By Rabbi Stanley Miles
Guest Columnist
Rabbi Simcha Kling
There are rabbis and then there are RABBIS! Rabbi Simcha Kling, the spiritual leader of Congregation Adath Jeshurun from 1965 until his untimely death from cancer
in 1991 at the age of 69, was such a person. He taught me through word and deed what it means to be a Mensch and a good Jew. During the 13 years I knew Rabbi Kling,
we had many conversations, often over lunch, where he became a wonderful guide, teaching through his immense knowledge and, more importantly, his kindly personality.
Why do I choose to write about this person from so long ago? March 1, 2026 will mark his 35th Yahrzeit (the anniversary of his death) as he passed away February 26,
1991. Rabbis like Simcha Kling must never be forgotten, especially in the communities they served. Their deeds must be savored and cherished l’dor v’dor, from generation
to generation.
Rabbi Kling has been on my mind through my work at the Filson Historical Society. In retirement, it has been both my honor an d pleasure to volunteer weekly at the
Filson. This venerable institution has become a wonderful repository for Kentucky and Ohio Valley Jewish history. Dr. Ann Glazer Niren, a longtime friend and colleague,
in 2024 became Curator of Jewish Collections at the Filson. She invited me to explore an acquisition sent by Adina Kling, daughter of Rabbi Simcha and Edith Kling,
containing sermons and books written by her father during his rabbinate. These documents awoke old and precious memories, so I am pleased to introduce Rabbi Kling
to new generations of our Louisville Jewish community and beyond.
My friendship with Rabbi Kling began in 1978 when I moved to Louisville to serve as rabbi of Temple Shalom, then a new reform synagogue. Rabbi Simcha Kling was
performing a courageous act, helping Jews in need. How? Temple Shalom was in desperate need of a Torah, the handwritten Hebrew scroll read in the synagogue. Rabbi
Kling and Adath Jeshurun loaned Temple Shalom a scroll. This was an act of love and kindness Rabbi Kling performed. To this day I consider him a beloved mentor.
Simcha Kling’s life was an adventure in Judaism. He was born in Dayton, Ky. in 1922. Northern Kentucky had a small Jewish community, so he traveled to Adath Israel
Synagogue in Cincinnati and its esteemed rabbi, Louis Feinberg, for a Jewish education initially to prepare to become Bar Mitzvah. During the 1930s, as a high school
student, he traveled to British Mandate Palestine to study at Gymnasium Herzliya in Tel Aviv, the first Jewish high school in the region. What brought him to the turbulent
Middle East? Simcha was the recipient of the Cincinnati Bureau of Jewish Education Palestine Scholarship for both 1938 and 1939. With t he outbreak of World War II, his
sojourn in Palestine abruptly ended. In December 1939, he traveled home on a British ocean liner, a perilous zig-zagging voyage evading Nazi U-boats across the Atlantic.
Simcha earned his B.A. degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1943 and M.A. in Education from Columbia University in 1947. He received rabbinic ordination from
the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1948 together with a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters. In 1958, he received a Doctorate in Hebrew Letters from the JTS. Prior to his
arrival in Louisville in 1965, Rabbi Kling served from 1948-1951 as Assistant Rabbi and Educational Director at Congregation B’nai Amoona in St. Louis, Missouri and
Rabbi of Beth David Synagogue in Greensboro, North Carolina from 1951-1965.
Education was a primary focus for Rabbi Kling. He was a pioneer promoting Jewish education for girls, bringing them into the Louisville Hebrew School and training
girls to become Bat Mitzvah at Adath Jeshurun. Later in his rabbinate, he advocated nationally for the ordination of female rabbis at JTS.
With adult education, Rabbi Simcha Kling taught the usual classes one would expect, covering Torah study and Introduction to Judaism, but his classes went beyond
into Jewish history, focusing particularly on the history of Zionism. Late in his career, he literally wrote the book on introducing Judaism with his classic text, Embracing
Judaism, recently revised by his son-in-law, Rabbi Carl Perkins, and it is still used widely today. Tuesday night became Jewish Adult Learning night in Louisville, n ot only
at Adath Jeshurun, but at every synagogue in the city. By the time I arrived in 1978, it was understood that I would teach on Tuesday evenings. No meetings or community
events were scheduled for Tuesdays in Jewish Louisville!
Late in the 1990s, Louisville became a site for the Melton Adult Jewish Learning Program created by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for learners around the world.
When did the Louisville site meet? Tuesday evening, of course, continuing until the COVID pandemic. I believe Melton succeeded in Louisville because Rabbi Simcha Kling
paved the way, establishing and promoting adult Jewish learning in our community.
I am honored to end this celebration of his life with words written by his successor at Adath Jeshurun, Rabbi Robert Slosberg, capturing the heart and soul of a beloved
rabbi:
Rabbi Kling will be remembered worldwide for his ability to teach. He often reminded us that rav means teacher- and teach is what he did best. Rabbi Kling’s classes were
intellectual feasts. Always thoroughly prepared, his lectures drew students from all over the Commonwealth of Kentucky…Simcha Kling was known around the world as a
mensch and, by his colleagues, revered as a rabbi’s rabbi…Simcha Kling was an energetic leader both in Louisville and nationa lly for causes dear to him…Rabbi Kling’s book,
Embracing Judaism, is the standard used throughout the Conservative movement…One of Rabbi Kling’s most gifted former students, Professor Yochanan Muffs, has written that
the term simcha, when used in our liturgy and in rabbinic texts, means willingly. Jewish theology thereby teaches that the greatest gift we can give G-d is to willingly serve G-d.
And this is our gift from the rabbinate and life of Rabbi Simcha Kling. His teaching and his precious Neshama (soul) have inspired generations of students and congregants to
serve G-d willingly.
Zecher Tzaddik l’Vracha
May the memory and deeds of Rabbi Simcha Kling continue to bless us!
Stanley R. Miles is a retired rabbi who is an active volunteer at the Filson Historical Society and who currently teaches in the Louisville Melton Program.