Gerald Wolpe, one of the country’s most prominent rabbis and medical ethicists, has died.
Wolpe, who presided over the 1,500-family Har Zion Temple in Philadelphia for 30 years until resigning in 1999, died Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 81.
As the leader of Har Zion, Wolpe became a leading voice in medical ethics and care giving, a field that he became interested in during the 1960s but became personally invested in after his wife suffered brain aneurysms, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Wolpe also served as the director of the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religion and Social Studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York from 1997 to 2002, and was chairman of the advisory committee of the Bioethics Center at the University of Pennsylvania from 1996 to 1999.
Philadelphia Magazine editor Stephen Fried wrote a book about the search for Wolpe’s successor.
“He had flaws, but they were remarkably few,” his son David, the rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, told the Inquirer. “He was a good and great man.”
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Rabbi Wolpe was the rabbi at Temple Beth El, Harrisburg, PA., during my teen-age years (the late 50's and very early 60's). I am so sorry about his death. However, it sounds as though he lived a full and satisfying life and, certainly, inspired and comforted a great many people.
As media relations director at JTS from 1997 to 2003, I had the privilege of working with Rabbi Gerald Wolpe to promote the programs he organized as director of the Louis Finkelstein Institute of Religious and Social Studies. My admiration for him, already high, grew deeper after he learned in 2001 that one of my children had suddenly become seriously ill. That’s when the scholar receded to reveal the compassionate humanitarian, and I discovered that he, too, was dealing with his own personal struggle with his wife’s illness. It’s no wonder he was so beloved at Har Zion and was such a hard act to follow there. My heartfelt condolences to the Wolpe family on his loss.
Jane Calem Rosen Director of Communications Masorti Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel New York City
I was honored to work with Rabbi Wolpe at the Seminary from 1990 to 2001 on several projects. He was remarkable as a human being and had such great love for his family. The Seminary honored him as a graduate, member of the Rabbinical Assembly and as a rabbi for his years of service to his community. He was also a master story teller and always had a smile and a kind word. I am deeply saddened to hear of his passing, my condolences to his family.
My dearest memory of Rabbi Wolpe is my wedding. He came and did the ceremony even though he had thee flu and wasn't able to lead Shabbat services that morming. It was December, 1968 and 40 years later we remember how wonderful he made our special day.