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WHAT IS the ORIGIN of the LITVAK? the LEGACY of the GRAND DUCHY of LITHUANIA © Antony Polonsky 266
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE LITVAK? THE LEGACY OF THE GRAND DUCHY OF LITHUANIA © Antony Polonsky 266 By the end of the nineteenth century, the concept of the „Litvak" had become well- established in the Jewish world. Let me give a few literary examples. I will begin with two by non-Litvaks. In one of his „hasidic tales", „Tsvishn tsvay berg" (Be- tween Two Mountains), Yitshak Leibush Peretz describes the conflict between the hasidim and their mitnagdic opponents. He gives both sides their voice but clearly comes down on the side of the former. The story recounts the clash between the Brisker rov and his best pupil, who has left him to found a hasidic court. He ex- plains why: Your Torah, Rabbi, is nothing but law. It is without pity. Your Torah contains not a spark of compas- sion. And that is why it is without joy, without air to breathe. It is nothing but steel and iron-iron commandments, copper laws. It is a very refined Torah, suitable for scholars, for the select few. The Brisker rov was silent, so the rebbe continued: „Tell me, Rabbi, what have you got for ordinary people? For the woodchopper, the butcher, the tradesman, the simple man? And, most especially for the sinful man? What do you have to offer those who are not scholars?...". To convince the Brisker rov, the Bialer rebbe takes him to see his followers on Simkhat torah when they are transformed by the festival. This does not convince the Brisker rov. „We must say the afternoon prayer," the Brisker rov suddenly announced in his harsh voice-and eve- rything vanished. -
The Further Reforming of Conservative Judaism
The Further Reforming of Conservative Judaism in this issue ... THE JEWISH OBSERVER (ISSN 002]-6615) is published monthly, except July and August, by the Changes in Perspective Through Torah Encounters ........ 6 Agudath Israel of America, 5 Beekman Street, New York, N.Y. The Sunday Night Class, Hillel Belsky ..•.....•.•.... 7 10038. Second class postage paid The Joyful Light, Amos Keinen ........•.••....••••.• 9 at New York, N.Y. Subscription $15.00 per year; two years, $27.00; Concerns of a Parent, Harvey S. Hecker . ...•..••.•..• 10 three years. $36.00 outside of the United States, US funds only. "Dear Mom," Molly, Moshe and I .............•.••.. 13 $20.00 in Europe and Israel. $25.00 in So. Africa and Australia. Single The Age of Teshuva, a review article ..••.•..•..•••.. 14 copy, $2.00. Send address changes Return to The Jewish Observer, 5 Beek man St., N.Y. N.Y. 10038. Printed Pathways in the U.S.A. Our Miraculous World With Perfect faith HABnt N1ssoN WoLPJN Editor The further Reforming of Conservative Judaism, Nisson Wolpin .................................•••••.. 17 Editorial Board The Critical Parent's Guidebook, Avi Shulman .•.•..•.••••.• 20 OR. ERNST BoDENHrtMER Chairman The "Chaver," Yisroel Miller ...•....•.....•.....•.•..•... 25 RABBI NATHAN BULMAN RABBI josrrtt Eu ... s Saddiq of the Sahara, Nehama Consuelo Nahmoud . ......•.•..• 28 Josu'H fRIEDENSON RABBI MOSHE SHERER Books in Review ...................................... 33 Management Board The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet NAFTOU HIRSCH !SAA( K!RZNER Chumash Bereshith (Three Sidros); NACHUM 5TF.!N A Linear Translation Business Manager Letter to a Soviet Jew, a poem by Varda Branfman .......••..• 35 PESACH H. KONSTAM Second Looks at the Jewish Scene T Hr Jrw1sH OesERVrR does not assume responsibility for the The Dioxin Connection ........................ -
Dniester Jews Between
