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Rabbi Hertz: A Visionary And 'Community Conscience'

DAVID SACHS

Editorial Assistant

R

ichard C. Hertz, beloved
rabbi of Temple Beth El
for 46 years, died
Saturday from complica-
tions of a stroke he suffered nearly
two years earlier.
In his 29 years as senior rabbi and
17 years as rabbi emeritus, Rabbi Hertz
left his mark on the temple and the
entire community. A frequent
spokesman for the Jewish community
in the media, he was in the vanguard of
interfaith relations and human rights.
He was also a teacher of religion and
Jewish studies at the University of
Detroit Mercy for nearly three decades.
His most striking accomplishment
may have been overseeing the building
of the current Temple Beth El at
Telegraph and 14 Mile roads in
Bloomfield Township. The sanctuary,
bright and spacious with a high, tent-
like ceiling, was designed by architect
Minoru Yamasaki and dedicated in
1972, when the temple moved from its
building in Detroit at Woodward and
Gladstone.
"Temple Beth El was the temple he
built and that's where his heart is," said
his wife, Renda Hertz.
Said Beth El Senior Rabbi Daniel B.
Syme, "Rabbi Hertz's vision and deter-
mination gave us one the greatest sanc-
tuaries in the world."
Rabbi Syme spoke at Rabbi Hertz'
funeral Tuesday, appropriately in that -
sanctuary, along with Beth El Rabbi
David Castiglione and Rabbi Sheldon
Zimmerman, president of Hebrew
Union College in Cincinnati.
Said Rabbi Syme, "In the Torah,
God said to Moses, 'Build Me a sanc-
tuary so that I may dwell among thee.'
Very few people have heard that com-
mand as an imperative. Rabbi Richard
Hertz was such a man. And therefore
how fitting it is today that we gather in
this sanctuary, this temple, that was his
greatest dream, and one of his finest
living legacies to future generations."
Rabbi Hertz was instrumental in the
planning and fund-raising for the new
building, meeting several times a week
for nearly two years on the project, said
then-temple president Robert
Canvasser. Mrs. Hertz recalls that the
mortgage for the new building was
burned at the rabbi's retirement cere-

7/9
1999

140 Detroit JevVish Ne'iNs

since 1970. "He taught the Holocaust,
mony in 1982. To have the building
introduction to Judaism, biblical stud-
paid for when he stepped down "was
ies and modern Jewish-European histo-
very important to him," she said.
ry," said Gloria Albrecht, chair of the
Said Rabbi Zimmerman, "This
university's religious studies depart-
place represents part of the vision of his
ment. "He was quite a well-rounded
dreams: a pulling together of the aes-
scholar."
thetic and religious, the spiritual and
When he retired from Beth El as
the artistic. He loved being a rabbi and
3>
senior rabbi in 1982, an endowed chair
he loved this place.
in Jewish studies was established in
To Rabbi Hertz, being a rabbi
Rabbi Hertz's honor at the university.
meant caring for his congregants and
Rabbi Hertz was a very early
for the community at large. He was
known at the temple for his dignity
and eloquence, speaking out against
injustice wherever it occurred. He
shared his leadership with dozens of
civic and charitable organizations,
spreading the word of religious
understanding and racial equality.
"He had an innate dignity, which
reflected his high standard of moral-
ity and his love of his people," said
Rabbi Irwin S. Groner of
Congregation Shaarey Zedek. "He
was the voice of conscience of our
community on behalf of people of
all races, religions and creeds."
Rabbi Syme said, "In civil rights,
or interreligious cooperation, the
building of the state of Israel, every-
one in this community knew the
name of Rabbi Richard Hertz."
Rabbi Hertz was often a
spokesman for the Jewish commu-
nity in the local media and on the
Voice of America and CNN. He
Rabbi Richard C. Hertz
hosted a local television program
spokesman for the cause of Soviet
called Open Doors for many years and
Jewry. As Rabbi Zimmerman related,
appeared on ABC radio's Message of
"It was his voice, in 1959, before it was
Israel. He also wrote Torah commen-
`in' to talk about Soviet Jewry. The trip
taries and an occasional book review
that he was sent on by President
over the years for the Jewish News.
Eisenhower that began to awaken the
Richard Hertz was born in 1916 in
quiet, nascent voices of the Soviet
St. Paul, Minn., and was ordained a
reform rabbi in 1942 at Hebrew Union Jewish community. It was his voice that
first gave voice to their concerns and
College. He earned a Ph.D. in religious
their fears and their anxieties and their
education from Northwestern
needs. "
University in 1948. After serving 11
In 1963, Rabbi Hertz was the first
years at two congregations in Chicago,
rabbi to be received in a private audi-
he became senior rabbi at Beth El in
ence by Pope Paul VI. In 1974, under
1953, succeeding Rabbi B. Benedict
auspices of the American Jewish
Glazer, who had died suddenly nearly a
Committee and the National Council
year earlier.
of Churches, Rabbi Hertz was one of
Teaching has always been an impor-
24 Jewish and Christian leaders who
tant part of Rabbi Hertz's life.
traveled to Israel and the Arab states to
"He was very involved with the
study refugee problems and explore
youth of the temple," said Beth El trea-
peace alternatives. In 1995, he was
surer Dennis Frank. "He guided people
given the Dove Award for his interfaith
of my generation to the rabbinate."
work by the Ecumenical Institute for
Rabbi Hertz taught at the Jesuit-
Jewish-Christian Studies in Southfield.
affiliated University of Detroit Mercy

Rabbi Hertz was past vice president
of the Jewish Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit, past president of
the Wranglers Ministerial Association
and a long-time member of the
Economic Club of Detroit.
Rabbi Hertz and his wife were hon-
ored by the Histadrut Campaign of
Detroit, which established the Richard
and Renda Hertz Youth Center in
Safad, Israel. The center was dedicated
in 1995.
Rabbi Hertz's brother, Fred Hertz,
was a quadriplegic as a result of polio
but still became a federal judge in
Chicago. Following his stroke, the
rabbi drew inspiration from his broth-
er's physical achievements, said Rena
Hertz. He wanted the congregation to
know that though handicapped, he
could still have a life.
"He never complained," she said.
Rabbi Syme said the congregation
"rallied to his support in an outpouring
of caring unprecedented in my experi-
ence. Hundreds of you whose lives
Dick had touched now surrounded
him and Renda with love."
Mrs. Hertz said her husband's last
appearance before his congregation was
at Yom Kippur, blessing the congrega-
tion.
Rabbi Syme recalled, "On this pul-
pit, in his wheelchair and summoning
every bit of his strength, he whispered,
`May the Lord bless you and keep you.'
It was one of the single greatest acts of
courage I had ever witnessed."
In an article he wrote for the temple
bulletin during his illness, Rabbi Hertz
wrote that he was overwhelmed by the
support he received from the temple
membership: "I now know that I've
had a blessed ministry as your rabbi."
Rabbi Hertz is also survived by his
daughters, Nadine Urben of West
Bloomfield, Ruth Joyaux and fiancE
Sam Canon; son and daughter-in-law
Bradford and Stefanie Ebner of
California; grandchildren Randy and
Melanee Wertheimer, Jordan
Wertheimer, Daniel Joyaux, Brooke
Ebner, Alexa Ebner and Grant Ebner.
He was the brother of the late Judge
Frederick Hertz.
Interment at Beth El Memorial
Park. Contributions may be made to
the Rabbi Richard C. and Renda Hertz
Gift of Life Fund, Temple Beth El,
7400 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield
Hills, MI 48301.