 |
Rabbi Stuart Kelman February 13, 1942 – June 1, 2026 |
Rabbi Stuart Kelman, z”tl, was President of Kavod v’Nichum from 2007-2010, and the Founding Dean of the Gamliel Institute, which had profound impact on Chevrah Kadisha education. As founding rabbi of Netivot Shalom (1989), a unique participatory synagogue, he was responsible for the creation of the synagogue’s Chevrah Kadisha and he published five Chevrah Kadisha-related books, including Nichum Aveilim, on how to be a comforter to a mourner, and Chesed Shel Emet (delving into an extensive analysis of the taharah liturgy) with Dan Fendel, Take My Hand, a guide for the bereaved, and Divrei Nichum – Comforting Words During Times of Loss: A Collection of Poems for Mourners with Lisa Rappaport. Rabbi Kelman was also a pioneer in the Jewish green burial movement, instrumental in creating Gan Yarok in Marin County, the country’s first environmentally focused Jewish cemetery.
He was a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary and taught at the Hebrew Union College. He had extensive experience in all parts of the Jewish community, from working at Jewish camps to helping develop The Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE). His PhD was in Sociology of Education. Rabbi Kelman was a guiding light in the Jewish community throughout North America whose death impacts us all. His obituary below gives a more complete list of his accomplishments.
Links to Obituary and Funeral
- Read his obituary here
- Read the text of his eulogy by Rabbi Chai Levy here
- View the recording of his funeral here
- View the recording of the Remembrance Sharing by colleagues and students here
Blessings for Rabbi Kelman based on the Chamol prayer, by Matt Harle
Drash on Vayechi by Rabbi Kelman from December 2021
Links to Recordings of Rabbi Kelman Teaching
- Tractate Smachot, Part I (August 22, 2023)
- Tractate Smachot, Part II (August 29, 2023)
- Tractate Smachot, Part III (September 5, 2023)
- Tractate Smachot, Part IV (September 12, 2023)
- How Does Kaddish Work as a Prayer of Remembrance? (August 26, 2025)
- Taharah Liturgy Part I (June 15, 2021)
- Taharah Liturgy Part II (June 16, 2021)
- Gamliel Institute: Reflections on the First Decade (June 10, 2020)
- The Chevrah Unique Role: Understanding the Spiritual Aspects of Life in Coronavirus Age (June 8, 2020)
- Chevrah Kadisha: The Future (June 16, 2021)
- Walking in the Valley of the Shadow and Not Being Afraid: Dying, Death, and Burial: What Jews Do (February 10, 2019)
- Sperber (October 18, 2018)
- Coco the Movie and Jewish Death Practices (June 21, 2018)
- Taste of Gamliel – You’re Gonna Miss Me (March 4, 2018)
