FREDA M. GORELICK OBEN, PH.D. '40
Freda Gorelick Oben (d. July 8, 2010) has spent more than 35 years researching and writing about Edith Stein, a Jewish convert to Catholicism who later entered the Carmelite community, died in a gas chamber at Auschwitz in 1942, and was canonized in 1998 as St. Edith Stein. John R. Wilcox, Ph.D., professor of philosophy and director of the Edith Stein Research Center at Spalding University, notes that “Dr. Oben has clearly and firmly distinguished herself as one of the unquestioned pioneers in North America for scholarly research in the life and thought of St. Edith Stein, Sr. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross, OCD.” Professor Wilcox continues: “Dr. Oben’s scholarly work on Edith Stein began in the 1960s when Stein was virtually unknown on this continent… If it is the mark of distinguished scholarship to recognize and call attention to undiscovered greatness, then Dr. Oben’s scholarship on Stein receives the highest distinction possible. … Dr. Oben is a renowned authority.”
Freda M. Gorelick graduated from Chestnut Hill College, magna cum laude, in 1940 and did not return to formal education for many years. She married and raised five children, taught in several academies and colleges in the Washington, D.C. area, then completed her master’s degree in 1971 and her Ph.D. in literature 1979 at the Catholic University of America. She began to present her research at parish meetings, teachers’ conferences, and professional organizations from the early 1970s. One of her first papers was titled “Perspectives of the Working Woman” (1971). Another was “Christian Boundaries of Freedom for the Working Woman” (1971). As the ’80s opened, Freda increasingly devoted her attention to Edith Stein, the philosopher who developed from a “Jewish atheist to a Jewish/Christian mystic and martyr.”
Professor Wilcox notes that Freda’s “published translation of Stein’s Essays on Woman for ICS Publications is the standard, indeed the only, available source for anyone wishing to work on these writings in English.” In addition, Professor Wilcox says that Freda Oben’s book, Edith Stein: Scholar, Feminist, Saint (1988) is, in his judgement, “the most readable book-length introduction to Stein in English that has been written.” This book is now in its sixth printing.
Mary C. Graham ’52 speaks of meeting Freda in the ’50s-’60s during Washington alumnae events. “This gentle woman was … a community driving force, helping some of the county’s poorest people with food, clothing and political activism. She had a keen sense of social justice and community service.” Mary continues: “Then a searching, spiritual element became more evident. With Freda’s conversion to the Catholic faith came her new desire to unite her Jewish heritage with Catholicism. … in Edith Stein, Freda was to find a woman who could be for her a modern day linkage between the Old and New Testaments, her own former outlook and a new religious perspective.”
Reverend Thomas McCreesh, president of the Pontifical Faculty of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, notes that Freda “is one who keeps active in a number of good works, especially the Catholic-Jewish dialogue, the Catholic Campaign for America, and ministry in her own parish.”
Reverend Kurt Pritzl, O.P., dean of the Catholic University of America, attests to Freda’s scholarship, sensitivity, and humanity. “Dr. Oben has been a leader in bringing historically alienated peoples together.” Reverend Pritzl points to Freda’s “activities to foster Jewish-Christian dialogue and better race relations…” The Executive Director of the Secretariat for Doctrine and Pastoral Practices of the National Conference of Bishops echoes these sentiments. Reverend J.A. DiNoia, O.P. notes that Freda’s “mastery of Edith Stein’s philosophy is consistent with a long-standing interest in women’s issues and feminist thought, as well as a desire to contribute to better understanding between Christians and Jews.”
Edith Stein-Sister Teresa Benedicata of the Cross-St. Edith Stein has indeed been controversial, but Freda Oben’s scholarship has helped greatly in bridging understandable gaps. Her “Politics of Edith Stein as Resister” at the 21st Annual Scholars’ Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches at the Richard Stockton State College is well regarded. In 1994, the CD-ROM proceedings of “The Holocaust --- Remembering for the Future” conference in Berlin includes her paper, “The Spiritual Person as Nucleus of a Just Society, According to Edith Stein.” Dr. Marcia Sachs Littell, executive director of the Scholars’ Conference, notes that Freda’s 1995 presentation at Brigham Young University was “well received by those in attendance. This paper was ultimately published in the conference volume, Remembrance, Repentance, Reconciliation.”
Zev Garber, professor and chair of Jewish Studies at Los Angeles Valley College and editor of Studies in the Shoah, comments on Freda’s 1991 paper. Freda emphasized “the difference between Catholic and Jewish views of suffering which she found relevant for the canonization of a Jewish martyr.” Professor Garber continues: “Despite my disagreement that a ‘baptized Jew’ is seen as a Jew, I respect the candidate’s [Freda’s] attempt to confront the controversy and present her position in an academic and personal way. … her scholarship on the Blessed Edith Stein reveals a caring and responsible scholar who has contributed meaningfully to interdenominational dialogue on Shoah studies… I am honored to present a testimonial supporting Freda Gorelick Oben’s nomination for distinguished recognition from her alma mater.”
Professor Wilcox of Spalding University summarizes: “The thought and life of Edith Stein has shaped Dr. Oben’s own persona so deeply that to hear her lecture on Stein is to feel the influence of Edith herself. Dr. Oben can mesmerize an audience like few other lecturers I have every heard on any topic. … there is no one who delivers a more compelling, thoughtful, or moving lecture on this important new Saint.”
Chestnut Hill College is pleased to award its first Distinguished Achievement Award in Scholarly Research and Writing to Freda M. Gorelick Oben, Ph.D. ’40.
