While researching Morris Siegel’s interesting life, I asked Rabbi Moshe Heinemann about his recollections. Rabbi Heinemann summed it up best: “He did everything le’shaim Shamayim (for the sake of Heaven).” Of course, when someone does everything le’shaim Shamayim, his or her life and work endure well into the future. Indeed, Baltimore today, and frum Baltimore in particular, is reaping the benefits of the vineyard of Yiddishkeit that Morris Siegel planted years ago
Yosef Moshe “Morris” Halevi Siegel was a trustworthy Baltimore businessman, eloquent orator, and outstanding father. He was an extremely modest individual who possessed many wonderful middos. He acquired and maintained a kesser shem tov, an impeccable name, throughout his life, because of his integrity and many ma’asim tovim, good deeds. He loved Shabbos and taught his neighbors the importance of shimiras Shabbos and taharas hamishpacha. He embraced a love of Torah learning, kibud harav (respecting rabbanim), and the importance of shul and kehila (community).
I remember Mr. Siegel well; he was a soft spoken, dignified, handsome, articulate, and measured elder person. When I was a child, I would make my way to his pew in the McCulloh Street Shearith Israel – passing the bright brass spittoons for those who chewed tobacco – to sit beside Mr. Siegel and renowned Hopkins eye surgeon Dr. Aron Robinson and sing “Ein Kelokeinu.” Morris Siegel was a baal menagain with a rich, beautiful voice.
While researching Morris Siegel’s interesting life, I asked Rabbi Moshe Heinemann about his recollections. Rabbi Heinemann summed it up best: “He did everything le’shaim Shamayim (for the sake of Heaven).” Of course, when someone does everything le’shaim Shamayim, his or her life and work endure well into the future. Indeed, Baltimore today, and frum Baltimore in particular, is reaping the benefits of the vineyard of Yiddishkeit that Morris Siegel planted years ago.
I came across a letter written by Ner Israel’s Rosh Yeshiva Rav Aharon Feldman to Shmuel Dovid Siegel after the petira (passing) of his father Morris. In it, the Rosh Yeshiva expresses his hakaras hatov (appreciation) for the hashpa’ah (influence) Morris Siegel had on his learning – giving him the cheishek (desire) to learn – through the youth groups at the McCulloh Street shul. “He was one of the asara rishonim (10 founders) of everything that was Yiddishkeit in Baltimore,” he wrote, “an American I could identify with, who was frum, consistent in his yiras Shamayim, so thoroughly erlich, and a mekadesh shem Shamayim just being what he was.”
Two letters from Rabbi Mordechai Gifter, zt”l, to Morris Siegel appeared in the Agudah publication, The Jewish Observer in the January/February 2006 issue. Rav Gifter was very critical of the Zionist hashkafa of the times. In his letters he constantly urges his friend Morris (Rabbi Gifter also grew up in Baltimore) to spread Torah values, especially shmiras Shabbos and Torah education, through a day school movement in Baltimore.
Morris Siegel fulfilled these tasks, and more. In addition to being a devoted husband and loving father in his personal life, his communal life was characterized by four very important components: 1) aseh lecha rav (have a Torah guide/rabbi), 2) love of shul and kehila (community), 3) talmud Torah and kivias itim latorah (setting aside time for learning Torah), and 4) advancing Jewish education.
The Siegel Family
Reb Chaim and Sarah Siegel left Ponevezh Lithuania in the 1890s for the golden shores and great opportunities of America. Reb Chaim lived with his wife and eight children at 906 E. Pratt Street in East Baltimore, where he made a difficult parnassa selling chickens. In 1902, a son Morris, the fifth child, was born. Morris had four older sisters, two younger sisters, and two younger brothers, Daniel and Chester. Chester was seven years younger than Morris, the baby of the mishpacha. As the years passed, brothers Morris and Chester would become pillars of Orthodox Baltimore.
Since Talmudical Academy was not founded until 1917, Morris went to public school and had a melamed or private tutor instructing him in limudei kodesh at home. Chester, his younger brother, did benefit from a TA education, although TA at that time was a cheder, an afternoon Hebrew school, whose students all attended public school. (By about 1927, it may have had a primary school in Hebrew and English, but certainly not a secondary school. The first TA high school graduating class was in 1947, and Morris Siegel’s son Shmuel David was a member of that class.)
