Eleanor Lewis: A wise, insightful, pragmatic Jewish leader who will be missed

I had the honor of being on The Voice-Herald Editorial Board for several years as a representative of the Rhode Island Board of Rabbis. Eleanor Lewis served as Editorial Board chair during a number of those years. The entire board greatly respected her work because she was always fair, reasoned and even-handed – and she would also inject her dry sense of humor. 

Lewis, who died Dec. 24, performed her role admirably even when tense, delicate and difficult issues arose. She, along with her dear friend and Editorial Board chair predecessor, Joshua Stein, of blessed memory, wanted to make The Voice the “newspaper of record” for the Rhode Island Jewish community. That meant that Elly and Josh solicited columns from diverse writers, including professors and thinkers, who were interesting and provocative, as well as thoughtful and honest.

Elly invited writers to express a wide variety of opinions and viewpoints, which were not necessarily those of the “organized Jewish community,” on such controversial topics as Israeli politics and intermarriage.

I recall the board dealing with questions of whether to accept paid advertisements from non-Kosher establishments or those offering intermarriage ceremonies. Those discussions were fascinating, and often heated, but respectful, due to Elly’s calm and rational approach.

Even after she retired as chair, she would correspond privately with the editors of The Voice, expressing her ideas, and sometimes critiquing articles, honestly and respectfully.

I knew Elly in other contexts as well. When I was head of the Alperin-Schechter School (now the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island), Elly was the music teacher. Elly, who really loved music, thought deeply about everything in school related to music.

One time she wanted an alternative to the classic Thanksgiving song “We Gather Together” that had a little bit of a Jewish twist. She did some research and came up with a rather obscure Colonial tune to the 100th Psalm – the Thanksgiving Psalm – which she taught, and it became our traditional school Thanksgiving song.

But one of the most important roles Elly played in school was as the lead representative from the faculty to the board. Her even-tempered and level-headed approach to problems and issues was crucial and significant in maintaining a positive relationship between the board and the faculty.

Some of my best memories of Elly came in our parashah class on the weekly Torah portion. Elly loved the class, and she brought her intellectual approach to our group. She also presented a practical and rational point of view on the interpretation of the text. That was the way she approached life in general: pragmatic, down to earth, insightful.

Always in search of diverse opinions, Elly studied two translations and commentaries so she could get multiple perspectives on the story we were studying.

Whenever we came to the more challenging parts of the Bible, such as the details of sacrifices in Leviticus, Elly would roll her eyes a bit, but then when we discussed the deeper issues that were behind some of those rituals – spirituality, connections between life and death – she would jump right in to the discussion.

Personally, Elly was devoted to her family and often spoke about her children and grandchildren with great pride. Her son, Steven, relates this story, which typifies Elly’s total honesty:

“As subscribers to Time Magazine, Time Life Books sent us a complimentary world atlas, and then the following week, sent us another atlas. We had a family meeting to decide on our response. By an overwhelming majority, three to one, over my mother’s strenuous objections, we decided to keep both atlases.

“That, my father, sister and I thought, was the end of it, until we received a letter from Time Life Books: ‘Dear Lewis Family, Thank you for informing us of our error in sending you an extra atlas. Please return the extra atlas to the following address…’. She wrote them a letter! I can just see her sitting at her desk writing it – sneaky and righteous. She betrayed the family! She just couldn’t stand to live in a house with an erroneously acquired atlas!”

Elly was devoted to friends as well. When local journalist Yehuda Lev became ill and was confined to a nursing home, Elly visited him weekly. When her dear friend Liz Hollander became ill, she would study Bible with her. Elly traveled to the Midwest to see her longtime friend before she died. She did all of this quietly, without fanfare.

Toby London, who served on the Editorial Board for many years, and became its chair, recalled other aspects of Elly’s personal life: “She was a fabulous hostess – whether it was a coffee, a dinner party, a political gathering or a Voice retreat. The food was always delicious – and I especially looked forward to sampling her homemade gravlax. She enjoyed using lovely dishes, flatware and glassware, and even the coffee mugs were beautiful. And she stimulated such interesting conversation among her guests.

“I’m very lucky that she was always there for me when I chaired The Voice, keeping me calm.”

In thinking about Elly’s impact on The Voice and on our community, I recall the rabbinic comment on the phrase “and Jacob departed from Beersheba”: “The departure of a righteous person from a city leaves its mark – gone is its glow, gone is its honor, gone is its glory.”

Certainly Elly Lewis’s departure from this city and from this world has had an impact -– gone is some of the glory that she brought, gone is the honor and dignity that surrounded her demeanor, and gone is the glow of her light. But her legacy will always remain as a blessing.

ALVAN KAUNFER is rabbi emeritus of Temple Emanu-El in Providence.