PARALLEL RUPTURES: JEWS OF BESSARABIA AND TRANSNISTRIA BETWEEN ROMANIAN NATIONALISM AND SOVIET COMMUNISM, 1918-1940 BY DMITRY TARTAKOVSKY DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Mark D. Steinberg, Chair Professor Keith Hitchins Professor Diane P. Koenker Professor Harriet Murav Assistant Professor Eugene Avrutin Abstract ―Parallel Ruptures: Jews of Bessarabia and Transnistria between Romanian Nationalism and Soviet Communism, 1918-1940,‖ explores the political and social debates that took place in Jewish communities in Romanian-held Bessarabia and the Moldovan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic during the interwar era. Both had been part of the Russian Pale of Settlement until its dissolution in 1917; they were then divided by the Romanian Army‘s occupation of Bessarabia in 1918 with the establishment of a well-guarded border along the Dniester River between two newly-formed states, Greater Romania and the Soviet Union. At its core, the project focuses in comparative context on the traumatic and multi-faceted confrontation with these two modernizing states: exclusion, discrimination and growing violence in Bessarabia; destruction of religious tradition, agricultural resettlement, and socialist re-education and assimilation in Soviet Transnistria. It examines also the similarities in both states‘ striving to create model subjects usable by the homeland, as well as commonalities within Jewish responses on both sides of the border. Contacts between Jews on either side of the border remained significant after 1918 despite the efforts of both states to curb them, thereby necessitating a transnational view in order to examine Jewish political and social life in borderland regions. -
Reform Or Consensus? Choral Synagogues in the Russian Empire
arts Article Reform or Consensus? Choral Synagogues in the Russian Empire Vladimir Levin The Center for Jewish Art, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel; [email protected] Received: 5 May 2020; Accepted: 15 June 2020; Published: 23 June 2020 Abstract: Many scholars view the choral synagogues in the Russian Empire as Reform synagogues, influenced by the German Reform movement. This article analyzes the features characteristic of Reform synagogues in central and Western Europe, and demonstrates that only a small number of these features were implemented in the choral synagogues of Russia. The article describes the history, architecture, and reception of choral synagogues in different geographical areas of the Russian Empire, from the first maskilic synagogues of the 1820s–1840s to the revolution of 1917. The majority of changes, this article argues, introduced in choral synagogues were of an aesthetic nature. The changes concerned decorum, not the religious meaning or essence of the prayer service. The initial wave of choral synagogues were established by maskilim, and modernized Jews became a catalyst for the adoption of the choral rite by other groups. Eventually, the choral synagogue became the “sectorial” synagogue of the modernized elite. It did not have special religious significance, but it did offer social prestige and architectural prominence. Keywords: synagogue; Jewish history in Russia; reform movement; Haskalah; synagogue architecture; Jewish cultural studies; Jewish architecture 1. Introduction The synagogue was the most important Jewish public space until the emergence of secular institutions in the late nineteenth century. As such, it was a powerful means of representation of the Jewish community in its own eyes and in the eyes of the non-Jewish population. -
Fulfillmenttheep008764mbp.Pdf
FULFILLMENT ^^^Mi^^if" 41" THhODOR HERZL FULFILLMENT: THE EPIC STORY OF ZIONISM BY RUFUS LEARSI The World Publishing Company CLEVELAND AND NEW YORK Published by The World Publishing Company FIRST EDITION HC 1051 Copyright 1951 by Rufus Learsi All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher, except for brief passages included in a review appearing in a newspaper or magazine. Manufactured in the United States of America. Design and Typography by Jos. Trautwein. TO ALBENA my wife, who had no small part in the making of this book be'a-havah rabbah FOREWORD MODERN or political Zionism began in 1897 when Theodor Herzl con- vened the First Zionist Congress and reached its culmination in 1948 when the State of Israel was born. In the half century of its career it rose from a parochial enterprise to a conspicuous place on the inter- national arena. History will be explored in vain for a national effort with roots imbedded in a remoter past or charged with more drama and world significance. Something of its uniqueness and grandeur will, the author hopes, flow out to the reader from the pages of this narrative. As a repository of events this book is not as inclusive as the author would have wished, nor does it make mention of all those who labored gallantly for the Zionist cause across the world and in Pal- estine. Within the compass allotted for this work, only the more significant events could be included, and the author can only crave forgiveness from the actors living and dead whose names have been omitted or whose roles have perhaps been understated. -
