Posted on 08/17/21
| News Source: CJN
Rabbi Howard Joseph, z'l, who led Canada’s oldest Jewish congregation, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in Montreal, for four decades during which he succeeded in fostering harmony among its diverse members, died on Aug. 12 after a long illness.
He was also widely respected within the modern Orthodox movement, as well as in broader society for his interfaith work.
When the young New Yorker was entrusted with the spiritual leadership of the Spanish and Portuguese in 1970, he followed in the footsteps of Rabbi Solomon Frank, a towering figure in the Montreal Jewish community.
He was facing a congregation, founded in 1768, in rapid transition from having been predominantly Ashkenazi for many years, despite its origins, to a majority Sephardi. And that was not one community, but several, notably Iraqi, Lebanese and Moroccan, each with their distinctive practices.
Rabbi Joseph, who was Ashkenazi, from the start was “respectful and receptive to other traditions. He understood that there is more to Judaism than one’s nationality,” the synagogue website states. Upon his retirement in 2009, he was named rabbi emeritus.
He is being remembered for his open-mindedness, compassion, humility and deep scholarship. The love he engendered among congregants did not fade over the years. Peacemaking is his most enduring legacy, his family believes.
“I still remember the day about 50 years ago when my dad came home thoroughly enthused from a meeting of the S & P search committee for a new rabbi and exclaimed, ‘We just interviewed a young American rabbi who has a fine mind, an engaging personality, and a kind manner, and brings with him a wife who is smart, charming and gracious. These two will make a dynamic duo,” recalled Mark Rosenstein.
“In the ensuring years, my wife Bluma and I learned just how prophetic were these words.”
The wife was Norma Baumel Joseph, a longtime professor in Concordia University’s religions department and an activist for Jewish women’s rights, as well as a former CJN columnist. They were married for 56 years.
Former synagogue member David Kaufmann, now living in Toronto, says Rabbi Joseph “led our synagogue with quiet diplomacy and wisdom, never an easy task with a diverse congregation” that wanted to maintain the traditions of the historic Spanish and Portuguese, established by British Jews, while welcoming new arrivals from the Middle East and North Africa.
“In very large measure, Rabbi Joseph was the catalyst for the growth and success of our synagogue, and his wisdom and quiet determination fostered a respect among the many communities that has withstood the test of time.”
After completing a master’s degree at Yeshiva University in Hebrew literature, Rabbi Joseph was ordained in 1964 at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary under Rabbis Joseph Soloveitchik and Samuel Belkin.