Jewish History Soundbites

Great American Jewish Cities #15: The Five Towns

Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Woodmere, Hewlett, Inwood. Somehow the individual names come together to form the larger Jewish community of the Five Towns. Historically an upscale suburban area that boasted country clubs and golf courses that didn't welcome Jews, the demographics began to change in the post war. 

Shuls like Beth Shalom, Young Israel of Woodmere, Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst were formed over time. They were led by pioneering Rabbis like Rabbis Gil Klaperman, Shya Lebor, Nochum Tzvi Kornmehl and many others. With the arrival of Rav Binyamin Kamenetsky in 1956 and the founding of the Yeshiva of South Shore, Jewish education was ensured a future in the Five Towns. 

Of course eating is an important component of Jewish life in the region, and Central Avenue would become the home of a variety of famous eateries. Colorful personalities, philanthropists, politicians and activists all called the Five Towns home, and we'll meet some of them on this Jewish history journey into Long Island.

 

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Echoes of Novardok on the Streets of Bnei Brak: The Steipler Story

Born into a chassidic home in Ukraine, Rav Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky (1899-1985) subsequently studied in the Novardok Yeshiva later becoming a Rebbi at the Pinsk branch of the network. Upon his move to Israel in 1934, he joined his famed brother in law the Chazon Ish and also assumed a position in the Novardok branch in Bnei Brak.

In his later years he assumed a position of leadership in the Torah world alongside Rav Shach. At the same time he authored his magnum opus Kehillas Yaakov, while also becoming renowned for his sage advice in all contemporary matters in the Jewish world.

 

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Great American Jewish Cities #14: Miami

Original home to the Miami Boys Choir and to the Jewish owned Miami Heat, Palm Beach County also has the largest concentrated Jewish population in the world outside of Israel.

Though attractive as the sunny alternative to the harsh New York winter, the Miami Jewish community developed independently building infrastructure and institutions. It was in the post war era that things began to take off. The visionary Rabbi Alexander Gross was one of the great architects of the community's growth. Other early leaders of the community included Rabbis Aryeh Rottman, Berel Wein, along with the early shluchim Rav Avraham & Rivka Korf and later the Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Leibel Schapiro. The Yeshiva with Rabbi Yochanan Zweig at the helm has greatly impacted the community as well. 

Yet through the decades Miami had been famous for hosting great Jewish leaders who vacationed there during the winter months. This phenomenon would have a long lasting and unique impact on the community's growth along with the exposure to the diversity of the entire Jewish people.

With Larry King, Myer Lansky and Ron Dermer all making appearances as well, the story of the Jews of South Florida is another glorious chapter in American Jewish History.

 

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Brisk in the Holy Land Part I

Escaping from war torn Europe, Rav Yitzchok Zev (Velvalleh) Soloveitchik known to posterity as the Brisker Rov, arrived in the Holy Land in the spring of 1941. Though tragically his wife and three of his children weren't able to make it out, the Rov and his seven remaining children continued the Soloveitchik dynasty in Israel.

His oldest son Rav Berel became Rosh Yeshiva, while his daughter Lifsheh ran the house and eventually married Rav Michel Feinstein. Rav Rephoel was his father's dedicated right hand man and became legendary for his communal activism. Rav Meir and ybl"ch Rav Dovid launched successful Yeshivas of their own. Each branch of the family added their own to the enduring Soloveitchik aristocratic legacy.

 

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Treacherous Brothers: The Yevsektsia Destryoys Jewish Life in Russia

Few stories among the many tragedies of Jewish history are as heartbreaking as the destruction of Jewish life in Russia by the Yevsektsia. While the majority of these occurrences were perpetrated from enemies on the outside, the Yevsektsia was an entirely Jewish organization. It's a story of Jews waging war on traditional Jewish life. 

Following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the Yevsektsia was established as a Jewish section of the Communist party, with the mandate to galvanize the Jewish workers in support of the Revolution and communism. At their own initiative, these primarily young Jewish revolutionaries extended their mandate to suppress all that was perceived to be counter revolutionary activity. The Kehillas, Cheders, Yeshivas, Shuls, Rabbinical leadership, Zionism, culture, Hebrew language, Jewish political parties and any other vestige of Jewish life was brutally suppressed and wiped out. By 1929 they were disbanded, but the damage was done. Once the world center of world Jewry, Russian Jewish traditional life was obliterated. It's 3 million Jews stuck behind the Iron Curtain.

