Beth Abraham shul, affectionally known as “Hertzberg’s,” is tucked away on a small side street, a simple brick-faced building set back on a green lawn. You could pass it by without ever guessing its history and unique personality among the shuls of Baltimore.
I had the opportunity to interview
Mrs. Chava Rosenfeld, the daughter of its first rav, Rabbi Tzvi
Elimelech, zt”l, and Mrs. Nechama Shifra, a”h, Hertzberg. I
was interested to hear from Mrs. Rosenfeld about her parents, her shul, and how
life has changed since she was a girl growing up in Forest Park.
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Mrs. Rosenfeld was born in
Baltimore, the fourth of five children. Her identical twin sister died
of complications of measles as a baby. Growing up in East Baltimore, she had some
friends from religious homes like hers. The dress code was very different than
today. There were no uniforms, but girls always wore skirts, and boys in high
school wore suits.
Mrs. Rosenfeld was raised by warm,
loving parents, and she describes the relationship between parents and children
as different from today’s reality. “In those days, the general rule was that
children were seen and not heard,” she said. “Children wouldn’t dream of
interrupting their parents. They would not dare nudge their parents to buy them
things that they couldn’t afford.” Mrs. Rosenfeld also remembers that later,
when the family was living in Forest Park in the late 1950s, the streets were
completely safe. She would go to visit Rebbetzin Weinberg and walk home at
midnight with no problem.
Contrary to the impression that
many Jews gave up their religion when they came to America, Mrs. Rosenfeld said
many people like her father kept their customs and way of life, although very
few women covered their hair. “Many people were knowledgeable, meaning they
knew how to daven, say Tehillim, and understand a gemara shiur. But
they were forced to work on Shabbos,” she said. “Some people went back to
keeping Shabbos when their situation changed. Others were careful to minimize
the chilul Shabbos when they went to work. It was difficult to
transmit Judaism to the next generation; the children wanted to be more
American.” All the Jews she knew were very kind, ehrliche people. “I
remember the man who ran the grocery store, who let people accumulate big bills
without demanding payment if he knew they could not afford to pay.” The person
who owned the rental house her family lived in did not demand rent when things
were difficult.
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Rabbi Hertzberg was from Dinov, in
the Ukraine, which at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. His
father and family were Belzer chasidim, and he learned in a yeshiva in the
town of Auschwitz. With the advent of World War I, he was drafted into the army
and was injured by the poison gas that the Germans used and suffered lifelong
impairment. According to Mrs. Rosenfeld, many chasidim at that time
wanted to serve in the army because they were loyal to the Emperor Franz Joseph,
who was good to the Jews. In fact, when he died, in 1916, a large delegation of
Jewish dignitaries went to his funeral. Afterwards, many Jewish babies were
named Franz Josef in his honor.
After returning from the war, Rabbi
Hertzberg got married in 1920. However, the parnassa situation was so
difficult that, in 1923, he came to the United States. His mother, wife, and
son followed in 1926. The immigration rules changed after Rabbi Hertzberg came
to the United States, so his family was only able to get into the country
because he was already here.
In the United States, Rabbi
Hertzberg gave Talmud shiurim and continued to keep the traditions of chasidus.
He spoke mostly Yiddish, although Mrs. Hertzberg attended night school and
perfected her English skills. Rabbi Hertzberg was friendly with the rabbanim
in Baltimore at the time, including Rabbi Axelrod, Rabbi Vitsick, Rabbi
Pliskin, Rabbi Patashnick, Rabbi Schwab, Rabbi Markowitz, and Rabbi Forshlager.
He was also close to Rabbi Ruderman, and they spoke together every Friday. Rabbi
Hertzberg would share chasidishe Torah, and Rabbi Ruderman would share
Litvishe Torah thoughts. Often, when the yeshiva was having a difficult time
raising money to pay their rebbeim, Rabbi Hertzberg was able to contact
his balabatim to help.
His mentor was Rabbi Avraham Schwartz, rav
of the Shomer Mishmeres shul, who started TA, then known as the Hebrew
Parochial School. Rabbi Hertzberg also had a relationship with Rabbi Sternhill,
who started Torah Institute. In fact, for the first year or so, TI was located
in Rabbi Hertzberg’s shul. Before starting Beth Abraham, Rabbi Hertzberg was
the rabbi of several shuls in East Baltimore. He was asked to leave two of them
because some of the things he said were not politically correct. For example,
during World War II, he spoke negative about President Roosevelt. This so angered
the president of the shul that he sent a letter firing Rabbi Hertzberg that
very motza’ei Shabbos.
In 1945, a group of chasidim,
former members of the Poilishe Shteibl, downtown, wanted to start a chasidishe
shteibl in Forest Park, where many Jews were moving. They invited Rabbi
Hertzberg to be the rabbi. The shul was located near Ner Yisrael yeshiva, and young
Holocaust survivors who were studying in the yeshiva and who had come from chasidishe
families gravitated towards the shul and the Hertzbergs. They became part of
the family, eating meals and spending lots of time there. Rabbi and Mrs.
Hertzberg helped these young survivors get married and even walked many of them
down the aisle. Mrs. Rosenberg remembers one couple who only wanted to have
real chasidishe wedding. The chupa was held outside, despite the
February cold, and the kalla wore a sheitel after the wedding. Rabbi Hertzberg
found sponsors to pay for the wedding. Some of the survivors felt so close to
the Hertzbergs that they tore kri’ah when Rabbi and Mrs. Hertzberg died.
The family is still in touch with the families of those survivors today.
Rabbi and Mrs. Hertzberg also welcomed
many meshulachim and important chasidishe rebbeim to their home,
where they spent days and often weeks and for whom the children gave up their
beds. The Hertzbergs were so well-known for hosting that when a man with a
beard arrived Baltimore and hailed a taxi, the taxi driver knew where to take him.
Beth Abraham existed in Forest Park
from 1946 to 1967, then moved to Wallis Avenue, where it is located today and
where Rabbi Dovid Katz is the current rav. The shul still maintains many
of the original chasidishe minhagim, such as blowing the shofar
during the silent amidah on Rosh Hashanah.
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It was interesting to hear about
life in Baltimore in past generations. It is thanks to the previous generations
that we have the many schools, shuls, and yeshivos that help us be strong in
our Judaism. As Mrs. Rosenfeld said, “Ner Israel and Bais Yaakov strengthened
Baltimore and led to the way our community is today.”
