Page 72 - issue
P. 72
posed of every Jew. This was seen as the a Ph.D. from the famous German Univer- tary of the Treasury, as well as Assistant
proper way, and if there were bitter fights sity of Heidelberg. He was a prominent Secretary of Economic Affairs.
among Jews of different hashkafos, well, businessman in Vilna. This is the profile
let the fights begin! of a big maskil, and he was involved in all Here is where history becomes
that stuff. Yet this Dr. Rachmilewitz was stranger than fiction. I still recall my fa-
One cannot understand the Litvishe a founding member of Agudas Yisroel in ther, a”h, telling me decades ago how the
rabbonim of, say, a hundred years ago, Katowitz in 1912, and represented the backward agrarian Republic of Lithuania
if one does not understand this social re- Agudah Party in Vilna. The only sense (where he lived) was transformed into a
ality. I mean, the rabbis of actual Jewish I can make of this is that he must have prosperous country. Dr. Rachmilewitz
communities, formal legal communities, come under the personal spell of Rav made a detailed economic study of the
in the Republic of Lithuania. The com- Chaim Ozer Grodzensky in Vilna and be- situation and concluded that the eco-
munities were composed of disparate came his loyal follower. And indeed, Rav nomic salvation of the Republic lay – in
groups, and common ground was hard Chaim Ozer arranged for Dr. Rachmile- chazeirim, pigs! Lithuanian peasants had
to discover. Rabbi Poppel, an Agudist, witz to be appointed to a leadership po- historically raised pigs, but they were
seems to have agreed to and supported sition in the Associated Jewish Charities just swine, nothing special. Rachmile-
the Zionist day school, even though this of Vilna. witz noted how in the U.S.A. they fed
would not happen nowadays. A rov had the animals corn. Lithuania, he ordered,
to dance on eggs. He could push only This is not a clever phrase on my part. should do this with pigs and cows. Then
so-far. On the other hand, the secularists Vilna really did have a Jewish Federation, the ham and butter would be the high-
had the same problem. The rov could called the Tzedakah Gedolah, which dat- est quality and would fetch a good price
push back if they pushed too far. It was ed back to the 1500s, I think. The board on the international market, providing a
a tricky situation. Moreover, opposition of directors of the Tzedakah Gedolah ba- country poor in natural resources with a
to Zionism a la Satmar was basically im- sically ran all the charities in Vilna, as the cash cow and a cash davar acher.
possible in the Republic of Lithuania; the Federations try to do in America. When
Jewish masses were intensely Zionistic. Czar Nicholas I deprived the Jewish kehi- The Lithuanian government im-
Even the religious were generically Zion- los of their ancient coercive legal powers, plemented this policy, and it worked;
ist. That is, they supported aliyah, build- the Tzedakah Gedolah became the de Lithuanian ham and butter became re-
ing the Jewish future in Palestine, reviv- facto kehila, as Federations seek to do in nowned, and Lithuania successfully trad-
ing Hebrew as a spoken language, and America. ed high-quality ham and butter for coal
founding a state or as much of a state as from England, steel from Germany, oil
the British Mandate would allow. Rav Chaim Ozer fled Vilna in 1915, from Romania, and so forth – all thanks
during World War I, when rumors spread to an Agudah economist who probably
Now, these same religious Jews were that he was going to be arrested by the would not actually pronounce the word
not in favor of the secular and atheistic Czarist army as a “spy.” In his absence, p-i-g if he could help it!
manifestations of Zionism as it unfold- the Tzedakah Gedolah and other groups
ed, both in Lithuania and in Palestine. had to cope with the gargantuan hu- uuu
The difference among the religious was manitarian crisis of the war refugees, the
that the Agudists were intensely opposed German occupation, and a host of other The six Jews in Parliament formed a
to these manifestations and would not problems. “joint faction” that was pledged to act in
join the Zionist movement in any form, a united fashion, and the Jewish masses
while the Mizrachists were moderately Dr. Rachmilewitz was one of the lead- did indeed want achdus (lower-case A) in
opposed to these phenomena and were ers in these efforts; his Ph.D. from Ger- parliament. But the Achdus Party (capital
prepared to remain as members of the many was a big plus in dealing with the A) was not entirely comfortable with this.
