Albert Vorspan (February 12, 1924 - February 16, 2019) was an American author and long-time leader of

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...

. He was director emeritus of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism. and served as senior vice president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the predecessor organization of the Union of Reform Judaism, at the time of his retirement in 1993. Vorspan was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He fought in the US Navy during World War II. In 1964, Vorspan was arrested and jailed with a group of Reform rabbis who at the request of the Rev.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

joined in the civil rights protests in St. Augustine, Florida. In 1966, his criticism of the war in Vietnam was condemned by Sen.

Thomas J. Dodd Thomas Joseph Dodd (May 15, 1907 – May 24, 1971) was an American attorney and diplomat who served as a United States Senator and Representative from Connecticut. He is the father of former U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd and Thomas J. Dodd Jr., ...

, a member of the Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security, as reflecting "a vociferous minority" rather than mainstream Jewish opinion. In 1988, at the outbreak of the first Palestinian intifada, he criticized Israeli government policy. In a series of diary entries published in the New York Times Magazine, he wrote, "Whether we accept it or not, every night's television news confirms it: Israelis now seem the oppressors, Palestinians the victims." In response,

Malcolm Hoenlein Malcolm Hoenlein has been the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations since June 1986. He is the founding executive director of the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry and the Jewish ...

, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Organizations, accused him of "too much public posturing and too little private discourse."

Legacy

Union for Reform Judaism senior adviser Rabbi David Saperstein called Vorspan "one of the ''g’dolei hador,'' or ''great ones', of Jewish social justice work." URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs described Vorspan as "one of the towering giants of Jewish social justice."

Family

Several of Vorspan's family members are also active in the Jewish community. His brother, Max Vorspan, who died in June 2002, was an American rabbi, professor, historian, and administrator at the American Jewish University, and leader in the Los Angeles Jewish community. His nephew, Rabbi David Vorspan, is Founding Rabbi of Congregation Shir Ami in Woodland Hills, California, and Founding Rabbi of de Toledo High School in West Hills, California. Vorspan was married to Shirley Vorspan for 72 years until her death on August 27, 2018.

Books

* Albert Vorspan and David Saperstein. ''Jewish dimensions of social justice : tough moral choices of our time'' New York, NY.: UAHC Press, 1998. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vorspan, Albert 1924 births 2019 deaths American male writers American Reform Jews Jewish American writers United States Navy personnel of World War II 21st-century American Jews