Professor Baruch Bush, a longtime resident of Crown Heights and beloved member of the community, passed away peacefully just before Shabbos, 10 Adar, 5786.
He was 78.
Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Baruch excelled academically, attended Harvard University, and later earned his law degree from Stanford Law School, laying the foundation for a distinguished career in legal scholarship.
In 1977, his life took a transformative turn when he connected with Yiddishkeit at the Chabad House in Berkeley, California. There, under the guidance of Rabbis Yosef Langer, Chaim Itche Drizin, and Chaim Citrin, his deep and lasting bond with Chassidus and the Rebbe was formed. It was also at a Chabad House Purim celebration in Berkeley that he met his wife, Shulamis, A”H.
Seeking to raise their family in a vibrant Jewish environment, the Bush family moved to Crown Heights, where Professor Bush joined the faculty of Hofstra Law School. The Rebbe encouraged his teaching and writing, blessing him with “success with your students.” Those words became his lifelong mission and marching orders. Even in the face of illness, he continued teaching until just weeks before his passing, impacting and inspiring thousands of students and colleagues through his scholarship, care, and unwavering devotion to Yiddishkeit.
Together with Professor Joseph Folger of Temple University, Professor Bush became the co-creator and leading advocate of the Transformative Model of Mediation. He authored dozens of influential articles and the award-winning book The Promise of Mediation, which reshaped the field and earned him international recognition.
During the 1991 Crown Heights riots, Professor Bush stepped forward and became involved in community activism, offering legal guidance and ultimately serving as a volunteer member of the Vaad Hakahal.
His travels for academic lectures often doubled as points of connection and chizuk. Wherever he went in the world, he made it a point to visit the local Chabad House to farbreng and offer support. In Crown Heights, he would inspire many, speaking at farbrengens and community functions. He took particular pride in being a partner in supporting the Chabad House of Petaluma, established by his son Rabbi Dovid Bush, in the Bay Area, where his own journey of Yiddishkeit had begun decades earlier.
Professor Bush possessed a deep love for learning and teaching Chassidus and approached mitzvos and minhagim with diligence and joy. He loved inspiring children’s love for the Torah, becoming his shul, Bais Levi Yitzchak’s, “candyman,” distributing sweets when the kids would kiss the torah.
He took immense pride in the accomplishments of all of his children. Professor Baruch Bush leaves behind a legacy of scholarship and inspiration.
He will be deeply missed by his children, family, students, colleagues, and the many communities he touched.
He is survived by his wife, Raizel, and children.
The levaya will take place on Monday, passing by 770 Eastern Parkway at 12 PM
1 PM burial at Montefiore Cemetery
Shiva will take place next door to the family home at 1505 President St.
Davening Times:
Shacharis: 8 AM
Mincha/Maariv: 5:30
Visiting times:
11:00a-2:00p
7:00p-8:00p
(Monday: Shiva 4-5pm. No Shiva visits on Purim)
Friday:
Shachris: 6:10 AM
Motzei Shabbos:
In Petaluma, CA
Baruch Dayan Ha’emes.
He was one of my husband’s and my best friends for over 25 years. Baruch and his wife, Shulamis, lovingly helped us to feel welcome as young Baal teshuvas to Crown in the early 2000’s. His memory will always bring a smile to my face, he helped me to feel at home in Chabad. I’ll always miss him. He leaves a long life to be proud of.
It’s hard to overstate the positive impact Prof. Bush’s work has had on the world, including in my little central PA community. Many lives have been changed for the better because of his creativity, humanity, and vision.
He also helped out after 1991 lending his expertise with legal work. And in the later years lovingly took care of his wife when she was not well
A fine Chosid and warm heart
Professor Bush was, without question, one of the most impactful professors of my law school years and among the most formidable tort scholars in New York. What set him apart was not merely his mastery of doctrine, but his ability to vivify it. Negligence and proximate cause were never sterile abstractions in his classroom; they were woven into the fabric of ordinary life through stories so vivid and precise that the law felt less like memorization and more like revelation. Beyond torts, he drew upon the Torah and Jewish ethical tradition to remind us that the law is, at its… Read more »
When I first moved to Crown Heights more than 20 years ago, I learned with Boruch for several years in a Chassidus shiur he taught every Shabbos morning. It was the highlight of my week. Sadly, we lost touch with each other when my family moved to a different part of the neighborhood but I will never forget his passion, brilliance and commitment. He was and remains an inspiration.
He will be missed
Not long after embracing Yiddishkeit, he was one of the three translating simultaneously into English everything the Rebbe was saying at farbrengens, along with R. Manis Friedman, & R. Dr. Alter Bentzion Metzger, z”l.
Baruch inspired me with learning sichos of the Rebbe during a baal teshuvah year. He related them as a friend of decades would.
He had a grasp of the esoteric mixed with a touch of love.
A unique and special man.
His life took a transformative turn when he connected with Yiddishkeit at the Chabad House in Berkeley, California after meeting Rabbi Shalom Ber Veshedsky Elul 1978.
Moshiach Now!