Someone asked recently how I remember things that occurred so many years ago. A good question! But, as any “senior citizen” can tell you, some folks remember things that happened “in Noah’s time,” so to speak, but are capable of forgetting where they placed the car keys!
The Yamim Nora’im (High Holidays) were practiced traditionally in East Baltimore, as they are practiced today, but they had a different “flavor.” To begin with, observant Yidden could be counted on your fingers. There was no large religious community spirit as there is today in Jewish neighborhoods. The rabbis who lived in East Baltimore in the 40s and 50s included Rabbi Forshlager, Rabbi Vitsick, Rabbi Levin, Rabbi Katznelson, Rabbi Tabori, Rabbi Pliskin, Rabbi Axelrod, and other prominent rabbanim.
Prior to arriving in the U.S., my father was the chazan in Milan, Italy, at the Tempio Israelitico, a position he held for 15 years. He had a beautiful voice and was given a lifetime contract with the congregation. The position was in tsoress (trouble), however, when Italy’s chief bahndeet (dictator), Benito Mussolini, y”s, decided to align himself with Germany’s meshugener (insane) fuhrer, Adolph Hitler, y”s. Next, Benito decided to demonstrate his anti-Semitic loyalty to the German chaleria, so he ordered all Jews to register as members of the Jewish “race.” In 1938 he proceeded to expel any Jew who was not born in Italy. My father was born in Lodz, Poland, so the order applied to us. At the time, our family was stunned, but it actually saved us from being deported to a concentration camp, which is what eventually happened to many Italian Yidden.
Leaving Italy was difficult, because most nations closed their doors in the hour of our greatest need – ahn altehr Yiddisher miseh (an old Jewish tale). The Polish government would not grant Jews entrance. Again, we were fortunate, although at that time, we did not comprehend the magnitude of what was happening to the Jewish people.
My father frantically attempted to obtain a visa from other countries, but all of them refused us entrance. Fortunately, we had an uncle who lived in the U.S.A. My Uncle Mordechai Lichtenstein convinced a congregation in the South to create a position in the congregation so that a visa could be granted, because no one could enter the country without one. I will forever be grateful to Uncle Mordechai and to the Ribono Shel Olam (G-d)!
We sailed to New York, and were on the high seas when World War II began. We arrived and soon settled in Baltimore, where my father received the position of chazan in the Bais Hamedresh Hagodol, a position that he held for 15 years. (The shul building still stands at the corner of Baltimore and Chester Streets.)
After obtaining the cantoral position, he learned the shul’s nusach, and soon could be identified as an Americaner chazan. His duties were quite different from those in Italy. In addition to leading the davening (services) every Shabbos and holiday, he read the weekly Torah portion, and on Rosh Hashanah he sounded the shofar! He conducted all this with great skill. He also opened the shul at 5:30 every morning of the week and prepared for the minyanim.
His salary was meager, so in addition to his position as chazan, my father applied his skill as a first-class mohel and was soon recognized as Baltimore’s finest mohel. The Rav of the Bais Hamedresh Hagodol was Rabbi Lieb, who suddenly passed away. His successor was Rabbi Samuel Vitsick, a Torah scholar from Europe. The Bais Hamedresh Hagodol had an interesting assortment of members. Some were tailors, others were storekeepers and mechanics. There were a few shomrei Shabbos (Sabbath observers), but in those years, the feeling was that Orthodox Judaism was disappearing. These were the war years, and food was rationed, meaning that there were limited quantities of such items as sugar, and you needed ration stamps to obtain them. As a youngster, it did not matter to me that there was no sugar (we used syrup). What did matter was that chewing gum was a rarity! Hairst ah geshichteh (can you imagine such a thing)? However, I had gum-chewers mazal.
Let me explain: The president of the shul owned a liquor factory and probably contributed some of his wares to the shul. When el presidento attended shul, he signaled me with a wave of the hand to come get a rare item, a large pack of chewing gum, which he placed under one of the lift-up benches. Nu, as you can imagine, he was the most popular member of the shul, and I looked forward to his presence during the Holy Days (minus Yom Kippur, of course)!
The congregation was always crowded on the Yamim Nora’im, and it had a reasonable crowd on holidays, but on a regular Shabbos, attendance was sparse. Although the majority of Yidden in East Baltimore were not totally observant, when erev Rosh Hashanah arrived, neighborhood residents understood that it was a high holiday by the aromas in the streets and the new outfits people wore to shul.
As for religious leaders, the most prominent scholar was probably Rabbi Forshlager, who lived humbly in his abode. One holiday evening, my father had a question regarding a bris that was to take place in the morning. He went to Rabbi Forshlager’s residence to determine the halacha (Jewish law). Rabbi Forshlagar listened and then proceeded to his extensive library, which was unlit. However, he immediately found the sefer and rendered a halachic decision. Such was his great knowledge of Torah.
During the war years, there was discussion regarding the murderous Holocaust of our people. Many Yidden were shocked by the horror stories related to them by surviving witnesses, but many would not believe that European Jews were being annihilated.
During Simchas Torah, kids created some mirth by conducting shtick, such as tying together the tallaisim strings of persons called to the Torah. Most congregants wore shoulder length talsaisim with many strings, so it was an easy matter to connect them. Thus, when one of the persons called to the Torah began descending from the bimah, all the connected tallaisim took a nosedive!
“Nu,” you may ask, “were you involved in this ‘activity’?” Why don’t you guess! Anyway, such pranks cheered some folks, so perhaps it was a mitzva.
During Simchas Torah, there was dancing but not as lively as current celebrations – because of the terrible losses during the war but also, perhaps, because of the average age of the congregants, which may have been above 65. There was a Simchas Torah auction for various honors, and Maariv was usually conducted by an elderly Yiddle by the name of Yitzchak Brown. He held a chashuv (important) position as one of my favorite persons, because whenever I needed a place to escape, such as flight from the tallaisim fiasco, he would allow me to take refuge near his chair. After all, we both had the same first name.
One day a shaygits tossed a rock through the shul’s window and nearly struck Mr. Brown. Following that incident, the shul installed heavy screens on each window. For a complete review of what occurred with the stone throwers, you can look up an earlier article entitled, “Cholent in East Baltimore” by Isaac Kinek, on www.wherewhatwhen.com, which will also give you some other information regarding the Yidden in East Baltimore.
As mentioned, there weren’t many observant Yidden at the time, and people believed that Orthodox Judaism was a thing of the past. Currently, if you walk in some sections of Greenspring or Park Heights on Shabbos, you may momentarily imagine that you are in Bnai Brak, Israel! You can observe parents and children walking in the center of the streets as if cars were nonexistent! What’s going on in their minds regarding safety? In East Baltimore, if you took a stroll on Shabbos, you rarely saw a religious Yid, and if you were naïve enough to wear a yarmulke, you faced anti-Semites, who did not hesitate to pummel you and tear your yarmulke in half or even in quarters!
What made holidays very special was the atmosphere in our home. My mom prepared delicious meals, and the holiday table was not only beautiful but the ru’ach (spirit) was permeated with simcha. My father’s beautiful singing and joyous demeanor exemplified the kedusha (holiness) of the day. On Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and our other holidays, there was a special feeling of connection with the Ribono Shel Olam and with the Jewish people.
Wishing all ah guht, gezunt yawr, a good and healthy year! Shana tova umesuka !
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