Biographical/Historical Information

On May 3, 1927, Horst Lazard Lehmann was born to Michael Lehmann and Toni Lehmann of Heilbronn, Germany. The Lehmann family were observant Jews, with a liberal Orthodox background. From April to May 1933 Horst Lehmann attended Volksschule in Heilbronn until his father, director of the Dresdner Bank in Heilbronn, was transferred to his hometown of Schweinfurt, Germany on May 1, 1933. In March 1938 the Lehmann family came to the United States with an affidavit of Rabbi Max Freudenthal’s son; during immigration Horst Lehmann's name was changed to Robert L. Lehman. On May 4, 1940 he celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at the Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights, a Reform congregation made up largely of fellow German-Jewish immigrants, that leaned toward traditional or conservative practices. After graduating from Stuyvesant High School in 1945, Robert Lehman served for two years in the army. Following his army service, he attended Long Island University, graduating with honors in philosophy in 1949. He then studied at Hebrew Union College, and was a student rabbi at congregations in Oklahoma, Florida, West Virginia, and Chicago.

On June 1, 1954 Robert L. Lehman was ordained as a rabbi. His first position was as assistant rabbi at Temple Oheb Shalom in Baltimore, Maryland, where he worked under Rabbi Abraham Shaw. In December 1956 Rabbi Robert L. Lehman was installed as rabbi at the Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights, the congregation he had joined upon coming to the United States. He would spend the rest of his life with this congregation, serving for forty-one years and giving sermons on diverse topics. As rabbi, he led the congregation through the turbulent 1960s and the instability of the 1970s-early 1990s, when Washington Heights became known as one of the more dangerous neighborhoods of New York City. By 1972 an estimated ninety percent of the congregation had moved out of the immediate neighborhood of the synagogue, but still attended synagogue services. in 1974 the congregation moved from its earlier location at 161st Street to Fort Washington Avenue and 185th Street, where Rabbi Robert Lehman initiated community programs, such as a yearly film festival, concerts, and the Open Mind Adult Education Program, in addition to the Hebrew school and religious education classes already held for the youth. He also helped to organize an oral history project that resulted in a book, Reflections on the Holocaust, published in 1978, on the fortieth anniversary of Kristallnacht. In 1980, he led the congregation in its "Boat People" project, where the congregation adopted a Vietnamese immigrant family in need.

In addition to leading his congregation, Rabbi Robert Lehman continued his education at Yeshiva University and other institutions, and he was active in various professional organizations. He was also on the executive committee of the World Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and was President of the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe. In 1985 Rabbi Robert Lehman returned to Heilbronn, his birthplace, as part of memorial events for former Jewish residents from the city (its Woche der Begegnung), speaking at the Kiliankirche on the events of the Holocaust and the city's efforts to address its past. Later, in 1991, he participated in activities for former Jewish residents of Schweinfurt, as part of the city's twelve-hundredth anniversary. Rabbi Robert Lehman retired from his position at the Hebrew Tabernacle in June 1997, becoming Rabbi Emeritus of the congregation. In 2000 he became a rabbi of the liberal Congregation Or Chadasch in Vienna, Austria, travelling monthly from New York to conduct services and perform other rabbinical duties. From 2001-2002 he served as part-time rabbi for Temple Israel in Lawrence, New York. Rabbi Robert L. Lehman died in 2003.

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Citation

Belding-Corticelli: Army sewing kit owned by Robert L. Lehman, Leo Baeck Institute, 2022.41.