In Honor of "The Reb," Rabbi Maurice Wohlgelernter

Ed note: When I was sixteen, I attended lectures on philosophy (e.g. Martin Buber's brand of existentialism) given by Rabbi Maurice Wohlgelernter at a nearby synagogue on Nagle Avenue in the Inwood secrtion of  Manhattan, where I grew up. I was a high school student and immensely impressed by what I heard. A brilliant lecture absorbed by a sixteen-year-old is going to make a deep impact on him. Though my family belonged to a different synaogue and most of my social and cultural activities centered on it, I visited Rabbi Wohlgelernter's shul often, and this afternoon (8/26/24) the Internet rewarded me with this excerpt from a Jerusalem post.. Grateful acknowledgment is made to Chaim Falkoff and the Jerusalem Post 

<<<<In appreciation: ‘The Reb,’ R. Moshe Wohlgelernter.

He served for more than 30 years as congregational rabbi in Inwood, New York, while pursuing a distinguished academic career as university professor.

By CHAIM FIALKOFF / Jerusalem Post

JULY 21, 2013 22:35

<<< Last month, Rabbi Dr. Maurice Wohlgelernter passed away at age 92. Known admiringly as “the Reb” to thousands of students from academic institutions of higher education (including Yeshiva University, Touro College and Baruch College) where he taught with unremitting panache for more than five decades, the Reb epitomized the ideal of the committed, educated Jew and the energetic, creative scholar of the secular world. He served for more than 30 years as congregational rabbi in Inwood, New York, while pursuing a distinguished academic career as university professor. He authored four books and dozens of articles on literature, the theater, current events and Jewish issues.

It is doubly difficult to put in writing who the Reb was for me; not only did he play a pivotal role in my personal development, but I know he would not tolerate writing that wasn’t clear and well-crafted. I first met the Reb in 1971 in my second year at Touro College, when I signed up for a modern American literature course at the encouragement of a good friend and classmate.

We were only a handful of students, and I quickly realized there would be no relaxing in this class.

The Reb told us that we would be reading a novel a week and that we would need to read with a pencil. I sensed that he was going to be quite demanding. I still have the marked works by Dreiser, Cather, Hemingway, Mailer, Malamud and others with the Reb’s insights comingling with my own comments.

Beginning in my junior year and increasingly from my senior year and onwards, I was privileged to become a family friend. I spent a number of shabbatot and holidays in Inwood and gained exposure to the congregational Rabbi Wohgelernter.

On all these occasions, Esther and their kids complemented the intellectual experience by providing warmth, hospitality and friendship – not to mention great food.

So it was only natural that when it came time to marry, the Reb was asked to be our mesader kedushin.

For me as well as for generations of students, he was the consummate teacher, displaying a breadth of knowledge.

More important, he overflowed with enthusiasm. Though “enthusiasm” doesn’t quite encompass the way he’d charge at us like a bull heading straight for that red kerchief – anything to get the ideas to penetrate us.

Over the years, by means of various “couriers” (his term) dispatched from New York with envelopes addressed in his unmistakable handwriting, the Reb continued to send me articles, reviews, essays and news of new projects that he had initiated. He insisted on receiving my comments – when he found my insights not perceptive enough, he chided me for sloppy reading or shallow interpretation.

And although he took a great deal of pleasure in my professional achievements, he remained hopeful that one day I might pursue a more intensive academic career. His guidance to me as a college senior didn’t change when I was a middle-aged city planner: pursue two careers in tandem so you’ll always have a fallback.

After all these years, I am still awestruck by his decades of unflagging energy – his rigorous daily routine of half a day learning/half a day writing, well into his 80s. His unshakeable commitment for Torah learning and academic erudition serves as a personal mainstay.

But the Reb’s most striking legacy for me, as I think for so many others, will be his passion, ebullience and child-like wonder. >>>

Also, consider this tribute:

<<
The Jewish world has lost one of its most colorful, exciting and challenging rabbis and teachers. Rabbi Dr. Maurice Wohlgelernter, known popularly among his students as "The Reb," passed away on Saturday night June 22, 2013.

I first met The Reb in September 1963, as a freshman in his English 101 class at Yeshiva College. He was an astonishing teacher. He demanded clarity in our writing, marking each of our papers with an overly active red pen. He crushed our egos with his harsh grades--but he taught us, and taught us very well. To get an A from The Reb made it all worth while!

His career was multi-faceted. He served for many years as Rabbi of a synagogue in uptown Manhattan. He taught English writing and literature at Yeshiva College, Baruch College, and later at Touro College and NYU. No one who took The Reb for a course can ever forget him.

He was devoted to the study of Torah and Talmud. He was in the first class of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and he was the one who coined the title "the Rav" for Rabbi Soloveitchik. The Reb studied Talmud all through his lifetime, and always saw himself as a bahur yeshiva.

He earned his Ph.D. in English literature at Columbia University, and went on to author books and articles on literary topics. He was a master stylist who valued the power of words. Well into his 80s, he was writing and publishing significant articles, including several in our Institute's journal, Conversations.

The first wedding the Reb performed as a young rabbi was for one of his classmates, Paul Schuchalter and his wife Dorothy. Rabbi and Mrs. Schuchalter are my wife's parents--my in-laws. When Gilda and I were married in 1967, The Reb recited one of the Sheva Berakhot. We retained our friendship over the years, meeting regularly for a cup of coffee, some literary discussion, analysis of issues in the Jewish world etc. It was a singular honor and privilege to have enjoyed this friendship for just about 50 years.

I always thought that "The Reb" had another significance: the Rebel. And that is what he was. He rebelled against nonsense and hypocrisy. He had no patience for p.r. glitz and inflated egos of overly comfortable establishment figures. He was a source of agitation to those who feared his sharp tongue, his utter unpredictability, his energy, his intellectual restlessness. Perhaps he was such an amazingly popular teacher precisely because he was a rebel who brooked no nonsense, who was committed to truth at all costs. He had a phenomenal sense of humor, but he took life and ideas very seriously.

His wife, Esther, and their children and grandchildren were great sources of joy to The Reb. They were more important to him than anyone or anything in his life.

So we say goodbye to The Reb--our teacher, our rabbi, our friend. We are grateful for having had the privilege of being part of his world. He was one of a kind, unforgettable. He will always remain--for all of us who knew him--a source of blessing, strength and wisdom...and he will always be prodding us to follow his inspiration in being devoted to truth, in being a rebel against shallowness, mediocrity, and hypocrisy. >>>

Comments

[Grace Schulman]

Maurice Wohlgelertner was a colleague of mine at Baruch College, where he was known as Professor W. He taught a range of novels, always seeking the new. His standards were high. As a young instructor I was terrified to learn he was to observe my class, and indeed he grouched some, but then taught me how to teach. His praise was rare, but excited. He was Diogenes, looking for excellence. I'll miss him. Thanks for your tribute. Grace Schulman, Distinguished Professor Emerita, Baruch College, C.U.N.Y.

[David Lehman]

Thank you for this wonderful comment about a man who inspired me when I was young.