(Editors: Download a high resolution photo of Lou H. Silberman)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Lou H. Silberman, an internationally recognized scholar of the Hebrew Bible and Judaic studies and longtime campus leader at Vanderbilt University, died June 6 in Tucson, Ariz. He was 91.
Silberman taught at Vanderbilt from 1952 to 1980, and was named Hillel Professor of Jewish Literature in 1955. He was chair of the Undergraduate Department of Religious Studies from 1970 to 1976.
“Lou was a remarkable man,” said Douglas Knight, professor of Hebrew Bible. “I think his contributions at Vanderbilt have never been fully calculated.”
Silberman was a key link in Vanderbilt history in a number of areas, including relations with the Jewish community, launching the Graduate Department of Religion and the Undergraduate Department of Religious Studies, building the Judaica collection at the Divinity School Library, fostering dialogue between the Jewish and Christian communities, developing Jewish studies and encouraging dialogue on the implications of the Holocaust (Shoah) in the years after World War II. He was a mentor to a host of students and junior faculty members and an important player in faculty protests that helped reverse the expulsion of civil rights leader James Lawson from Vanderbilt Divinity School in 1960.
Silberman was among a group of professors who offered their resignations over Lawson’s expulsion for helping to organize sit-ins at Nashville lunch counters. After much turbulence, a compromise was reached to stop most of the resignations, including that of Silberman. Lawson was allowed to complete his Vanderbilt degree, although he chose instead to transfer to Boston University. Lawson returns to Vanderbilt this fall as a Distinguished University Professor for the 2006-07 academic year.
“Lou Silberman was clearly one of the most important players in the Lawson event,” said Dale Johnson, the Drucilla Moore Buffington Professor of Church History, emeritus.
Silberman was born in San Francisco, and graduated from the University of California-Berkeley and Hebrew Union College. He served as a rabbi in Omaha, Neb., and Dallas before arriving at Vanderbilt in 1952 as an associate professor.
“If anyone built Jewish studies here at Vanderbilt, it was Lou Silberman,” Johnson said. “His quiet dedication made Jewish studies a really important part of the religious studies field of vision.” He was awarded Vanderbilt’s Thomas Jefferson Award for distinguished service to the university in 1979.
Silberman published articles on a wide range of topics including contemporary Jewish thinkers, ethics, theology and apocalyptic texts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
“Professor Silberman’s scholarship found its most powerful expression in incisive pioneering articles that again and again transformed the field of early Jewish studies by envisioning a totally different way of approaching an issue or text,” said Daniel Patte, professor and former chair of religious studies. “He was also a patient but demanding mentor for many graduate students and younger faculty members.”
A graveside service was set for June 8 at the Congregation Anshei Israel section of Evergreen Cemetery in Tucson, Ariz.
Survivors include daughter Syrl Silberman and son-in-law Saul Rubin of Arlington, Mass.; granddaughter Amanda Cohn of Los Angeles; and a nephew and niece. He was predeceased by wife Helen Silberman and daughter Deborah Cohn.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-2706
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu