But Beerman never lectured the world about the great issues of the day without first addressing his own congregation and his own co-religionists. In 1982, he and other Jewish leaders called on Jews as a whole to oppose the nuclear arms race as a matter of faith.

No cause was more controversial than his ardent support for Palestinian rights. Never flinching in the face of withering criticism from his own congregants as well as from Jews from across the United States and Israel, his support was rooted in his firm conviction that peace was the only path to security for Israel and to justice for the Palestinians.