Balfour Brickner (November 18, 1926 – August 29, 2005), a leading rabbi in the

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 ...

movement, was rabbi emeritus of the

Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Stephen Wise Free Synagogue is a Reform Judaism, Reform synagogue located at 30 West 68th Street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. The congregation was the first of multiple "free synagogue" branches in the early ...

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when he died. Brickner was a longtime political activist who was involved in the civil rights struggle (he was arrested at the Monson Motor Lodge protests in St. Augustine, Florida on June 18, 1964, as part of the largest

mass arrest A mass arrest occurs when police apprehend large numbers of suspects at once. This sometimes occurs at protests. Some mass arrests are also used in an effort to combat gang activity. This is sometimes controversial, and lawsuits sometimes result. ...

of rabbis in American history, having gone there at the urging of Martin Luther King Jr.), the Vietnam antiwar movement (traveling to Paris with an interfaith peace group to meet with

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

leaders) and efforts supporting a woman's right to choose abortion. He lived in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, th ...

and

Stockbridge, Massachusetts Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridge is h ...

.Saxon, Wolfgang
"Balfour Brickner, Activist Reform Rabbi, Dies at 78"
''

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'', September 1, 2005. Accessed November 4, 2007. "Rabbi Balfour Brickner, a voice of Reform Judaism on issues like race and abortion and the rabbi emeritus of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan, died on Monday at Mount Sinai Hospital. He was 78 and lived in Fort Lee, N.J., and Stockbridge, Mass." Brickner was born in

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, where his father, Barnett, led Congregation Anshe Chesed, one of the country's largest Reform congregations. Brickner served in the

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during

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. He graduated from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

in 1948, with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. In 1952, he received his rabbinic ordination from the

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

in Cincinnati. A year after he was ordained, he moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where he founded Temple Sinai. He served there until 1961, when he moved to

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for a position in the national headquarters of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now known as the

Union for Reform Judaism The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms established ...

. Though described as "a passionate Zionist," he openly aired his criticism of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i policies.Holley, Joe
"Rabbi Balfour Brickner, 78; Founded D.C.'s Temple Sinai"
''

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'', September 1, 2005. Accessed November 4, 2007. Brickner served on the boards of the

National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...

, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League and the

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. He was selected by ''

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'' magazine as one of its 2003 list of the 50 sexiest New Yorkers, noting that he had "the looks of a rake (wavy silver mane, chiseled jaw) and the soul of a mensch."50 Sexiest New Yorkers: Sexiest Rabbi - Balfour Brickner
''

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'', August 2003. Accessed November 4, 2007. Brickner's book ''Finding God in the Garden'' (

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

) was published by in 2002."Balfour Brickner, 78, Rabbi, Author, Social Activist"
''

New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New York ...

'', August 31, 2005. Accessed November 4, 2007. On the occasion of the death of Rabbi Balfour Brickner, Dr. Eugene Fisher, Associate Director of the

U.S. Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs The Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs is the principal ecumenical and interfaith organization of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Active since the 1960s, it is firmly rooted in the teachings of the Second Vatican ...

, wrote that he was “one of the great leaders of Reform Judaism and one of the greatest American religious leaders of the second half of the twentieth century.”

External links

Articles by Rabbi Balfour Brickner
on the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brickner, Balfour 1926 births 2005 deaths Activists for African-American civil rights American abortion-rights activists American anti–Vietnam War activists American Reform rabbis American religious writers American Zionists People from Fort Lee, New Jersey Rabbis from New York City University of Cincinnati alumni Jewish anti-racism activists Jewish American writers 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American Jews