Jewish History Soundbites

With the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two, here is a return to the story that Jews played in winning the war. The Ritchie Boys were a group of German speaking Americans, of whom some were recent German Jewish refugees, recruited by the US military. They were needed for their language skills, translations, interrogations and some espionage too. Following the D-Day i...

The Mountains, the Catskills, the Borscht Belt, upstate, the country. Monticello, Liberty, Woodridge, Swan Lake, Woodbourne, Fallsburg. A place of many names with one thing in common: a place rich in Jewish history and lore. As a summer destination, the Catskills would be home to countless bungalow colonies as city Jews organized their communities for a mountain air getaway. Generations of childre...

Rav Yitzchak Yaakov Reines (1839-1915) was a leading rabbinical leader who attempted to confront the challenges of his day with innovative solutions. Seeking to refresh the rabbinate as well save the youth, he incorporated secular studies in the Yeshiva he founded in Shvintzian and later in Lida. Having studied in Volozhin and Aishishok, he embarked on a rabbinic career while promulgating his inno...

Jewish History Soundbites celebrates our 200th episode with the launch of a new series, about the changes in the roles of traditional Jewish women and women's education in modern Jewish history.   The 19th century brought sweeping changes to the world in general and to the Jewish population in particular. By the end of the century, Jews in most countries had achieved emancipation. Even in places l...

With Sadigura in the news, here's an overview of the Ruzhin dynasty and which branches are still active today. Some like Shtefanesht, Husyatin and Chrotkov are pretty much gone. Boyan is here but without the Friedman name. Buhush and of course Sadigura are still around with the direct Friedman link. Interestingly enough, there have been young successors to positions of power throughout history. Ra...

The rich Jewish past of Tinseltown is worth at least a full length feature. The architects of Hollywood were Jewish immigrants, who were joined by many talented Jews heading west, who created an entire industry and cultural revolution. Orthodox Judaism took a bit longer to strike roots, but Rabbi Simon Dolgin and other intrepid pioneers planted the first seeds which blossomed with the arrival of m...

Scion of the Sighet Chassidic dynasty, Rav Yoelish Teitelbaum continued the legacy of his illustrious forbears on all fronts. As a Rosh Yeshiva, communal Rabbi, Chassidic leader and fiery warrior against the various modernist trends of his time. With his escape from Hungary on the Kastner Train and subsequent settlement in Williamsburg following a brief stint in Israel, he focused his energies on...

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 for...

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...

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....

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 Lifshe...

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...

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 leade...

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 leade...

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...

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...

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...

Rav Shlomo Elyashiv was one of the greatest Kabbalists in recent Jewish history. Settling in the town of Shavl, he proceeded to author his magnum opus the Leshem Shevo Veachlama, and influencing young Rabbis like Rav Kook in kabbalistic teachings. In 1924, he moved to Eretz Yisroel together with his daughter and son in law Rav Avraham Levinson who changed his name to Elyashiv at this time. They we...

With a foray into the south, we examine the stories of some great Jewish communities south of the Mason-Dixon line. Charleston, South Carolina is home to one of the oldest Jewish communities stretching back to colonial times. In the Antebellum South, it achieved renown as the largest Jewish community in the United States for many years. Charleston has the distinction of being the home of the oldes...

The Lithuanian Yeshiva world in interwar Poland was facing financial crisis. The Vaad Hayeshivas was the umbrella organization which sought to alleviate the financial burden from the Yeshivas. With the passing of the Chofetz Chaim, the beloved leader, as well as founder and head of the Vaad Hayeshivas in September 1933, the Jewish People was plunged into mourning. The Vaad Hayeshivas embarked on a...

In the annals of the Yeshiva movement, the story of Ner Israel Rabbinical College occupies a position of its own. Named for founder of the Mussar movement Rav Yisrael Salanter on the foundations of the world of Slabodka, it then pioneered a vision adaptable to the world of the American Yeshiva student. Rav Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman as founder, Rosh Yeshiva, educator and personification of greatness...

Perhaps no other city in the United States can boast of such a long, rich and consistent Jewish history narrative as the City of Brotherly Love. Historic synagogues like Mikveh Israel - which at one point received funding from Benjamin Franklin, and Rodeph Shalom which was the first Ashkenazi shul in the Western Hemisphere are symbols of the colonial era Jewish community. The 19th century saw Isaa...

In the annals of the Yeshiva movement, the story of Ner Israel Rabbinical College occupies a position of its own. Named for founder of the Mussar movement Rav Yisrael Salanter on the foundations of the world of Slabodka, it then pioneered a vision adaptable to the world of the American Yeshiva student. Rav Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman as founder, Rosh Yeshiva, educator and personification of greatness...

Out in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle boasts a rich Jewish past. As the last stop coming from the east, the first stop when arriving from Vladivostok and a destination during the Klondike gold rush, Seattle's Jewish community grew immensely at the turn of the century. Rabbinical leaders like Rabbi Baruch & Rebbetzin Hinda Shapiro, Rabbi Solomon Maimon, Rav Chaim Yaakov Levin, even a short stint of...

In the Ger empire of Chassidic Poland, the Rebbes of the Alter family - the Chiddushei Harim, Sfas Emes & Imrei Emes - achieved renown for their leadership. Other members of the family served in crucial roles in the chassidus, the Rabbinate and general leadership of Polish Jewry through stable as well as challenging times. Their names haven't been enshrined on the pages of history as much as their...