Media Coverage
Author Jeffrey Gale’s New Book, “A Human Rights Odyssey: From Dreams
Deferred to Reconciliation,” is an Impactful Work That Discusses the Journey of
a Remarkable Activist
Recent release “A Human Rights Odyssey: From Dreams Deferred to Reconciliation” from Page
Publishing author Jeffrey Gale is a heartwarming story of the spiritual growth of Isaac Levin
through the decades.
Melville, NY July 01, 2025 --(PR.com)-- Jeffrey Gale, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, has
completed his new book, “A Human Rights Odyssey: From Dreams Deferred to Reconciliation”: a
gripping and potent work that reflects upon the events of the author’s past that have molded his passion
for social justice. It is the sequel to both "The Ballad of East and West" and "The Secret of Redemption."
Upon graduation from University City High School, author Jeffrey Gale attended Miami University in
Oxford, Ohio. He majored in political science and spent his junior year at the European Study Centre in
Luxembourg. His experiences as a tutor of underprivileged children had a tremendous impact on him.
Upon graduating cum laude in 1975, he moved to London, England, and studied to become a rabbi.
After ordination, he served two congregations in England from 1980 to 1984. During that period, he
served on the reform movement’s music committee and on the Soviet Jewry committee. His visits to the
Soviet Union in the early 1980s to teach and comfort refuseniks were highlights of his rabbinate in
London. Rabbi Gale returned to North America in 1984 and served congregations in Jackson, Michigan,
Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Regina, Saskatchewan. From 1998 to 2022, he served three congregations in
the New York area—Wantagh, Washington Heights, and Flushing. Rabbi Gale is currently retired.
Throughout his career, community relations, interfaith programming, and social causes such as civil
rights and immigration are very dear to his heart.
Rabbi Gale is married to Dr. Tsiporah Shore—the associate director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit
at New York Presbyterian Hospital—and has two adult children, Leanne and Joshua.
Gale writes, “Isaac Levin’s human rights odyssey begins in the suburbs of St. Louis during the Civil
Rights Movement. There he is influenced by a progressively minded school system, inspired by a rabbi
who marched with Martin Luther King and befriended by a brilliant warm-hearted Black student. The
odyssey takes him to the inner city of Hamilton, Ohio where he tutors Black children, to a courtroom in
Birmingham, England where he is an eyewitness to discrimination against People of Color, to Paris where
he meets his French cousin who saved the lives of Jewish children during the German occupation, to three
cities in the former Soviet Union, Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev where he teaches and comforts
refuseniks, to a federal penitentiary where he fights for justice for the Jewish inmates, to the Canadian
cities of Winnipeg and Regina, where he witnesses the hardships of First Nations people and prepares a
Cree girl for bat mitzvah, to Long Island where he leads his congregation through the horrors of 9/11 and
seeks to combat Islamophobia, to America’s Deep South and Washington, DC, where he co-leads an
interfaith Civil Rights mission, and finally back to his former high school where he shares his insights
with a new generation of young people.”
Author and UCHS Alum Jeff Gale Draws Inspiration from Today's Students
Throughout history, songwriters and musicians have served as “voices of the people,” through haunting, defiant or otherwise empowering lyrics that spoke to society’s shared consciousness. Those songs created a soundtrack of the times.
That was the case in 1970 when landings on the moon and Mars were overshadowed by war, civil and women’s rights protests and general unrest. Singer Marvin Gaye amplified the voices of the people when he asked, “What’s Going On?”
At the time, Jeff Gale was a junior at University City High School (UCHS) and one day in particular stands out. He recalled, “I remember sitting in the little theater with our class watching a documentary.” He added, “My (American Studies) instructor, Dennis Lubeck, and I were both eyewitnesses to what happened in that auditorium more than 50 years ago. Several American Studies teachers showed the documentary, The Invisible Empire. with an excerpt from Birth of a Nation, a racist film. Some students were laughing and that infuriated people. Then there was hissing and noise and most African American students walked out. One student pulled the film from the projector.”
Gale said there was tension throughout the day and the event sparked protests. The next morning, the school entrance was blocked by students, Black and White. “I operated on a theory that this whole blockade was not about the film, but many deeper issues,” he said. Classmates reflecting on the event years later, offered a wide range of views. “The bottom line,” Rabbi Gale said, is “Very few students prepared for the film. It was just sprung on us cold turkey – I was certainly not prepared for what I was about to see. Out of context you can draw the wrong conclusions. Many years later, I viewed The Invisible Empire on You Tube and read the book version of Birth of a Nation. Only then did I understand the full context of the documentary that I viewed in 1970.
Now an author and interfaith leader in New York, Gale, returned to UCHS on May 6, to meet with students in preparation for a new book, “A Human Rights Odyssey.” He said, “I specifically asked to meet with students in that same theater. A part of me wanted to speak there as it was a room of conflict over 50 years ago and now it was transformed into a room of reconciliation.”
