Jacob B. Agus
Encyclopedia
Jacob B. Agus was a liberal Conservative
rabbi
and theologian who played a key role in the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly
.
Agus (the family name was originally Agushewitz), was born in Poland in 1911 and his family emigrated to the United States in 1927. He attended the Talmudic Academy
, New York, graduating in 1929, received his BA from Yeshiva College in 1933, and received semicha
by Moshe Soloveichik
at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
of Yeshiva University
in 1935. In 1940 he received a PhD in Jewish Thought from Harvard University
and married Miriam Shore the same year. His older brother was Irving A. Agus, who taught medieval Jewish History at Yeshiva University.
Agus's rabbinic career included Congregation Beth Abraham, Norfolk, Virginia
, 1934–1936; Temple Ashkenaz, Cambridge, Massachusetts
, 1936–1940; Agudas Achim North Shore Congregation, Chicago
, 1940–1942; and Beth Abraham United Synagogue Center, Dayton, Ohio
, 1942–1950. In 1945, Agus formally affiliated with the Conservative movement by joining the Rabbinical Assembly. In 1950 he became the rabbi of Beth El Congregation in Baltimore, where he remained for thirty years, retiring in 1980.
As an influential member of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly, where he was active in the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, chaired the Prayer Book Committee (1952–1956) and worked to define Conservative Jewish ideology through a series of conferences, committees and other gatherings, including the Continuing Conference on Conservative Ideology (1956–1963). With Morris Adler and Theodore Friedman he co-authored the 1950 Responsum on the Sabbath that allowed Conservative Jews to use electricity and drive on the Sabbath.
For more details of his role, see Conservative Halakha
and Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
He taught at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
, St. Mary's Seminary and Ecumenical Institute
(where he was also a founder of the Interfaith Roundtable), and at both Temple University
and Dropsie College in Philadelphia.
In 1965 Agus accepted an invitation to teach at the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamerico in Buenos Aires
. He remained in Argentina for two months, then traveled to Brazil where he spent two weeks lecturing under the auspices of the American Jewish Committee and the Brazilian Institute for Culture and Information. In Latin America Agus developed continuing ties with students and colleagues – among them Marshall Meyer
, then director of the Seminario. These ties are documented by correspondence in this collection.
In addition to his rabbinical and scholarly work, Agus adopted the cause of interfaith and interracial relations, dubbing his forays into Jewish/Christian and Jewish/Christian/Muslim relations "dialogue" and "trialogue." He also served on the boards of the Baltimore National Council on Christians and Jews, and the predominantly African-American Morgan State University, also in Baltimore.
Professor Steven Katz has summed up his work as follows: "a remarkable American Rabbi and scholar, illuminating Agus' commitment to Jewish people everywhere, his profound and unwavering spirituality, his continual reminders of the very real dangers of pseudo-Messianism and misplaced romantic zeal, and his willingness to take politically and religiously unpopular stands."
as a paradigm of a modern Jew, despite the latter's kabbalah, and fundamentalist halacha. Agus saw him as sanctifying modern change.
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
and theologian who played a key role in the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly
Rabbinical Assembly
The Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and...
.
Life
Jacob Agus was a leading thinker of the Conservative movement's liberal wing, heading Rabbinical Assembly committees on the sabbath, prayerbook, and ideology of the Conservative movement. He was also a rabbi of Beth El Congregation in Baltimore, Maryland, and a promoter of interfaith communication – which he referred to as "dialogue" or "trialogue."Agus (the family name was originally Agushewitz), was born in Poland in 1911 and his family emigrated to the United States in 1927. He attended the Talmudic Academy
Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy
The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy, also known as Yeshiva University High School for Boys , MTA or TMSTA , is an Orthodox Jewish day school , the boys' high school of Yeshiva University in the Washington Heights neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan.-History:The Talmudical...
, New York, graduating in 1929, received his BA from Yeshiva College in 1933, and received semicha
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
by Moshe Soloveichik
Moshe Soloveichik
Moshe Soloveitchik , was an Orthodox rabbi. He was the second son of renowned rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik and grandson of the Beis HaLevi. He married Pesya Feinstein, daughter of the renowned Rabbi of Pruzany, Rabbi Eliyahu Feinstein, and first cousins with Rabbi Moshe Feinstein.At the age of 31, he...
at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , or Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University, located in Washington Heights, New York. It is named after Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, who died the year it was founded, 1896...
of Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
in 1935. In 1940 he received a PhD in Jewish Thought from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and married Miriam Shore the same year. His older brother was Irving A. Agus, who taught medieval Jewish History at Yeshiva University.
