Rabbi Sanford Ragins z"l
Rabbi Sanford Ragins was born in Chicago and grew up in Los Angeles, earning a Bachelor’s degree at UCLA. A member of the first rabbinical class on HUC-JIR’s Los Angeles campus, he spent a year of study in Jerusalem before achieving ordination at HUC-JIR’s Cincinnati school in 1962. By then, Sandy had met and married Masayo Isono, an HUC-JIR graduate student from Waseda University in Tokyo. While Sandy served a synagogue in Hingham, Massachusetts and pursued a Ph.D. in the History of Ideas at Brandeis University, Masayo earned a Master’s degree in the University’s Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department.
In 1964, Leo Baeck Temple invited Sandy to serve as its Rabbi while Leonard Beerman was on sabbatical. He was persuaded to stay on as the temple’s first Assistant Rabbi for the following year. He went on to serve other congregations in places as diverse as Nebraska and New York, eventually returning to Leo Baeck Temple as Associate Rabbi in 1972. When Rabbi Beerman announced his retirement in 1986, Rabbi Ragins was chosen as Senior Rabbi of the temple, serving until his retirement in 2003.
Sandy served three times on the National Board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) and held the challenging position of that organization’s Chair of the Ethics and Appeals Committee. He was also a member of the National Board of the Union for Reform Judaism and President of the Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis. His academic service included lecturing at HUC-JIR in Los Angeles, Waseda University in Tokyo, and the Institut Kirche und Judentum in Berlin, and he was a beloved longtime visiting professor at Occidental College. Sandy’s publications include articles on Judaism and homosexuality, Eastern European Jewish history, and Zionism, as well as a book on Jewish responses to anti-Semitism in Germany before World War I.
He devoted his retirement to teaching, writing, and continuing to find ways to bring peace and healing to a broken world. He enjoyed having more time to spend with his family, Masayo (who passed away in August 2023), Arona, Marc, Noam, Mindy, Yohanna, and especially his grandchildren.
On April 10, 2024, Rabbi Sandy Ragins passed away. His legacy will forever shine brightly at Leo Baeck Temple.
In 1964, Leo Baeck Temple invited Sandy to serve as its Rabbi while Leonard Beerman was on sabbatical. He was persuaded to stay on as the temple’s first Assistant Rabbi for the following year. He went on to serve other congregations in places as diverse as Nebraska and New York, eventually returning to Leo Baeck Temple as Associate Rabbi in 1972. When Rabbi Beerman announced his retirement in 1986, Rabbi Ragins was chosen as Senior Rabbi of the temple, serving until his retirement in 2003.
Sandy served three times on the National Board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) and held the challenging position of that organization’s Chair of the Ethics and Appeals Committee. He was also a member of the National Board of the Union for Reform Judaism and President of the Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis. His academic service included lecturing at HUC-JIR in Los Angeles, Waseda University in Tokyo, and the Institut Kirche und Judentum in Berlin, and he was a beloved longtime visiting professor at Occidental College. Sandy’s publications include articles on Judaism and homosexuality, Eastern European Jewish history, and Zionism, as well as a book on Jewish responses to anti-Semitism in Germany before World War I.
He devoted his retirement to teaching, writing, and continuing to find ways to bring peace and healing to a broken world. He enjoyed having more time to spend with his family, Masayo (who passed away in August 2023), Arona, Marc, Noam, Mindy, Yohanna, and especially his grandchildren.
On April 10, 2024, Rabbi Sandy Ragins passed away. His legacy will forever shine brightly at Leo Baeck Temple.