By Frank D. Roylance , Sun reporter|April 19, 2008
As he prepared to preside over his last Passover services at Beth El synagogue in Pikesville, Rabbi Mark Loeb allowed himself to consider the opportunities and the responsibilities that come with freedom - his own and the human family's.
"Most people think the story is the Haggadah, where we say God gets the people out of bondage. We celebrate it, and happy days are here again. That's not it," Loeb said, referring to Passover. "Liberation from bondage only takes you away from oppression, but it doesn't liberate your soul to dream about how to live your life."
Nor does the Passover story end with the Jews' liberation from Egypt or its retelling during tonight's Seder, Loeb said. It concludes in seven weeks with Shavuot, the holiday that commemorates the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses to show the Hebrews that their freedom came with responsibility.
Loeb is retiring June 1 as only the second senior rabbi in the Conservative synagogue's 60-year history. He plans to use his "liberation" to teach, to volunteer, to travel and to read. Friends suspect he might indulge his love of opera and professional wrestling, too.
At 64, Loeb has achieved a special prominence among Baltimore clergy of all faiths. Christopher M. Leighton, a Presbyterian minister and executive director of the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies in Baltimore, which Loeb helped found, called the rabbi "unflinching in his willingness to tackle hard questions and frame difficult challenges that Christians and Jews need to face together."
"He doesn't shy away from speaking truth to power," or raising "hard questions about Israel," Leighton said. The minister also cited the affection Loeb shared with the late Auxiliary Bishop P. Francis Murphy, saying it "sets a standard for how our different religious communities ought to be interacting."
Joel Zaiman, rabbi emeritus at neighboring Chizuk Amuno synagogue, called Loeb "totally committed" to interfaith dialogue. "His major contribution is ... the power of his intellect and personality. He has a steel-trap mind and is incredibly articulate. That's what works," Zaiman said.
Loeb has served on gubernatorial commissions on discrimination and adolescent pregnancy. He is frequently sought out for his views on national and global issues of peace, religion and human rights. But most of his life has been absorbed by Beth El, which has doubled in size since he took over the pulpit in June 1976.
