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December 31, 2014

Rabbi Leonard Beerman, Leading Voice for Peace, Dies at 93 
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Rabbi Leonard Beerman, a leading voice for social justice, peace and the
rights of Palestinians for over six decades, has died at the age of 93.
In 1947, just before the founding of Israel, Beerman lived in Jerusalem
and joined the Haganah, the Jewish militia, an experience which helped
transform him into a lifelong pacifist. He soon moved to Los Angeles,
where he worked as a rabbi and embarked on decades of activism, from
opposing the Vietnam War in the 1960s to criticizing Israel's recent
assault on Gaza. In 2007, he presented The Nation Institute's Ron
Ridenhour Award to President Jimmy Carter. In his introduction, he spoke
about striving for change.

Leonard Beerman: "In this endeavor, there is no guarantee of victory,
but there is a choice: One either collaborates with the enemy, with
whatever is, with whatever is miserable or inhumane, with whatever is
unjust, with whatever demeans the life of any human being, even those we
call our enemies, or one joins the resistance and insists upon being
among those who strive to diminish the store of insult and agony in the
world."

Beerman died last Wednesday in Los Angeles from congestive heart
failure. He was 93 years old.

 

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