In Memoriam Leo Mock
Entirely unexpectedly, our good friend and colleague Leo Mock passed away from us, at the much too young age of 55. On September 1, we paid our last respects to Leo, the honor due to a great scholar, a chacham. Although he himself was too modest to emphasize it, many in attendance felt like his disciples. My thoughts go back to what must have been several decades ago. At an evening of the Overlegorgaan van Joden en Christenen (Interfaith Council of Jews and Christians), Leo was present. That already characterized him, for many in Orthodox Jewish circles preferred to pass by such dialogue evenings. I stuck up a conversation with him and said, 'our Folkertsma Foundation for Talmudic studies is something for you, come and visit'. Leo did, and since then he became an integral part of what would later be called the Pardes Foundation. He surprised me again, this time by a clear business sense of the ins and outs of the Foundation and its publications. Leo became a regular contributor to the magazine Tenachon and contributed to it for some twenty years on all sorts of topics, whether it was "borders," or "dialogue," or "mysticism.” He also worked for Amphora publishing house, where his father held sway, and where we decided to publish a kind of new-age translation of the well-known rabbinic tractate Pirke Avot. Usually this is translated as Sayings of the Fathers, but our title was more inclusive, sounding "Sayings of the Foundations"!
Over time, as we got to know each other a little better, Leo confided to me that the doctoral research he was working on in Brussels had reached an impasse. What happened to him would later happen to him again: lecturing requests became so intense that there was no room left for in-depth study. It typified Leo, saying "no" was never his forte! Together with the late Shlomo Berger, to the delight of the three of us, we nevertheless managed to overcome this obstacle. The effort proved worthwhile: the vastly expanded world of responsa, rabbis' answers to questions of religious-legal nature, became accessible through that labor. Specifically, Leo's research dealt with a subject bordering on the magical: the ruach ra`ah, the evil spirit that assails a person at night and for which morning ablutions are the probate means in Jewish tradition. This theme immediately led to analyses around gender, fundamentalism, but also hierarchy, worldview, and mysticism. Leo's thesis was awarded cum laude and was published by the prestigious Berlin publishing house De Gruyter.
Remarkably, Leo's mother, Minny Mock, had previously published the booklet Nagelwater, which touched on the same subject. No doubt Leo owed his unprejudiced outlook and openness to various beliefs in part to the cultural anthropologist that she was. Although Leo was originally firmly rooted in the Orthodox Jewish tradition, I never knew him emphasize this explicitly; it was taken for granted. With that attitude, he was a bridge builder, between Christianity and Judaism but equally between liberal and Orthodox Judaism, an equally significant achievement. It was not only fitting, but downright exceptional, that both sides spoke at the cemetery in Oudenkerk aan de Amstel.
Within our School of Catholic Theology (Tilburg University), Leo, although he always seemed busy and on his way to another obligation, was always a familiar presence. Students did not always fully understand him, as the need for deep understanding of Judaism is sometimes less felt today. To his Talmud and Midrash classes, Leo brought a perspective and visions that might sometimes be challenging for today’s uncertain theology students, but those who persevered appreciated his teaching.
I had the good fortune to have had many telephone conversations with him. In those conversations, he was astonished: he asked me directly what I thought about the work of the patristic scholar and Cardinal Jean Daniélou. I had not yet recovered from the surprise when he explained, "I regularly browse through the box of old giveaway books in the hallway. Quite interesting, what's in there.” He was also very interested in my view of the leadership of the Catholic Church, undoubtedly because he recognized the tension that arises between ancient traditions and modern society.
As I mentioned before, Leo was a bridge builder. Polarization became dialogue with him. His passing is a great loss to all of us, of course, first and foremost for his wife and four daughters. May his memory be a blessing to us all.
Marcel Poorthuis