A personal tribute to an influential teacher in our school, expressing in my own way some of what needed to be said upon his recent passing. The music is “Velvet” by “The 8th Day”, a song they wrote in tribute to their teacher.
Rev. Walter Hes passed away this last year at the age of 101. He and our beloved Mr. Hellmann o.b.m might have been the last two remaining alumni of the famed Wurzburg Seminary. This video tells the story of the students who dreamed of becoming “lehrer” and the lives they built on these shores.
For our community this piece tops anything ever written by anyone named “Handel”. And while this piece can be found many places online, we will always prefer it “our way”.
A few clips and then a speech. Some familiar Heights and Monsey faces here. Some of the video filmed by Mr. Fred Prince a’H.
Studying the history of our community means knowing it from its earliest days. From Its North to its South. The places we’ve come from and the places we’ve moved to. Our shuls our culture and our shared history. It means coming 2gether and talking. New Series. Breuers 2gether.
Here is a long-awaited beginning to what I hope will be a fruitful journey to the four corners of the neighborhood and to the various German kehillos they produced. Here we learn about the first Rav of Sharei Hatikvah and his previous position in Wurzburg. The project sent me down the path of learning about
From home movies of the day I entered Brith Avraham Avinu.
From the four-part series on the “Daled Parshiyos”.
Words of Rav Hirsch set to my own thoughts.
Published on Apr 1, 2016 With the author of Shivchei Yeshurun – Rabbi Dovid Roth. A brief excursion through the background of this week’s additions to the Tefilos interspersed with the words of praise themselves. Important: I follow the Rabbinate of this Kehilla in psak and have a strong affiliation to its hashkafos. The nuances
Published on Apr 19, 2016 Touches on korbanos and how we can relate to them.Articles mentioned are: 1) http://rabbisblog.brsonline.org/pleas… 2) http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/of-cou…
A brief talk about the piyut by Rabbi Dovid Roth author of Shivchei Yeshurun spliced in with its incantation by Benno Weis aH- in the Frankfurt tradition. A British nusach is featured on KAYJ. A short and meaningful article was used in preparation found here: http://www.kayj.net/en/forum/minhogim…
As Pesach cleaning and computer issues clog my schedule, I present here a tribute I made for another channel to K’vod Avi Morie Shlita – the owner of these precious archives. Please like.
Although I am personally a fan of all our chazzonim, the late, beloved Ch. Frankel has become the icon of the candle lighting in our Shul. It is at this time of the year that we think of him as we behold the Menorah he faced in service for so many decades. Some of the
The spirit of our choir is not the “Kol Demama Daka”- the mild and meek voice- that rose out of the hollow chambers that produced “churchy” music, but the fervor of German Jewry al fortissimo. Here we discuss the history of the choir and its early origins. Rav Hirsch commisioned I.M. Japhet to compose for
Very harsh straightforward words spoken by our president. Worthwhile to hear the values of our Kehillo spelled out.
Recounts the time we were visited by the mayor of Frankfurt A.M. In memory of those who left no stone unturned to fund our institutions. Music is Rota Mori by Marcus Goldman and Orchestra.
Touches on his youth in Washington Heights and his experiences that are common to many of ours. Reading materials include: Kissinger: The Private and Public Story, Ralph Blumenfeld. This book is a fun read, and has interviews with many familiar names like Jacob Breuer, Jerry Bechhofer, Otto Pretsfelder, and Leo Hexter, A’H. Also books by
There must be many people in possession of a video like this one. Here is vintage choir with some old faces. Seen here is Mr. Bernard Stone a’h a beloved choir baritone of yore. In the future I hope to post a chupah with our Chazonim as well.
Distributed at the Dinner of 1999. Fox Video Productions, with permission of Steve Fox.
From home movies of the day I entered Brith Avraham Avinu.
Words of Rav Hirsch set to my own thoughts.
This is the flagship video of the collection. This film was produced by Manny Meyer Studios for the 1974 Breuer’s dinner- long before “videos” were shown at dinners. The film was converted to 1/2 inch tape for large screen thetre mode.. Narration by Mr. Jacob Breuer a’h. Original rare footage of the Shul in Frankfurt
Published on Apr 1, 2016 With the author of Shivchei Yeshurun – Rabbi Dovid Roth. A brief excursion through the background of this week’s additions to the Tefilos interspersed with the words of praise themselves. Important: I follow the Rabbinate of this Kehilla in psak and have a strong affiliation to its hashkafos. The nuances
When I was a young Yeshiva student and beginning to learn Torah earnestly, a friend of mine approached me and showed me something devastating in a sefer. The book was quoting the words of the Sifsei Kohen (or “The Shach”, 1621-1662) in Yoreh Deah (91) that states “one must wait 6 hours after eating meat
Sorry for the delay. One of the previous posts has sent me on a journey. The post citing the relationship between YU and Breuer’s in polemics piqued my interest in the contentious times that were the 80s, when the Agudah convention drew crowds of Yeshiva bochurim alongside the Balabatim and conflict between brands of Orthodoxy
I recently encountered an article by the late Jonah Frankel, an authority on piyut who is known for editing some volumes of the “Goldschmidt Machzor”. The article was written over a decade ago on the occasion of 200 years since the publishing of the Heidenheim siddur. The article points out the lack of attention scholars
The German Jewish community of Washington Heights recites the Bircas Hatorah each morning at the juncture between the bracha “Mekadesh es Shimcha Barabim” and the beginning of the recital of korbanos. This is at odds with the minhag recorded in the standard Roedelheim siddur. In the essay linked here I have suggested (this was written
This past week Jews the world over sat down to the traditional Shavuot-night learning. Some traditionally say the “Tikkun” a prescribed booklet for the occasion. Others sit down with their Daf Yomi groups or with a friend. In Washington Heights there is a third activity to be found at the “lernin”. The activity of
Blog Entry The “skinny” on our Sefira Minhag This article is not being written based on research, but is being written to convey our minhag as espoused in Washington Heights, with some verbal tradition that I have picked up when learning among the community members in the Beis Hamedrash over the years. Our sefira minhag
I’m in the midst of finals and have slowed down on posting videos and blog entries. As I was googling on Isaaac Breuer towards a paper I’m writing I tripped upon the article by Zev Eleff in a previous edition of Tradition. The tone would be offensive to a WH person at first, but it
Message from A. Weil of Baltimore Rabbi Yitzy Ettlinger is from Washington Heights and now lives in the Kensington area of Brooklyn where he is a rebbi in an Iranian cheder. He was also involved for a number of years as a founder of the Ashkenaz Minyan in that area. In order to spark interest
