Rabbi Steinberg, Former Hillel Adviser at Old Dominion, Dies
April 12, 2016
Rabbi Arthur Steinberg, as pictured in Old Dominion University's 1988 yearbook.
Rabbi Arthur Zanville Steinberg, the former Jewish chaplain and Hillel adviser at Old Dominion University, died Sunday, April 10 at age 78.
Rabbi Steinberg was a presence at Old Dominion across two decades beginning in the early 1980s. He served as rabbi of Temple Sinai, a Reform synagogue in Portsmouth, for 32 years. In 2012, he was named rabbi emeritus at Ohef Sholom Temple in Norfolk.
Rabbi Steinberg, a Baltimore native, graduated from the University of Maryland in 1959. He was ordained in June 1966 at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati and then served for six years as a U.S. Navy chaplain.
Along with his involvement at Old Dominion, Rabbi Steinberg served on the Portsmouth Community Services Board, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Hampton Roads Board of Rabbis, Child and Family Service Agency, The Children's Care Fund, Tidewater Pastoral Counseling Services and the Generic Theatre of Norfolk.
He also volunteered with the Churchland Interfaith Council, the Portsmouth Ministerial Association, the Portsmouth Torch Club, the American Red Cross, the Portsmouth Police Chaplain's Bureau, the International Brotherhood of Magicians and the Central Conference of American Rabbis.
Rabbi Steinberg, who dubbed himself "Zanville the Pretty Good,", lent his talents as a magician to audiences young and old. For 11 years, he was a part-time classical music announcer on WHRO-FM.
He is survived by his wife, Kathryn Wolf, a son, four daughters and seven grandchildren.
A memorial service will take place 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 13, at Ohef Sholom Temple in Norfolk.
Rabbi Steinberg's full obituary can be read here.