Jewish History Soundbites

Unlikeliest of Exits: The Dramatic Escape of the Rayatz

In one of the most daring rescue schemes of the Holocaust era, Rav Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, the sixth Lubavitch Rebbe, the Rayatz (1880-1950) was whisked out of Nazi occupied Poland by agents of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence. 

His followers in the United States, along with the activist Rabbi Mordechai Dubin in Riga, orchestrated the operation. The United States government was lobbied and the State Department eventually applied pressure on the German Foreign Office to rescue the Rayatz. Chief of the Abwehr Wilhelm Canaris tapped Major Ernest Bloch - ironically an officer with Jewish ancestry - for the rescue mission. Arriving in Warsaw shortly after the commencement of the Nazi occupation, he finally was able to locate the Rebbe and his entourage. They were then brought to Berlin, then Riga, Latvia, until finally arriving in New York in March 1940.

 

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From Abbey Road to Mt. Zion: The Jewish Music Revolution Part II

Aside from the Rabbi's Sons discussed in Part 1 of this miniseries, the 1960's saw the first music groups in Ohr Chadash, Pirchei and the London School of Jewish Song. From Israel came Chaim Banet and Jo Amar, the latter a pioneer of Morroccan Jewish music.

No less important than the performers, the production, composition and arrangements were handled by architects of Jewish music Suki & Ding, Sheya Mendlowitz, Yisroel Lamm and later Moshe Laufer, Mona Rosenblum and Yossi Green.

The 1970's saw the new sounds of Diaspora Yeshiva Band and Dudu Fisher, bringing Jewish music to ever wider audiences. Abie Rottenberg commenced his illustrious career this decade with Dveykus and the soon to be crowned king of Jewish music Mordechai Ben David burst on to the scene as well. Capitalizing on their earlier involvement with Pirchei-JEP, Rivie Schwebel and Ali Scharf collaborated once again with a series of albums of Schwebel, Scharf & Levine.

 

Check out the story of Yerachmiel Begun and the Miami Boys Choir on this popular episode of Jewish History Soundbites: https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/e/great-american-jewish-cities-14-miami/

 

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Yes, We've Got the Music! The Jewish Music Revolution Part I

Modern Jewish music developed from the chassidic music of old to the new sound of the Jewish music revolution led by Shlomo Carlebach in the 1960's. The music world of pre war Europe was brought over to the emerging post war world by Yankel Talmud, Yom Tov Ehrlich, the Chabad niggunim, David Werdyger and Bentzion Shenker of Modzhitz. They served as the bridge to bring classic chassidic music to the new generation.

This was followed by Shlomo Carlebach and the revolution of Jewish music in the 1960's. Baruch Chait with the Rabbi's Sons, Yigal Calek and the London School of Jewish Song, the Pirchei-JEP albums all contributed to the early flourishing of the new style Jewish music which would continue to develop in the ensuing decade.

 

Check out the other Jewish History Soundbites episodes on Jewish music:

Shlomo Carlebach mini-series: https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/e/from-lakewood-to-lubavitch-the-early-years-of-shlomo-carlebach/

https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/e/from-all-night-learning-to-all-night-kumzitz-the-early-years-of-shlomo-carlebach-part-ii/

Chazzanus: https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/e/yossele-rosenblatt-and-the-golden-age-of-chazzanus/

Modzhitz: https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/e/chassidic-symphony-the-modzitz-dynasty/

 

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Liberated But Not Free: The Displaced Persons Camps

With the end of the war and the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Allied armies were confronted with one of the byproducts of the Nazi regime - millions of 'displaced persons', many of whom had nowhere to go, and some of whom were Jewish survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. Eventually Displaced Persons camps were established under the auspices of the American & British militaries in their spheres of influence in Germany, Austria and Italy. Theser were in turn later overseen by the newly established agency UNRAA which was soon followed by the IRO (International Refugee Organization).

The unique situation of the Jewish survivors was recognized by the Harrison Report, and a flourishing of Jewish cultural, social, educational and religious life ensued. The Sh'eris Ha-pleita was an organization founded by the survivors themselves to provide the needs of rehabilitation in the post trauma atmosphere following liberation.

Various outside organizations assisted with funding and infrastructure while some also competed for the political allegiance of the survivors. Looking to the future many survivors endeavored to marry and start families, while at the same time engaged in commemoration and testimony of the recent events they had experienced.

