One champion of Jewish religious pluralism will honor another at the annual awards dinner of the Jewish Historical Society of MetroWest.

Murray Laulicht, a veteran activist and president (1996-99) of what was then United Jewish Federation of MetroWest, will be saluted with the societies Lasting Impressions Award on Wednesday, April 25.

"Murray has connections," said Linda Forgosh, JHS curator and outreach director. "He moves in different communities with different themes, and he is a fabulous speaker."

Fittingly, the keynote speaker at the event will be Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg, president of the Jewish Life Network and a past chair of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. As the founding president of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Greenberg has also sought to promote tolerance and support for Jewish religious expression across the denominational spectrum.

Laulicht brings "a long history of serving the community at the state, local, and synagogue levels," said Forgosh. "There is probably not anything that doesn't stand him in good stead."

Laulicht became active in what today is the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey after moving from Elizabeth to West Orange in 1969. He was a leader of the agency's Lawyers and Young Leadership divisions in the years before becoming its president.

"If I made a contribution, it has been in three areas I hope will be continued," he told NJ Jewish News -- his synagogue, Holocaust education, and religious pluralism in Israel.

Laulicht is past president of Ahawas Achim B'nai Jacob and David, an Orthodox synagogue in West Orange.

He is a past chair of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, whose mission he called "a very important goal."

"Fortunately there is a great deal of emphasis on it in New Jersey and the rest of the United States," said Laulicht, the son of survivors. It is important that the commission and its work continue, he said, "in view of the fact that there are still many people who deny that [the Shoa] occurred."

Laulicht said his "most rewarding moments" have come from his efforts on behalf of religious pluralism in Israel, "where Jews of all stripes are striving to live Jewishly." Laulicht served as chair of UJC MetroWest's Religious Pluralism Committee, which supports programs for secular, Orthodox, Reform, and Conservative Israelis.

In 2002, Laulicht and the late Jerry Waldor, another federation past president, installed a mezuza at a Reform synagogue in Ra'anana. Laulicht said he and colleagues had fought for 10 years to establish the synagogue in a country in which Orthodox authorities dominate state religious functions.

"We had terrible problems with the government and the municipality," said Laulicht. "They did not want to give land to a Reform congregation."

Laulicht said being an Orthodox Jew gives him access to Modern Orthodox leaders in Israel. "They understand that I can explain to my non-Orthodox constituents what is important, and I can talk to them as someone who also works closely with the liberal streams in America," he said. Regarding Orthodox authority over life-cycle ritual, he said, "In Israel, there are terrible problems with conversion, with marriage, and with burial. But there is a lot of dialogue we have helped to foster, and it has toned down the rhetoric."

Closer to home, Laulicht said his belief in pluralism "means I don't try to judge my fellow Jews. I take delight in how many Jewish friends identify Jewishly. I work with them. I talk with them. I try to teach them, perhaps. But mainly it is to share ideas with them. Judaism is not a monolith. It is important we emphasize our love for fellow Jews."

He reacted to laudatory remarks about him on the occasion of the tribute with modesty.

"I may be imposing on my friends by making them give up an evening at home, but the Jewish Historical Society is a very worthy cause," said Laulicht.

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