Rabbi Morris B. Margolies, a beloved rabbi, scholar, teacher and social activist, passed away Nov. 9, 2012, in Kansas City. He was 90. Services were held Nov. 12 at Kehilath Israel Synagogue. Interment followed at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.
From 1949-1951, he was the senior rabbi at the old BMH in Denver.
According to the Kansas City Star, Margolies was known for his deep intellect and devotion to learning, as well as his work for equality and social justice.
Some people didnt always agree with him, but he had to speak up, Todd Stettner, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Kansas City, told the Star.
He was driven to do what he thought was right morally and ethically, and he was certainly not afraid to stand up for his beliefs.
Margolies served as senior rabbi at Beth Shalom, a Conservative synagogue, from 1961 until he retired 25 years later. Despite his retirement, he remained active in the community.
Professor of Jewish history at the University of Kansas until 1993, he authored numerous books including Twenty Twenty: Jewish Visionaries Through Two Thousand Years.
In 2007, when the Dead Sea Scrolls came to Kansas City, Margolies helped as a scholar-curator of the exhibit, saying he hoped the two-millennium-old texts would awe and inspire people.
Instead of reading The Da Vinci Code, which is fiction, they can read something which is alive, he said.
Born in Jerusalem in 1921, he arrived in the US eight years later with his parents.
Margolies graduated Yeshiva University and received his Orthodox smicha from the late Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik.
He earned an MA in English literature from the University of Chicago in 1946 and a PhD in Jewish history from Columbia in 1976.
From 1951-1952, he served as a US Army chaplain in Korea.
Rabbi Margolies is survived by Ruth Margolies, his wife of 60 years; three children; six grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and one brother.
Donations may be made the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, 5801 115th St., #102, Overland Park, KS 66211 or www.hbha.edu.
Kansas City Star and IJN
Copyright © 2012 by the Intermountain Jewish News
