Rabbi Bernard Bloom

Rabbi Bernard H. Bloom, “Bert,” passed away on Sunday morning, May 28 at the age of 93 in the kind care of hospice at Saratoga Hospital due to advanced dementia.

Born Hyman Bert Bloom on June 29th 1929 in Toronto, Canada, his first language was Yiddish. He was the first generation of his family to be born in Canada, as his parents came from Poland and Ukraine to escape persecution in the early 20th century. He loved to read and told stories to his children and grandchildren about taking the streetcar to the library to check out books that he would read while his father worked in his tailor shop below their apartment. He and his wife Bailey shared a common experience of growing up as part of a large extended family where there were always lively and sometimes intense debates about everything! He shared that love of family and love of discourse with his children and grandchildren and with others throughout his life.

Bert was predeceased by his parents, Sarah (Meslin) Bloom and Morris Bloom, along with his younger brother, Seymour (who died of Crohn’s Disease at the age of 16). He is survived by his wife of 65 wonderful years Bailey (Iscove) Bloom, his three children, Jeremy (Dale) Bloom, Margo (Jeff) Olson, and Joel (Julie Novkov) Bloom, and his grandchildren, Jaffa (Christopher) Jung, Sarice Olson, and Izak Olson; Asher, Shira, and Zachary Novkov-Bloom, and Marlowe Bloom.

In his youth and college years, Rabbi Bloom was active in Jewish summer camps in Ontario, Canada, including Jungwelt and Camp Ogama (where he met the love of his life, Bailey Iscove). At University he became involved in the campus Hillel, where he found his true calling in life. While his younger brother’s tragic death inspired him to major in Biochemistry at the University of Toronto, rather than going into medical research he decided to pursue a life of community leadership and social justice activism. He had to convince the admissions board at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati that he would be a good fit for their rabbinic program, even though he had been a science major in college and had little formal Jewish educational training as the son of two members of the Workers’ Circle. He received his Master’s degree in Hebrew Letters in 1957 and was ordained as a Rabbi in the Reform movement. Later in his career he was conferred a Doctorate in Hebrew Letters.

Right after his ordination he and Bailey were married and moved to the U.S. to start their life together as a couple and launch his rabbinic career. His first job was in Nashville, Tennessee, they then moved to Lexington, Massachusetts (where he was founding Rabbi of Temple Isaiah), then to Asheville, North Carolina and Chicago, Illinois. In 1968 he became the Associate Rabbi at Congregation Beth Emeth in Albany, New York. When he was offered the role of lead rabbi at Beth Emeth, he worked with the temple board to implement an innovative idea, establishing an equal Co-Rabbinate instead of the more traditional senior/junior hierarchical setup.

After remaining at Beth Emeth for sixteen years, he concluded his rabbinic career at Congregation Gates of Heaven in Schenectady, where he served as Rabbi for 11 years, and then as Rabbi Emeritus after his retirement.

During his early career In the late 1950s and 60s, Bert was one of the first American rabbis to play guitar on the pulpit. Music was integral in his life and he was especially drawn to folk and classical music. He listened to the music of the Weavers and Pete Seeger and shared their passion for social causes and humanitarian rights. With his love of music, he and Bailey were regular fixtures at concerts at Union College and the Albany Symphony Orchestra, and could be found during the summer enjoying the ballet, orchestra, and opera at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Tanglewood. He shared this love of music with his children and grandchildren who were often on the lawn at SPAC or attending concerts or plays with him.

He was deeply involved in Jewish education, working with all ages to share his love and knowledge of Jewish history, culture, and religion. He developed curricula for middle school and high school students, and taught for many years at Siena College. He also developed and taught courses on Judaism geared towards people interested in converting to Judaism or marrying Jewish partners. In retirement he continued as an educator by developing and teaching popular courses at the Academy for Lifelong Learning in Saratoga. He was also an enthusiastic, pioneering leader in the Reform Jewish Youth movement, including stints at Camp Coleman (Georgia), Olin Sang Ruby Union Institute Camp (Wisconsin), Camp Eisner (Massachusetts), and Kutz Camp (New York). He was also involved in the National Federation of Temple Youth.

A leader in social justice and interfaith dialogue, he was instrumental in the groundbreaking work in the Catholic-Jewish dialogue with the Albany archdiocese. This work was replicated in communities around the country and continues to this day.

His social justice work spanned many causes over his career and included working for racial justice, reproductive rights, aiding refusniks in the Soviet Union, and more. He was a well-known figure in both the Capital Region Jewish and broader communities, serving as President of the Capital District Board of Rabbis and other community organizations. 

During his decades in the rabbinate, Rabbi Bloom gave over a thousand sermons and officiated at an untold number of bar and bat mitzvahs, weddings, baby namings, funerals, conversions and other life cycle events, including his caring visits to patients in local hospitals and to grieving families.

While his work and dedication to the Jewish community could be time consuming, he always made time for the people that he loved. Almost every family vacation entailed the seven-hour drive to Toronto to visit parents, grandparents, cousins, and the extended family. He wanted to be sure that his kids and then grandkids knew their relatives and enjoyed the community in which he grew up.

Once he retired, he had more time to do the things he loved. He traveled the world with Bailey, spent winters in Mexico, attended concerts and plays, and enjoyed Saratoga and the Berkshires and of course, spent time with his children and grandchildren. Much of that changed after his diagnosis of dementia.

For his whole life, his quick wit, intellect, and thought-provoking views were his hallmark. From his youthful days at Camp Ogama where he and the other counselors crafted clever satirical musicals to perform for the campers, to his rabbinical career where he was known for his masterfully written and presented sermons, he was a man of thoughts, ideas, and well-chosen words. The hundreds of sermons that he wrote and delivered over the span of his rabbinate were contemporary and topical, historical or spiritual, and deeply personal, but they reflected his extraordinary ability to take his listeners on a journey from the opening sentences to the closing thoughts, where they gained new insights and appreciation for that week’s lesson. His life was defined by his way with words. He used his words to educate, to comfort, to inspire, and very often, to make people laugh. The tragic irony of his dementia diagnosis was that the first casualty of the disease was his speech.

Rabbi Bert Bloom touched the lives of many thousands; he will be missed.

There will be a private graveside service this week, with a community memorial service to take place in the coming months.

A minyan will be held via Zoom on Wednesday May 31st at 6:00 pm and can be joined by clicking the link below:

Rabbi Bert Bloom Minyan

Contributions to causes that were important to him can be made in his memory to the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York, the New Israel Fund, to your local synagogue, or to a Jewish or social justice cause that has meaning to you.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Rabbi Bernard Bloom, please visit our floral store.