Ben-Zion Bokser (July 4, 1907 – January 30, 1984) was a major
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
in the United States.
Biography
Bokser was born in Liuboml, then a part of Poland, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 13 in 1920. He attended City College of New York (BA, 1928) and Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Theological Seminary, followed by the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studie ...
(ordained, 1931) and
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
(PhD, 1935). He taught for many years as an adjunct professor of political science,
Queens College
Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...
,
City University of New York
The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
. He served as the rabbi of Forest Hills Jewish Center in Queens, New York, starting in 1933 and remained in that position for the balance of his career, more than fifty years. He served a two-year period as a United States Army chaplain during World War Two, stationed at Camp Miles Standish in Massachusetts. During World War Two, he organized aid for Jewish soldiers.
Bokser was an advocate of social justice, taking a position in favor of the construction of a housing project for the poor in the middle class community of Forest Hills. During this episode, called the Forest Hills housing controversy 1966-1972, he was in constant contact with many leading politicians and building developers.
He fought against the death penalty in New York state.
He served as a program editor for the ''Eternal Light'', the Jewish Theological Seminary's radio program; a lecturer on
homiletics
In religious studies, homiletics ( grc, ὁμιλητικός ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or ...
; and a participant in the Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion and the Institute for Religious and Social Studies, both seminary-run programs.
Bokser heard Rabbi
Abraham Isaac Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as Rav Kook, and also known by the acronym HaRaAYaH (), was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. He is considered to be one ...
speak in New York in 1924 and became an avid student and great proponent of his teachings.
He served as chair of the
Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha (Jewish law and tradition) within Conservative Judaism; it is one of the most active and widely known committees on the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly. With ...
of the
Rabbinical Assembly
The Rabbinical Assembly (RA) is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, an ...
from 1959–1960, 1963–1965, and 1980-1984.
Bokser and his wife had two children. His son was the scholar of
Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...
, Baruch Bokser. His daughter Miriam Bokser Caravella wrote ''The Holy Name: Mysticism in Judaism'' on the universal aspects of Jewish mysticism and similarities with the mysticism of other religions.
Thought
He stressed the rabbinic sages and the Talmud as the source of Judaism. "This is not an uncommon impression and one finds it sometimes among Jews as well as Christians - that Judaism is the religion of the Hebrew Bible. It is, of course, a fallacious impression. ... Judaism is not the religion of the Bible" (''Judaism and the Christian Predicament'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1967, p. 59).
Similar to Heschel, Bokser affirms revelation and even the special status of Sinai, but revelation is always framed in humans by man. "Man receives a divine communication when the divine spirit rests on him, but man must give form to that communication; He must express it in words, in images and in symbols which will make his message intelligible to other men. Out of this need to give form to the truth that is revealed to him, the prophet places the stamp of his own individuality upon that truth."
Bokser argued that
Christian antisemitism
Antisemitism in Christianity, a form of religious antisemitism, is the feeling of hostility which some Christian Churches, Christian groups, and ordinary Christians have towards the Jewish religion and the Jewish people.
Antisemitic Christian ...
had desensitized Germans to the heinous character of Nazi propaganda. However, in the post-war period Christian religious and lay leaders have insisted that Christians must play a role in correcting the problems of the social order. (''Judaism and the Christian Predicament'')
Legal decisions
Rabbi Bokser was active in the Rabbinical Assembly of America, and was a member of its
Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha (Jewish law and tradition) within Conservative Judaism; it is one of the most active and widely known committees on the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly. With ...
. He served as chair of the committee from 1959–1960, 1963–1965, and 1980-1984.
He is most famous for writing the minority report 1951
responsa
''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...
against driving to synagogue on the Sabbath.
In the same year he permitted a Cohen to marry a divorcee.
His responsum against
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
is cited often.
In 1981, he advocated holding bat mitzvah ceremonies for girls on Sabbath morning in the main sanctuary. His synagogue was still traditional to the point that he received a public outcry in the local press and letters to him.
In 1983, he permitted holding funerals in a synagogue.
Works
*''Pharisaic Judaism in Transition'' (1935)
*''The Legacy of Maimonides'' (1950)
*''The Wisdom of the Talmud'' (1951)
*''Judaism: Profile of a Faith (''Knopf, 1963)
*''Selihot Service'' (United Synagogue of America, 1964)
*''Judaism and the Christian Predicament''
*''Siddur: The Prayer Book'' (????)
*''Jews, Judaism, and the State of Israel'' (1973)
*''Abraham Isaac Kook: The Lights of Penitence, Lights of Holiness: The Moral Principles, Essays, Letters and Poems'', translation and introduction by Ben Zion Bokser, from the Classics of Western Spirituality., Paulist Press, Inc., New York / Mahwah, N.J.
*''The Essential Writings of Abraham Isaac Kook (''Ben Yehuda Press (reprint), 2006)