Rabbi Eliezer Diamond Dies at 73

Beloved Teacher: With great sorrow, Abq Jew announces the passing - one week ago today - of one of his first Torah (in the general sense) and (more specifically) Talmud teachers, Rabbi Eliezer Diamond.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reports:

Rabbi Eliezer Diamond, beloved Jewish Theological Seminary professor and author, dies at 73

Over his illustrious career as a rabbinic scholar, Diamond mentored generations of rabbis.

Rabbi Eliezer Diamond, who taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary for over three decades and left an indelible mark on generations of rabbis and Jewish scholars, has died.

Diamond died Thursday at 73, following several years battling multiple forms of cancer.

Born in 1952, Diamond received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and rabbinical ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University from 1968 to 1977.

But it was at JTS, the Conservative flagship in New York City, where Diamond earned his doctorate in Talmud and was the Rabbi Judah Nadich Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, that his talents for mentorship and teaching flourished.

Yes, Abq Jew was also at JTS, the Conservative flagship in New York City. But Abq Jew never had the privilege of learning with Rabbi Diamond there.

But Abq Jew did have the privilege of learning with Eliezer Diamond at NYC's Orthodox flagship, the famed Lincoln Square Synagogue (the old building, as pictured) during the summer of 1974.

Here is how Lincoln Square Synagogue got started:

In 1964, in the living room of Emma and Danny Mars's apartment in Lincoln Towers, a part-time rabbi from Yeshiva University named Steven Riskin took the budding Lincoln Square Conservative Synagogue by storm. 

 His originality, charm and boundless energy captivated members and moved them to a more traditionally observant Judaism, in turn sparking a growing Jewish renaissance on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Before long, a new synagogue-in-the round made its debut at 200 Amsterdam Avenue, and the excitement at the renamed Lincoln Square Synagogue brought hundreds of young single professionals to the neighborhood, creating a vibrant scene for mixing and matching. 

 

Young families were also drawn to LSS, attracted by the dazzling teachings of Rabbi Riskin, assisted by Rabbi Herschel Cohen z”l and Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, and the gorgeous melodies of Cantor Sherwood Goffin. 

 

“The New Orthodox” they called it on the cover of New York Magazine. Who knew? 

 

But as members struggled to navigate between the laws of Jewish tradition and the secular values of the surrounding society, Lincoln Square Synagogue began to see its destiny.

In the summer of 1974, Eliezer Diamond was "just" a YU rabbinical student; Abq Jew was newly arrived from California with little formal Jewish education; and Lincoln Square Synagogue was just getting started.

Just down the street from the temples of high culture at Lincoln Center, Lincoln Square Synagogue quickly established itself as a temple of an innovative kind, showcasing the classical and the contemporary, history and modernity. 

 

With joy and pride, the challenges of present-day living were brought into harmony with the ancient traditions passed down through the generations. 

 

The sacred liturgical texts of tefillah were infused with a new vitality as haunting, time-honored melodies shared the stage with the music of Shlomo Carlebach and The Rabbi’s Sons. 

 

The thirst for wisdom was quenched with the scholarship of Rashi and Rambam blended with the insights of 20th-century thinkers like Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook and Rabbi Joseph Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik. 

 

Everything old was new again.

But Rabbi Steve Riskin was already Rabbi Steve Riskin - the NYC go-to guy if you were young, Jewish, and wanted to learn. Literally! When Abq Jew was searching, everyone told him: Go to Riskin! 

Here is what Wikipedia tells us:

Steven Riskin graduated valedictorian, summa cum laude, from Yeshiva University in 1960, where he received rabbinic ordination under the guidance of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik.

At the age of 23, Riskin became the founding rabbi of Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York City and served in that position until 1983. Rabbi Riskin transformed the Conservative minyan into one of New York's most innovative and dynamic Orthodox communities. 

 

The synagogue became particularly well known for its pioneering outreach programs which inspired many secular people to become religiously observant Orthodox Jews.

In 1983, Steve Riskin became Shlomo Riskin when he immigrated to the Israeli settlement of Efrat in Judea with his family. There he became the founding Chief Rabbi, a position he held until 2020.

Eliezer Diamond, of blessed memory, was one of a very small number of YU rabbinical students who Rabbi Steve Riskin brought to LSS in 1974 to instruct and guide and, perhaps, inspire us - an only slightly larger group of young, searching Jewish semi-professionals - in a summer of engagement and learning.

That is where Abq Jew first met Eliezer Diamond, and it is from those days that Abq Jew fondly remembers him. After all these years.

And from those who knew Rabbi Eliezer Diamond more closely, a note from JTS Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz:

Dear JTS Community,

The Jewish Theological Seminary joins colleagues, friends, family, and students in mourning the passing of Rabbi Eliezer Diamond z”l, the Rabbi Judah Nadich Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, who died last evening at home.   

Rabbi Diamond was an honored scholar, trusted religious and spiritual leader, and transformational Talmudist. 

Rabbi Diamond taught courses in Talmud and Rabbinics at JTS for more than 35 years, retiring approximately one year ago. 

Generations of students were profoundly shaped by his inspiring teaching. His influential writings on prayer, asceticism, rabbinic narrative, and issues of environmental law and ethics have enriched the broader Jewish world. He is the author of Holy Men and Hunger Artists: Fasting and Asceticism in Rabbinic Culture and was at work editing a commentary on Yerushalmi Pesahim written by JTS Professor Louis Ginzberg (z”l). 

Rabbi Diamond was not only an intellectual powerhouse, but had a deeply spiritual core. The combination of his intellect and his sensitivity gave him a unique perspective on how to analyze texts, approach the liturgy, and live as an observant Jew.  As a dean, I saw at close range for decades how devoted he was to his teaching and to his students.  

Provost Jeff Kress shared that Rabbi Diamond’s passing is a profound loss to our community. He said, “The gift of Eliezer was not only in how much he knew, but in how generously he shared that knowledge with all those around him.” 

Rabbi Diamond received his BA, MS, and Rabbinic Ordination from Yeshiva University and earned his PhD in Talmud at JTS. 

We know that many outside the JTS community are grieving as well since Rabbi Diamond’s impact extended far beyond our campus. Students at Stern College, Hadar, Drisha Institute, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, the 92nd Street Y, and several Ramah camps were fortunate to learn from him throughout his long career. 

May Rabbi Diamond’s memory always serve as a blessing for all those whose lives he touched. 

 

Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz