Robert Leon Chazan

Robert Leon Chazan was a loving husband, father, and grandfather, and a renowned figure in the Jewish world. An ordained rabbi from the Jewish Theological Seminary and a PhD from Columbia University, he was a pioneer in bringing Jewish Studies to academia in the United States. At Ohio State University, Queens College, and for over 35 years as the Scheuer Professor of Jewish Studies at New York University, Bob established programs that produced countless scholars of the Jewish experience, inspired generations of students, and engaged a wide public audience. He wrote 18 books that spanned millennia, from the Ancient world to the Middle Ages to modern times, and forged narratives of exceptional knowledge and nuance. The portrait he painted of Jewish history was one in which Jews were not solely the objects of antagonistic outside forces, but the agents of their own destiny, often at peace with or in collaboration with those who have, at times, been mortal enemies.

That same optimism infused his wide-ranging influence and relationships. With his characteristic generosity and kindness, he will be remembered so fondly by his three children and their spouses, six grandchildren, his brother, a global community of colleagues and scholars, and by all of those he touched in his daily life.

Most of all, we stand in awe and admiration of his wonderful relationship with Saralea Engel Chazan. They met as teenagers at Camp Ramah in Connecticut a remarkable 70 years ago, and were married for 65 years. Words cannot adequately describe this profound journey together; the richness of their collaboration is as deep as the history Bob has left us and the generations to come.

(For more about Robert Chazan’s professional life, please see this memorial at H-Judiac https://networks.h-net.org/group/discussions/20023903/passing-prof-robert-chazan and this obituary at The Forward https://forward.com/fast-forward/582240/robert-chazan-nyu-scholar-of-medieval-jewry-who-helped-build-field-of-jewish-studies-dies-at-87/ .)