Wolf Gunther Plaut, (November 1, 1912 – February 8, 2012) was an American

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

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 o ...

and writer who was based in Canada. Plaut was the rabbi of

Holy Blossom Temple The Holy Blossom Temple is a Reform synagogue located at 1950 Bathurst Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the oldest Jewish congregation in Toronto. Founded in 1856, it has more than 7,000 members. W. Gunther Plaut, who died on 8 Februar ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

for several decades and since 1978 was its senior scholar.

Life and work

He was born in

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. His father's name was Jonas and his mother's name was Selma. Gunther had a younger brother, Walter, who was the Rabbi of Temple Emanuel of Great Neck, NY at the time of his death in 1964 at the age of 44. Gunther received his Doctor of Laws degree and in 1935 fled the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

and went to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. In 1939, he received his ordination as a Rabbi from

Hebrew Union College 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 ...

. After receiving his U.S. citizenship on March 31, 1943, he enlisted as a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence ...

in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. He was eventually assigned to the 104th Infantry "Timberwolf" Division and served as a frontline

with the 104th in Belgium and Germany. He held pulpits in Chicago, Illinois 1939-49) and at

Mount Zion Temple Mount Zion Temple is a Reform synagogue located in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1856 as Mount Zion Hebrew Association, it was the first Jewish congregation in Minnesota. The congregation was formed before the statehood of Minnes ...

in St. Paul, Minnesota (1948–1961). He moved to Holy Blossom Temple in 1961, replacing

Abraham Feinberg Abraham Feinberg (14 September 1899 – 5 October 1986) was an American rabbi who lived much of his life in Canada. In his obituary, ''The New York Times'' declared about him: "He was always ready to march, lend his name or send a telegram if there ...

. He published a volume of commentary on the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

Review by Douglas Wertheimer, "Receiving the Torah Today," '' The Jewish Star (Calgary)'', May 28, 1982, pp. 7-8. and

Haftarah The ''haftara'' or (in Ashkenazic pronunciation) ''haftorah'' (alt. ''haftarah, haphtara'', he, הפטרה) "parting," "taking leave", (plural form: ''haftarot'' or ''haftoros'') is a series of selections from the books of ''Nevi'im'' ("Pro ...

, which has become the standard

Humash ''Chumash'' (also Ḥumash; he, חומש, or or Yiddish: ; plural Ḥumashim) is a Torah in printed and book bound form (i.e. codex) as opposed to a Sefer Torah, which is a scroll. The word comes from the Hebrew word for five, (). A more f ...

used by the Reform movement. He was a long-time columnist for the ''

Canadian Jewish News The Canadian Jewish News is a non-profit, national, English-language digital-first media organization that serves Canada‘s Jewish community. A national edition of the newspaper was published for 60 years in Toronto. A weekly Montreal edition i ...

'' as well as a contributor of opinion pieces to various Canadian newspapers such as ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' and the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

''. He was the first recipient of the W. Gunther Plaut Humanitarian Award. In 1978, he was the honoree of the Toronto Jewish National Fund Negev Dinner. He was president of the

Canadian Jewish Congress The Canadian Jewish Congress (, , ) was, for more than ninety years, the main advocacy group for the Jewish community in Canada. Regarded by many as the "Parliament of Canadian Jewry," the Congress was at the forefront of the struggle for human ...

from 1977 to 1980, and was also vice-chair of the

Ontario Human Rights Commission The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) was established in the Canadian province of Ontario on March 29, 1961, to administer the Ontario Human Rights Code. The OHRC is an arm's length agency of government accountable to the legislature through ...

. In 1983, he was elected president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the international association for Reform rabbis. In 1978 he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

and was promoted to Companion in 1999. In 1993, he was awarded the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario () is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is ad ...

. In 1999, he received the Commander's Cross (Komturkreuz) of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

. A number of years ago, Plaut was diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

, and withdrew from all public activities. In February 2012, he died at

Baycrest Baycrest Health Sciences is a research and teaching hospital for the elderly in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto. Baycrest was originally founded in 1918 as the Toron ...

