The EUPJ mourns the death of Rabbi Prof Walter Jacob at the age of 94. Rabbi Jacob made a significant contribution to the rebirth of progressive Judaism in Germany. In 1999, he became the founder of the Abraham Geiger College at the University of Potsdam, the first liberal rabbinical seminary in continental Europe after the Shoah and served as its president until his death. As President of the American Friends of the Union of Progressive Jews in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, he also provided the financial basis for the early years of the college. Rabbi Jacob Jacob held numerous other honorary positions during his rabbinical career. From 1992 to 1994 he served as President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and from 1990 to 1994 as Vice President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. He was also an overseer of Hebrew Union College, chairman of the Publications Committee of Hebrew Union College Press (1976-1999), and chairman of the Associated American Jewish Museums. Throughout his life, he was guided by the words of Isaiah: “Arise, shine, for your light has come”, knowing that “darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples.”

A true keeper of the flame, Walter Jacob was recognized for his achievements in many ways. He was granted an honorary doctorate from Hebrew Union College in 1975 and a second one from Drury College in 1990. In 2002, An American Rabbinate: A Festschrift for Walter Jacob, edited by Peter S. Knobel and Mark N. Staitman, was published in his honour. For his efforts as founder of the first German rabbinical seminary after the Shoah, Rabbi Jacob was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany as well as a professorship from the State of Brandenburg and was made Commander of the Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope John Paul II. He also received the Israel Jacobson Prize from the Union of Progressive Jews in Germany in 2003. Since 2021, the seat of the Abraham Geiger College in Potsdam has been named the “Walter Jacob Building.” In April 2024, the Liberal Rabbinical Association of Germany named him an honorary member in recognition of his outstanding services to liberal Judaism and rabbinical training in Germany.

Rabbi Lea Mühlstein, chair of the EUPJ, recalls her memories of Rabbi Jacob: “Walter Jacob came to Germany in 1996 and served as honorary rabbi of the liberal Jewish congregation Beth Shalom in Munich and so he became our family’s rabbi. Under his loving long-distance guidance, he ushered me (and later my two sisters) through the preparations for my Bat Mitzvah – in those days that involved long-distance phone calls and recordings on cassette. I was privileged to know Walter not just as an outstanding leader in our movement but as a warm and caring rabbi deeply committed to passing on his love of Judaism to others. I am certain that if our paths had not crossed, I would not be a rabbi today. I’m grateful that we stayed in touch and always looked forward to the email from Walter that would arrive whenever some of my writings were published. A deep thinker, he always had some important reflections to share but, above all, he was a true mentsch who took great joy from seeing other people succeed.”

Zichrono livracha – may Rabbi Prof Walter Jacob’s memory serve as a blessing to all of us.

Rabbi Walter Jacob with Rabbi Lea Mühlstein at her Bat Mitzvah in Munich, Germany in 1997