Rabbi Seymour Rossel (born August 9, 1945) is an American author, publisher, editor, educator, and founder of Rossel Books. Through his work in editing, writing, and publishing, he has influenced Jewish education and culture throughout the English-speaking world. [1]
Rossel was born on August 9, 1945, in Chicago, Illinois, to renowned chef Willy Otto and Leona (Wadler). The family moved to Dallas, Texas in 1956. While a senior in high school, Rossel was selected to edit Whangdoodle, the citywide book review publication of the Young Adult department of the Dallas Public Library, where his writing was encouraged and tutored by famous children’s librarian and author, Siddie Joe Johnson.
He received a B.A. in History with a Minor in Education from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX in 1968. He became editor of the SMU literary journal, Espejo, in which his award-winning short stories had previously appeared. Under the tutelage of Texas author Marshall Terry, he entered the Book of the Month Club Writing Fellowship Awards, becoming a Southwest Regional Finalist for his story "The Demonstration" which was published in a Doubleday anthology of young authors entitled Growing Up in America.
He received his M.A. in 1978 from New York University School of Education, Institute of Hebrew Culture, where he studied Bible and archaeology with Dr. Cyrus Gordon. His post-graduate work included studies in education under Dr. Henry J. Perkinson and studies in mythology and world religions under Dr. Joseph Campbell.
He became a Fellow in Religious Education (F.R.E), NATE in 1982, and a Reform Jewish Educator (R.J.E.), URJ (UAHC) & HUC-JIR in 1988.
Rossel was ordained as a Rabbi in 2000 in New York, by the Westchester Beit Din, sponsored by Rabbis Chaim Stern, Manuel Gold, and Shoshana Hantman.
Rossel married Jewish educator Sharon L. Wechter in 1999. Of his four children, two (Rabbi Amy Rossel and Rabbi Rachel Maimin) have been ordained by the HUC-JIR and are serving congregations in the Reform movement. His daughter Deborah Rossel Bradford was a Student Laureate Poet for the State of Connecticut and is currently Head of the Department of Academic Strategies at Tunxis Community College. His son Benjamin Maimin is Chief Operating Officer of Opus 3 Artists.
Rossel is publisher of Rossel Books and CEO of Rossel Counseling and Consulting, Inc. For many years, he lectured on Bible and Jewish subjects at the Women's Institute of Houston,. [2] He continues to conduct workshops in Bible, Jewish history, and Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah); and to serve as scholar-in-residence and storyteller-in-residence for Jewish federations and synagogues throughout North America.
Rossel's work as a Jewish publisher began when he was hired to serve as Executive Editor (later, Executive Vice-President) of Behrman House, Inc., in 1972. [3] His editorial work, guided by Jacob Behrman and Eugene B. Borowitz, resulted in the textbooks and guides for teachers that formed the backbone of present Jewish curriculum in the Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist movements throughout the English-speaking world.
His aspiration to bring modern scholarship into the classrooms of Jewish religious schools led to publications of student versions of Amos Elon's Israelis: Founders and Sons; Lucy Dawidowicz’s The War Against the Jews, Abba Eban's, My People, and a series of books on Talmud and Midrash written by Jacob Neusner and edited by Dr. David Altshuler.
To serve the needs of high school and adult studies in the Jewish community, he founded The Jewish Concepts and Issues series, commissioning and publishing Judaism and the New Woman by the first female rabbi, Sally Priesand, The Russian Jewry Reader by Evan Chesler, and Anti-Semitism in Europe: Sources of the Holocaust edited by David Zisenwine.
For adult studies, he issued a series of original and reprint editions of Louis Jacobs' A Jewish Theology, Meyer Levin's Eva: A Novel of the Holocaust, Jiří Langer's Nine Gates to the Chassidic Mysteries, and Rachmil Bryk’s Kiddush HaShem (A Cat in the Ghetto).
Leaving Behrman House in 1981, he founded Rossel Books, Inc. In a time when few of the major trade publishers were willing to invest in works directed to the needs of the American Jewish community, Rossel published a series of influential books including the first book on the Holocaust specifically directed to young children, Promise of a New Spring by Holocaust survivor and author Gerda Weissman Klein; the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Genocide, critical issues of the Holocaust: A companion to the film, Genocide; Tzedakah by Jacob Neusner; The Bar Kokhba Syndrome: Risk and Realism in International Relations by Yehoshafat Harkabi; Contemporary Jewish Education: Issachar American Style by Alvin Schiff; Creative Jewish Education: A Reconstructionist Perspective, edited by Jacob Staub; and Gates of Freedom: A Passover Haggadah by Chaim Stern.
