Rabbi Seymour Rossel (born August 9, 1945) is an American author, publisher, editor, educator, and founder of Rossel Books. Through his work in editing, writing, and publishing, he has influenced Jewish education and culture throughout the English-speaking world.
Personal life
Rossel was born on August 9, 1945, in Chicago, Illinois, to renowned chef Willy Otto and Leona (Wadler). The family moved to Dallas, Texas in 1956. While a senior in high school, Rossel was selected to edit Whangdoodle, the citywide book review publication of the Young Adult department of the Dallas Public Library, where his writing was encouraged and tutored by famous children’s librarian and author, Siddie Joe Johnson.
He received a B.A. in History with a Minor in Education from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX in 1968. He became editor of the SMU literary journal, Espejo, in which his award-winning short stories had previously appeared. Under the tutelage of Texas author Marshall Terry, he entered the Book of the Month Club Writing Fellowship Awards, becoming a Southwest Regional Finalist for his story "The Demonstration" which was published in a Doubleday anthology of young authors entitled Growing Up in America.
He received his M.A. in 1978 from New York University School of Education, Institute of Hebrew Culture, where he studied Bible and archaeology with Dr. Cyrus Gordon. His post-graduate work included studies in education under Dr. Henry J. Perkinson and studies in mythology and world religions under Dr. Joseph Campbell.
He became a Fellow in Religious Education (F.R.E), NATE in 1982, and a Reform Jewish Educator (R.J.E.), URJ (UAHC) & HUC-JIR in 1988.
Rossel was ordained as a Rabbi in 2000 in New York, by the Westchester Beit Din, sponsored by Rabbis Chaim Stern, Manuel Gold, and Shoshana Hantman.
Rossel married Jewish educator Sharon L. Wechter in 1999. Of his four children, two (Rabbi Amy Rossel and Rabbi Rachel Maimin) have been ordained by the HUC-JIR and are serving congregations in the Reform movement. His daughter Deborah Rossel Bradford was a Student Laureate Poet for the State of Connecticut and is currently Head of the Department of Academic Strategies at Tunxis Community College. His son Benjamin Maimin is Chief Operating Officer of Opus 3 Artists.
Professional
Rossel is publisher of Rossel Books and CEO of Rossel Counseling and Consulting, Inc. For many years, he lectured on Bible and Jewish subjects at the Women's Institute of Houston,. He continues to conduct workshops in Bible, Jewish history, and Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah); and to serve as scholar-in-residence and storyteller-in-residence for Jewish federations and synagogues throughout North America.
Publishing career
Rossel's work as a Jewish publisher began when he was hired to serve as Executive Editor (later, Executive Vice-President) of Behrman House, Inc., in 1972. His editorial work, guided by Jacob Behrman and Eugene B. Borowitz, resulted in the textbooks and guides for teachers that formed the backbone of present Jewish curriculum in the Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist movements throughout the English-speaking world.
His aspiration to bring modern scholarship into the classrooms of Jewish religious schools led to publications of student versions of Amos Elon's Israelis: Founders and Sons; Lucy Dawidowicz’s The War Against the Jews, Abba Eban's, My People, and a series of books on Talmud and Midrash written by Jacob Neusner and edited by Dr. David Altshuler.
To serve the needs of high school and adult studies in the Jewish community, he founded The Jewish Concepts and Issues series, commissioning and publishing Judaism and the New Woman by the first female rabbi, Sally Priesand, The Russian Jewry Reader by Evan Chesler, and Anti-Semitism in Europe: Sources of the Holocaust edited by David Zisenwine.
For adult studies, he issued a series of original and reprint editions of Louis Jacobs' A Jewish Theology, Meyer Levin's Eva: A Novel of the Holocaust, Jiří Langer's Nine Gates to the Chassidic Mysteries, and Rachmil Bryk’s Kiddush HaShem (A Cat in the Ghetto).