Remembering Daniel Cedarbaum

Rabbi Hillel famously counseled, “Al tifrosh min ha’tzibbur. Do not separate yourself from the community” (Avot 2:4).

No one exemplified this adage more faithfully than Daniel G. Cedarbaum, who passed away on July 2 at 62. Dan belonged to a plethora of congregations, including mine. But Dan was not only a member; he was a leader, nationally and locally.

Dan attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School, where he met his life partner for over four decades, Caryn Jacobs. Dan and Caryn then moved to Chicago, and Dan established his legal career, clerking for a federal judge and then entering private practice.

Dan’s voracious reading soon turned to the life and teachings of Mordecai Kaplan, who laid the intellectual foundation of Reconstructionist Judaism. This marked a turn in Dan’s life’s mission toward creating meaningful ways to broaden and enlighten Jewish lives.

He was, one might say, a hyperactive programmer. He seemed to know everyone, and was willing to expend enormous effort to produce ambitious programs on a broad array of topics.

Dan served as president of and, later, leading professional within the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation. He also sat on the boards of United Jewish Communities, the National Council of Synagogues, and Limmud.

Dan co-founded and directed the Evanston-based Mordecai M. Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood. He also co-founded Minyan Shirat ha’Agam. He and Caryn hosted the pandemic-era “Cedarbaum Minyan” in their backyard.

Daniel Cedarbaum is survived by his wife, Caryn; their sons, Dr. Jacob Cedarbaum and Samuel Cedarbaum; and his brother Jonathan Cedarbaum of Washington, D.C. Memorials may be made to the Ezra-Habonim, the Niles Township Jewish Congregation. Interment was at Memorial Park. Arrangements were made by Chicago Jewish Funerals.

Rabbi Jeffrey Weill leads Ezra-Habonim, the Niles Township Jewish Congregation, in Skokie.