When TA opened, Morris had already joined the family business, the Hyman Siegel Hosiery Company, started by his father in the 1920s. The name was later changed to the New York Hosiery Company.
In 1925, Morris married Miriam Friedberg. Ada Siegel, now Sperling, was born, followed by Shmuel Dovid and Debbie, now Naiman. Morris and Miriam lived and raised their family on Eutaw Place in the North Avenue neighborhood, so they davened at Shearith Israel McCulloh Street. It wasn’t till 1958 that they moved uptown to their Narcissus Avenue home.
Extended family on Morris’s wife’s side were the Pernikoffs, Caplans, and Gersteins. Morris’s sisters married into the Sugarman, Shavrick, Lauer, Scherr, and Semer families. One can see from this elite group of chashuv families the impact the extended Siegel family has had on our community. Add Morris’s daughters Mrs. Ada Sperling and Mrs. Debbie Naiman, and the list is quite impressive, a veritable “who’s who” of Orthodox Baltimore!
Expanding the Business
Morris began to expand the business to more than hosiery. He carried all sorts of wholesale sundries. Paper goods, over-the-counter drugs, and much more were sold to businesses throughout the area. Morris’s honesty, trustworthiness, and hard work ethic endeared him to his loyal customers. The business grew, and the name became Morris Siegel and Company. Morris even had a Model-T Ford, which was a real accomplishment for this budding entrepreneur.
In later years, Morris’s sons-in-law, Heshy Sperling and Jerry Naiman, and his son Shmuel Dovid Siegel worked in the family business. The Baltimore riots and inner city turmoil that erupted in the late 1960s brought changes, as many small groceries and sundry stores that had been Morris’s customers were forced to close. Shmuel Dovid and Heshy Sperling left the business in the late 1980s, and Jerry Naiman kept it going, until it was sold in the 90s. (Interestingly, the business is still run today with the name Morris Siegel as its banner name.)
A fascinating story came to my attention. Yitzchack “Itcha” Kaufman, who passed away just two months ago, was actually a competitor of Morris. Both sold the same type of goods. Itcha, as he was so fondly called, decided to go back to Europe (in 1961) to find a wife, which he successfully accomplished. The problem was that he would be away from his business for a couple of months. In an act of chesed, Morris called on Itcha’s trade and preserved his customer base until Itcha returned. Such integrity, honesty, and middos were exemplary.
Another wonderful story is told by Mrs. Debbie Naiman about how her husband came into the business and the family. Her dad was busily involved in getting jobs for shomer Shabbos persons. One day he interviewed a nice young man named Jerry Naiman. Morris was so impressed with this fellow that he hired him for his own business. When Jerry knocked at the door for the interview, it was the youngest daughter Debbie who opened the door. Mrs. Miriam Siegel, the perceptive mother, overheard the interview. She was impressed, to say the least! After Jerry left the home, she said to the family, “We will keep this young man on ice. When the time is right and our daughter Debbie is ready, this will be a very good shidduch.” With Hashem’s help, that is exactly what occurred, and Jerry would become a driving force in the business.
The Adas Youth Group
As a very young man Morris was an activist; he used to plead with his friends and neighbors to observe Shabbos. But his real success came though becoming active in Adath Bnei Israel, the Adas, for short. While it is well documented in the annals of Baltimore history that Morris Mechanic built a theater, it is not as well known that his sister Rae actually started the Adas in 1918 and was its first president. (She would later marry the principal of Yeshiva Torah V’Daas, a Rabbi Dr. Stern.) Another member was Jacob Siegel (the father of Elaine Mintzes and Eugene Siegel, no relation to Morris).
The Adas was a social group for young men and women, whose purpose was primarily to provide opportunities to socialize and participate in recreational activities. In its very early days, these included hay rides and dances. Members of the Adas also held mass public rallies advocating for Shabbos observance. It also worked to rescue Jewish children from the missionaries. When Morris joined he organized a job bureau, so that people could get jobs where they did not have to work on Shabbos.
