Rabbi Murray Saltzman – A Voice for Social Justice

Rabbi Murray Saltzman, former rabbi of Congregation B’nai Abraham, and one of the most notable Reform rabbis in the United States, died Tuesday, at the age of 80, after a short illness.

The son of immigrant parents from Russia and Hungary, Rabbi Saltzman was born in New York City and raised in Brooklyn.

After graduating from high school, Rabbi Saltzman entered Syracuse University with the intention of becoming a writer. While there, he took a religion course that changed the direction of his life. He dropped out of Syracuse and enrolled at the Univ. of Cincinnati, where he earned a bachelor's degree.

In 1956, he was ordained at the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, from which he received a bachelor’s and a master's degree in Hebrew Letters.

From 1956 to 1958, he served as assistant rabbi at Congregation Emanu-El B'ne Jeshrun in Milwaukee, WI.

He then came to Hagerstown in 1958 to lead Congregation B'nai Abraham. Our synagogue flourished under his spiritual guidance and the strong leadership of President Odell Rosen (1958-1960), when the social hall addition was completed. The Congregation continued to do well under the subsequent President, Norman Rosen (1960-1962), Odell’s older brother.

Rabbi Saltzman left Hagerstown in 1962 to become rabbi at Temple Beth-El in Chappaqua, N.Y., a position which he held for five years, before moving on to become senior rabbi of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation.

In 1975, he was awarded a Doctorate in Divinity from the Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, IN.

During the 1960s, he marched across the South with the Rev. Martin Luther King. Due to his outspoken civil rights activism, President Gerald R. Ford appointed him to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 1975, a position he held until 1983.

In 1978, he was appointed senior rabbi at the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation and led the effort that resulted in the building of the area's only parochial school run by Reform Jews. He was the driving force behind the building of the Early Childhood Center, the Myerberg Library and a Holocaust Memorial in the Congregation's cemetery.

He was president of the Coalition Opposed to Violence and Extremism, BLEWS (the Baltimore Black-Jewish Forum), the Baltimore Board of Rabbis and other organizations.

For the last 14 years, since moving to Fort Myers, Rabbi Saltzman was a part-time rabbi at Bat Yam Temple of the Islands Tzedakah, and continued to write widely on various issues that defined his life and work.

His active commitment to a range of important Jewish and Human Rights causes led to honors bestowed upon him by the prime minister of Israel, the governors of Maryland and Indiana, and others. Rabbi Saltzman's strong values and leadership remained consistent throughout his service to congregations in Maryland, New York, Indianapolis and Florida. He was a mentor to countless rabbis, cantors, other Jewish professionals, and synagogue members, including his son Joshua's rabbinic career.

All who knew him are thankful for his teachings, his caring and his outspoken voice for social justice. We all mourn the loss of this outstanding rabbi and community leader.

A Shabbat service will be held on March 5 at 6:15 p.m. at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, 7401 Park Heights Avenue.

The staff and membership of Congregation B’nai Abraham extend our deepest sympathies to Rabbi Saltzman's wife of 56 years, Esther, and their family.