The Kosher Bookworm: In honor of Rabbi Saul Berman

Recently a very special book was issued in honor of a very special man. The book is “Mishpetei Shalom” [YCT/Ktav, 2010], and the man that it honors is Rabbi Dr. Saul Berman, who will be speaking at Beth Sholom in Lawrence this Shabbos.

As to who exactly Rabbi Berman is, well, that would take more than this essay to describe. But one thing is certain, Rabbi Berman is one of the premier Modern Orthodox rabbis in the world today. He is also a very nice guy, a first-rate talmid chochum, theologian and most important of all, teacher.

Born over 70 years ago in the Bed-Sty neighborhood in Brooklyn, Rabbi Berman was fortunate to be a student at Yeshiva D’Brooklyn and at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas where he was an early and gifted talmid of Rav Avraham Pam, of blessed memory.

His father, a product of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Lithuania, was a rabbi in Brooklyn for over 40 years. It was his father’s example that led him to his career and life’s work in the rabbinate.

After graduating high school, Rabbi Berman entered Yeshiva College, earned a B.A. in English and entered the semicha program learning under Rav Paleyeff and Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik, both of blessed memory.

In addition to his semicha, Rabbi Berman also earned a law degree from New York University, and an M.A. in Political Science at Berkley.

To his lasting credit, Rabbi Berman was an early pioneer and supporter of the Soviet Jewry movement at a time when most rabbis shunned participation. I personally witnessed his leadership at the many rallies that were conducted on behalf of our fellow Jews, then held captive under Communist tyranny.

In 1971 Rabbi Berman was appointed chair of the Department of Judaic Studies at Stern College. Under his leadership this department grew into the largest undergraduate Jewish Studies program in the United States. This program and its methodology were to serve as the model for others both here and in Israel.