Gary Rosenthal, whose unique glass artwork and Judaica are featured at synagogues and homes across the country, died May 26 at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 69.
In an email, his son, Reuben Rosenthal, said he died of pancreatic cancer.
For almost 50 years, Gary Rosenthal worked at his studio in Kensington making glass sculptures and custom art pieces. His artwork can be found in homes and synagogues across the Jewish spectrum. The Chabad Chasidic movement has its own collection designed by Rosenthal.
Rosenthal touched the lives of many through his artwork and philanthropy. He donated the money he made from his artwork to help Hurricane Katrina victims in 2005 and those affected by the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Fla. He hired autistic people and former Soviet refuseniks to work in his studio.
To Rosenthal, these were simply ways of doing the right thing, one of the main principles of his life, according to his son.
“He taught me the most important lesson one can learn in life — in fact, the cornerstone to a life well lived — and he did it in two words only totaling six letters: Be kind,” Reuben said at Rosenthal’s funeral on Sunday.
Rosenthal’s other two commandments were to make art, and love fully. Reuben described Rosenthal as a father who believed in loving unconditionally.
“He was the same father that he was artist, husband and friend: love incarnate, kindness personified, enthusiasm in the flesh,” he said.
Rabbi Jonathan Roos of Temple Sinai in D.C., where Rosenthal was a member, said at the funeral that he was “starstruck” at meeting the artist for the first time. The two formed a long-lasting friendship.
“He was unique. He was singular. There was nothing like him,” Roos said at Rosenthal’s funeral.
Rabbi Sholom Raichik of Chabad of Upper Montgomery County had a long relationship with Rosenthal, too. The Chabad center has several pieces of his artwork.
“He was always good to talk to. He never complained, even when he was sick, and was always excited when I came by,” Raichik said.
Raichik said the last time he saw Rosenthal was before Passover when he gave Rosenthal matzah for his seder.
Gary Michael Rosenthal was born on May 31, 1953. He grew up in Kenwood Park in the District and graduated from Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda.
While he became a Judaica artist almost by happenstance, it proved to be his calling, both for the popularity of his work and the living he was able to make from it.
“I paid my mortgage with dreidels in a stand,” he said in a 2019 profile in Washington Jewish Week. “The shards wedding mezuzah put my kids through college,” a reference to a mezuzah that displays bits of glass from a colored goblet stomped on by the groom at the close of the wedding ceremony. Those goblets were Gary Rosenthal Judaica pieces, too.
At the time of the 2019 profile, Rosenthal had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
He said that it was ironic that his latest charitable project, pink fused glass “Strength Stones,” raised funds to support an organization for women and families affected by breast, ovarian and other cancers.
Rosenthal’s final art project was what his son called a “reverently irreverent Judaic innovation” — a mezuzah affixed to Rosenthal’s coffin.
The artist had come up with unconventional places to attach a mezuzah before. He had once placed a mezuzah next to the door of an airplane for a charity Jewish skydiving event.
There was no rule about putting one on an airplane, Reuben said at the funeral. “And if you’re going to jump out of an airplane to help the needy, yes, you need to have all the divine support you can get.”
The subject of the mezuzah came up again a week before Rosenthal died.
“Can you even put a mezuzah on a coffin?” Reuben recalled asking his father.
“I doubt there’s any rule expressly forbidding it,” Rosenthal responded.
Reuben tried again. “Aren’t Jewish coffins supposed to be unadorned?”
“This is not an adornment. It’s a mitzvah,” his father said. “That’s what I want. I want a mezuzah on my coffin.”
He asked his son to make it.
Gary Rosenthal is survived by his wife, Marta Goldsmith; and their children, Reuben Rosenthal (Anna Rieper) and Sophie Rosenthal. He was the brother of Dale Rosenthal (Michael Cutler) and brother-in-law of Ileane Rosenthal (the late Donald), Cory Begner (Alan), Kim Goldsmith (Dave Johnson) and Abby Goldsmith (Dr. Kevin Hendler).
Contributions may be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCan).
In Judaica circles, Gary Rosenthal was a name brand. In its January list of bar mitzvah gifts, Women’s Day picked the Gary Rosenthal Judaica Glass Tzedakah Box as gift Number 7.
“I’ve always wanted to do good,” Rosenthal said in the 2019 profile. “The parts of my business that are successful subsidize the social work ventures. People buy tzedakah boxes and I give away cancer stones.” ■
Gary Rosenthal was born June 25th, 1953 (not May 31st)