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Remembering Dr. Freehof

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A personal reflection on the death of
Reform Judaism's revered father figure.

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FRIDAY, JULY 6th

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FRIDAY, JULY 6, 1990

DAVID BREAKSTONE

Special to The Jewish News

R

abbi Solomon B.
Freehof, who died
June 12 in Pittsburgh
at the age of 97, had been at
the very center of Reform
Judaism for over half a cen-
tury. Well into his retirement
he continued to be consulted
on matters of Jewish law
(Halachah), Reform practice,
language and liturgy, and the
history of Reform Judaism in
America — and the world
over.
Dr. Freehof served as senior
rabbi of Rodef Shalom Thmple
from 1934 to 1966. In his long
retirement, he participated
annually in High Holiday
services at Rodef Shalom;
consulted with and advised
rabbis who sought him out
there and elsewhere; con-
tinued his voluminous read-
ing of Judaica, and other
religious and secular publica-
tions; and rebound, recovered,
and restored hundreds of
volumes of Jewish lore.
Each year on the August
anniversary of his own Bar
Mitzvah in 1905 in Baltimore,
Dr. Freehof would preach an
anniversary sermon, often
drawn from the life, career,
and teachings of Moses, the
patriarch.
Few twentieth-century
religious institutions have
been as pervasively influ-
enced and shaped by the per-
sonality and ideas of a single
individual as were Rodef Sha-
lom and the Reform Move-
ment during the 32 years of
Rabbi Freehof's tenure as
senior rabbi.
Dr. Freehof left his mark on
Hebrew Union College, as
student, scholar and pro-
fessor of liturgy; on the Cen-
tral Conference of American
Rabbis, which he served and
guided as president; on the
Union of American Hebrew
Congregations, the Reform
association of temples, whose
classical Reform Union
Prayerbook he molded, wrote
and edited; and on the World
Union for Progressive Ju-
daism, which he helped found
in the 1960s and then served
as its first international presi-
dent.
The contributions of Re-
form Judaism to Halachah in
the last 50 years reflect in

David Breakstone, a native
of Pittsburgh, teaches at The
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.

large measure Dr. Freehof's
initiatives, studies, and en-
thusiasm for the complicated
topic of response. His two ma-
jor volumes of Reform Jewish
Practice and the multiple col-
lections of annotated re-
sponse (answers to complex
questions of Jewish life and
custom) embody judicious,
humane guidance and advice
to Jews in search of historical
precedent and reliable infor-
mation about how to live
authentic lives in the modern,
post-Biblical age.

Dr. Freehof had
endless prose and
poetry committed
to memory.

I grew up in Rodef Shalom
Thmple and its religious
school in the '40s and '50s. I
listened to Dr. Freehof in
assemblies and services for
over a decade. He was a com-
pact man of middle height,
always dressed in Cambridge
grey. His figure was memora-
ble for wavy grey and
black hair combed straight
back, a high, broad forehead,
and wire-rimmed spectacles
that looked to be integral
with the husky, dark eye-
brows that animated every
significant phrase or crucial
word.
Dr. Freehof was to the pul-
pit manner born. He easily
commanded his audiences
wherever he found them. To
go with his rich, sonorous
voice, he possessed a range of
impressive gestures, expres-
sions, tones, and mannerisms
that captured the spectrum
of dramatic and descriptive
possibilities. Yet one rarely
felt that he was a carefully
rehearsed actor or orator or
persuader. His entire being
was fully at the service of
what he wanted to say. He
almost never spoke with as
much as a note: he conveyed
the impression that he was,
before your eyes, thinking
through an idea, opinion, or
judgment that he had been
mulling over for some time.
When I was very young, I
would memorize the structure
and passages from his ser-
mons or Bible stories because
they tended to be so easily
recalled, with memorable
phrases or anecdotes and
asides.
Dr. Freehof had endless
prose and poetry committed
to memory. Whether he was