Rabbi David Hartman, known as Israel’s “avant-garde thinker”, died last Sunday at his home in Jerusalem.

The Brooklyn-born philosopher, 81, lived in Israel for more than 40 years and founded the Shalom Hartman Institute research centre in Jerusalem. The institute, founded in 1976, promotes diverse voices in the Jewish tradition.

Rabbi Hartman, who received his PhD in philosophy from McGill University, had been compared to leading intellectual figure Yeshayahu Leibowitz.

The internationally-renowned author taught students at the Hebrew University and the University of California.