Liebman, Joshua Loth
LIEBMAN, JOSHUA LOTH
LIEBMAN, JOSHUA LOTH (1907–1948), U.S. Reform rabbi. Liebman was born in Hamilton, Ohio; when his parents divorced he went to live with his paternal grandfather, Rabbi Lipmann Liebman. He graduated from high school at the age of 15 and from the University of Cincinnati at the age of 19. He served as Taft Teaching Fellow in Philosophy before his 20th birthday and was ordained by Hebrew Union College in 1930, at the age of 23. In 1931, Liebman took up his first position as rabbi in Lafayette, Indiana, while pursuing his doctorate at huc, where he taught Bible. He studied in Palestine in 1929–30 and began his love of Zion. In 1934 he was appointed to Kehilath Anshe Maarab Temple, Chicago, succeeding Solomon Freehof, and began his study of psychology. In 1939 he moved to Temple Israel in Boston. During his ministry in Boston, Liebman became widely known as a radio preacher. He also taught at Boston University, which was adjacent to his congregation, and Andover-Newton Theological Seminary. His role in his congregation marked a return to tradition. He abolished Sunday services, reinstituted Friday evening services, and pushed for a Jewish homeland in the Land of Israel, positions at odds with his congregation, which had been classically Reform. He hired a social worker to bring the insights of psychology into the religious life of his community. For the last two years of his life, Liebman was a nationally famous figure through the phenomenal success of his book Peace of Mind (1946). This had an instant appeal to a generation which had been harassed by the experience of World War ii. Its popularity helped to encourage a closer working relationship between psychology and religion. His work was the first popular treatment of Judaism and psychology. The reception of his work in the immediate postwar years, together with the choice of Bess *Meyerson as Miss America and the reception of returning baseball star Hank *Greenberg, is regarded as an important indication of the unexpected transformation of the Jews in postwar American life, the dramatic decline of antisemitism, and a willingness to accept Jews and Judaism on equal terms.
add. bibliography:
K. Olitzsky, L.J. Sussman, and M.H. Stern, Reform Judaism in America: A Biographical Dictionary and Sourcebook (1993).
[Sefton D. Temkin /
Michael Berenbaum (2nd ed.)]