 

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Litvaks Gone South: South African Jewry & Rabbi Avraham Tanzer

South African Jewish history is unique in several ways. Composed primarily of Jews of Lithuanian origin, it grew in the early decades of the 20th century with the waves of immigration from the Lithuanian area of the Russian Empire.

Entering the diamond trade and politics, they integrated into South African life, often standing at the forefront protesting the racial injustices of the apartheid system.

The Bais Din had prominent rabbis such as Rav Yitzchak Kossovsky, and the chief rabbinate was led by dynamic leaders as well, but it was the investment in education in the post war which transformed the South African Jewish community.

The Brooklyn born Rabbi Avraham Tanzer arrived from Telz, Cleveland to Johannesburg in 1963 on a two year contract. He'd remain for 57 years. Through his leadership of Yeshiva College, the Benhazel Hebrew Congregation and the general community, he and other dedicated educators and activists, ensured that the Jewish youth of South Africa would have a proper Torah education and that the community at large would flourish.

 

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Gangster on the Roof: Tales of the Jewish Mafia Part III

The Jewish mob wasn't strictly an American phenomenon born in the immigrant communities of the Lower East Side and Brownsville. It had antecedents across the ocean in the Jewish world of Eastern Europe.

Jewish gangsters flourished in Warsaw, Odessa and other locales, to the embarrassment of the mainstream religious and political Jewish establishment. The Alfonse pogrom of 1905 brought the issue out into the open, but the Jewish underworld continued in the immigrant community of Buenos Aires, which maintained close ties to Warsaw. The most tragic chapter of Jewish criminal activity took place during the Holocaust when Avraham Gancwajch and his group of "the 13" collaborated with the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto.

 

Part 1- https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/e/tales-of-the-jewish-mafia-part-i-ain-t-gonna-kill-on-saturday/

 

Part 2- https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/e/gangsters-racketeers-jewish-activists-tales-of-the-jewish-mafia-part-ii/

 

 

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Living History: The Life of Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld Part II

Part 2:

While some people read history, there are rare people who lived history through their own lives. One such individual was Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld (1923-2020). Born in Vienna into a family of Ger chassidim from Poland, his father's position as General Secretary of the World Agudas Yisroel placed at the epicenter of traditional Jewish activism at the crucial interwar period. Eyewitness to Austria's Anschluss with Nazi Germany, he subsequently fled on a kindertransport eventually settling in London.

He'd ultimately settle in the Kew Garden Hills neighborhood in Queens. Drawn to Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, he'd receive semicha from RIETS and embark on a lifelong rabbinic career with the Young Israel as well as nationally with the RCA.

As someone who traversed all worlds within Jewish society, he'd be affiliated with a myriad of Jewish organizations, cultivate relationships with some of the greatest Torah leaders of the 20th century, and enjoy access to the corridors of power in both Israel and the United States.

Through the prism of his long and riveting journey, the story of the Jewish People in modern times is told.

 

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Living History: The Life of Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld Part I

While some people read history, there are rare people who lived history through their own lives. One such individual was Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld (1923-2020). Born in Vienna into a family of Ger chassidim from Poland, his father's position as General Secretary of the World Agudas Yisroel placed at the epicenter of traditional Jewish activism at the crucial interwar period. Eyewitness to Austria's Anschluss with Nazi Germany, he subsequently fled on a kindertransport eventually settling in London.

He'd ultimately settle in the Kew Garden Hills neighborhood in Queens. Drawn to Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, he'd receive semicha from RIETS and embark on a lifelong rabbinic career with the Young Israel as well as nationally with the RCA.

As someone who traversed all worlds within Jewish society, he'd be affiliated with a myriad of Jewish organizations, cultivate relationships with some of the greatest Torah leaders of the 20th century, and enjoy access to the corridors of power in both Israel and the United States.

Through the prism of his long and riveting journey, the story of the Jewish People in modern times is told.

 

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Yerushalayim Shel Malah: The World of Rav Zundel Kroiser

Rav Zundel Kroizer (1923-2014) was one of the last of the greats of the Old Yishuv of Yerushalayim. A member of a large and important Yerushalmy family, his ancestors and family members included many rabbis and activists who influenced the life of the Holy City over the generations.

Renowned for his diligence, he authored a multi volume work on the entire gamut of Torah scholarship entitled Ohr Hachama. For most of his life he served as an educator for cheder children. In his later years he served as a beacon of light for all who knew him and had the privilege to bask in his presence, a throwback to purity and holiness of the ancient Yerushalayim.

 

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