Rabbi Harry Zvi Sky

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Harry Zvi Sky passed away on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019. A long time resident of Portland, Maine, he spent his final days living near family in Greensboro, N.C. Rabbi Sky was 95.

Rabbi Sky was the husband of the late Ruth (Levinson) Sky, to whom he was married from 1950 until her death in 1990. He was subsequently married to and Helene Gerstein from 1992 until her death in 2003, was the father of the late Rina Sky Wolfgang and is survived by his sons Uri and Ari, and by six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Born and raised in Northern New Jersey, he was the son of the late Luis and Ida (Lozea) Sky and the brother of the late Hyman and David Sky. Ordained as a Rabbi by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1952, he held pulpits in several communities, including Gloucester, Massachusetts, Alexandria, Virginia, Houston, Texas and Indianapolis, Indiana, before becoming the Rabbi at Temple Beth El in Portland in 1961.

Rabbi Sky had a passion for social justice and progressive change, marching with civil rights leaders in the 1960s to advance equal rights for the African American community and campaigning against the Vietnam War. A respected scholar, he served as a member of the Rabbinical Assembly’s prestigious Committee on Jewish Law and Standards in the 1970s. Later in life, he dedicated his time toward providing pastoral services for the interfaith and LGBTQ communities, and was a driving force behind the establishment of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine and the revitalization of Congregation Etz Chayim on Congress Street as the Maine Jewish Museum. Rabbi Sky was an avid traveler and collector of indigenous artwork, and dedicated his collection of rare Inuit Art to establish the Rabbi Harry Z and Ruth L. Sky collection at Bowdoin College.

Funeral services for Rabbi Sky will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. at Temple Beth El, 400 Deering Ave. in Portland. A graveside service will follow at Temple Beth El Memorial Park at 1 Johnson Road. Arrangements by Portland Jewish Funeral Home