Arthur Waskow has passed away on October 20, 2025, at his home in Philadelphia. He was 92 years old.
Last Updated on 1 week by Vijay Kumar
Arthur Waskow, a pioneering American Jewish thinker, author, and activist whose work bridged spirituality with social and environmental justice, passed away on October 20, 2025, at his home in Philadelphia. He was 92 years old. 
Waskow was best known as a leading figure of the Jewish Renewal movement, which sought to infuse Jewish life with creativity, inclusion, and a deep commitment to justice. He was the founder and longtime director of The Shalom Center, an organization devoted to peace, ecology, and social transformation.
Arthur Irwin Waskow was born on October 12, 1933, in Baltimore, Maryland. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1954 and a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1963.
In his early years, Waskow worked as a policy analyst and historian, contributing to studies on race relations, nuclear policy, and American democracy. But the social upheavals of the 1960s — particularly the civil-rights movement and the Vietnam War — pushed him toward activism.
Waskow first came to national attention in 1969 when he wrote the “Freedom Seder,” a reinterpretation of the traditional Jewish Passover meal that linked the biblical story of the Israelites’ liberation from Egypt to contemporary struggles for civil rights and peace in America.
In the decades that followed, Waskow became one of the most outspoken progressive voices in American Judaism. He was arrested more than two dozen times while participating in demonstrations for civil rights, environmental justice, and immigrant rights.
In 1983, he founded The Shalom Center, an organization dedicated to addressing issues of peace, justice, and ecology through a Jewish lens. His advocacy extended to climate change, where he became an early proponent of what is now called “eco-Judaism,” integrating ecological awareness into Jewish theology and ritual life.
Over his lifetime, Waskow authored more than two dozen books, including Godwrestling, Torah of the Earth, Seasons of Our Joy, and Dancing in God’s Earthquake. His writings combined scholarship with activism, emphasizing the moral responsibility of faith communities to act against injustice.
Waskow was also a teacher and mentor to generations of rabbis and activists. Though not ordained until later in life, he was affectionately called “Reb Arthur” within the Jewish Renewal movement. He co-founded ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal alongside Rabbi Zalman Schachter‑Shalomi.
He is survived by his wife, Rabbi Phyllis Berman, a son, David Waskow, a daughter, Shoshana Elkin Waskow, stepchildren Josh Sher and Morissa Wiser, their spouses, and five grandchildren.
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