Although Baltimore in those days was known as the “Yerushalayim of America,” with numerous and well-attended minyanim and shiurim, chilul Shabbos was unfortunately widespread. Financially-challenged Jews felt forced to work on Shabbos, and it was a huge struggle to convince employers and the employees that Shabbos must be observed. Baltimorean Reb Chaim Shapiro wrote about the atmosphere of shmiras Shabbos in Baltimore in the 30 and 40s: “Many talked of abandoning Shabbos or facing starvation. Foreman would ask on Friday payroll give out, ‘Coming to work tomorrow? If not, do not bother coming Monday!’” Some people had to get a new job every week.
I personally know of a person who felt compelled to work on Shabbos. He walked to work from the Park Heights area all the way to Glyndon, a three-hour walk each way. He told me he had to work on Shabbos to put food on the family table, but he would never consider riding to and from work. Today, that person is totally frum.
Morris Siegel personified the famous motto of the Adas: “Judaism in general, Shabbos in particular.” Gerry Shavrick, a nephew of Morris Siegel, tells a story that is reminiscent of the struggles in 1978 and 1997 to keep the Park Heights JCC closed on Shabbos. (The Baltimore JCC is the only one in America that is closed on Shabbos.) Mr. Shavrick noted that the Jewish Educational Alliance (the JEA, which eventually aligned with the YMHA to become the JCC) on E. Baltimore St. was a very popular meeting place for many of the youth and young adults from immigrant families in the 20s and 30s. It provided a facility for recreational, athletic, and social activities. The JEA’s policy was to be closed on Shabbos. On occasion, however, there would be some lapses in this policy, when the building would close late on Friday or open too early on Saturday night. Morris Siegel was selected as the Adas representative to meet with Gus Bisgyer, the JEA executive director, to register their concern. Because of Mr. Siegel’s sensitive handling of the issue, Mr. Bisgyer pledged that such occurrences would not be repeated.
Morris Siegel took the lead in the tough fight for Shabbos, as well as other activities of the Adas. He personally led youth groups. Some members of the Adas youth group were our rosh yeshiva, Horav Aharon Feldman; Rabbi Mordechei Yaffe; and Rabbi Juda Davis, who later became the rosh hayeshiva of Mountaindale yeshiva. Two other young members of the Adas were Rabbi Avigdor Miller, zt”l, and Rabbi Mordechei Gifter, zt”l. Morris helped convince both to travel to Europe to study Torah. (Rabbi Gifter’s father cashed in an insurance policy to fund his son’s trip to Europe.) Rabbi Gifter went to Telse and Rabbi Miller to Mir, where they had the opportunity to learn Torah from renowned European gedolim. Can you imagine? Rabbi Miller and Rabbi Gifter discussed learning in Europe sitting on the curb in Baltimore. These Torah giants then returned to America to spread the Torah they learned in the European yeshivos.
Other Baltimoreans who learned in Europe were Rabbi Manuel Poliakoff, who was in Telse from 1930 to 1939, and Rabbi Paperman.
Here is a little history and clarification on the hay rides and dances of the 1920s and early 1930s. Today, this is of course totally taboo in our frum circles, but times were a lot different back then. Very few women covered their hair. Even Shearith Israel, before Rabbi Schwab came, had a Yom Kippur moetzei Yom Tov “hop,” or social dance. Rabbi Schwab convinced his balabatim that this must stop. To help Rabbi Schwab make the point, in 1938, Horav Elchonon Wasserman visited Baltimore and stayed at Rabbi Schwab’s home. He published a kol koreh forbidding social dancing. [see sidebar]. All the rabbanim signed the proclamation and joined together to improve the tznius of the community.
Many marriages came out of the Adas organization. Morris Siegel, when he was president, married the vice-president, Miss Miriam Friedberg. Morris himself was the shadchan of Louis and Sarah Caplan (in-laws of Alvin Gerstein and forebears of the Caplan mishpacha). Other early and active Adas members were balabatim of the future Abe Chinn, and the brothers Sidney, Henry P. and Alvin Cohn. Rosalyn Siegel, the wife of Chester Siegel and mother of Feigy Oberstein, wrote about how difficult it was for the young people to stay frum in the Depression era. She described the Adas trip to Tolchester, Maryland and alluded to Chester and O.D. Taragin going on a double date.
