Seymour Panitz is an American Rabbi, born in Baltimore, Maryland. He received a Bachelor's degree at the Johns Hopkins University, a degree in Rabbinic Literature from the Talmudic Academy, and his academic background is from the Baltimore Hebrew University. Rabbi Panitz received his Rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, which awarded him the additional degrees of Master of Hebrew Literature and Doctor of Divinity.

Rabbi Panitz has devoted nearly a half-century to the American Rabbinate, mainly in the pulpit. Two of those years were spent in an Air Force uniform as a Chaplain during the Korean War; he continued to serve the Air Force civilian chaplaincy, as a reservist for another quarter-century, getting to know at close hand the broad range of needs of its multi-faith constituency.

As an extension of his rabbinic duties, he was active on behalf of a variety of groups, including the United Synagogue Youth, the Boy Scouts' Ner Tamid program, the Rabbinical Assembly Committee on Jewish Law and Standards and the National Association of Jewish Chaplains.

Out of this varied career; congregational, military and civilian chaplaincy, Rabbi Panitz learned that any episode of an individual's experience is to be viewed as part of the totality of that person's life. With that philosophy in mind, he began to look at the episodes that the Bible records in the lives of the major figures of early Jewish history within the context of their total lives. This led him to examine the Biblical record, to piece together bits from here and there, and to fill in the gaps of the scriptural narrative. The result is Abraham and Sons, a narrative that views Abraham and his family in a way that makes them come alive as authentic, three-dimensional human beings.

Seymour Panitz occupies most of his time in the way that he would recommend to any retired person; travel (largely to spend time with his four daughters and five grandchildren), reading and writing, volunteering his time for several professional organizations, and serving as an occasional Torah reader. He lives with his wife in Rockville, Maryland.