Fine Judaica
t K ESTENBAUM FINE JUDAICA . & C PRINTED BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS, GRAPHIC & CEREMONIAL ART OMPANY F INE J UDAICA : P RINTED B OOKS , M ANUSCRIPTS , G RAPHIC & C & EREMONIAL A RT • T HURSDAY , N OVEMBER 12 TH , 2020 K ESTENBAUM & C OMPANY THURSDAY, NOV EMBER 12TH 2020 K ESTENBAUM & C OMPANY . Auctioneers of Rare Books, Manuscripts and Fine Art Lot 115 Catalogue of FINE JUDAICA . Printed Books, Manuscripts, Graphic & Ceremonial Art Featuring Distinguished Chassidic & Rabbinic Autograph Letters ❧ Significant Americana from the Collection of a Gentleman, including Colonial-era Manuscripts ❧ To be Offered for Sale by Auction, Thursday, 12th November, 2020 at 1:00 pm precisely This auction will be conducted only via online bidding through Bidspirit or Live Auctioneers, and by pre-arranged telephone or absentee bids. See our website to register (mandatory). Exhibition is by Appointment ONLY. This Sale may be referred to as: “Shinov” Sale Number Ninety-One . KESTENBAUM & COMPANY The Brooklyn Navy Yard Building 77, Suite 1108 141 Flushing Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11205 Tel: 212 366-1197 • Fax: 212 366-1368 www.Kestenbaum.net K ESTENBAUM & C OMPANY . Chairman: Daniel E. Kestenbaum Operations Manager: Zushye L.J. Kestenbaum Client Relations: Sandra E. Rapoport, Esq. Judaica & Hebraica: Rabbi Eliezer Katzman Shimon Steinmetz (consultant) Fine Musical Instruments (Specialist): David Bonsey Israel Office: Massye H. Kestenbaum ❧ Order of Sale Manuscripts: Lot 1-17 Autograph Letters: Lot 18 - 112 American-Judaica: Lot 113 - 143 Printed Books: Lot 144 - 194 Graphic Art: Lot 195-210 Ceremonial Objects: Lot 211 - End of Sale Front Cover Illustration: See Lot 96 Back Cover Illustration: See Lot 4 List of prices realized will be posted on our website following the sale www.kestenbaum.net — M ANUSCRIPTS — 1 (BIBLE). -
Rav Shmuel Ashkenazi: a Hidden Genius
Rav Shmuel Ashkenazi: a Hidden Genius Rav Shmuel Ashkenazi: a Hidden Genius By Eliezer Brodt This Monday night is the first yahrzeit marking the passing of a unique Talmid Chacham, R’ Shmuel Ashkenazi of Yerushalayim, at the age of ninety-eight. R’ Shmuel was one of the hidden giants of the seforim world, in both ultra-orthodox and academic circles. I had the Zechus to learn much from him and in this article, I wish to describe this fascinating but hardly known Gaon and what we can learn from his life. An earlier abridged version of this article appeared in the Ami Magazine last year. IY”H in the future I will expand this essay. One day back in 2000, while learning in the Mir as a Bochur, I was having a conversation with a friend, R’ Yaakov Yisrael Stahl, and R’ Shmuel Ashkenazi’s name came up, R’ Yaakov described him as an extraordinary Talmid Chacham. A little while later, during one of my daily seforim store trips I noticed a recent arrival, a very heavy sefer (844 pp.) with a peculiar title, Alfa Beta Kadmita de-Shmuel Zeira. I opened it up and immediately put two and two together, realizing that the author is the same R’ Shmuel Ashkenazi I just heard about. Upon purchasing it, I could not put it down. Learning through it I was immediately able to tell that my friend had not exaggerated in the slightest way. It appeared that this person knew literally everything about anything connected to Torah. First Meeting At the time, I had been working on researching and publishing my first article which dealt with tracing everything about the custom of not sleeping on Rosh Hashanah. -
Polish Jewry: a Chronology Written by Marek Web Edited and Designed by Ettie Goldwasser, Krysia Fisher, Alix Brandwein
