He continued his studies at Dropsie College in Philadelphia, and, well known for the power of his sermons and his skills as an orator, taught homiletics in the JTS rabbinical school for ten years.

A descendant of a number of European rabbis,[4] Lewis grew up in the Bronx, first working as a teacher in New York City, and then as principal at a yeshiva in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.

[5] In 1948, while still in rabbinical school, Lewis became the student rabbi and spiritual leader of a 50-family congregation, Temple Beth Sholom, in Haddon Heights, New Jersey, an area that did not allow Jews until after World War II.

In addition to Mitch Albom, the long list of other students Lewis taught during his almost six decades with the synagogue includes Steven Spielberg[7] and Eugene Maurice Orowitz, better known by his screen name, Michael Landon.

He was also a strong voice in interfaith affairs, maintaining close ties with the Catholic Diocese of Camden, and pioneering outreach efforts to local church and religious groups, welcoming visiting classes into the synagogue, to learn more about Judaism.

[13] In 1967, shortly following the Six-Day War, he took a year-long sabbatical in Israel, visiting Egypt to retrace the route of the Biblical Exodus, writing a series of articles for Christian readers, in addition to the synagogue bulletins he wrote for his congregation, and teaching at Oranim Academic College.

[10] In 1963, Lewis accepted the invitation of JTS Chancellor Louis Finkelstein to serve in the newly created post of Rabbinic Tutor to participants in The Institute for Religious and Social Studies (IRSS).

Established in 1938, the IRSS was an early, ground-breaking interfaith effort that brought together scholars and leaders in areas that spanned religion, economics, government, business, and science—across faith lines—for weekly sessions of discussion and study.

Lewis's responsibilities, as outlined in the letters he received from JTS and the RA, would include "making pertinent comments...asking helpful questions...[and]serving as a resource person," both during the sessions and during the meals, where he would be seated "at a strategic place," so that all could "take full advantage of...[his] presence.

[17] Lewis referred to these initiatives as part of the "maturing" of the Conservative movement,[18] and said that, while there were some communities where Modern Orthodox rabbis still offered their "full cooperation" in matters of life-cycle rituals, the situation had been exacerbated by the Who is a Jew?

[20] Lewis hailed this expansion as a move "in the spirit of glasnost," saying it presaged a new resurgency of Eastern European Jewry decimated at the hands of Nazism.

Lewis wrote a comprehensive history and explanation of the Shofar, the ram's horn used as a part of traditional Jewish worship before and during the High Holy Days, for the Encyclopedia Judaica.

Observers reported that Lewis continued to offer pastoral care and comfort—and even a word of song[37]—during the last days of his life, in conversations with hospital workers who would come to him to hear his stories or ask for his blessing.

Covington, a past drug-addict, dealer, and ex-convict, was ministering to the needs of his down-and-out parishioners, in an urban church serving a largely homeless congregation.