1. Seymour Siegel was an outspoken champion of political conservatism, delivering a prayer at the 1973 second term inauguration of President Richard Nixon, but just as strong a champion of religious causes sometimes associated with liberalism, such as the ordination of female rabbis.
Seymour Siegel remained at JTS, as a Professor of Theology and Ethics, and over the years, held other positions for varying amounts of time, including Dean of Students for the Rabbinical School, and assistant dean of the Herbert H Lehman Institute of Ethics.
Seymour Siegel taught Holocaust studies in the mid-1960s, well before it was considered a field of serious study, and he was a pioneer in the field of medical ethics in particular, and religious ethics in general.
Seymour Siegel felt a tremendous responsibility, in his role as a Professor of Ethics and Theology at the Jewish Theological Seminary, to be both a general public servant serving the public of the United States of America from his understanding of the teachings of Judaism and at the same time a servant to the Jewish people in his role as the chairman of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinic Assembly.
The well-known scholar Jacob Neusner recalls that Seymour Siegel was his "best Talmud teacher" at JTS.
Finkelstein appointed Seymour Siegel to act as the host for Buber and his wife, Pauline, during their time at JTS.
Twenty four years later, at the memorial service held for Buber in New York, Seymour Siegel would be one of three speakers, including Protestant theologian, Paul Tillich.
In 1962, Seymour Siegel helped found the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano, Latin American Rabbinical Seminary, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and "was instrumental in consolidating the relationship" between that seminary and JTS, in NY, by spending summers there, teaching courses in Talmud, theology, and ethics.
In 1967, when the debate about interfaith dialogue had reached new heights, with some rabbis taking the position that it might be appropriate for Christian and Jewish leaders to discuss issues of "social justice," but not "theology," Seymour Siegel took a strong position in favor of religious dialogue.
Affectionately referred to as "Seymour Siegel's Shtiebel," from the Yiddish term for a "little house" used for study and prayer, it was a time for students to pray, to learn together, to enjoy Seymour Siegel's home cooking, and his singing.
In 1967, Seymour Siegel represented the Jewish community as the only rabbi to participate in an historic conference convened by the United States Navy, co-sponsored by the Chief of Chaplains, US Navy, and the Commander, US Submarine Force, US Atlantic Fleet, on the subject of lay ministry.
Seymour Siegel was one of the readers of Teshima's 1977 doctoral dissertation comparing Zen Buddhism and Hasidic Judaism.
Seymour Siegel traveled to the Soviet Union as one of the earliest Jewish American visitors to "share the anguish of his brethren," before the US Jewish community mobilized in support of Soviet Jewry.
One concrete example of this approach for Seymour Siegel was his position on what he considered the liberal position of supporting zero-population growth, even at a time when the Jewish population had suffered such tremendous losses as a result of the Holocaust.
Seymour Siegel served as an associate editor for "Ideas: A Journal of Contemporary Jewish Thought," a "right-wing Jewish journal,", and was an advisor in the political campaigns of James Buckley, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Perry Duryea.
When Seymour Siegel was one of the rabbis who wrote an article in The New York Times supporting Nixon, Heschel wrote an "indignant" letter about the views of these "former students of his, which "depressed me deeply.
Seymour Siegel served as member or chair of the Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards for more than ten years.
Rabbi Seymour Siegel sees nothing inconsistent in his advocacy of a Jewish political shift toward conservatism as well as liberalized religious practices, such as the ordination of women as rabbis and their inclusion in the traditionally male minyan, the prayer quorum of ten.
The Columbia University riots, which he witnessed from his seminary office across the street, and the rise of what he felt was an accommodationalist philosophy toward left-wing governments by McGovern Democrats caused Rabbi Seymour Siegel "to reassess political liberalism as an automatic Jewish reaction," he says.
Ultimately, Seymour Siegel answered the question about his move to the political right and the religious left through the concept of realism:.
Seymour Siegel remained on the Council following his two-year term as director, but it was during his time in that position that he began the successful effort to raise funds for the museum's creation.
In 1984, Seymour Siegel actively supported the decision to include the American military in DRVH programs.
Seymour Siegel was not afraid of controversy, whether it related to his position as chair of the CJLS or to his personal decisions, when he felt he was in the right.
For example, when the Jewish community was divided over decisions of the government of Menachem Begin regarding settlements in Israel, Seymour Siegel was quoted widely to explain the differing views of the Jewish community:.
Seymour Siegel was frequently quoted for Jewish views in the area of medical ethics, able to give clear answers, even in complicated areas.
Seymour Siegel disagreed, testifying in 1975 before National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects, urging the Commission to recall the results when Nazi physicians ignored the sanctity of individual lives to serve what they saw as a greater good for mankind:.
Seymour Siegel was not opposed to abortion, human experimentation or euthanasia.
Seymour Siegel was opposed to the present tendency to carry out these actions indiscriminately as a matter of public policy without proper and prudent scrutiny by qualified ethical personnel.
But, as noted above, Seymour Siegel believed that the push to preserve or conserve the laws we inherit cannot be undertaken as if we have not inherited aggadah, the wealth of Jewish teachings that come to us in the form of writing focused on morals, ethics, values, and even dreams.
So, for example, when there no longer seemed to be any doubt that smoking was a primary cause of lung cancer and other medical problems, Seymour Siegel believed that it could no longer be permitted in terms of Jewish law.
Seymour Siegel was a scholar and an activist, and he was a frequent speaker and a prolific writer.
Seymour Siegel worked with numerous Jewish and Christian leaders of his day, including Will Herberg, William Sloane Coffin, Mordecai Kaplan, and Reinhold Niebuhr.
Over a period of 26 years, until his untimely death in February 1988, Rabbi Seymour Siegel taught, guided, nurtured, and encouraged my studies.
Seymour Siegel initiated me into the study of the complexities of Jewish theology, the problems of Jewish ethics, the labyrinth of Jewish mysticism, and the perplexities of Holocaust studies.
From his office at JTS or from his home, Seymour Siegel responded to questions on Jewish law, ethics, and sometimes just requests for personal advice, by phone or by mail, from rabbis throughout the world.
At Duke University, the alma mater of his late brother, Allen Seymour Siegel, there is an annual lecture on legal and medical ethics, in addition to a fellowship in his name.