The Leo Baeck Education Center’s philosophy was inspired by individuals who recognized not only the moral implications of our beliefs, but also of how we choose to transmit our beliefs and how we treat those who believe differently. Their experiences during the Holocaust provided them with a model in which morality was handcuffed by the injustice of a society, and showed them that to reach the ultimate goal of Tikkun Olam, a land filled with justice, morality and the law must be joined. Together morality and law permit diversity, but also set limits on it: The diversity is a respect for difference. The limits are the restraints on power and extremism that a respect for the other entails.
Under the harshest of conditions, Rabbis Leo Baeck and Hugo Gryn never gave up and never became indifferent. They recognized that indifference was as great an enemy to justice as evil itself, and despite the gravity of the situations they faced, they did not give up joy in life and trust in their fellow human beings. Only when a society “practices tolerance, cherishes harmony, and can celebrate difference”* can life be lived in safety and to its fullest extent.
Source: Gryn , Hugo, Chasing Shadows (UK: Penguin Books, 2000) cited in Winer, Rabbi Mark L., Ph.D., D.D. “Leo Baeck ad Hugo Gryn: From the Shoah to Tikkun Olam,” From Vision to Reality: 50 Years Memorial of Rabbi Dr. Leo Baeck