Rabbi Gordon Tucker sent this tribute to members of his congregation on Sunday, May 6, 2018.
We share it today on behalf of Ruach Hiddush.
Ruach Hiddush Executive Committee
Rabbi Pam Frydman (Chair), Rabbi Mark Levin (Newsletter Editor), Rabbi Michael Chernick, Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, Rabbi Gordon Tucker, Rabbi Uri Regev (Hiddush President and CEO)
I write with the deepest of sadness at the tragic death of Rabbi Aaron Panken, of blessed memory. Rabbi Panken has been the President of Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion for the last 5 years. More than that, he was a model rabbi, scholar, and community leader. Rabbi Panken was a personal friend and professional colleague to me, as he was to several members of this community, both lay and professional. And he was a powerful spokesperson for Jewish pluralism and tolerance throughout the world – a true “Ohev Yisrael.” The many students who were trained on his watch, and by him directly, will never forget the gifts that they received from him.
As I consider the horror of the accident that took him from us, I am reminded of a profound teaching that comes from the Talmudic rabbis. They said that when a righteous teacher is lost, he is lost to his entire generation. And that is true. Rabbi Panken’s death is a blow not just to the Reform Movement, which he helped to lead, but to the entire Jewish world of our time. But our ancient sages went further. They said that what they meant was not only that the pain of the loss is felt by the entire generation, but that, in a real sense, it is only felt by that generation. “When a jewel is lost by its owner,” they said, it has not disappeared, and “wherever it is, it is still a jewel.” Future generations, unlike ours, will not feel the sting of this loss, just as we do not feel the sting of the loss of those teachers who died in generations previous to ours; instead, they will only have the benefit of the teachings and the legacies of this gem, who will surely remain a gem for all time.
Rabbi Gordon Tucker is Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel Center, a Conservative Egalitarian Synagogue in White Plains, New York.