Rabbi Byron Lee Sherwin (February 18, 1946 – May 22, 2015) was a Jewish scholar and author with expertise in theology, inter-religious dialogue, mysticism and

Jewish ethics Jewish ethics is the ethics of the Jewish religion or the Jewish people. A type of normative ethics, Jewish ethics may involve issues in Jewish law as well as non-legal issues, and may involve the convergence of Judaism and the Western philosoph ...

Background and career

A rabbi in the

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generatio ...

movement, he trained at the Jewish Theological Seminary with Abraham Joshua Heschel. A graduate of

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 ...

, he earned a Ph.D. in the History of Culture from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. Sherwin served as a senior administrator at the

Spertus Institute Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership (Spertus College or Spertus) is a private educational center in Chicago, Illinois. Spertus offers learning opportunities that are "rooted in Jewish wisdom and culture and open to all" although ...

and as Distinguished Service Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Mysticism. He also directed the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center for the Study of Eastern European Jewry. Sherwin was reportedly "The first rabbi in 400 years to lecture at the Catholic seminary in Bialystok, and the first Jew ever to lecture on Judaism at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

." He was the author of dozens of books and articles in Jewish studies. "In 1995, he was awarded the "Officer's Order of Merit" by President Lech Wałęsa of The Republic of Poland and in 1996 received an honorary Doctor of Hebrew Letters from the Jewish Theological Seminary." He also received the 1992 "Man of Reconciliation Award" from the Polish Council of Christians and Jews. He died at the age of 69 in 2015.

Selected works

*''Crafting the Soul: Creating Your Life as a Work of Art'', 1998 *''The Cubs and the Kabbalist: How A Kabbalah-Master Helped the Chicago Cubs Win Their First World Series Since 1908'' (novel) *''Faith Finding Meaning: A Theology of Judaism'', 2009 *''Golems Among Us: How a Jewish Legend Can Help Us Navigate the Biotech Century'', 2004 *''The Golem Legend: Origins and Implications'', 1985 Cited by Moshe Idel (1990:xx) as one of the "most important" works on the subject *''How To Be a Jew: Ethical Teachings of Judaism'', 1992 (co-edited with Seymour J. Cohen) *''Jewish Ethics for the Twenty-First Century: Living in the Image of God'', 1999 *''John Paul II and Interreligious Dialogue'', 1999 (co-edited with Harold Kasimow) *''Kabbalah: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism'', Rowman & Littlefield: *''The Life Worth Living: Faith in Action'', 2009 *''Mystical Theology and Social Dissent: The Life and Works of Judah Loew of Prague'', 1982 *''Sparks Amidst the Ashes: The Spiritual Legacy of Polish Jewry'' *''The Szyk Haggadah: Translation and Commentary'', 2008 (with Irvin Ungar) *''Toward a Jewish Theology'' *''Why Be Good? Seeking Our Best Selves in a Challenging World'', 1998 *''Workers of Wonders: A Model for Effective Religious Leadership from Scripture to Today'', 2004

Sources

* Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadershi

* David Scott, "At Auschwitz, looking for ‘a lost Atlantis’" ''Our Sunday Visitor'' (September 19, 1993) * Loyola brief bi

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwin, Byron 1946 births 2015 deaths Columbia University alumni University of Chicago alumni American Conservative rabbis Philosophers of Judaism American Jewish theologians Jewish Theological Seminary of America semikhah recipients Jewish American writers Jewish ethicists 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American rabbis