Polish Jewry: A Chronology Written by Marek Web Edited and Designed by Ettie Goldwasser, Krysia Fisher, Alix Brandwein © YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, 2013 The old castle and the Maharsha synagogue in Ostrog, connected by an underground passage. Built in the 17th century, the synagogue was named after Rabbi Shmuel Eliezer Eidels (1555 – 1631), author of the work Hidushei Maharsha. In 1795 the Jews of Ostrog escaped death by hiding in the synagogue during a military attack. To celebrate their survival, the community observed a special Purim each year, on the 7th of Tamuz, and read a scroll or Megillah which told the story of this miracle. Photograph by Alter Kacyzne. YIVO Archives. Courtesy of the Forward Association. A Haven from Persecution YIVO’s dedication to the study of the history of Jews in Poland reflects the importance of Polish Jewry in the Jewish world over a period of one thou- sand years, from medieval times until the 20th century. In early medieval Europe, Jewish communities flourished across a wide swath of Europe, from the Mediterranean lands and the Iberian Peninsu- la to France, England and Germany. But beginning with the first crusade in 1096 and continuing through the 15th century, the center of Jewish life steadily moved eastward to escape persecutions, massacres, and expulsions. A wave of forced expulsions brought an end to the Jewish presence in West- ern Europe for long periods of time. In their quest to find safe haven from persecutions, Jews began to settle in Poland, Lithuania, Bohemia, and parts of Ukraine, and were able to form new communities there during the 12th through 14th centuries. -
By David E. Fishman the Paper Seeks to Expand the Area of Modern
QUEST N. 17 – FOCUS How, When, and Why Did Yiddish Become a Modern Culture? by David E. Fishman Abstract The paper seeks to expand the area of modern Yiddish culture beyond literary fiction. It explores the rise of modern Yiddish theatre, press, poetry, and political literature in Imperial Russia in the 1880s. The essay argues that these forms of Yiddish cultural expression first became significant and widespread phenomena in the 1880s. It also highlights the emergence of a diverse Yiddish readership and audience, with different levels of Jewish and European cultural background, in order to counter the common dichotomy that Yiddish was for the masses, whereas Hebrew and Russian were used by the Jewish elites. Finally, the article places the rise of Modern Yiddish culture within the context of major social and economic transformations in East European Jewry: urbanization, population growth, and downward economic mobility. Overall, the article refines and revises certain conclusions offered in the author's book The Rise of Modern Yiddish Culture (2005). Defining a Modern Culture The Development of Modern Jewish Culture in Russia A Surge of Theatre The Ascent of the Press Political Pamphlets in the Mother Tongue The Rising Status of Yiddish Literature The Rise of Yiddish in Historical Perspective ___________________ 1 David E. Fishman In this paper, I would like to examine the infancy of modern Yiddish culture in Eastern Europe, in the second half of the nineteenth century, and revisit from a new perspective some topics that I dealt with more than a decade ago in my book The Rise of Modern Yiddish Culture.1 Most scholars study the advances made by Yiddish literature and culture in the 20th century – great works of prose and poetry, drama and theatre, journalism and scholarship.2 We tend to forget that the appearance of modern Yiddish culture was totally unanticipated and even inconceivable to Jewish intellectuals in the middle of the nineteenth century. -
The Judgment of Shomer, by Sholem Aleichem
