A Connecticut native, he was the son of Ledger co-founder Sam Neusner

(JTA/Ledger staff) – Jacob Neusner, one of the most influential voices in American Jewish intellectual life in the past half-century, whose father co-founded the Connecticut Jewish Ledger, died on Saturday, Oct. 8 at his home in upstate New York. He was 84.

One of the most published authors in history, Neusner wrote or edited more than 950 books.

His funeral took place on Monday, Oct. 10 at Blithewood Manor on the campus of Bard College in upstate New York, where he taught theology since 1994, retiring in 2013. He also taught at Columbia University, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Brandeis University, Dartmouth College, Brown University and the University of South Florida.

Earlier this summer, the NYU Press released an extensive biography of Neusner, titled Jacob Neusner: An American Jewish Iconoclast by Aaron W. Hughes.

“In the ‘50s, there took place an explosion of Jewish studies on campus, and Neusner had a very significant role in training a new generation of scholars to occupy these new positions,” wrote Jack Riemer, a rabbi and author, in a review of Hughes’ book in the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. “Toward that end, Neusner produced a gigantic library of classic Jewish sources in translation. The entire Babylonian Talmud, the entire Palestinian Talmud, most of the Midrash, and many other indispensable books were made available to the general reader by Neusner.”

Neusner’s influence also extended to the study of other religions, in books he wrote and conferences he held exploring how Judaism influenced and was influenced by Islam and Christianity.

A fierce defender of his own work, Neusner often tussled publicly with rivals and critics. But even those who disagreed with him acknowledged the depth and breadth of his scholarship.

Born in Hartford’s North End in 1932, Neusner was the son of the late Samuel and Lillian (Green) Neusner. The family moved to West Hartford in 1937. Samuel Neusner co-founded the Jewish Ledger in 1929 with Rabbi Abraham Feldman z”l. Samuel Neusner retired in 1954.

“I celebrated my bar mitzvah in 1945 and began working at the Ledger the following month,” Jacob Neusner told the Ledger in an interview in 2009. “From 1945 onward that is where I lived. I didn’t know that there was a world beyond the Ledger. I had all these tutors teaching me their craft. It was a very rare opportunity. I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but [my father] wanted the labor he had undertaken to continue.”

Jacob Neusner and Pope Benedict XVI, date unknown.

Neusner graduated from Harvard and spent a year at Oxford University before enrolling in the Jewish Theological Seminary’s rabbinical school.

His area of expertise was rabbinic Judaism and rabbinical Jewish writings. Two of his best known textbooks for general audiences are The Way of Torah: An Introduction to Judaism and Judaism: An Introduction.

Neusner was also nominated to serve on the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts by President Carter and President Reagan.

“In his final days, he was able to say goodbye to his dearest friends. And his family was with him right to the end, just as he wished,” wrote his son, Noam Neusner, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, in announcing his father’s death.

Jacob Neusner is survived by his wife of 52 years, Suzanne Richter Neusner of Rhinebeck, N.Y.; four children, Samuel Neusner and his wife Jill of Chicago, Ill., Eli Neusner and his wife Poly of Brookline, Mass., Noam Neusner and his wife Andrea of Chevy Chase, Md., and Margalit Neusner of New York, N.Y.; and nine grandchildren, Emma, Ilana, Lila, Daniela, Lev, Leora, Michael, Miranda and Natalie. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by a brother, Frederick Neusner and a sister, Sandra Friedman.

Jacob Neusner and Pope Benedict XVI, date unknown.