 

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Great American Jewish Cities #13: Cleveland Part II

This great city of the Midwest hosted some impressive events, institutions and personalities throughout its Jewish community's long history. Once a center of Reform Judaism with Abba Hillel Silver, it was also home to one of the earliest short lived Yeshivas in the United States when Rav Yehuda Levenberg moved his New Haven Yeshiva to Cleveland.

Rabbi Israel Porath was the long time Rabbinic leader, but it was Telz Yeshiva and its great leadership that really transformed the town. Rav Elya Meir Bloch, Rav Mottel Katz, Rav Mordechai Gifter, Rav Baruch Sorotzkin and many more transformed Cleveland and the Yeshiva world at large with the aristocracy of Telz. The Telz impact was felt with the founding of the Hebrew Academy by the Dessler Family and the Yavneh Girls school. The great philanthropists of Cleveland included Irving Stone, the Spero brothers and Mendy Klein. 

Chassidus struck roots in Cleveland with the Cleveland dynasty, Chabad and even Kaliv. 

 

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Great American Jewish Cities #13: Cleveland Part I

This great city of the Midwest hosted some impressive events, institutions and personalities throughout its Jewish community's long history. Once a center of Reform Judaism with Abba Hillel Silver, it was also home to one of the earliest short lived Yeshivas in the United States when Rav Yehuda Levenberg moved his New Haven Yeshiva to Cleveland.

Rabbi Israel Porath was the long time Rabbinic leader, but it was Telz Yeshiva and its great leadership that really transformed the town. Rav Elya Meir Bloch, Rav Mottel Katz, Rav Mordechai Gifter, Rav Baruch Sorotzkin and many more transformed Cleveland and the Yeshiva world at large with the aristocracy of Telz. The Telz impact was felt with the founding of the Hebrew Academy by the Dessler Family and the Yavneh Girls school. The great philanthropists of Cleveland included Irving Stone, the Spero brothers and Mendy Klein. 

Chassidus struck roots in Cleveland with the Cleveland dynasty, Chabad and even Kaliv. 

 

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Great American Jewish Cities #12: The Lower East Side Part II

The cradle of civilization. The melting pot. The place where it all began. The ghetto, tenement buildings, overcrowded sweatshops. Romantic memories of a picturesque neighborhood, with beautiful shuls and a rich culture. Great rabbis, active socialists and the Jewish mob. The first Yeshivas, labor unions and delicatessens. Huddled masses pushcart sellers and the Yiddish Theatre. 

The descriptions of this unforgettable neighborhood can go on forever, and we wouldn't even scratch the surface. When at its peak, the density was the highest in the entire world, with the largest Jewish population in the world. The constant stream of immigrants created a diversity of Jewish life that is unmatched anywhere else. 

 

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Great American Jewish Cities #12: The Lower East Side

The cradle of civilization. The melting pot. The place where it all began. The ghetto, tenement buildings, overcrowded sweatshops. Romantic memories of a picturesque neighborhood, with beautiful shuls and a rich culture. Great rabbis, active socialists and the Jewish mob. The first Yeshivas, labor unions and delicatessens. Huddled masses pushcart sellers and the Yiddish Theatre. 

The descriptions of this unforgettable neighborhood can go on forever, and we wouldn't even scratch the surface. When at its peak, the density was the highest in the entire world, with the largest Jewish population in the world. The constant stream of immigrants created a diversity of Jewish life that is unmatched anywhere else. 

 

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Maharam Brisk & the Hungarian Yeshiva World

The title "Yeshiva World" usually conjures images of the great citadels of Torah of Lithuania, but parallel to that development was the Yeshiva world in Hungary. Large in size and unique in style, the Hungarian Yeshiva world provided generations of Hungarian communities with Rabbis, teachers and a rich traditional life. 

One of the most prominent of these Yeshivas in the generation before the war was that of the Maharam Brisk in Toshnad (Tasnad), Transylvania. As one of the leading Rabbis of his day, he did much to strengthen Jewish life in the entire district. His Yeshiva became one of the largest - over 300 students - and from the most prestigious in the entire country. 

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