Zvi (Rabbi) Dershowitz

Rabbi Zvi Dershowitz, Z’L (May 4, 1928 - March 26, 2023) Rabbi Zvi Dershowitz lived a joyous, fulfilling, and impactful life, leaving a legacy of service to the American Jewish community, and to the vibrancy, safety, and security of Jewish life around the world. Rabbi Dershowitz, Rabbi Emeritus of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, California, served the congregation for the past fifty years. His life-long contributions have made their mark in Jewish youth and adult education, the struggle to free Soviet Jewry, advocacy on behalf of Iranian Jewish immigrants fleeing persecution in Iran, and more. Through his years as teacher, camp director, rabbi, counselor, and human rights advocate, he has touched thousands of lives. Rabbi Dershowitz, born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, came as a refugee to the United States when he was 10 years old, as Germany invaded his place of birth. His grandfather Sholem gathered the family and said, ``Hitler is different. You have to leave.\'\' The family left the country on the last day of 1938, thirty-three days before Hitler\'s forces marched into Brno, his childhood home. On February 2, 1939, with his parents Aaron and Aurelia and older sister Lili, the family moved to Williamsburg, New York. There he grew up, learning English, studying, and playing kickball. Zvi worked hard to support the nascent State of Israel. In 1949, he spent a year of leadership training, working and studying in Jerusalem. Zvi helped refugees from Yemen and elsewhere settle into the newly independent State of Israel. Zvi came back to Brooklyn and attended Mesivta Torah Vodaath and received his rabbinical ordination in 1953. Rabbi Dershowitz was married to Tova, (nee Russekoff), who he met when he recruited her as staff for Camp Soleil in Ithaca, New York. They were married for nearly 60 years, until the time of her passing. They leave behind four children, Judy, Hillel, Nomi, and Toby, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Rabbi Dershowitz held several pulpits, at Congregation Beth Shalom in Kansas City, Missouri and Temple of Aaron in St. Paul, Minnesota. During that period, Rabbi Dershowitz was recruited to become director of Herzl Camp in Wisconsin. At camp, Rabbi Dershowitz\'s philosophy was to focus on creating an atmosphere in which campers would experience joyful Judaism. The number of campers at Herzl Camp more than doubled during his tenure. In 1961, he accepted an appointment to direct the Brandeis-Bardin Institute in Simi Valley, California. He continued to pursue his love of Jewish education for young people, at Camp Ramah in Ojai, where he served as director from 1963 to 1973. During that period, he was invited to build the adult education program at Sinai Temple and eventually became Associate Rabbi there, a post he held for some three decades. Rabbi Dershowitz\'s tenure there witnessed much growth,  vibrancy and achievements. Rabbi Dershowitz contributed to Jewish communal life in diverse ways, including serving often neglected populations. For several years he led services, singing and discussions with Alzheimer patients at an old age home, bringing joy and meaning to this special population. He also served as chaplain to inmates in Los Angeles County jails. For many years, Rabbi Dershowitz taught weekly classes at the University of Judaism, now American Jewish University. During his time at Sinai Temple, the synagogue witnessed an influx of Jews fleeing the Iranian Revolution. Rabbi Dershowitz worked with Congress and the Executive Branch and helped secure visas for countless Jews who today make up a significant and wonderful part of the synagogue. For the work he did to help them enter this country and for the work he continued to do to help integrate them into the Los Angeles community, he has become well-known and well-loved among the Persian-American Jewish community. While his professional work was rich and rewarding, his wife, children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren was an endless source of pride and joy for Rabbi Dershowitz--and he and Tova considered them to be their greatest achievements. Adapted from the Congressional Record, June 4, 2013 - Issue: Vol. 159, No. 77 ____________________________________________