Rabbi Asher Bar-Zev PhD

Rabbi Dr. Asher Bar-Zev of Palm Beach left us gently and peacefully on Wednesday evening, January 13, Rosh Chodesh Shvat. Born Arthur Alan (Asher Alter) Langenauer in Brooklyn, NY in 1932 to Rivka and Menachem Zev, Asher lived a full and rewarding life, impacting tens of thousands of people over the course of a life that spanned a variety of professional paths. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary, following which he served as US Air Force Chaplain in Japan, and Rabbi in Northampton, MA and West Palm Beach, FL. He continued to serve his country by working as Chaplain in Veterans Hospitals for several more decades.

While a full-time rabbi, Asher earned a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Massachusetts, and then worked as a visiting scientist at the Hebrew University in Israel. Subsequently, he became a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch where he remained until his retirement.

Called “A Walking Encyclopedia” and “The Last of the Renaissance Men,” Asher had countless interests and professorial knowledge in all of them, which he shared as a much-in-demand teacher/lecturer. His interest in genealogy led him to decades of research on his 8th-generation ancestor, the Rebbe Elimelech of Lizensk, tracing the tree back over 33 generations. An avid historian, he lectured on art, science, religion, opera, various genealogical topics; and he taught classes in all areas of Jewish learning. He is published in scientific and religious journals.

A gifted and prize-winning photographer, Asher exhibited his work internationally. He spoke many languages and loved communicating in all of them throughout his many decades of travel with his beloved wife, Haviva. Music was an enormous part of his life and he casually spoke in later years of a possible career as an orchestra conductor. Asher was a proud and devoted Jew and lover of Israel, and a man of great integrity and honesty. He had enormous joie de vivre and relished every day on this earth.

Above everything, Asher Bar-Zev valued his family, now heartbroken at their enormous loss: his beloved wife, Haviva, his children, grandchildren, brother, nieces, nephews and extended family.

May the name of HaRav Asher Alter ben Menachem Zev be for a blessing.