Rabbi Gabriel Maza, a beloved congregational leader, Torah scholar and trailblazing advocate for legislation combating bigotry and anti-Semitism, passed away on Tuesday afternoon, December 26, at the age of 99. His wife Edythe and family members were at his side.
A descendent in a long line of famous rabbis whose ancient last name is a Hebrew acronym standing for MiZera Aharon HaKohen – From the Seed of Aaron the Priest, Rabbi Maza would spend 75 years in the rabbinate, primarily as spiritual leader of the Suffolk Jewish Center in Deer Park, Long Island.
During his tenure there, he established a flourishing Hebrew School, ongoing youth and adult education programs, led congregational trips to Israel, solidarity marches for Israel and Soviet Jewry, served as the Deer Park Fire Department’s chaplain, established Suffolk County’s first mikvah, and was a driving force in the creation of the Gurwin Jewish Geriatric Center which continues to serve Long Island’s elderly Jewish population to this day.
But it was in his capacity as president of the Suffolk Board of Rabbis (1980 – 1982) and his subsequent terms as vice president and president of the Long Island Board of Rabbis (1983 – 1987), that Rabbi Maza’s ethical and innovative leadership as a staunch defender of the rights of the Jewish people would inspire unprecedented action in the New York State Legislature.
When a virulent wave of anti-Semitic incidents swept Long Island, Rabbi Maza forged alliances with government officials and clergy of other faiths to foster empathy and demand action. His appearances on TV, radio and in newsprint ensured both media and public couldn’t turn a blind eye. At his urging, the police’s Suffolk County Task Force on Anti-Semitism was created, and the District Attorney assigned a special prosecutor to pursue justice in courts. His work on the New York State Advisory Sub-Committee on Bigotry in Textbooks mandated that the Holocaust, and contributions of prominent Jews and minorities, would be taught in public schools.
Ultimately, Rabbi Maza’s position in 1982 on the New York State Senate Advisory Committee on Bigotry and Vandalism helped senators craft a six-bill legislative package covering everything from synagogue and cemetery desecrations to harassment and assaults where religious or racial bigotry is involved.
In his address to the Human Rights Commission, Rabbi Maza insisted, “Crimes involving religion are constitutionally crimes against our Bill of Rights, which makes them crimes against human rights and democracy. They must be treated by civil authorities as crimes against society, and therefore prosecuted and punished by society at large.” The new legislation would become the model for hate crime laws across the country.
Their enforcement now is as needed as ever as his observations then still sadly apply: “Open anti-Semitism is contagious among people in whom this old form of hate is dormant or hidden. As hate and prejudice travels across oceans and continents, all people of decency, and certainly those in positions of power, have a duty in sounding a civilized alarm, for criminal prejudice sickens every society which allows it to thrive.”
Rabbi Maza was born in Minsk, soon after the Russian Empire’s Soviet transition. To escape the widespread persecution of Jews there, his parents, HaRav Eliyahu Mordechai Maza, HaKohen, zt”l, a renowned biblical scholar and author, and mother, Rebbetzin Beila Rivka, z”l, emigrated with then two-year old Gabriel and an older brother to the United States, eventually settling on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. In addition to his father’s shul, his childhood included happy scenes of sweet-potato pushcarts, playing punchball with friends, and following his favorite Yankees baseball player, Lou Gehrig.
The family would grow to include seven children; four boys and three girls. Along with his brothers, Gabriel attended yeshiva at Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem which was headed by HaGaon HaRav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, who became his mentor. In 1948, Gabriel, with his older brother, earned the distinction of being in the first MTJ class to received semicha from Reb Moshe.
Meanwhile, he also studied art at the Educational Alliance with William Auerbach-Levy and Chaim Gross, garnered prizes for his pastels and etchings, and worked as an illustrator for the Hebrew youth magazine Hadoar Lanoar. Later, he developed theories on innovative teaching for his thesis in the Education Master’s program at Scranton University.
Following his marriage to Edythe, Rabbi Maza accepted a pulpit at Temple Agudath Achim in Pittston, Pennsylvania, for a six-year stay. In the book The Jews of Wilkes-Barre, Rabbi Maza is singled out “for his intellect and wit, and for challenging his congregation to think, to analyze, to question, to discuss philosophical issues, and to love Judaism.”
With the move to the Suffolk Jewish Center, Rabbi and Rebbetzin Maza, while raising two daughters, would become mainstays of Jewish life on Long Island. “I find my reward daily in sharing the lives of my congregants,” he told Newsday. Whether leading them in joyous simchas or uplifting those sick or in sorrow, his guidance and compassion were available at all hours, and they gave him a lifetime contract.
“The Torah is our ancestral diary, our most treasured heirloom,” he would tell his congregation. An insightful, moving and often humorous orator, Rabbi Maza’s sermons were laced with cultural and current event references which elucidated each parsha’s timeless teachings. He was just as compelling when leining, as his dynamic, expressive voice conveyed the meaning of whichever sacred text he was reading.
Over the course of his career, Rabbi Maza was honored with countless testimonials, proclamations and awards. In 1983, Governor Mario Cuomo, in a letter to the Jabotinsky Foundation supporting Rabbi Maza’s nomination for their first annual humanitarian prize “for his courageous battle against anti-Semitism and all forms of prejudice and bigotry” wrote, “Rabbi Maza’s understanding that the needs of individual families are as important as public actions effecting an entire community are to me the measure of the man.” He would remain in Deer Park, and on the New York Board of Rabbis’ Board of Governors, for the rest of his life.
Rabbi Maza (HaRav Gavriel Maza, HaKohen, zt”l) is survived by his cherished wife, Edythe; two daughters, Dr. Sharon R. Maza Rosen, a cardiologist, and Devra Maza, a screenwriter and journalist; in addition, he leaves a son-in-law Eric Rosen, five grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, as well as a sister, Gail Schulman.
The funeral was held at Wellwood Cemetery in West Babylon on Wednesday, December 27. It was attended with heartfelt tributes by family, esteemed rabbis, former congregants and dignitaries from New York, across the country and Israel. Those of us who were blessed to know him will love him always.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem or United Hatzalah.