Rossel has resumed publishing through Rossel Books, notably producing Paths of Faith: The New Jewish Prayer Book for Synagogue and Home : For Weekdays, Shabbat, Festivals & Other Occasions by Chaim Stern; The New Family Prayerbook by Sheldon Zimmerman; Reinventing Adult Jewish Education by Betsy Dolgin Katz; The Unity Principle: The Shaping of Jewish History by Ellis Rivkin; and Bible Dreams: The Spiritual Quest: How the Dreams in the Bible Speak to Us Today (Revised 2nd Edition) by Rossel himself. [4]
From 1993 to 1997, Rossel served as Publisher for the American Reform movement (URJ, formerly UAHC), where he directed the press to a round of new publishing that including several important contributions in Jewish education and Jewish interfaith work, notably A Congregation of Learners: Transforming the Synagogue into a Learning Community (edited by Sara Lee, Seymour Rossel, and Isa Aron), What Crucified Jesus?: Messianism, Pharisaism, and the Development of Christianity by Ellis Rivkin, and The Haftarah Commentary by W. Gunther Plaut and Chaim Stern.
Rossel served as Lecturer in Education at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion from 1973 to 1985 when he became Dean of the School of Education of HUC-JIR, New York campus. He served as Curriculum Expert for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (1984-1985) and as National Director of Gesher LeKesher, a program for teenage Jewish education, from 1988 to 1989. After his temporary relocation to Texas, he was Headmaster of the Solomon Schechter Academy of Dallas, Texas (1991-1992) before being called back to New York to serve as Director of the National Department of Education of the Reform movement (URJ) and Director of the combined Commission on Reform Jewish Education of the CCAR, URJ, and NATE (1993-1996).
Devoted to Jewish teacher education, Rossel was a co-founder of the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE), serving for many years on its executive board and once as its Vice Chairperson. He was the Chairperson of its two international conferences, CAJE 13 (1988) and CAJE 21 (1996), both convened at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1976, he sponsored the appearance of legendary folk-singer and composer Debbie Friedman at the CAJE conference at Rutgers University which first brought her to the attention of the national Jewish community. [5]
He was called to serve as Rabbi of Congregation Jewish Community North of Spring, Texas from 2005-2010. [6]
Seymour lectures widely on Israel, the Holocaust, Bible, archaeology, spirituality, Jewish history and Jewish education. He is known for many appearances as scholar-in-residence; teacher, board, and congregational workshop leader; and guest lecturer for Bureaus and Federations in communities throughout North America.
Rossel is the author of 36 books including The Wise Folk of Chelm; A Child’s Bible (2 volumes); The Essential Jewish Stories: God, Torah, Israel and Faith; [7] The Torah: Portion-by-Portion; Managing the Jewish Classroom: How to Transform Yourself Into a Master Teacher; Let Freedom Ring: The Jews of America; A Thousand and One Chickens; When a Jew Prays, and When a Jew Seeks Wisdom: The Sayings of the Fathers. [8]
He has edited more than 300 books, working with many distinguished Jewish authors. For nearly twenty years, he served on the Executive Board of the Jewish Book Council of America.
Rossel holds the Israel Bonds’ Bonei HaNegev award for excellence in Jewish Education and was honored as an ex officio member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.
Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous search for truth and knowledge, which is closely intertwined with human reason and not limited to the theophany at Mount Sinai. A highly liberal strand of Judaism, it is characterized by lessened stress on ritual and personal observance, regarding halakha as non-binding and the individual Jew as autonomous, and great openness to external influences and progressive values. The fundamental difference is the approach to Torah and the implications of that approach. The Orthodox believe that it comes directly from God and so cannot be changed. Since its founding in Germany in the 1800s, Reform Judaism has undergone profound modifications of the Torah and prayer liturgy over the past two centuries, resulting in a contemporary understanding of Judaism that diverges substantially from the original teachings.
The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms established by Rabbi Wise are the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. The current president of the URJ is Rabbi Rick Jacobs.
The Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion is a Jewish seminary with three locations in the United States and one location in Jerusalem. It is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism. HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, Ohio, New York City, Los Angeles, California, and Jerusalem. The Jerusalem campus is the only seminary in Israel for training Reform Jewish clergy.
Sally Jane Priesand is America's first female rabbi ordained by a rabbinical seminary, and the second formally ordained female rabbi in Jewish history, after Regina Jonas. Priesand was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion on June 3, 1972, at the Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati. After her ordination she served first as assistant and then as associate rabbi at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City, and later led Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, New Jersey from 1981 until her retirement in 2006. She is featured in numerous books including Rabbis: The Many Faces of Judaism and Fifty Jewish Women who Changed the World.
Jewish leadership has evolved over time. Since the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, there has been no single body that has a leadership position over the entire Jewish diaspora. Various branches of Judaism, as well as Jewish religious or secular communities and political movements around the world elect or appoint their governing bodies, often subdivided by country or region.
David Ellenson is an American rabbi and academic who is known as a leader of the Reform movement in Judaism. Ellenson is currently director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies and visiting professor of Near Eastern and Judaic studies at Brandeis University and interim president of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR). He previously served as president of HUC-JIR from 2001 to December 31, 2013, and is now chancellor emeritus of that college. Ellenson is currently serving as interim president following the death of his successor, Aaron D. Panken.
