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Rabbis and Their Community: Studies in the Eastern European Orthodox Rabbinate in Montreal, 1896–1930 University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository University of Calgary Press University of Calgary Press Open Access Books 2007 Rabbis and their community: studies in the Eastern European Orthodox rabbinate in Montreal, 1896–1930 Robinson, Ira University of Calgary Press Robinson, Ira, "Rabbis and their community: studies in the Eastern European Orthodox rabbinate in Montreal, 1896–1930". University of Calgary Press, Calgary, Alberta, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/49279 book http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 3.0 Unported Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca University of Calgary Press www.uofcpress.com RABBIS & THEIR COMMUNITY: STUDIES IN THE EASTERN EUROPEAN ORTHODOX RABBINATE IN MONTREAL, 1896–1930 by Ira Robinson ISBN 978-1-55238-681-1 THIS BOOK IS AN OPEN ACCESS E-BOOK. It is an electronic version of a book that can be purchased in physical form through any bookseller or on-line retailer, or from our distributors. Please support this open access publication by requesting that your university purchase a print copy of this book, or by purchasing a copy yourself. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] Cover Art: The artwork on the cover of this book is not open access and falls under traditional copyright provisions; it cannot be reproduced in any way without written permission of the artists and their agents. The cover can be displayed as a complete cover image for the purposes of publicizing this work, but the artwork cannot be extracted from the context of the cover of this specific work without breaching the artist’s copyright. COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This open-access work is published under a Creative Commons licence. This means that you are free to copy, distribute, display or perform the work as long as you clearly attribute the work to its authors and publisher, that you do not use this work for any commercial gain in any form, and that you in no way alter, transform, or build on the work outside of its use in normal academic scholarship without our express permission. If you want to reuse or distribute the work, you must inform its new audience of the licence terms of this work. For more information, see details of the Creative Commons licence at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ UNDER THE CREATIVE UNDER THE CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCE YOU COMMONS LICENCE YOU MAY: MAY NOT: • read and store this document • gain financially from the work in any way; free of charge; • sell the work or seek monies in relation to the distribution • distribute it for personal use of the work; free of charge; • use the work in any commercial activity of any kind; • print sections of the work for • profit a third party indirectly via use or distribution of the work; personal use; • distribute in or through a commercial body (with the exception • read or perform parts of the of academic usage within educational institutions such as work in a context where no schools and universities); financial transactions take • reproduce, distribute, or store the cover image outside of its place. function as a cover of this work; • alter or build on the work outside of normal academic scholarship. Acknowledgement: We acknowledge the wording around open access used by Australian publisher, re.press, and thank them for giving us permission to adapt their wording to our policy http://www.re-press.org/content/view/17/33/ Glossary Agudath ha-Rabbonim Organization of Eastern European immigrant Orthodox rabbis in the United States and Canada founded in 902. Agudath ha-Shohtim Guild of kosher slaughterers. In Montreal, it was organized as a labour union. Agunot (singular Aguna) Women halakhicly prohibited from remarrying. Aliyah Honour of being called up for the reading of the Torah in a synagogue. Arba Minim Four species used in ceremonial for the holiday of Sukkot, including Lulav, Etrog, Hadas, and ‘Arava (willow branches). Batlanim Literally “idlers.” Sometimes used to describe those whose fulltime occupation is Torah study. Beth Din Rabbinic court. Bimah Raised area in synagogue from which services are led. Chillul ha-Shem A desecration or disgrace of God’s name. Din Torah Case brought before a rabbinic court (Beth Din) Etrog Citron. One of the ‘Arba Minim used on Sukkot. Gasos Large animals, e.g., sheep and cattle. Gemarah Talmud. RTC.indd 129 7/21/07 11:08:37 AM 30 Glossary Hadas Myrtle branch. One of the ‘Arba Minim used on Sukkot. Haftara Public reading of selections from the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible in synagogue. Haggada Text of the service of the Passover Seder. Hakafa Ceremonial procession of the Torah in synagogue on the holiday of Simhat Torah. Halakha Judaic law. Ha mets Leaven. Food item not permitted to Jews during the holiday of Passover. Haskala Movement for the Westernization of Jews and Judaism. Hassid Adherent of the Hasidic movement. Hazaka In Judaic law, an acquired right. Hechsher