Agus's rabbinic career included Congregation Beth Abraham, Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, 1934–1936; Temple Ashkenaz, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, 1936–1940; Agudas Achim North Shore Congregation, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, 1940–1942; and Beth Abraham United Synagogue Center, Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, 1942–1950. In 1945, Agus formally affiliated with the Conservative movement by joining the Rabbinical Assembly. In 1950 he became the rabbi of Beth El Congregation in Baltimore, where he remained for thirty years, retiring in 1980.
As an influential member of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly, where he was active in the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, chaired the Prayer Book Committee (1952–1956) and worked to define Conservative Jewish ideology through a series of conferences, committees and other gatherings, including the Continuing Conference on Conservative Ideology (1956–1963). With Morris Adler and Theodore Friedman he co-authored the 1950 Responsum on the Sabbath that allowed Conservative Jews to use electricity and drive on the Sabbath.
For more details of his role, see Conservative Halakha
Conservative Halakha
Conservative Judaism views Halakha as normative and binding. The Conservative movement applies Jewish law to the full range of Jewish belief and practice, including thrice-daily prayer, Shabbat and holidays, marital relations and family purity, conversion, dietary laws , and Jewish medical ethics...
and Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha within Conservative Judaism; it is one of the most active and widely known committees on the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly. Within the movement it is known as the CJLS...
He taught at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College , is located in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, about 10 miles north of central Philadelphia. RRC is the only seminary affiliated with Reconstructionist Judaism. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and...
, St. Mary's Seminary and Ecumenical Institute
St. Mary's Seminary and University
St. Mary's Seminary and University is a Roman Catholic seminary in Baltimore, Maryland; it was the first seminary founded in the United States of America.-History:...
(where he was also a founder of the Interfaith Roundtable), and at both Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
and Dropsie College in Philadelphia.
In 1965 Agus accepted an invitation to teach at the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamerico in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. He remained in Argentina for two months, then traveled to Brazil where he spent two weeks lecturing under the auspices of the American Jewish Committee and the Brazilian Institute for Culture and Information. In Latin America Agus developed continuing ties with students and colleagues – among them Marshall Meyer
Marshall Meyer
Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer was an American-born Conservative rabbi and a recognized international human rights activist. Marshall Theodore Meyer was born in New York City and raised in Norwich, Conn. He attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1952...
, then director of the Seminario. These ties are documented by correspondence in this collection.
In addition to his rabbinical and scholarly work, Agus adopted the cause of interfaith and interracial relations, dubbing his forays into Jewish/Christian and Jewish/Christian/Muslim relations "dialogue" and "trialogue." He also served on the boards of the Baltimore National Council on Christians and Jews, and the predominantly African-American Morgan State University, also in Baltimore.
Professor Steven Katz has summed up his work as follows: "a remarkable American Rabbi and scholar, illuminating Agus' commitment to Jewish people everywhere, his profound and unwavering spirituality, his continual reminders of the very real dangers of pseudo-Messianism and misplaced romantic zeal, and his willingness to take politically and religiously unpopular stands."
Interfaith
Agus was one of the principle of theologians of American Jewish-Christian dialogue. He developed a dual covenant theory based on the thought of Franz Rosenzweig. He envisioned a symbiosis of the two religions.
Rosenzweig’s view was remarkable, in that, the Christian community was engaged in fulfilling Israel’s mission. The people Israel are like the sun; the Christian community was the effluence of Divine rays permeating the nations with the spirit of monotheism. The boundary line between Judaism and Christianity was not along the plane of intellectual thought, since the divine being could only be caught figuratively or symbolically within the meshes of human reason.
If the Bible is God-given, it follows that both Israel and Christendom, which are based on the Bible, are divinely ordained religious communities; in both these groups there is an eternal “we” which through common prayer for the Kingdom, acquires eternity for its members and also hastens the final redemption of the world….both are, in a real sense, revealed religions and each one, in itself, is only part of the truth.
Modern philosophies
Agus presented Rabbi Abraham Isaac KookAbraham Isaac Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, Jewish thinker, Halachist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar...
as a paradigm of a modern Jew, despite the latter's kabbalah, and fundamentalist halacha. Agus saw him as sanctifying modern change.
Works
- Modern Philosophies of Judaism (1941)
- Banner of Jerusalem a biography of Abraham Isaac Kook, Chief Rabbi of Palestine in the 1930s.(1946)
- Guideposts in Modern Judaism (1954)
- The Evolution of Jewish Thought (1959)
- The Meaning of Jewish History (1963)
- The vision and the way; an interpretation of Jewish ethics
- Dialogue and Tradition : The Response of Judaism to the Major Challenges of the Contemporary World