he talked about how he wished his memory had been better when he offered remarks during the 12 October Zoom. I told him he had been wonderful, which you can see for yourself by ordering the Zoom recording here if you wish.
It was Arthur’s nature to innovate. His Freedom Seder haggadah, his inspired response to the murder of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was first published in 1969, giving birth to an ever-increasing number of haggadot that connect our liberation from slavery in Egypt with many other freedom struggles and issues. He reminded us of the custom of blessing the sun and connected it with overturning the climate pharaohs, something to which he was strongly dedicated. He cocreated and engaged in interfaith dialogues and action, including the Tent of Abraham, the focus of a book he co-authored with Joan Chittister, OSB and Murshid Saadi Shakur Chisti. I aspire to even half his energy, wisdom, and presence. I doubt I will come anywhere close to attaining that.
My family is very small, consisting primarily of my husband (and if you, like me, count other species, our puppy Meli). All those with whom I am deeply connected and who are important to me have been chosen from the excellent people I have had the good fortune to meet. Arthur was family, and I already miss him more than I can say.
With Rabbi Arthur Waskow in April 2019, sharing a papercut given me at the end of my decade as president
“Wings of Peace,” sung by Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield z”l, an inspiring Jewish Renewal teacher who died too early.