Steven Spielberg's Hebrew School Teacher: Rabbi Albert Lewis
Henry Maurer
Albert Lewis was, of course, much more than Steven Spielberg's Hebrew
School teacher. But to the rest of the world, that may be his main
claim to fame:
Longtime rabbi dies at age 90
By BARBARA S. ROTHSCHILD
Courier-Post Staff
CHERRY HILL
Rabbi Albert L. Lewis, a leader of South Jersey's Jewish community for
60 years, died Sunday at Virtua-West Jersey Hospital, Voorhees, of
complications from a stroke.
Lewis, who led Temple Beth Sholom from 1948 until he retired in 1992,
was 90.
During that time he was the community's only "pulpit" rabbi, with more
pastoral duties. He later was the temple's rabbi emeritus and remained
active after retirement.
"He was in the synagogue on Shabbat, and was in the office several
days a week. When he walked into the building, everybody just perked
up. He lit up the place," said Rabbi Steven Lindemann, senior rabbi at
Beth Sholom.
A native of the Bronx, Lewis came to Temple Beth Sholom as a student
rabbi in 1948. He became spiritual leader of the conservative
congregation when it was in Haddon Heights and its membership included
50 families. When he retired in 1992, four years after the synagogue
relocated to Cherry Hill, Beth Sholom was serving 1,000 families.
"He lived until 90 and a half, full of life with his faculties to the
end. It was a privilege to live with him and to know that he ended his
life as he wanted, without pain and surrounded by his family," said
Lewis' daughter Orah Lipsky of Jerusalem. "He will be missed, but we
have our memories."
Lewis was an inspiration to Haddon Township native Mitch Albom, best-
selling author of "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "The Five People You Meet
in Heaven."
"Mitch is a child of the congregation who continued his relationship
with Rabbi Lewis through the years. Whenever he was in town, he'd
visit, and he will be at the funeral," Lindemann said.
Albom cut short a vacation in France and was flying back Monday so he
could deliver today's eulogy, said Marc Rosenthal, another Haddon
Township native and Beth Sholom product who produces Albom's daily
radio show at WJR in Detroit.
Lindemann called his predecessor an extraordinary man and spectacular
rabbi who will be missed and remembered as a mentor to many -- rabbis
and congregants alike.
"He was innovative, he was creative, but most of all, he touched
people's lives. He had a capacity to talk to people and listen to
people, helping them through his sensitivity and out of the tradition
of Judaism that he so loved," Lindemann said. "Out of people's lives,
he was able to extract lessons that they could hear and accept with a
full heart. His memory will keep the synagogue going."
Among his innovations at Temple Beth Sholom, Lewis eliminated the
Shabbat morning sermon, conducting commentary and discussion in its
place, and encouraged congregants to ask questions and make comments
during Torah study.
"He was my rabbi my entire life. For me, he was the first rock star.
He was it," Rosenthal said. "He made Judaism relevant, practical and
entertaining. There was never a barrier between the rabbi and his
congregation."
Rosenthal recalled that when he and his wife were preparing to be
married by Lewis, the couple remarked that their jobs made it hard to
sit down for Shabbat dinner on Friday nights.
"Rabbi Lewis told us to move the Sabbath to a different day. The
important thing was that the family be together," Rosenthal said.
Lewis is survived by his wife, Sarah (nee Einhorn) of Cherry Hill; a
son, Rabbi Shalom Lewis of Marietta, Ga.; two daughters, Orah Lipsky
of Jerusalem and Gilah Sietz of Cherry Hill; and seven grandchildren.