60 | DECEMBER 5 • 2019
Soul
of blessed memory
T
he death of Henry Sobel,
Brazil’
s iconic rabbi and
human rights activist,
was mourned by Jewish and
non-Jewish groups across Latin
America’
s largest nation.
“Sobel was a noted spokes-
man for our Jewish community.
His performance undoubtedly
made him one of the great-
est references for Brazilian
Judaism and for our society in
the defense of human rights,
”
said Brazilian Senate’
s President
David Alcolumbre, who is
Jewish.
The charismatic 75-year-old
spiritual leader died Nov. 22,
2019, of lung cancer in a Miami
hospital. Sobel made history
by challenging Brazil’
s military
regime in 1975 by refusing to
bury journalist Vladimir Herzog
at the Jewish cemetery’
s suicides
wing for rejecting the official
version that he had hanged
himself.
“Breaking pro-
tocols of Judaism,
facing resistance
within the Jewish
community, Sobel
was one of the
protagonists who
paved the way for
the end of dictator-
ship in Brazil, one
of the great heroes,
”
said Herzog’
s son, Ivo, about the
rabbi, who later joined an inter-
faith act in honor of Herzog,
putting his own life at risk.
Minutes after Sobel’
s death,
Brazilian Jews started to narrate
life stories and post pictures
from weddings and bar and
bat mitzvah ceremonies with
the rabbi, whose trademarks
were his red yarmulke posi-
tioned close to his forehead and
his heavily English-accented
Portuguese.
“The mission of us Jews is not
to make the world more Jewish,
but rather to make it
more human,
” was one
of Sobel most famous
quotes.
Sobel used to wel-
come and be welcomed
by global Jewish and
non-Jewish figures,
including presidents,
prime ministers and
popes. On Nov. 23,
admirers released a video clip
showing him with Shimon
Peres, Mahatma Gandhi, Pope
John Paul II, Kofi Annan,
Mikhail Gorbachev and others.
“
A unique figure who left an
indelible mark on the coun-
try’
s history,
” said Fernando
Lottenberg, president of the
Brazilian Israelite Confederation,
the country’
s umbrella Jewish
organization. “The greatest com-
munity leader of all time,
” added
Jack Terpins, honorary president
of the Latin American branch of
the World Jewish Congress.
Sobel’
s death drew widespread
media coverage across the
nation. Brazil’
s primetime news
show Jornal Nacional dedicated
three minutes to summarizing
Sobel’
s life. The country’
s leading
news portal G1 released a long
list of condolence messages.
Born in Lisbon to a family
of Polish immigrants during
their escape path to the United
States, Sobel eventually studied
to become a Reform rabbi in
New York. He arrived in Brazil
in 1970 and took the helm of
Congregacao Israelita Paulista
synagogue, which he helped
become the largest Jewish con-
gregation in Latin America with
2,000 families.
Sobel established dialogue
and built bridges between
Judaism and the other religions,
participating in numerous ecu-
menical services as an effusive
representative for interreligious
dialogue.
Brazil’s Iconic Rabbi Dies
COURTESY OF CONGREGACAO
ISRAELITA PAULISTA
Henry Sobel
pictured in 2011.
RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA)