Dear Moment board members, friends, readers and all the members of our community,
It is with deep sadness that we at Moment Magazine mark the passing of our dear friend Rabbi Harold S. White. A member of our board since 2008, Rabbi White was a mentor to me, a friend to our staff and an inspiration for our work. In 2009, it was our great honor to launch a fellowship in his name—the Rabbi Harold S. White Fellowship—to train young journalists to write thoughtfully about the Jewish world. Rabbi White believed deeply that the Jewish community deserved first-rate, independent journalism that would expand their knowledge of Judaism, Jewish history and culture, Israel and the Middle East. It is a goal we at Moment work hard to meet every day and will continue to in his memory. He was a frequent visitor to our office, where he loved to talk with his namesake fellows, staff members and volunteers.
Rabbi White shared the values of Moment—that wide, inclusive and open conversation strengthen the Jewish world. These values embodied his life’s work.
In one of his last letters about Moment‘s Rabbi Harold S. White Fellowship, he wrote, “The fellowship was my idea and something I dearly love…As an octogenarian I am concerned about the legacies that I can ensure. Momentis certainly one that is dear to both my heart and mind.”
Rabbi White was the proud co-chair of last year’s 90th Birthday Celebration for Theodore Bikel and was currently co-chairing this year’s Moment’s 40th Anniversary Gala on November 15th. We are grateful for how much Rabbi White cared about Moment in his lifetime and deeply honored to be entrusted with part of his legacy.
This is a deep loss for me and for all of us at Moment. Harold was family to so many of us. Not only did he officiate at my wedding, he became a close, personal friend. It is still hard to believe that he won’t reappear in theMoment office, full of stories about recent travels or adventures. He had so many.
Please send us your Rabbi White memories and stories, photos, even short videos, that we can use as part of a commemoration project. Send them to Johnna Raskin at jraskin@momentmag.com or mail them to Nadine Epstein, 4115 Wisconsin Avenue LL10, Washington, D.C. 20016. We will be celebrating his life as part of our upcoming November 15 gala, and will be in touch soon with details.
Contributions in honor of Rabbi White may be sent to the Rabbi Harold S. White Fellowship Fund c/o Moment Magazine, 4115 Wisconsin Avenue LL10, Washington, D.C. 20016, or click here.
Editor and Publisher