Rabbi Steven Sager was an accomplished poet, writer, musician and linguist who was the spiritual leader of Beth El Synagogue in Durham from 1978-2010 and the Rabbi Emeritus until 2022. As Beth El’s rabbi, he inspired people to hold up sacred texts like a mirror through which individuals see their lives in sharper relief and imagine their lives as part of a larger, sacred story. Among many innovations he introduced at Beth El were interactive learning among congregants of all ages, public dialogues with b’nai mitzvah students, and a peer learning program among teens. He welcomed significant participation of lay leadership in the religious life of the community, expanded the role of the chevra kaddisha (burial society), and emphasized ongoing care of the Durham Hebrew Cemetery.

Rabbi Sager earned a Ph.D. in Rabbinic Literature from Duke University and served on the faculties of Duke Divinity School, UNC Medical School, and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He organized local interfaith programs and co-directed the Greater Carolinas Association of Rabbis Interfaith Institute. He was a Senior Fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and was a prolific translator of modern Hebrew poetry, especially that of Yehuda Amichai and Rivka Miriam.

After retiring from the pulpit, Rabbi Sager created and directed Sicha (Conversation), an organization promoting ongoing dialogue between Jewish texts and lived experience among Jewish clergy, professionals, and laity. A hallmark of Sicha was its rabbinic enrichment program, in which he mentored colleagues to help them develop both personally and professionally.

A native of Silver Spring, Maryland, he married Sabina Weinstein in 1973 after developing a deep friendship during their time together in United Synagogue Youth. He was father to Ariele, Jacob, and Noah, and sabba (grandfather) to seven grandchildren. He became an exceptional leader in Durham’s Jewish community and beyond. But above all, he was beloved as an extraordinary teacher.

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