Ben Zion Bokser

Ben-Zion Bokser (July 4, 1907 – January 30, 1984) was a major Conservative rabbi in the United States.

Biography Bokser was born in Liuboml, Poland (now Ukraine). He immigrated to the United States at the age of 13 in 1920. He attended City College of New York (BA, 1928) and Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Theological Seminary, followed by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (ordained, 1931) and Columbia University (PhD, 1935). He taught for many years as an adjunct professor of political science, Queens College, City University of New York.

Bokser was an advocate of social justice, taking a position in favor of the construction of a housing project for the poor in the middle-class community of Forest Hills. During this episode, called the Forest Hills housing controversy 1966–1972, he was in constant contact with many leading politicians and building developers.

He fought against the death penalty in New York state.

He served as a program editor for the Eternal Light, the Jewish Theological Seminary's radio program; a lecturer on homiletics; and a participant in the Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion and the Institute for Religious and Social Studies, both seminary-run programs.

Bokser heard Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook speak in New York in 1924 and became an avid student and great proponent of his teachings. Bokser translated and published a number of Rabbi Kook's writings.

He served as chair of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly from 1959 to 1960, 1963–1965, and 1980–1984.

His responsum against capital punishment is cited often.

In 1981, he advocated holding bat mitzvah ceremonies for girls on Sabbath morning in the main sanctuary. His synagogue was still traditional to the point that he received a public outcry in the local press and letters to him.

In 1983, he permitted holding funerals in a synagogue. Jews, Judaism, and the State of Israel (1973) Abraham Isaac Kook: The Lights of Penitence, Lights of Holiness: The Moral Principles, Essays, Letters and Poems, translation and introduction by Ben Zion Bokser, from the Classics of Western Spirituality., Paulist Press, Inc., New York / Mahwah, N.J. The Essential Writings of Abraham Isaac Kook (Ben Yehuda Press (reprint), 2006)

Awards 1964: National Jewish Book Award in the Jewish Thought category for Judaism: Profile of a Faith