Certification of the kosher status of food items. He der Traditional Jewish elementary school. Heter Permission. Hoshen Mishpat One of the four sections of the Judaic legal code, Shulkhan ‘Arukh, dealing with rabbinic court procedure. Issur Prohibition. Kashrut Fitness of food for consumption by Jews. Kehilla Organized Jewish community. Keren ha-Yessod Zionist fundraising organization. Landsmanschaft Organization of Jewish immigrants from the same town or district for self help and sociability. Lulav Palm branch. One of the ‘Arba Minim used on Sukkot. Matza Unleavened bread for Passover. Mashgiah (plural Mashgihim) Supervisor of the implementation of the laws and regulations regarding kosher food. Meharsho Rabbi Samuel Edels, commentator on the Talmud. RTC.indd 130 7/21/07 11:08:37 AM Glossary 3 Mikveh Ritual immersion pool. Mitnaged Opponent of the Hasidic movement. Mizrahi Organization of Orthodox Zionists. Nudnik Busybody. Oifes Poultry. Parsha Publicly read portion of the Torah. Poalei Zion Labour Zionists Pushke Charity box. Rosh ha-Shana Judaic new year’s festival. Sandek Person who holds infant during circumcision ceremony. Semikha Rabbinic ordination. Sha’atnez Mixture of linen and wool prohibited by the Torah. Shehit a Slaughtering of animals in accordance with the laws of kashrut. Shohet (plural Shohtim) Slaughterer of animals in accordance with the laws and regulations regarding kosher food. Shabbes Sabbath. Shabbes Goy Non-Jew who performs actions on behalf of Jews on the Sabbath. Shevarim One of the sounds emanating from the Shofar. Sholom Peace. Shul Synagogue. Shule Jewish school with a non-religious, Yiddishist orientation. Shulkhan ‘Arukh Judaic legal code of the sixteenth century. Simhat Torah Last day of Sukkot holiday, in which the reading of the Torah is completed. Sukkah A temporary shelter used by Jews during the festival of Sukkot. RTC.indd 131 7/21/07 11:08:37 AM 32 Glossary Talmud Basic document of Rabbinic literature, which forms the intellectual basis for Rabbinic Judaism. Talmud Torah In North America, a school teaching Hebrew and Judaic subjects, which supplements public school instruction. Tefilin Ritual objects worn by Jewish men in weekday morning services. Teruah One of the sounds emanating from the Shofar. Treifah, Treyf Non-kosher. Va’ad ha-’Ir Jewish Community Council. Wurst Sausage. Yohrzeit Yearly memorial day for deceased relatives. Yeshiva Rabbinic academy. Yiddishist A person who believes that Yiddish is, or can be, the basis for Jewish culture and continuity. Yidn Jews. Yishuv Jewish community in Palestine under British Mandate. Yishuvnik Jew who lives in a small settlement, often with minimal Judaic education. Yom Kippur Day of Atonement. Yom Tov Jewish holiday. Yoreh Deah One of four sections of Shulkhan ‘Arukh. Zedaka Charity. RTC.indd 132 7/21/07 11:08:38 AM Notes CHAPTER ONE Leo Jung, Toward Sinai! Sermons and Addresses (New York: Pardes, 929), p. 276. I am grateful to my student, Dr. Maxine Jacobson, for bringing Rabbi Jung’s statement to my attention. 2 See Chapter 6. 3 For a necessarily sketchy account of the history of the Montreal Jewish community, see Ira Robinson and Mervin Butovsky, Renewing Our Days: Montreal Jews in the Twentieth Century (Montreal: Véhicule Press, 995), pp. 9–29. For the Canadian Jewish community as a whole during this era, see Gerald Tulchinsky, Taking Root: The Origins of the Canadian Jewish Community (Toronto: Lester, 992), Parts III and IV. 4 An example of this is Tulchinsky. Taking Root’s index does not list an entry for Montreal’s synagogues after page 35 and thus has no discussion of synagogues after the first half of the nineteenth century. Cf., however, Sara Ferdman Tauben, “Aspirations and Adaptations: Immigrant Synagogues of Montreal, 880s to 945,” M.A. thesis, Department of Religion, Concordia University, 2004. 5 It is well documented that the American press reported the news of the destruction of European Jewry but tended to keep it off the front-page and “buried” in the inner pages. The Yiddish press, on the contrary, gave these news items great publicity. See Deborah Lipstadt, Beyond Belief: The American Press and the Coming of the Holocaust, 933–945 (New York: Free Press, 986). 6 See, among others, Arthur Morse, While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy (New York: Random House, 968); David Wyman, Paper Walls: America and the Refugee Crisis, 938–94 (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 968); Henry Feingold, The Politics of Rescue: The Roosevelt Administration and the Holocaust (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 970). 7 On this organization, see Jeffrey Gurock, “Resistors and Accommodators: Varieties of Orthodox Rabbis in America, 886–983,” in American Jewish Orthodoxy in Historical Perspective (Hoboken: KTAV, 996), pp. –62. RTC.indd 133 7/21/07 11:08:38 AM 34 Notes 8 The most thorough analysis of the “Rabbis’ March” is in Efraim Zuroff, The Response of Orthodox Jewry in the United States to the Holocaust: The Activities of the Vaad- ha-hatzala Committee, 939–945 (New York and Hoboken: Yeshiva University Press and KTAV Publishing House, 2000), pp.
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