Zionist movement. To many Jews in the German military administration that ran As best as I can tell, there were two fac-
country, these were fine lines. They felt the country. When Lithuania became tors behind this unease. First, they were
that had much more in common with an independent country in 1919, Rav not comfortable with the confrontational
their fellow religious Jews than not. And Chaim Ozer was still stuck in the Eastern style of the Zionist parties, a style of vo-
indeed, rabbis like Rabbi Poppel of Mari- Ukraine, so Dr. Rachmilewitz had to de- ciferously fighting the latent and not-so-
ampole had to be (and were) members of cide whether to stay in Vilna and end up latent anti-Semitism of the Lithuanian
both Agudah and Mizrachi at the same in the Republic of Poland or leave Vilna government as it reneged on various
time. It wasn’t like Israel today. for Kovno and become part of the new promises made to Lithuanian Jewry. The
Republic of Lithuania. He chose the lat- Jewish Faction voted to formally ally it-
The other Achdus member of parlia- ter and transferred his allegiance to the self with other minority groups in the
ment was perhaps a stranger phenom- Kovner Rov, the famous Dvar Avrohom. country (Poles, Belarusians, Russians,
enon. Dr. Nachman Rachmilewitz was The Lithuanian gentiles were so im- Germans) against the Lithuanian ma-
a Grodno native who, as far as I know, pressed with his credentials and abilities jority. The rabbonim did not think this a
had no Torah education at all but had (and with his ability to master the Lithu- wise policy; it was not how Yaakov con-
an excellent secular education at private anian language in a matter of days), they tended with Eisav.
schools and universities, culminating in appointed Rachmilewitz Assistant Secre-
Secondly, and more importantly, the
(continued on page 70)
64 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
proper way, and if there were bitter fights sity of Heidelberg. He was a prominent Secretary of Economic Affairs.
among Jews of different hashkafos, well, businessman in Vilna. This is the profile
let the fights begin! of a big maskil, and he was involved in all Here is where history becomes
that stuff. Yet this Dr. Rachmilewitz was stranger than fiction. I still recall my fa-
One cannot understand the Litvishe a founding member of Agudas Yisroel in ther, a”h, telling me decades ago how the
rabbonim of, say, a hundred years ago, Katowitz in 1912, and represented the backward agrarian Republic of Lithuania
if one does not understand this social re- Agudah Party in Vilna. The only sense (where he lived) was transformed into a
ality. I mean, the rabbis of actual Jewish I can make of this is that he must have prosperous country. Dr. Rachmilewitz
communities, formal legal communities, come under the personal spell of Rav made a detailed economic study of the
in the Republic of Lithuania. The com- Chaim Ozer Grodzensky in Vilna and be- situation and concluded that the eco-
munities were composed of disparate came his loyal follower. And indeed, Rav nomic salvation of the Republic lay – in
groups, and common ground was hard Chaim Ozer arranged for Dr. Rachmile- chazeirim, pigs! Lithuanian peasants had
to discover. Rabbi Poppel, an Agudist, witz to be appointed to a leadership po- historically raised pigs, but they were
seems to have agreed to and supported sition in the Associated Jewish Charities just swine, nothing special. Rachmile-
the Zionist day school, even though this of Vilna. witz noted how in the U.S.A. they fed
would not happen nowadays. A rov had the animals corn. Lithuania, he ordered,
to dance on eggs. He could push only This is not a clever phrase on my part. should do this with pigs and cows. Then
so-far. On the other hand, the secularists Vilna really did have a Jewish Federation, the ham and butter would be the high-
had the same problem. The rov could called the Tzedakah Gedolah, which dat- est quality and would fetch a good price
push back if they pushed too far. It was ed back to the 1500s, I think. The board on the international market, providing a
a tricky situation. Moreover, opposition of directors of the Tzedakah Gedolah ba- country poor in natural resources with a
to Zionism a la Satmar was basically im- sically ran all the charities in Vilna, as the cash cow and a cash davar acher.
