Henry Sobel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Henry Sobel
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Sobel in 2006
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| Born |
Henry Isaac Sobel
9 January 1944 |
| Died | 22 November 2019 (aged 75) |
| Occupation | Rabbi |
Henry Isaac Sobel (Lisbon, 9 January 1944 – Miami, 22 November 2019) was a Portuguese-American Reform rabbi, and was president of the Congregação Israelita Paulista (CIP), a major Jewish congregation in São Paulo, Brazil.
Biography
Son of Ashkenazi Jews who fled the Nazi persecution during the World War II (Belgian father and Polish mother), Sobel was born in Lisbon, Portugal. While he was an infant his family moved to New York City where he grew up and was eventually ordained a reform rabbi in 1970. In the same year, he accepted an invitation to be the rabbi at Congregação Israelita Paulista and established himself in São Paulo, Brazil. In his own words, it "made possible my actuation in the social and politic fronts and gave me the chance of engaging myself". As of 2007, he had two colleagues sharing the rabbinate, Rabbi Michel Schlesinger and Rabbi Yehuda Busquila.
During the 1970 and 1980's Sobel had an extraordinary role in protecting the human rights in Brazil (at that time governed by the military). Along with Catholic Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns and others, Sobel showed great courage in denouncing the assassination of journalist Vladimir Herzog by right wing military in Brazil.
He had also a great role in promoting inter-religious dialogue in Brazil and elsewhere by cultivating excellent relations with Catholic dignitaries, including the Pope John Paul II. During more than 30 years, Sobel was recognized as an informal leader of the reform Jewish community in São Paulo.
Sobel has one daughter, Alisha, born in São Paulo in 1983.
Death
Sobel died of cancer on 22 November 2019, in Miami, Florida.
See also
In Spanish: Henry Sobel para niños