Hospital in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada at the age of 99. His son, Jonathan V. Plaut, was also a Reform rabbi, who served as rabbi of Temple Beth Israel in

Jackson, Michigan Jackson is the only city and county seat of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534, down from 36,316 at the 2000 census. Located along Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127, it is approx ...

.Rabbi Jonathan V. Plaut, D.H.L., D.D.
, Temple Beth Israel website. Accessed August 11, 2009. His nephew, Rabbi Joshua Eli Plaut, Ph.D (son of Rabbi Walter H. and Hadassah Y. Plaut) is the director of the New York City based American Friends of Rabin Medical Center.

Selected works

* ''Die materielle Eheungültigkeit'' (doctoral dissertation, 1934) * ''High Holiday Services for Children'' (1952) * ''Mount Zion – The First Hundred Years'' (1956) * ''The Jews in Minnesota; the first seventy-five years'' (1959) 59-14710 * ''The Book of Proverbs – A Commentary'' (1961) 61-9760 * ''Judaism and the Scientific Spirit'' (1962) 61-17139 * ''The Rise of Reform Judaism: A Sourcebook of Its European Origins'' (1963) 63-13568 * ''The Case for the Chosen People – The Role of the Jewish People Yesterday and Today'' (1965) 65-19869 * ''The Growth of Reform Judaism'' (1965) 65-18555 * ''Your Neighbour is a Jew'' (1967) * ''The Sabbath as Protest: Thoughts on Work and Leisure in the Automated Society'' (1970) * ''Page Two – Ten Years of "News and Views."'' (1971) * ''A Shabbat Manual'' (1972) 72-10299 * ''Genesis. The Torah, A Modern Commentary, Vol. I'' (1974) * ''Exodus. The Torah, A Modern Commentary, Vol. II'' * ''Time to Think'' (1977) * ''Hanging Threads: Stories Real and Surreal'' (1978) . Published in U.S. as ''The Man in the Blue Vest and Other Stories'' (1978) * ''Numbers. The Torah, A Modern Commentary, Vol. IV'' (1979) * ''Unfinished business: an Autobiography'' (1981), * ''The Torah: A Modern Commentary (1981), * ''Deuteronomy. The Torah, A Modern Commentary, Vol. V (1983) * ''Refugee Determination in Canada'' (1985) * ''The Letter'' (1986) * ''A Modern Commentary – Genesis.'' (1988) (In Hebrew) * ''The Man Who Would Be Messiah: A Biographical Novel'' (1990), * ''The Magen David – How the Six-Pointed Star Became an Emblem for The Jewish People'' (1991) * ''German-Jewish Bible Translations: linguistic theology as a political phenonomen'' (1992) * ''The Torah: a Modern Commentary'' * ''Asylum: A Moral Dilemma'' (1995), * ''The Haftarah Commentary'' (1996) * ''More Unfinished Business'' (1997), * ''Teshuvot for the Nineties: Reform Judaism’s Answers to Today’s Dilemmas'' (1997) * ''The Price and Privilege of Growing Old'' (2000) * ''The Reform Judaism Reader'' (2001) * ''Die Torah in Jüdischer Auslegung'' (in German) (1999–2004) * ''The Torah: A Modern Commentary, Revised Edition'' () * ''One Voice: The Selected Sermons of W. Gunther Plaut'' (2007) * ''Eight Decades: The Selected Writings of W. Gunther Plaut'' (2008)

References

* *

External links

All of Rabbi Plaut's papers are housed a
Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Rabbi Plaut'
entire library
was donated to York University and is housed at York'
Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections

Gunther Plaut
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

Scholar urged Jews to engage larger world
Globe and Mail obituary 14 Feb. 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Plaut, Gunther 1912 births 2012 deaths American biblical scholars American expatriates in Canada American Jewish Congress American Reform rabbis Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Companions of the Order of Canada Hebrew Union College alumni Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Members of the Order of Ontario Rabbis in the military United States Army chaplains 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American rabbis