The Adas Shul, 1924 to 1958
In 1924, the Adas shul was formed in East Baltimore. In 1939, it took over TA’s Baltimore Street building, when TA moved to Cottage Avenue. At that time, the Siegels lived near North Avenue, and davened at Shearith Israel McCulloh Street. While Shearith Israel was his main shul, Morris sometimes frequented the Anshei Emes on Linden Avenue, between Whitelock and Ducatel, when he was need to complete the minyan. Anshe Emes was run by the “frume Cohns”; the founders were Jacob and Joel Cohn. Jacob was the father of Florence (Kaufman), Sidney, Henry P., and Alvin.
Howard Cohn also recalls the weekly oneg Shabbos of singing and refreshments for children on Shabbos afternoons, led by Morris, Chester, and his father, Henry P. Cohn. These children’s groups had originally been held in the building of the Northwest Talmud Torah on Callow Avenue, where Morris was a youth leader.
Morris chose wisely in making Rabbi Shimon Schwab his rav and posek. While Rabbi Schwab lived at 5700 Narcissus Avenue, in Upper Park Heights, and was the rav of Shearith Israel Glen Avenue, he would walk every Shabbos mevorchim down Park Heights and across North Avenue to Shearith Israel McCulloh. It was a good hour-and-three-quarters walk each way, but the mispalelim, like Morris Siegel and Rabbi Helfand, looked forward to Rabbi Schwab’s presence every Shabbos mevorchim.
The Adas Shul 1958 to 2007
In 1958, when Rabbi Schwab moved to New York to join Rabbi Breuer at Khal Adas Yeshurun in Washington Heights, it was Morris Siegel who purchased the Schwab home on the 5700 block of Narcissus. Rabbi Shmuel Dovid Siegel, Morris’s son and the current owner of the home, points out the trees on the property that were planted by the Schwab children.
That same year, the Adas merged with the Chofetz Chaim shul on Rogers Avenue. Rabbi Mordechei Rabinowitz was the rav of Chofetz Chaim congregation, a learned man who wrote a booklet “Daughter of Israel, concerning the purity laws of Jewish family life. Unfortunately, Rabbi Rabinowitz passed away the year before and never saw the fruits of his efforts to bring about the merger. (After his petira, Rabbi Anemer and Rabbi Juda Davis served at Chofetz Chaim for a short time.)
So, the Adas moved to 3702 Rogers Avenue and became known as Chofetz Chaim Adas Bnei Yisroel. From that time on, Morris Siegel attended the Adas. An interesting fact is that when there was no rav at the Adas, the chazan would wait for Morris Siegel to finish Shmoneh Esrei before starting chazaras hashatz. Abe Chinn, Max Rosen, Rabbi Milikowsky, Rabbi Liff, Rabbi Joseph Samson, Joel Klein, Jimmy Weinreb, and Rabbi Helfand also davened at the Adas.
With his love of Torah, Morris Siegel enlisted Rabbi Jacob Bobrowsky, zt”l, and later Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Kulefsky, zt”l, to give a Wednesday night gemara shiur at the Adas. This shiur actually started many years before. Howard Cohn commented that, according to his father Henry P. Cohn, it is probably the longest-running shiur in Baltimore. History has a way of repeating itself, and today Rabbi Kulefsky’s son-in-law, Rabbi Dovid Rosenbaum, continues to lead the shiur. Morris also helped organize the Shabbos gemara shiurim led by Rabbi Chaim Wallin and Rabbi Nachman Klein. There was also a motzei Shabbos shiur at the Adas, which Rabbi Gifter alluded to in a letter to Morris. This shiur was later moved to Shearith Israel Glen Avenue.
In 1993, the Adas moved to Park Heights and Menlo, and elected Rabbi Shlomo Naiman, a grandson of Morris Siegel, as its rav. Rabbi Naiman’s brother, Rabbi Abba Tzvi Naiman, is also a rav in Baltimore.
