With his gentle voice, easygoing demeanor, booming laugh and vast knowledge of all things Torah, Rabbi Shlomo Porter was a beloved figure in local and national Jewish outreach circles who instilled a passion for Yiddishkeit in countless Jews for decades.
The longtime head and driving force of the Baltimore-based Etz Chaim Center, Rabbi Porter passed away on Saturday, Nov. 15. He was 78.
“Rabbi Shlomo Porter was a larger than life figure in our community,” posted Dr. Edward Lowenthal on social media. “His big beautiful voice bringing in the Yom Tovim [High Holidays] was, to me, legendary. Along with Rabbi [Menachem] Goldberger, Rabbi Porter brought us into the Orthodox community. His passion, Etz Chaim, touched the lives of an uncountable number of Jews. … This is truly a massive loss to the entire Baltimore Jewish community.”
A Milwaukee native, Rabbi Porter was the son of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union who served in the partisan resistance movement during World War II.
As a teenager, he attended the Beis Medrash L’Torah yeshiva in Skokie, Illinois. Later, he studied for 13 years and graduated from Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore, and received a master’s degree in counseling at Loyola College (now known as Loyola University Maryland).
From 1974 to 1977, Rabbi Porter organized Summer Educational and Enrichment Development programs in his native Milwaukee. Later, he and his family moved to Santa Clara, California, where he taught at and supervised Yeshiva and Medrasha Kerem, a high school for Jewish outreach and Torah study.
In 1981, Rabbi Porter returned to Baltimore to expand and direct the Etz Chaim Center for Jewish Studies, which provides Jewish outreach programming and learning opportunities for Jews of all backgrounds.
By the time of his death, Rabbi Porter was the president and dean of the center. Etz Chaim also has satellites in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
“Etz Chaim’s name is taken from the [Proverbs] verse, ‘It is a tree of life to those who take hold of it, and those who support it are fortunate,’” Rabbi Porter told the local Orthodox publication Where What When in 2013. “My life’s work and passion has been — and is — to make the sentiment of the verse a palpable reality here in our exemplary Baltimore community.”
In a post on the website of Sol Levinson & Bros, Lev Bar-Av, owner of National Photo in Pikesville, wrote, “I first met Rabbi Porter around 1987 from an outreach event through Etz Chaim, Torah Teens, I think it was called. My mother had found out about Etz Chaim by answering a newspaper ad for experiencing a Shabbos Meal. We had little or no experience with the observant Jewish community before then. He has made a tremendous impact on my life and was instrumental in bringing me into the fold of Yiddishkeit. The brilliant light and warmth he shared in his life is still warming our lives today. We are so fortunate and thankful to have known him and his family and to be a part of their lives. May his memory forever be a blessing.”
Wrote Edel Blumberg: “I met Rabbi Poter about 25 years ago. A truly world class man in my time, one of the most revered people I ever met. His profound vision of teaching, educating and learning about Judaism was so impactful. It didn’t matter if you were the most learned in Judaism, it mattered that you were proud to be Jewish! I came to respect that side of his teaching so very much. … I only hope he realized his impact on me and so many others.”
Rabbi Porter is survived by his wife, Rebbetzin Shoshana Porter; his children, Esther Porter, Elky (Rabbi Chaim) Brener, Rabbi Yisroel (Chaya) Porter, Rabbi Nosson (Esther) Porter, and Rabbi Mayer (Miriam) Porter; and his brother, Dr. Jack Porter.
The funeral was held Sunday, Nov. 16, at 12:30 p.m. at Bnos Yisroel of Baltimore, 6300 Park Heights Avenue. The funeral was livestreamed.
Interment will take place at the Agudath Israel of Baltimore Cemetery, 6347 Hamilton Avenue in Rosedale. Shiva will be observed at 6105 Western Run Drive in Northwest Baltimore.
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