| Marc H. Tanenbaum | |
|---|---|
Rabbi Tanenbaum |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 13, 1925[1] Baltimore, MD |
| Died | July 3, 1992 (aged 66) |
| Nationality | American |
| Denomination | Conservative |
| Residence | New York City |
| Children | 4 |
| Semicha | 1950 |
The late Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum (1925–1992) was an internationally renowned human rights and social justice activist who is best known for building bridges with other faith communities to advance mutual understanding and cooperation and to eliminate entrenched stereotypes, particularly those rooted in religious teachings.[2] He was a vigorous advocate during the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) on behalf of what eventually emerged as Nostra Aetate, a landmark document which overturned a long tradition of hostility toward Jews and Judaism—including the charge that the Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus—and affirmed the Jewish roots of Christianity. Nostra Aetate established a new policy of outreach in dialogue to Jews and set Catholic-Jewish relations on a new course.[3]
In addition, Rabbi Tanenbaum was dubbed "the human rights rabbi" for his work on behalf of Vietnamese "boat people" and Cambodian refugees. He also helped organize humanitarian relief for victims of the Nigerian-Biafran conflict.[4]
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The son of Orthodox Jewish Ukrainian immigrants who struggled to make ends meet, Rabbi Tanenbaum grew up in Baltimore. He excelled in school, and graduated from high school with a scholarship to attend Yeshiva University in New York City.[5] Torn between his mother’s hope that he would become a rabbi and his father’s wish for him to become a doctor, he pursued both pre-medical and rabbinical studies. Upon graduating from Yeshiva University, he was accepted into medical school, but after only one day of classes, he realized that medicine was not the path for him.[5]
Always interested in writing, both creative and journalistic, he found work at a weekly newsletter. A chance encounter with a former classmate at Yeshiva led to his application for and admission to the Jewish Theological Seminary. (The classmate was Harold Sculweis, who also became a distinguished rabbi and author.)[6]
In the intellectually stimulating atmosphere of the seminary he pursued his interests in both Judaism and journalism, writing for The Eternal Light, a radio show produced by the seminary.[6]
One important relationship forged in the seminary that would profoundly influence and shape the direction of interreligious dialogue in the years ahead began as a chance encounter between the young Marc Tanenbaum and Abraham Joshua Heschel. In his senior year at the seminary, Tanenbaum learned one morning that his father had just suffered a heart attack. Overcome with grief, concern and guilt that his mother and sister were left alone in Baltimore to cope, he encountered Heschel in the elevator. Heschel, recently arrived from Europe and already famous as a scholar and teacher, noted his distress and said “Something is troubling you. Come into my office.” When the young rabbinical student broke down and cried, Heschel immediately called his mother, offering solace and support. Rabbi Tanenbaum never forgot that act of kindness. A genuine friendship and affection developed between the two.[6]
After ordination, Rabbi Tanenbaum knew he wanted to serve the Jewish community but not in what capacity. He worked in various positions as a writer and editor, and, for a time, was the religion writer for Time magazine. In 1952, he became director of the Synagogue Council of America, an organization formed to represent the combined voices of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism in the United States in the area of public policy and intergroup relations.[7] At the Synagogue Council he reached out to make contacts with Christian leaders, including televangelists and Greek Orthodox primates and befriended the late Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. His influence widened as he became involved in national public affairs; he served as the vice president of the White House Conference on Children and Youth, where he invited Rabbi Heschel to deliver a major paper. The intersection of religion and public policy had a particular appeal for Tanenbaum, and he saw it as a fertile field for interreligious cooperation. He believed that Jews needed to take an active role in public life in order to prevent marginalization and to counter anti-Semitism.[7]
During his ten years at the Synagogue Council of America (SCA), Rabbi Tanenbaum strengthened and increased funding for the organization, but found the work increasingly frustrating. In 1961 Pope John XXIII called for an Ecumenical Council - the first in nearly a century - to renew the Roman Catholic Church and reach out to other religions.[8] Rabbi Tanenbaum saw the Ecumenical Council as a historic opportunity to mend the Church’s troubled relationship with the Jewish people. He hoped to relate himself and the Synagogue Council to the forthcoming event, but was forestalled by the SCA’s rigid ban on religious dialogue with Christians.
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) was one of the few Jewish organizations that took the Ecumenical Council seriously. In 1961, Marc Tanenbaum became its Director of Interreligious Affairs, finding in AJC a situation where his inclinations and creative energy had organizational respect and support. He had found his niche.[8]
Rabbi Tanenbaum threw himself into the American Jewish Committee’s initiative on behalf of what eventually emerged from the Second Vatican Council as Nostra Aetate. He supervised an initiative that included three AJC memoranda: the first, documenting the negative and hostile portrayal of Jews and Judaism in Catholic textbooks; the second noting anti-Jewish elements in the liturgy; and the last, written by Abraham Joshua Heschel, suggesting concrete steps that the Church could take to redress past injustices. When Cardinal Bea visited the United States, Rabbi Tanenbaum arranged an off-the-record meeting between the prelate, his staff and a group of Jewish religious leaders, including Heschel; the two biblical scholars struck off a personal relationship that withstood the tensions of the months to come.[8]
He was instrumental in the establishment of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC), and was elected its chairman in 1987. IJCIC was formed to represent the Jewish community in dialogues with international Christian bodies such as the Vatican and the World Council of Churches (WCC). He was the first rabbi to address the latter organization, speaking before some 4,000 delegates at the WCC’s Sixth Assembly in Vancouver in 1983.[9]
In 1983, Rabbi Tanenbaum became director of International Affairs of the American Jewish Committee where he focused on issues of human rights and humanitarian work.[8]
During his career as director of first Interreligious and then International Affairs at the AJC, Marc Tanenbaum won a good deal of public recognition. Newsweek magazine dubbed him as "the American Jewish community's foremost apostle to the gentiles." New York Magazine called him "the foremost Jewish ecumenical leader in the world today." In a poll of newspaper editors ranking the ten most respected and influential religious leaders in America, Rabbi Tanenbaum came in fourth.[4]
In the course of a rich professional life, he served on the boards of various institutions, including the American Jewish World Service, the International Rescue Committee, the Overseas Development Council, the United Nations Association, the National Peace Academy, the A. Philip Randolph Institute, and Covenant House. He was founder and Chairman of the National Interreligious Task Force on Soviet Jewry, which, under the directorship of Ann Gillen, S.H.C.J, vigorously pursued the cause of oppressed Jews and Christians in the Soviet Union. He was awarded fifteen honorary degrees, and was honored by the International Council of Christians and Jews and the New York Board of Rabbis.[4]
Besides his activism and scholarly work, Tanenbaum was well known for his weekly radio broadcasts, which addressed current events with succinct commentary. He also wrote editorials and articles directed to the Jewish community, upholding the value of interreligious dialogue.
A note on his personal life: Rabbi Tanenbaum’s first marriage in 1955 to Helga Weiss ended in divorce in 1977. Two daughters, Adina and Susan, and a son, Michael, remain from that marriage. A second marriage in 1982 to Dr. Georgette Bennett, an author, broadcast journalist, criminologist and business consultant brought joy and warmth once more into his personal life.[10]
In 1992, the lifelong interfaith pioneer met an untimely end. He died of heart failure at the age of 66, seven weeks before the birth of his son, Joshua-Marc Tanenbaum. While grieving the loss of her remarkable husband, Dr. Bennett realized that his work must go on. In 1993, she launched the Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum Foundation, which operates today as the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding.[10]