Working for the Mikva
Throughout his life, Morris Siegel devoted himself to community endeavors. His commitment to Torah made him an important supporter of and worker for the Talmudical Academy. He devoted much time and effort to raising funds for TA. He also raised funds for Ezras Torah, and he was honored at the Agudah Melava Malka in 1979. (In 1980, Rabbi Heinemann became the rav of the Agudah shul as we know it today.)
Perhaps his most significant role was as president of the Baltimore mikva. Morris Siegel was an ardent worker for the mikva. He, along with Ernest Gutman, led the building campaign for the Rogers Avenue mikva. He also worked with his across-the-street neighbor Yitzchak “Ignatz” Davidavits, Mr. Ernest Gutman, as well as Rabbi Jacob Ruderman and Rabbi Herman Neuberger.
There had been mikvas at both McCulloh Street and Glen Avenue buildings of Shearith Israel and also at Shomrei Mishmeres on Lloyd Street, but the only one that was still operational was the one at Glen Avenue: hence, the need for a community mikva.
A meeting was held at the Rogers Avenue Adas to begin the $100,000 building campaign. It was December 10, 1959, and present were J. Morton Lehman, chairman of the mikva; Morris Siegel, president; Ignatz Davidavits, second vice-president; Hyman Schwartz, treasurer; Mrs. Sheppard Block, financial secretary; Samuel Krivitsky, recording secretary; and Ernest Gutman, chairman of the building committee. The plan was to construct a new mikvah at 3500 W. Rogers Ave. A contract was awarded to the Talles Construction Company, and Mr. David Harrison was to be the architect.
I actually found Morris’s handwritten records; in a notebook, he penciled in the donations he solicited for the mikva. Morris said it was difficult to raise capital to build the mikva. But he was persistent. Significant donations were made by many individuals and families, including the following: Gutman, Schuster, Caplan, Davidavits, Siegel, Frank Cohen, Abraham Cohn, Abraham I. Cohen, Alvin Cohn, Flamm, Steinhart, Lehman, Schmell, Shavrick, Reich, Rochkind, Lemberger, Neuberger, Ney, Rashbaum, Rombro, Schwartz families, Robinson, Steinharter, Zuriff, Greenspon, Looban, Storch, Kranzler, Schlossberg, Lasson, Gerstein, Bamberger, Rothstein, Schreiber, Taragin, Bondi, and Buxbaum. Also Rabbi Ruderman, Rabbi Herman Neuberger, Rabbi Ari Neuberger, Rabbi Drazin, Rabbi Vitsick, Rabbi Bak, Rabbi Diskind, Rabbi Steinberg, Rabbi Baumgarten, Rabbi Samson, Rabbi Max, Rabbi Gevantman, and Rabbi Green.
In total, over 140 families contributed in the initial fundraising, with the two largest gifts from a Samuel Wolfe and a Simon Weiner.
I also found in the mikva archives a letter from Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, zt”l, from New York, to Morris Siegel, giving Morris advice on two sheilas he had asked of Rabbi Henkin. The first question was “Can or should a yachid (individual) own a shul?” and Rav Henkin said it’s preferable for a shul to be owned by a kehila (congregation).
The second question concerned the location of the mikva. Some people wanted to move it to Pall Mall Road in Lower Park Heights. But Rabbi Herman Neuberger strongly suggested moving the mikva to Rogers Avenue, then considered Upper Park Heights.
The discussion was resolved when Rabbi Henkin suggested strongly that Rabbi Herman Neuberger was in the best position to make that determination. So, Morris took Rabbi Neuberger’s advice, and a very good decision was made.
The End of an Era
In 1960 Miriam Siegel passed away. Shmuel Dovid Siegel remembers that it was right around the time of the bar mitzvah of Rabbi Calman Weinreb, a great nephew of Morris and another Adas member and Narcissus resident. Mrs. Siegel had stood with Morris and supported all his efforts. They were a marvelous team.
