Jewish Cemeteries Summer, 1976 in Poland Who will protect them Where is Polish Jewry? from desecration? Writing a "Get" in The Ben lsh Chai Monsey Who led Baghdad Jewry - Why all the fuss? in 1876? Letters to the Editor The Novominsker Rebbe Who really knew the The Day School in '76 Rebbe? How many is too many? Where are next year's expert teachers? SECOND LOOKS Saul Bellow "Jewish" Nobel Laureate? VOLUME XI Women in West Point Index of Articles and Do we protest? Authors THE JEWISH QBSERVER in this issue T Hl )! '' tc,H ()fhlf<\'f R 1s published monthh'. r"''ept Julv and August, bv the- Agudath Israel of Amen~·J The Struggle to Protect Jewish Cemeteries in Poland 5 Beekman St New York. N.Y 100.lfi Second clJss postage p,1id Dr. Isaac Lewin (as told to Chaim Feinberg) 3 at New York, NY. Subscription 57.50 per year. Two year~. $13.00; Dateline: 1976 - In Search of Polish Jewry I Elkanah Schwartz 6 Three years. $18.00 uut<:ide of th(' United States SB.SO per yedr ""lrT, Singif' copv ~eYentv-five cents The Novominsker Rebbe, as Seen Through the Eyes Printed in the L'S A of a Talmid I Beinish Rosenbaum 12 RABBI Nis-,oN \\'ot r'1:-..· A "Get" in Monsey I Aryeh Kaplan 15 Editor The Ben lsh Chai I Nehama Consuelo Rezac 21 Editorial Board Second Looks at the Jewish Scene: DR E1~:-..:sT L. Bouu,.;HU'V1LR Cl1airnia11 Of Nobel Prizes and Symbolic Jews I Yaakov Feitman 26 RABB! NA THAN BL:I \-1 ·\N RABBI )OS[PH ELIAS Time to Protest 29 J05ll'H FRJ[[ll_N<:>ON RABBI MOSH[ SHERER Letters to the Editor 30 THE JU-\'JSH OesERVER does not Index of Articles and Authors for Volume XI 35 assume responsibility for thr Kashrus of any product or service advertised in its pages. Photographs: pp. 39-42, Trainer Studios DEC., 1976 VOL. XII, NO. 1 Typography by Compu·Scribe at A r1Scroll Studios .. .. :";•1965: A Marketplac~'•bl fhe:"1,p:1te.i-1.f·C:ernetery i!,{,.,:SUMMER OF 1965, ··~·· ptef~~k:of alarri\itig news filterei:I O)),t.of Poland. In a small 6alici o;,.m near Lodz, Lantut, local authorities were b ·· · ·• ring and marking tombstones; the ancie · · ry, where among others lies Rabbi Naf · was obout to be converted into a loi: Alerted by the sfuall remaining fragri\e Jewish community, a number of New . leaders, including the Novominsker Rebbe 'tl"n'=' ,.,,~, the Bobover · · · ·:.·.'aircHhe Bluzhove be, contacted the World ·· ·· · el office in ·. York, where we have maintar g-standing con- tacts with Polish authorities in the . Protest had to · be. regi'.'ered · ;t on what basis? The once'mighty voice .or Polan· 3'h million Jews was now a scant echo, utterly· powerless and unable by itself to influence . Polislrp9lky, The protest had to be tactful, yet forceful, ·:. • appealmg'in !he end to purely Polish1.11terests, for there :at.~.no liv'ing.J~~ish interests left today in Poland. 'Strictly Legal Issue" "Welcome t' WHEN WE LANDED !l)i\WARSAW, a recep!h:m was waltl'llg, With a gov disposal. We were given free access to sess for ourselves the condition of the ce findings were deeply shocking. Fenceless cem un!ended, in ruins; markers were upended, sh . defaced; wild fields Were invading, with trees, tall g ses growing freely, splitting open markers, graves. And no sigti of upkeep anyWh~re. · , : '' > ~ · ... Ancient synagogue~ were in a state ot'utter · ,.., lion . ; .. The Bais Medrash of the Gerer Rebb ,ain~house. In Cracow, one synagogue was · workshop for the manul'lieture of Ca tho . itl(!S. Otlters were convertlicUnt0.co"1merda '<" for storage of archives, or to sell wheat. Everywhere decay, indifference, ruin. One synagogue somehow survived the Warsaw fires, standing as a stubborn and The Alte Shul in Cracow has been silent witness .... Of 3¥2 million Jews, only 5,000 re­ declared a museum ... main. No breath of Jewish life in Poland. 1000 years uprooted, swept away overnight. Immediately discussions were launched with high­ level officials. From the shocking state of the cemeteries - protesting the desecrations, the topic shifted to the preservation of the 600 and 700 year-old synagogues as national historical shrines. Polish officials listened politely but were unmoved. After ten days, we left Poland empty-handed: the cemeteries would retain their legal status as abandoned communal land. 1974: A Road Across the Warsaw Cemetery BACK IN NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON, negotiations continued. The Polish government seemed unwilling to place history above practicality. Then, in the summer of The Alte Shu[ in Cracow 1974, a new and more distressing development: the tiny Warsaw Jewish community reported that one-third of Again, as with the case of the first unofficial invita­ the ancient Warsaw cemetery was marked and ready tion to visit Warsaw, it was felt that a public statement for levelling; a Warsaw road