Andrew Guckes | Staff Writer
Rabbi Lance Sussman is a well-known figure in the American Reform Jewish movement, particularly at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, where he served as rabbi for more than two decades.
Now KI’s rabbi emeritus, Sussman will return to the congregation’s bimah on May 7 to present and discuss the final book in his “Portraits” trilogy. “Portrait of a Rabbi Historian” follows “Portrait of an American Rabbi” and “Portrait of a Reform Rabbi.”
The event — run by Keneseth Israel’s library — will also feature Dan Tadmor, CEO of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History. Linda Roth, the head of the KI library, said that this event is a thank you to the rabbi who served the congregation for so many years.
“[Rabbi Sussman] is a great friend of the library. We have a very close relationship. When he was rabbi here, he made use of the library a lot,” she said. “When he has written and published his books, we have liked to honor that and hear his words of wisdom.”
Sussman released “Portrait of a Rabbi Historian” earlier this year, following the first two releases in the trilogy in 2023 and 2024. Each of the three is a compilation of previous writings. He shares lessons learned from his time as a rabbi and as an educator at universities like Princeton, Rutgers and SUNY Binghamton. While the first two books were important to him, he is especially excited to share this one because of how deeply it digs into the history of Reform Judaism.
“I grew up Reform, I was ordained Reform and I practiced Reform. I am somewhat of a Reform historian,” he said. “So many Jews are modernized and Americanized, and they need a Judaism that will work for them in a living way, in a way that they can convey to their children.”
For Sussman, Reform Judaism is often misunderstood as a movement for those who want to blend in, when in reality it can be just the opposite.
“It’s an antiassimilation ideology often confused as being assimilationist, but in fact, it is an alternative to assimilation,” Sussman said. “Reform is committed to adaptation to time and place. Culture changes, and there are certain things about Judaism that are constant and there are other things that, if you tweak them, perhaps they’ll be more appealing to [another] generation.”
Sussman said that his model for this trilogy was work he did for a Ph.D. The thoughts are organized around the theme, but they also serve as a roadmap for how he led Keneseth Israel for so long.
“It’s a record of what you did; it’s a journal of the times. You can’t remember day-to-day the things you’re reacting to, but this literally gives you a pulpit diary, so to speak,” he said.
“He is just a shining light in our community, and his books are a living legacy for him,” Roth said. “We’re all excited — Rabbi [Benjamin] David is wonderful, but we always think it’s nice to hear from Rabbi Sussman, who was our rabbi for so long.”
One of the ideas that Sussman wants to impart is that Reform Judaism is just as valid a movement as any other.
“Reform officially began in the early 19th century, and it essentially has been parallel to the Hasidic movement,” he said. “Just on the other end of the football field of Jewish life.”
Sussman said one idea that is key to Reform Judaism is progressive revelation. What it means is that our understanding of God’s word is meant to be revealed over time. In practice, it helps Jews of all kinds identify how to live their best version of the religion.
“The purpose of Reform is to help people practice Judaism in their own lives,” Sussman said.
The event’s inclusion of Weitzman CEO Dan Tadmor is necessary, Sussman said. He said that he has a track record of preserving the type of information that Sussman documents in his trilogy of books.
“He comes to us from Israel, where he was the CEO of [the ANU Museum of the Jewish People], which is one of the great museums of the world, as is the Weitzman,” Sussman said. “To celebrate my book, we thought it would be important to have a gatekeeper in the world of Jewish memory, and here is a man who has helped sustain and expand two of the major institutions of Jewish memory. Hopefully, by telling us about the work of the museum he’s now heading, he can put [my books] in a bigger context.”
While this feels like the end of one process, it is the beginning of another: Sussman said he cannot wait to publish his next book, a biography of Rabbi Isaac Leeser.
“It’s a massive project that is going to take about two years to complete,” he said.
Sussman was raised down the road in Baltimore, but he said that this event is one more example of the ties he has created to his adopted home.
“Even though I am not from here, my work focused on the history of Jewish Philadelphia,” he said.