possible in the Republic of Lithuania; the Federations try to do in America. When
Jewish masses were intensely Zionistic. Czar Nicholas I deprived the Jewish kehi- The Lithuanian government im-
Even the religious were generically Zion- los of their ancient coercive legal powers, plemented this policy, and it worked;
ist. That is, they supported aliyah, build- the Tzedakah Gedolah became the de Lithuanian ham and butter became re-
ing the Jewish future in Palestine, reviv- facto kehila, as Federations seek to do in nowned, and Lithuania successfully trad-
ing Hebrew as a spoken language, and America. ed high-quality ham and butter for coal
founding a state or as much of a state as from England, steel from Germany, oil
the British Mandate would allow. Rav Chaim Ozer fled Vilna in 1915, from Romania, and so forth – all thanks
during World War I, when rumors spread to an Agudah economist who probably
Now, these same religious Jews were that he was going to be arrested by the would not actually pronounce the word
not in favor of the secular and atheistic Czarist army as a “spy.” In his absence, p-i-g if he could help it!
manifestations of Zionism as it unfold- the Tzedakah Gedolah and other groups
ed, both in Lithuania and in Palestine. had to cope with the gargantuan hu- uuu
The difference among the religious was manitarian crisis of the war refugees, the
that the Agudists were intensely opposed German occupation, and a host of other The six Jews in Parliament formed a
to these manifestations and would not problems. “joint faction” that was pledged to act in
join the Zionist movement in any form, a united fashion, and the Jewish masses
while the Mizrachists were moderately Dr. Rachmilewitz was one of the lead- did indeed want achdus (lower-case A) in
opposed to these phenomena and were ers in these efforts; his Ph.D. from Ger- parliament. But the Achdus Party (capital
prepared to remain as members of the many was a big plus in dealing with the A) was not entirely comfortable with this.
Zionist movement. To many Jews in the German military administration that ran As best as I can tell, there were two fac-
country, these were fine lines. They felt the country. When Lithuania became tors behind this unease. First, they were
that had much more in common with an independent country in 1919, Rav not comfortable with the confrontational
their fellow religious Jews than not. And Chaim Ozer was still stuck in the Eastern style of the Zionist parties, a style of vo-
indeed, rabbis like Rabbi Poppel of Mari- Ukraine, so Dr. Rachmilewitz had to de- ciferously fighting the latent and not-so-
ampole had to be (and were) members of cide whether to stay in Vilna and end up latent anti-Semitism of the Lithuanian
both Agudah and Mizrachi at the same in the Republic of Poland or leave Vilna government as it reneged on various
time. It wasn’t like Israel today. for Kovno and become part of the new promises made to Lithuanian Jewry. The
Republic of Lithuania. He chose the lat- Jewish Faction voted to formally ally it-
The other Achdus member of parlia- ter and transferred his allegiance to the self with other minority groups in the
ment was perhaps a stranger phenom- Kovner Rov, the famous Dvar Avrohom. country (Poles, Belarusians, Russians,
enon. Dr. Nachman Rachmilewitz was The Lithuanian gentiles were so im- Germans) against the Lithuanian ma-
a Grodno native who, as far as I know, pressed with his credentials and abilities jority. The rabbonim did not think this a
had no Torah education at all but had (and with his ability to master the Lithu- wise policy; it was not how Yaakov con-
an excellent secular education at private anian language in a matter of days), they tended with Eisav.
schools and universities, culminating in appointed Rachmilewitz Assistant Secre-
Secondly, and more importantly, the
(continued on page 70)
64 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
