A Rabbi of Rabbis

Headnote

Harold Schulweis, path-breaking thinker and activist, dies at 89

LOS ANGELES - As a path-breaking thinker, innovator and activist, Rabbi Harold Schulweis' role extended far beyond his base as the spiritual leader of his Los Angeles-area congregation.

"Harold Schulweis was widely regarded as the most successful and influential synagogue leader in his generation, a public intellectual who redefined what it is to be a Jew, an author and passionate orator who met injustices and suffering with action," said Rabbi Edward Feinstein, his friend and colleague at Valley Beth Shalom, a Conservative synagogue in Encino.

Schulweis died Dec. 18 following a long struggle with heart disease. He was 89.

Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, the executive vice president of the Conser vative movement's Rabbinical Assembly, said in a statement that Schulweis' "vast knowledge of Jewish tradition, combined with his tremendous passion and his palpable gift of empathy, made him a force for American Jewry to reckon with."

Schulweis fueled a series of innovations, first at Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland and then at Valley Beth Shalom, which he led for nearly 45 years. His pioneering initiatives included establishing "chavurot" whose members formed small groups within the larger congregation for closer personal connections, a model of lay-clerg y cooperation, and a counseling center for congregants and the community.

He opened the synagogue doors to all by actively including children and young...