After the petira of his mother, Shmuel Dovid Siegel moved into 5700 Narcissus to live with Morris Siegel. And after the petira of his dear wife, Morris renewed his vigor to work for the tzibur (community) for many more years. Then, in 1989, Morris Siegel, a true “Shabbos Yid,” was niftar on Rosh Chodesh Elul. Shmuel Dovid Siegel, in his hesped on his father, spoke of the tremendous nisayon (challenge) of shmiras Shabbos in the 1920s and then again later, when the Depression generation faced the same challenge. He tells how his dad was a wonderful family man. Weekly trips to the ice cream store and bakery, as well as playing ball with the kids are fond memories. “He loved shalom and was an ohev habri’os (loved people).”
He told how his father was a youth leader at the Ohr Knesses Yisrael shul on Franklin Street and how he sang zmiros as a youth leader at the Talmud Torah on Callow Avenue. At Adas Rogers Avenue he gave candy to children. He was always getting children to love Yiddishkeit. He talked about his commitment to TA and how his father served on the vaad hachinuch. In 1944, he organized a meeting in his home for the Vaad Hatzalah, with the participation of Rabbi Aharon Kotler, zt”l.
Shmuel Dovid also remembered how his cousin Louis Caplan called every erev Shabbos, and how Morris’s niece Gloria (Lauer)Weinreb made weekly Shabbos afternoon visits. Abe Chinn was also a frequent guest at the Siegel home and Shabbos table. In his hesped he praised his first wife Ruth and his second wife Yenti, the daughters-in-law who gave wonderful care to his father, together with Morris’s daughter, Mrs. Debbie Naiman.
Baltimore lost a gem of a person. But Morris Siegel and his wife left a beautiful mishpacha that continues the values and middos of this great man. Their mishpacha and many other brachos were certainly gifts from Hashem for all the work Morris and his wife have done for klal Yisrael and for Baltimore.
Sidebar
Kol Koreh of 1938
Of late, some of our synagogues have undertaken to arrange dances as a source of revenue. The sponsors of these dances very likely do not know that Jewish law strictly prohibits the dancing of men and women together. Indeed, some of our brothers and sisters may have even come to think that, in arranging dances for the support and maintenance of synagogues or other worthy causes, they were performing a commendable act, a mitzva. We, therefore, feel that it is our sacred duty to proclaim publicly to all our dear brothers and sisters that the end does not justify the means. The Torah does not allow dancing of men and women. It is even tied up in Jewish law with the prohibition of adultery. It is wholly against the Jewish spirit of ethics and morality. And it is, therefore, doubly wrong for synagogues to arrange or organize such dances.
Our holy synagogues that have served for thousands of years as places of worship and prayer, and study of the Torah in order to inculcate the hearts of our young with a true love of G-d, to build a good strong character, to cleanse the mind of all evil, to purify the heart of all lowly temptations and passions, must continue in their noble task immaculate. They must not deteriorate to bring about a contrary influence. Again and again has the Almighty commanded us to refrain from evil thought and to distant ourselves from places and conditions which arouse unwholesome thinking. Let the noble example of our forefathers who have given their lives gladly to carry out the commandments and precepts of G-d strengthen us in stopping at once this evil practice.
The Chofetz Chaim of blessed memory wrote in one of his books that the sin of men and women dancing together is so grave and so contrary to the morals and ethics of Judaism that even at weddings men and women must dance separately.
Our sages teach us that he who can prevent or dissuade a person from sinning and does not do so is held responsible and is also punished for the sin. As rabbis it is hence our sacred duty to call to our brothers and sisters of the entire city to refrain from this serious and grave profanation of our synagogues.
Rabbi Elchonon Bunem Wasserman of Baranowitz
Rabbi A. E. Axelrod
Rabbi L. Friedlander
Rabbi Hillel Michaly
Rabbi Chaim E. Samson
Rabbi Juda David
Rabbi Jehiel B. Shoham
Rabbi Jacob I. Ruderman
Rabbi Michael Hacohen Forshlager
Rabbi M. M. Taragin
Rabbi Mordechai Rabinowitz
Rabbi M.R. Chorrick
Rabbi Moses Leib Raninowitz
Rabbi Noah Cohen
Rabbi Nathan Drazin
Rabbi R. Rivkin
Rabbi Samuel I. Kiebb
Rabbi Simon Schwab
Rabbi Aaron Sadowsky
