It is important to bear in mind that Sussman has also been a true credit to the Reform rabbinate. He has taught thousands of congregants over the decades. He imparted his love for the Jewish people and its past from the pulpit, under the marriage canopy, and even at the funeral bier. These attainments must never be minimized or overlooked.
One of Isaac Mayer Wise’s students memorialized a noteworthy incident that occurred during a class that Wise was teaching. Wise suddenly began to feel ill and decided to end the class early. As Wise began to step down from his teaching platform, a well-meaning rabbinical student jumped up from his seat, grabbed his teacher’s arm and said, “May I help you down, Doctor?” The famous rabbi shifted his glance and said in a voice loud enough for the rest of the class to hear: “Never help a person down, my boy, a rabbi must always help people up!” This is how Rabbi Dr. Sussman has led in the various communities he served over the past four decades. He has been a learned rabbi who never lost sight of his obligation to help people up.
Rabbi Dr. Gary P. Zola
Executive Director Emeritus, American Jewish Archives
Ackerman Family Distinguished Professor, HUC-JIR
From “To The Readers, ” written for the AJA Festschrift in honor of Rabbi Dr. Lance J. Sussman, 2024
Om författaren
Rabbi Lance J. Sussman, Ph.D., has been a leading rabbi and scholar of the American Jewish experience throughout his long career. Now Rabbi Emeritus of Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, PA, he previously served as Rabbi of Temple Concord of Binghamton, NY, and Associate Professor of American Jewish History at Binghamton University (SUNY). Sussman also taught at Princeton, Hunter College, and Rutgers. He recently completed a term as Chair of the Board of Governors of Gratz College in Melrose Park, PA, where he continues to teach.
A prolific writer, Sussman has chosen a selection of his sermons and essays, “In His Own Words, ” to share and chronicle his life as a rabbi and scholar. His thought-provoking sermons and articles provide fresh insights, inspiration, and an historical context to American Judaism at the turn of the twenty-first century and are a true “Portrait of an American Rabbi.” Rabbi Sussman and his wife, Liz Zeller Sussman, have five children and three grandchildren. They reside in suburban Philadelphia.
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