H EADLINES
Rabbi Simeon
Maslin with his
wife Judith
Courtesy of Judith
Maslin complex community,” Sussman
said. “To navigate it, you have
to know the people.”
Sussman appreciated the
relationship not only because it
helped him, but because it was
cool for him. He was engaging
with one of his role models in
the Reform movement.

KI’s current rabbi read
“Gates of Mitzvah” before
he ever met Maslin. And
he credited the book with
deepening and revitalizing
Reform Judaism.

Reform Judaism is about
navigating cultural change
and keeping the religion
relevant to each new gener-
ation, according to Sussman.

For most of the movement’s
history, starting in the 1800s,
its leaders succeeded.

At a Pittsburgh convention
in the 1880s, they affi rmed
the concept of God, rejected
kashrut and described the
Jewish experience as religious,
not national or ethnic. During
a Columbus, Ohio, gathering
in the 1930s, leaders moved in
the direction of Zionism and
the idea of Jewish peoplehood.

Th en in the 1970s, they
supported the Civil Rights
Movement while resisting the
Vietnam War. But aft er that,
the Reform movement fell
into a malaise, according to
Sussman. “We’re not marching in the
streets now,” he said. “Where
am I going to go?”
It was Maslin who provided
the answer in “Gates of
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Mitzvah.” Focus on the
timeless traditions that make
up a Jewish life.

“He played that role of
reintroducing tradition into
Reform Judaism,” Sussman said.

Born in 1931 in Winthrop,
Massachusetts, near Boston,
the rabbi graduated from
Harvard University. He became
ordained in 1957 at Hebrew
Union College in Cincinnati.

Th rough his travels, he
stayed close to his hometown,
vacationing in Maine with
his family. He loved boating,
fi shing, the Boston Red Sox and
going on long Sunday drives.

As a retiree, he conducted High
Holiday services at Bowdoin
College in Brunswick, Maine.

But what he perhaps loved
most was spending time with
his grandchildren. During her
eulogy at Maslin’s funeral,
Galia Godel, Maslin’s grand-
daughter, talked fondly of
spending Maine mornings
with him at the Bookland Cafe.

Th ey would eat lox or white-
fi sh on bagels and then read
while sitting together; Galia
preferred books while grandpa
preferred the newspaper.

“I felt so special and grown-
up, that he took me with
him, and was more than a bit
chagrined this week to receive
the same anecdote from more
than one cousin,” Godel told
the audience at KI. “He made
each of us feel special.” ●
February 27, 2022
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