Longtime Mt. Airy resident Rabbi Arthur Waskow, who died Oct. 20 at the age of 92, may be the most memorable person I have ever met. With his long white beard, cherubic smile and omnipresent, colorful headgear, he resembled what one might imagine was an Old Testament prophet. Rabbi Waskow’s every word, much of it about multicultural, multiethnic and multireligious harmony and understanding, bespoke hard-fought wisdom and a love of kindness, empathy and, perhaps most of all, justice.
According to the Forward, a 128-year-old publication that covers news important to American Jews, “Together with his wife, Rabbi Phyllis Berman, Rabbi Waskow co-created a form of Jewish spirituality and consciousness that wove together progressive, even radical, political engagement with ritual and liturgical innovation ... There weren’t a lot of people in this inner circle, but all of them went on to become spiritual leaders and activists, too.”
Rabbi Berman told us last week, “As Arthur’s wife since June 22, 1986, and partner in prayer, ritual, teaching, activism and life, I have received hundreds of stories from people about their encounters with Arthur and/or his books, actions, ideas that touched and changed their lives. I’m told there have been countless Facebook entries which I haven’t yet seen. Ministers and imams as well as rabbis have written about his influence on their lives, and theirs on ours.”
Rabbi Waskow was no armchair philosopher. He was first arrested in 1963 during a walk-in to end racial segregation at a Baltimore amusement park, and he was arrested at the U.S. Capitol in 2016 in a protest to get what he called “hyper-wealth” out of election campaigns and end voter suppression aimed at disfranchising especially racial and ethnic minorities, the poor, the young and the old.
Including his more recent arrests in Philadelphia at the ICE offices in protest of U.S. governmental hostility to refugees and immigrants, Waskow was arrested 26 times, each time for a protest against racism, militarism, polluting the earth or interference with democratic processes. He insisted that each arrest was a public honor and a religious act in the spirit of the remark by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel after the historic Selma March for voting rights: “I felt as if my legs were praying.”
I interviewed Waskow in 2020 after he wrote his 25th book, “Dancing in God’s Earthquake: The Coming Transformation of Religion,” published by Orbis Books, the publishing arm of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, which publishes religious books. According to the publisher, this book “promotes a progressive spirit of renewal that connects Jews, Christians and people of other faiths.”
“I see the book as a harvest,” Waskow told the Local, “of my whole life experience in religious commitment, spiritual delight and social transformation. Many people look on a harvest as a product of past sowing and growing, but I see this book as what a harvest is really supposed to be: food for the future. This one is my favorite of all my books.”
Waskow grew up in Baltimore and earned a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate in U.S. history from the University of Wisconsin (Madison). From 1959 to 1961, he worked on disarmament and civil rights issues as a legislative assistant for U.S. Rep. Robert Kastenmeier, a Democrat from Wisconsin. From 1961 to 1963, he was a senior fellow of the Peace Research Institute, working on issues of world disarmament and nuclear deterrence. In 1963, Waskow joined in founding the Institute for Policy Studies and was a fellow there until 1977.
From 1959 to 1970, Waskow wrote “The Limits of Defense” with Marcus Raskin, hundreds of articles and five other books on nuclear strategy, deterrence, disarmament, conflict resolution and social change, including “From Race Riot to Sit-in.” In 1969, Waskow created the Freedom Seder, an annual event and new version of the Passover Haggadah that, in his words, “connected the Jewish exodus from Egypt with the struggle for civil rights in America and social justice around the world.” The event always features a lineup of storytellers, speakers and musicians. It is not a traditional Seder but rather a “communal exploration of freedom, justice and welcoming the stranger.”
Waskow also was the founder and director of the Shalom Center in Mt. Airy, whose purpose is to “draw on Jewish values as it seeks peace, justice, compassion and healing of the earth.” At the Shalom Center, Waskow centered his work on nuclear disarmament and ecological justice, support of feminism and the Black Freedom movement, justice for the LGBTQ+ community and immigrants, and a peaceful coexistence for Israelis and Palestinians.
Waskow told me that the pandemic “kept me at home, tied to a computer, and made me much more aware of my age and mortality.” He was socially active almost until the end. On June 21, he and his wife took part in a “No Kings” protest with about 200 people at the Lovett Memorial Library in Mt. Airy. He held a sign with a Biblical quote and chanted into a bullhorn: “Love is warm; melt ICE now!” (ICE is the acronym for “Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”) The crowd all laughed and made the chant their own.
What individuals have had the greatest impact on Waskow’s life? “My younger brother, Howard,” he told the Local, “and my wife, Rabbi Phyllis Berman, who both taught me how to love late in my life.”
When Waskow died on Oct. 20 of age-related ailments just days after celebrating his 92nd birthday, he was surrounded by his wife and his adult children, David Waskow and Shoshana Elkin Waskow, after visits during the previous week by his grandchildren and in-laws.
In addition to his wife, son and daughter, Waskow is survived by his stepchildren, Josh Sher and Morissa Wiser, and five grandchildren, Yoni Slubin, Elior Waskow, Shifra Waskow, Kalman Slater and Yaela Wiser. He was predeceased by his brother, Howard, who died in 2012.
A funeral service was Oct. 22. In a eulogy, colleague Rabbi Mordechai Liebling said in part, “Arthur grew up in a family with a history of trauma and poverty as well as organizing and activism. Growing up, he knew the fear of what it meant to live near the precipice. His response was a fierce passion for justice and for connection to the life force.”
Donations may be made in Waskow’s memory to the Shalom Center, 6711 Lincoln Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19119.
Len Lear can be reached at Lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.
