The NY Times reports,
Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, a provocative scholar of Judaism whose contrarian religious and political views and dedication to civil rights found prolific expression in books, articles and essays, died on Monday. He was 84 and lived in Englewood, N.J.The cause was complications of heart failure, said Eli Epstein, a friend. Mr. Epstein said Rabbi Hertzberg died on the say to Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood, N.J.
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His approach to any issue was consistently liberal, said Mr. Epstein, a businessman, adding, “But he came at it from his deep Jewishness and from his obsession with the Holocaust.”
The rabbi was also an early advocate of full equality for black Americans and an ally in the civil rights movement. He was among the prominent participants in the March on Washington in 1963, during which the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial.
More from The JTA and The Forward. Also see Andy Bachman’s post here.