Beloved Portland Rabbi Dies

By Cassandra Sagan : Special to the Jewish Review

article created on: 2009-01-01T00:00:00

Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield, beloved rabbi of  P'nai Or in Portland, OR, drowned on Tuesday, January 6, in Mexico. The family had just attended the wedding of Hirschfield's son, Isaiah in Oaxaca. Hirschfield was snorkeling close to shore near the town of Pochutla, when his wife, Beth, returned to shore with their two young sons. His body was found soon after. The exact details of the drowning are still unknown. Hirschfield was 65. Hirschfield is also survived by sons Jonathan, Aviel, and seven-year-old twins, Dov and Elisha.

Hirschfield, the son of a religious mother, was raised Orthodox in the Bronx, but he rejected Judaism at an early age. He moved to San Francisco in the 1960's and followed other spiritual paths. But on Yom Kippur 1973, the day Egypt attacked Israel, he followed an impulse to fast. He found his way to Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach's House of Love and Prayer.

"I saw a bunch of people really singing, very involved," Hirschfield said about that time. "They'd stop and tell a Hasidic tale or give a teaching from Kabbalah. I found it very real and very connecting." This experience lit a spark. He began to compose, perform, and record his own music, producing a number of albums, including, "Wings of Peace," and "Let the Healing Begin." He traveled widely, including to Germany and Israel, where he used inclusive song and Chasidic storytelling to heal old wounds between disparate cultures, to prevent history from repeating itself.

Outraged by the injustice in the world, Hirschfield felt called to tikkun olam, to transform the world into a more humane place. He was ordained as a rabbi in 1985 by his teacher and mentor, Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi, one of the founding forces behind the Jewish Renewal movement, which seeks to breathe new life into the Jewish spiritual experience. Hirschfield went on to found two congregations, Havurah Shir Hadash, in Ashland, OR, in 1985, then P'nai Or of Portland, in 1996, which he led until his death. 

Throughout his years as a rabbi and teacher, Hirschfield brought Judaism to life for hundreds of souls looking for a deeper connection between life and the divine. He made Judaism accessible and empowered the individuals in his community to go into the deepest places within themselves to find God through prayer, song, story, Torah study, and teaching in their own right.

Hirschfield's light reached well beyond the borders of the Jewish community as he passionately worked to build bridges of understanding between communities of diverse faith and cultural backgrounds. He was an active voice and force for peace within the interfaith movement, through numerous organizations, such as the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Rabbis for Human Rights, and others. He actively engaged in conversation and dialogue with Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Native Americans. Hirschfield believed that peace may not come from the political process, but from individuals' desire to create peace themselves. He was an equal rights activist, and P’nai Or was a welcoming home for many in the GLBT community.

Hirschfield was also known for his love of the natural world--hiking, planting, and tending his backyard vegetable garden, a metaphor for how he nurtured the individuals in his congregation, regardless of age. Ruth Friedel, a friend of forty years, says, "This was a man who walked his talk, who reviewed his relationships with people and continually worked on them and on his own behavior…he was thoughtful and immensely kind.  He read and researched and wove sophisticated psychology into his knowledge of Judiasm, making his sermons personal and relevant…and always a little mischievous and funny.  He was a man of extraordinary depth and breadth."

Reb Aryeh, as he was known among his congregants, will be deeply mourned and missed, but his spirit will continue to grow and increase in the continued work of the two congregations he breathed life into and within the interfaith communities for whom he was a voice of light, peace, and strength. In his own words, from the Chanukah edition of the P'nai Or newsletter, Hirschfield says:

"I think about this infinite light every year during the Chanukah candlelighting. I also think of how one candle can light an infinite number of candles and its light not be diminished."

May the light of Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield--teacher, song-maker, story-teller, bridge-builder, peacemaker, father, husband, and friend--expand ever outwards, radiating the light of peace throughout all worlds.

Donations in support of Rabbi Aryeh’s spiritual legacy are tax-deductible. Please make checks out to “P’nai Or of Portland” and specify “Reb Aryeh Legacy Fund” on the check. Please mail contributions to:

May his memory be for blessing.

Contact: Cassandra Sagan

P'nai Or of Portland

503-292-7044

cassandra@ukemama.com