Although a work of fiction, the new book will mirror Gale’s own experiences growing up in University City where his mother Rosale taught throughout her career. “As a returning alumnus,” Gale said, “I saw my task as not only providing enrichment by talking about my books, but also, by reinforcing the positive values that have been inculcated by the teachers over the decades.” He added, “These conversations (with students) will help lay the foundation for the book and I would expect it to change as a result of that.”
After graduating, Gale went on to earn a degree in political science from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He spent his junior year at the European Study Centre in Luxembourg, graduating cum laude in 1975. He moved to London, England and, in 1980, was ordained at Leo Baeck College. After ordination, Rabbi Gale served congregations in England, Canada, and the United States.
“From 2009-2020, I served a congregation in northern Manhattan. The general community is very Dominican and borders Harlem. If you want to make a meaningful presence in Washington Heights you must interact with (all types of) people,” said Gale. “Our Synagogue was rented out to other groups which allowed us to interact and have joint programming, social action, and interfaith Thanksgiving. I was my dream to establish an interfaith community center where we could hold services and provide a place for all people.”
He was working on this dream when, on August 9, 2014, news of the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson reached his congregation. “It hit me personally because I remember participating in events and riding my bike through Ferguson. And, then, within a few days, the body of Tina Fontaine, a First Nations girl from Canada, was found in the Red River. The two incidents together really bothered me and the book will flashback over those experiences as well as where I started – in University City.”
Thinking it would launch a discussion among University City students, Rabbi Gale asked the students about the significance of August 2014. Initially, Rabbi Gale said, “I was surprised when the date didn’t immediately resonate with the students. Then it clicked (for me) – they were only 5 years old at the time!” Yet, he realized that for those who lived through it, the memory is still as vivid as it was ten years ago.
“What we went through in 1970 was different than what happened in Ferguson, but the things going on then were allowed to fester and needed to come out and that is what I am doing with my book.” Gale wanted to sit down with students to see if we have really come as far as everyone had hoped 50 years ago. “I wanted student reactions to Ferguson and learn what the curriculum is today – it’s totally different from what I had growing up.”
“The Social Studies coordinator provided advice; I wanted to engage in sharing rather than lecturing. And so, I came out feeling really good,” said Rabbi Gale. “The students were very perceptive and asked intelligent questions. Most importantly, I sensed a definite atmosphere in which students felt listened to and respected. I also had the feeling that administrators (of today) were attuned to what was going on in the greater community. That was not always the case in my time,” he said.
He smiled, “I'm a time capsule, so to speak, and you never know how it is going to come across. I felt there was a genuine interest in what I had to bring to the table from years past. I was a total stranger and yet we were able to talk about topics that mattered and that was very important.” He added, “Intergenerational communication builds community. That is what I am here to do.” (Bump up quote)
“These students came from a totally different background than where I came from yet, I felt a bond I cannot explain. Their generation and my generation are products of the (same) liberal minded school system – which has persisted from my time to the present.
“The success of my visit could largely be attributed to the enormous work that was done in the University City school system and during the 50 plus years after my graduation. In the 1970s, Rabbi Gale said, “We looked at primary sources. There was almost no textbook learning, other than as a point of reference. We studied primary material and learned some measure of critical thinking.” Gale said that while he learned from the works of Black authors like Langston Hughes, the District did little to address the big issues of race. “We didn’t get to the civil rights struggle and that was a mistake. Teachers mostly talked and students mostly listened and took tests. That’s it.”
He added, “The reason I wanted to speak with the superintendent is to determine how much of a learning curve there is today.” Recognizing that technology has brought news reports directly to students, he wanted to know how the students were supported. Rabbi Gale says he was happy to hear Dr. Hardin-Bartley say that they (administration) still have the same ideals. “I see they have learned from some mistakes of the past.”
As an example, he heard from UCHS Coordinator of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Susan Hill, who reflected on 2017, when Jason Stoeckley a white, former police officer, was acquitted of the 2011 shooting death of a black man. The issue touched off protests around the world and at UCHS. “Dr. Hill told me the district supported the students and I thought that was significant. Rather than allowing anger to simmer in the school, they were proactive. Proactiveness was absent in my time, but present years later and that is wonderful.”
“What’s beautiful is –that I am – who I am – because I lived in the diverse community of University City. Because of that, I am better able to relate to people who are not the same as me.” He added, “I could not have accomplished what I have without having grown up in University City.”
Returning to include the students’ perspectives in his book, he explained, “It’s my personal gift to the school district.” It’s very likely that with student input, Gale’s third book will be a gift to history because, like the songs of the 70's, it will tell the true story of people, politics, protests and the impact on students through the ages.