Rabbi Wolf Gunther Plaut z"l was born in Germany on November 1, 1912. He received his Doctor of Laws degree in Germany but was prohibited from practicing law under the Nazi regime. He fled to the U.S. and was ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1939.
After receiving his U.S. citizenship in 1943, he enlisted as a chaplain in the U.S. Army during World War II and was
present at the capture of the first concentration camp in Germany.
Rabbi Plaut served as rabbi in Chicago, Ill. and St. Paul, Minn.
prior to joining Holy Blossom Temple as senior rabbi in 1961. He retired
in 1977, but continued on as senior scholar until his passing on February 9, 2012.
Rabbi Plaut was the author of revered commentaries on the Torah and haftarah, which have become widely recognized as the standards for the
Reform Movement. His best-known work was The
Torah: A Modern Commentary, published by URJ Press.
by Rabbi Joan Glazer Farber On February 9th, the 16th of Sh’vat, the Reform Movement and the entire Jewish community was diminished by one of the g’dolei hador—one of the giants of his generation, Rabbi Gunther Plaut. His story is the stuff of legend, a brand plucked form the fire of Nazi Europe, who grew to become a teacher of Torah par excellence, and whose wisdom most recently became available to the Russian Jewish community. Rabbi Plaut has justly been acclaimed as a teacher and scholar, a friend, a lover of tennis, a leader of the Jewish and general community, [...]
by Rabbi Ira Youdovin Gunther Plaut, z”l, was an amazing renaissance man who excelled in a dazzling array of areas from scholarship to athletics. Like all of us who have been privileged to use his Torah Commentary, I’ve benefited from the former. But I also had an encounter with the latter. During one of the first CCAR conventions in Israel, Gunther and I found ourselves standing outside the Jerusalem Hilton’s lone tennis court, each looking for someone to hit with. I was never more than a hacker, while he had played for Germany in at least one pre-Hitler Maccabiah. When [...]
When we look at Rabbi Plaut’s influence on the greater Reform Movement, it seems to me that there are two areas of accomplishment that deserve special mention. The first, not often discussed but of great importance, is his remarkable courage. As a spokesman for Jewish values and tradition, Gunther Plaut was usually ahead of the pack. He said things that others did not want to hear, or were not ready to hear. He articulated unpopular beliefs, and he fought for those beliefs. But Gunther knew no other way. He spoke the truth as he say it, with no apologies and [...]
by Rabbi Jan Katzew When a sage dies, everyone becomes kin. -Babylonian Talmud A sage, Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut, has died and once again we are all family. You may never have met Rabbi Plaut personally, yet it is likely that he taught you Torah. He served as the editor and primary author of the first liberal Jewish commentary on the Torah. Published initially in 1981, The Torah: A Modern Commentary was a literary pioneer, leading the way for multiple contemporary interpretations of a sacred ancient text. Rabbi Gunther Plaut was a renaissance rabbi, who led congregations in Chicago, Illinois, [...]
The Haftarah Commentary Commentary by W. Gunther Plaut with a new translation of the Hebrew text by Chaim Stern. With the assistance of Philip D. Stern, S. David Sperling: Consulting Editor
Rabbi Wolf Gunther Plaut z"l was born in Germany on November 1, 1912. He received his Doctor of Laws degree in Germany but was prohibited from practicing law under the Nazi regime. He fled to the U.S. and was ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1939.
After receiving his U.S. citizenship in 1943, he enlisted as a chaplain in the U.S. Army during World War II and was
present at the capture of the first concentration camp in Germany. 
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