The Judgment of Shomer or The Jury Trial of All of Shomer’s Novels Transcribed word for word by Sholem Aleichem Translated from the Yiddish and annotated by Justin Cammy Berdichev Jacob Sheftil, Publisher 1888 Strike the capitals so that the thresholds quake.1 (Amos 9:1) Fleece the flock and the lambs tremble. (Yiddish proverb) My thanks to Alan Astro and Avraham Novershtern for their assistance on questions of translation. Olga Litvak, Alyssa Quint, Dara Horn, and Ernest Benz were kind enough to read a draft of the translation and to offer their advice. Titles of works mentioned by Sholem Aleichem first appear both in Yiddish transliteration and in my English trans- lation; subsequent mention of the same work appears only in translation. I preserved Sholem Aleichem’s editorial decision to have Shomer’s name appear in bold through- out the text. [JC] 1. The full verse reads: “I saw my Lord standing by the altar and He said: Strike the capitals so that the thresholds quake, and make an end of the first of them all. And I will slay the last of them with the sword; not one of them shall escape, and not one of them shall survive.” (Jewish Publication Society translation) 129 130 SHOLEM ALEICHEM / CAMMY In a large hall, at the head of a green table, sits the presiding judge, an old man. Two other magistrates are seated on either side. The prosecutor, an irascible young man with fiery eyes, is seated on one side, to the left, at a small table. The defense counsel, a good-natured, spirited young man, is opposite him, to the right, also at a small table. -
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Some Remarks on Aristotle, Dante Alighieri, Immanuel of Rome, R
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Some Remarks On Aristotle, Dante Alighieri, Immanuel of Rome, R. Moshe Botarel and Bertrand Russell The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Some Remarks On Aristotle, Dante Alighieri, Immanuel of Rome, R. Moshe Botarel and Bertrand Russell .בין דין לדין by: Yitzhak, of For nearly a millennium, the name “Aristotle” has resonated within Jewish culture (as within European culture generally) in a way difficult for we moderns to fully grasp. Not merely a philosopher (or even the Philosopher, as he is often designated), he represented (accurately and justly, or otherwise) a weltanschauung, or even a cluster of them: rationalism, scientism, materialism, skepticism, atheism. In this essay, we discuss a miscellaneous variety of perspectives toward Aristotle found in our tradition. R. Moshe Botarel R. Baruch Halevi Epstein makes the odd claim that Aristotle is esteemed by the Kabbalists, citing R. Moshe Botarel as swearing to his great love of the Philosopher, and bestowing superlative encomiums upon him: ובכלל קנה לו אריסטו מקום חשוב בין … המקובלים, עד אשר אחד מגדולי החכמה הזאת, רבי משה בוטריל (ספרדי), בפירושו לספר יצירה (כ”ו ב’) מושיבו לאריסטו “בעדן גן החיים” ואומר: חיי ראשי, אני אוהבו אהבה שלמה, כי היה אב בחכמה, ובהרבה ממאמריו הוא מתאים עם דעת רבותינו, ומעוצם שכלו הבהיר גזר משפטים ודברים צודקים, וכבר אמרו חז”ל חכם עדיף מנביא, וזה האיש היה סגולת הפלוסופיא, שלכל טענה הביא ראיה, ואם הוא יוני, השתדל בכל זאת לקיים אופן האחדות הממשלת קונו, וחכמת הפלוסופיא הטהורה קשורה בחכמת הקבלה I have been unable to locate this particular passage within R. -
Chassidus on the Balak Chassidus on the Parsha +
LIGHTS OF OUR RIGHTEOUS TZADDIKIM בעזרת ה ' יתבר A Tzaddik, or righteous person , makes everyone else appear righteous before Hashem by advocating for them and finding their merits. Kedushas Levi, Parshas Noach (Bereishis 7:1) BALAK _ CHASSIDUS ON THE PARSHA + Dvar Torah Torah and Business How good are your tents, O Yaakov, your dwellings, O Yisrael (24:5). This is the famous blessing that Hashem placed in the mouth of Bilaam regarding the Jewish people. Why is the residence of the Jewish people considered a tent when they are addressed as Yaakov and a dwelling place when they are addressed as Yisrael? We can see an allusion here, explains Rav Lev i Yitzchok, to the proper relationship of a Jew to his Torah learning and to his business affairs. Yisrael is a higher level than Yaakov, as is well-known. Therefore, the name Yisrael is used when speaking about Torah and the name Yaakov when speaking abou t business. Since tents are temporary dwellings, Yaakov is being told to make his business the subordinate part of his life, and since dwellings places are permanent, Yisrael is being told to make Torah learning the anchor of his existence, as the Mishnah states ( Avos 1:15), “Appoint times for Torah study.” n Story For the first few years after his marriage, Rav Levi Yitzchok and his wife lived in Levertov in the home of his father -in-law Reb Yisrael Peretz, a wealthy businessman who provided for all their needs so that Rav Levi Yitzchok could sit and learn Torah undisturbed.