Rabbi David Eli Stern is the senior rabbi at Temple Emanu-El of Dallas, the largest synagogue in the South/Southwest United States and the third-largest in the Union for Reform Judaism. He was selected as the 26th most influential rabbi in America by Newsweek magazine in 2008 and the 30th most influential in 2009. Rabbi Stern graduated with high honors from Dartmouth College, earned his M. A. in Jewish education from the Rhea Hirsch School of Education at HUC-JIR Los Angeles, California in 1988, and was ordained from HUC in 1989.
Walter Jacob is an American Reform rabbi who was born in Augsburg, Germany, and immigrated to the United States in 1940.
Eugene B. Borowitz was an American leader and philosopher in Reform Judaism, known largely for his work on Jewish theology and Jewish ethics. He also edited a Jewish journal, Sh'ma, and taught at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Jonathan Rosenbaum is an American scholar, college administrator and rabbi; president of Gratz College. from 1998 to 2009; president emeritus of Gratz College and a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, since 2009. He is a specialist in Biblical history, the paleography and epigraphy of ancient Semitic languages, and American Jewish history.
The cantor in the Reform movement is a clergy member who fills a diverse role within the Jewish community. Cantors lead worship, officiate at lifecycle events, teach adults and children, run synagogue music programs, and offer pastoral care. Cantors typically serve along with other clergy members, usually rabbis and occasionally additional cantors, in partnership to lead synagogue communities. The Reform cantor is a professional office with a prescribed educational path and professional organization. Cantors are "invested", a term borrowed from the idea of priestly vestments, at the conclusion of study. "Investiture" confers the status of clergy to cantors, just as "ordination" does for rabbis.
Fred Rosenbaum is an American author, historian and adult educator, specializing in the history of the Jewish community of the San Francisco Bay Area. Rosenbaum has been called a "superb storyteller". He is a founder and the director of Lehrhaus Judaica in Berkeley, California, described as "the largest Jewish adult education center in the western United States".
Gary Phillip Zola is the executive director of The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives (AJA) and the Edward M. Ackerman Family Distinguished Professor of the American Jewish Experience & Reform Jewish History at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Cincinnati. Since 1998, he has served as the second executive director of The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives (AJA), succeeding his teacher and mentor, Jacob Rader Marcus (1896–1995). He is also editor of The Marcus Center's award-winning semi-annual publication, The American Jewish Archives Journal.
Peninsula Temple Sholom (PTS) is a Reform Jewish Congregation in Burlingame, California. It was founded in 1955, and since then, has constantly grown its congregation and has expanded its facilities to include a social hall, a Religious School and a Preschool. For five decades, its services were led by Rabbi Gerald Raiskin, who changed the legacy and history of the temple until his passing in 2006. Throughout the years, PTS clergy and lay leaders have continued to lead services for hundreds of reform Jews in the Bay Area and is an influential place for them to find community and practice Reform Judaism.
Gail Ilene Posner Karp served as the cantor of the Reform Jewish synagogue Temple Emanuel in Davenport, Iowa from 1987 - 2016. She is also employed by the Department of Defense.
Lance Jonathan Sussman is an historian of American Jewish History, college professor, Chair of the Board of Governors of Gratz College, Melrose Park, PA and until summer 2022 the senior rabbi, now emeritus, at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel (KI) located in Elkins Park, PA. He is the author of numerous books and articles including: Isaac Leeser and the Making of American Judaism (1995) and Sharing Sacred Moments (1999), and a co-editor of Reform Judaism in America: A Biographical Dictionary and Sourcebook (1993) and New Essays in American Jewish History (2009). Since 2010 he has also published articles on Judaism and art.
Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel is the sixth oldest Reform Jewish synagogue in the United States. It began in Philadelphia in 1847, and was at a number of locations in the city before building a large structure on North Broad Street in 1891. In 1900 KI, as it is known, was one of the largest Reform congregations in the United States. It remained at the North Broad Street address until 1956 when it moved north of the city to suburban Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.
Bernard Jacob Bamberger was an American rabbi, scholar, author, translator, head of major Jewish organizations, and congregational spiritual leader for over 50 years during the middle decades of the 20th century.
Michael Albert Meyer is a German-born American historian of modern Jewish history. He taught for over 50 years at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is currently the Adolph S. Ochs Emeritus Professor of Jewish History at that institution. He was one of the founders of the Association for Jewish Studies, and served as its president from 1978–80. He also served as International President of the Leo Baeck Institute from 1992–2013. He has published many books and articles, most notably on the history of German Jews, the origins and history of the Reform movement in Judaism, and Jewish people and faith confronting modernity. He is a three-time National Jewish Book Award winner.
Andrew Rehfeld is an American political scientist who is serving as the 10th and current President of Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, where he is also Professor of Political Thought. His research has focused primarily on the concepts and history of political representation; exploring how institutional design and reform can strengthen democracy and advance justice.
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