needed expansion, and the by a Polish spokesman would be more appropriate. The cemetery stood directly in its path. Once again, we con­ Embassy agreed. At the end of 1974, a meeting of the tacted the Polish Embassy in Washington and we were representatives of American rabbinical organizations invited to Warsaw - this time for discussion with gathered at the Statler Hilton Hotel in New York. The Polish engineers. Upon arrival, we found 2,000 markers First Secretary of the Polish People's Embassy spoke: tagged with red numbers, ready for demolition. The Not only would the Warsaw cemetery be spared, but no engineers were told: this cemetery was all that remained existing Jewish cemetery in Poland would in any way of Warsaw's 300,000 Jews; it would be a callous blow be desecrated - some to be officially protected as to Polish tradition itself if the needs and pressures of historic shrines, others to be left in their present status. the moment usurped the nation's historic past. Although only an oral promise, a decade of struggle for The engineers responded by unrolling city maps: the respect for the ancient graves seemed to have borne road needs widening, and from an engineering stand­ fruit. point, only the Jewish cemetery could provide the After this meeting, further contacts were made with needed space. Also, had not the former president of the the Polish Embassy throughout 1975. Rabbinical Warsaw Jewish community, Mr. Frenkel, agreed to the organizations wanted more solid assurance for the plan? remaining cemeteries. Those not qualifying as historic The new president of the community, Mr. Finkel­ shrines had as yet no legal protection; only the negative stein, was contacted and together we persuaded Mr. assurance that they would not be demolished. To this, a Frenkel to immediately withdraw his approval. new voice of protest was added: William Perry, a New The engineers were challenged further: Were they York City longshoreman's union official from Lodz, absolutely certain that a portion of the cemetery had to had been unable to locate the markers of his parents' be sacrificed? Would they at least wait until American graves in the Lodz cemetery. Mr. Perry immediately engineers could be consulted? The engineers agreed. contacted Polish authorities, vehemently demanding an The Warsaw city maps would be forwarded to World end to this disgrace. Agudah offices in New York for further consultation. Finally, as a result of tactful negotiations, the unified support of the rabbinical organizations, and the strong No Maps From Warsaw private pressure of individuals such as William Perry, THE MAPS NEVER ARRIVED. Instead, in the winter of the Polish Embassy issued yet another invitation: if the 1974, the Polish Embassy announced a sudden and un­ American delegation would come to Warsaw, a written precedented concession: the Warsaw cemetery would declaration would be presented, safeguarding all Jewish not be paved over. The Embassy further asked the cemeteries from further harm. In September, 1976, a World Agudath Israel Organization to relay this as­ seven-man delegation composed of representatives of surance to all concerned American rabbinical organiza­ the World Agudah Organization, the Agudath HoRab­ tions. bonim of the U.S. and Canada, the Hisachdus HoRab- 4 The Jewish Observer I December 1976 Postscript The old Hoiche Shu/ THIS TRIUMPH IS BUILT on bitter ashes. There is no Jewish life left in Poland, only the fight to save the dead from further dishonor. Yes, there is a Yiddish paper - a Communist publication. There is a Yiddish theatre - a quaint fragment of folk history, playing for a Polish audience. In all Poland, where hundreds of Gedolim once flourished, no rabbi remains; a handful of aging shochtim meet the scant demand for kashrus. True, there is a daily minyan in Wroclaw - but in no other place in all of Poland. This year two chazanim were flown into Cracow and Warsaw for Rosh Hashana and Yam Kippur - the first such services in thirty years. And these last, the saddest of statistics: As of August 1976 there were 120 people making use of kashrus in Poland. 120 Jews of Szczecin, Wroclaw, Lodz, Legnica, Warsaw, Bielsko, Cracow. Of 3V2 million, these few re­ main. Yet, the struggle to prevent the final desecration continues. Here and there, there are sparks of hope. The Nozyk Synagogue in Warsaw is being restored; the Alte Synagogue in Cracow has been declared a museum; the Old Hoiche Synagogue is no longer used to produce Catholic religious articles. The ancient cemeteries are now officially off-limits to vandals and local officials. The Warsaw and Lancut cemeteries were saved. And, though the active work of restoration and upkeep has yet to begin, organizational structures are now being built, to be run by American funds.