Rabbi who led Glenview congregation remembered as 'a man of conviction'
Rabbi Mark S. Shapiro of Northbrook, longtime leader of Congregation B'nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim in Glenview, is being remembered as an eloquent orator and social justice leader who inspired scores of students to become rabbis themselves. He died Aug. 28 at age 85 of Parkinson's disease.
A past president of the Glenbrook Clergy Fellowship and the Rabbinical Fellowship of the Northwest suburbs - and who marched with other religious leaders alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama, in 1965 - Rabbi Shapiro died after a six-year bout with Parkinson's disease.
"It's a huge loss to the community," said Steve Shapiro of Minneapolis, the eldest of the three sons of Mark and Hanna Shapiro, who survives her husband of 61 years.
"One of the things he was most proud of is he had many, many, many students - upward of 30 or 40 - who decided to become rabbis and cantors and teachers and Jewish educators," Steve Shapiro said.
"They attributed their decision to take that role in life in particular to the inspiration they received from him growing up as his students. That was a legacy he was maybe more proud of than anything, though he was proud of us, too."
Rabbi Shapiro led B'nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim in Glenview from 1962 to 2000 and was rabbi emeritus thereafter, presiding over funerals until three years ago.
"He believed in engaging lay leadership and empowering them so our congregation became a congregation where community was central, and being kind, unassuming and caring was the norm," said current B'nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim Rabbi Karyn Kedar.
"People sought out that congregation because it was a safe, kind, unassuming congregation where social justice and community connections were important," she said.
After his 2000 retirement, Rabbi and Hanna Shapiro moved to Northbrook. BJBE has since relocated to Deerfield.
A native South Sider and lifelong White Sox fan - his last Sox memory was Lucas Giolito's no-hitter on Aug. 25 - Rabbi Shapiro attended Hyde Park High School according to Shiva.com, and the University of Chicago. He received his master of Hebrew Letters, with honors, and a rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. He started his career in 1960 at Temple Beth Zion in Buffalo, New York.
Returning to Chicago, Rabbi Shapiro then led a mature congregation on the West Side, B'nai Jehoshua, founded in 1893. By 1965 he had also connected with members of a newer Reform Synagogue near Glenview, Beth Elohim. The congregations merged with Rabbi Shapiro as their leader.
"He was young in his career, and he formed the very DNA of the congregation," Kedar said.
Rabbi and Hanna Shapiro moved their family, which also includes sons Eliot and David, to Glenview that same year.
"He became the founding rabbi of this new congregation that really was in exactly the right place at exactly the right time," Steve Shapiro said.
Calling him "a man of conviction," Kedar said that in addition to joining Dr. King in Selma, Rabbi Shapiro was passionate about Israel "before that was in vogue." In 1982 he met with the "refuseniks" who were forbidden to emigrate from the Soviet Union. He was a founder of United Power for Justice in Action, an interfaith organization with two BJBE members currently on its executive board.
Rabbi Shapiro's interest in youth development showed in his service to the Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute, a Jewish children's summer camp in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
"He was one of the leading rabbis of his generation," Kedar said.
A captivating public speaker, his sermons from decades ago are still being quoted. In 2016 he published a collection of sermons and other writings in a book, "Close Your Books" - meaning, pay attention.
Kedar said Rabbi Shapiro's vast influence is "the ripple effect that continues on."
It continues on to his grandchildren - Natalie, Noah and Rose - and to his sons.
"I got to be like him. I'm not a Jewish leader, I'm not a rabbi, but I got to be like him," said Steve Shapiro, not coincidentally a public relations professional while Eliot Shapiro is a public speaking coach.
"I got his sense of humor, I got his sense of gentleness, I got his ability to combine humor and seriousness at the same time. That's a subtle trait that I think I've been able to use effectively a lot in my life," Steve Shapiro said. "He worked a lot but he also was very present in all three of our lives."
Funeral services were held Monday at BJBE with interment at B'nai Jehoshua/Zion Gardens Cemetery in Chicago. Memorial contributions may be made to Congregation B'nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim, Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute, or Yad LaKashish-Lifeline for the Old in Jerusalem.