Page 36 - issue
P. 36
Rabbi Siegel
Weddings • Bar/Bat Mitzvahs R’ Shmuel Dovid’s father, Morris Siegel, with his unique
All Occasions blend of charisma and good humor,turned shmiras
Shabbos (Sabbath observance) into an art form that
Video Tape to DVD Transfers inspired and energized the entire community. His store-
Promotional & Corporate Video front bore the sign, “Adas Bnai Israel: Judaism in general –
Sabbath in particular.” According to Rav Aharon Feldman,
Jeffrey Reches shlita, the Rosh Yeshiva of Ner Israel, “Morris Siegel was at
410.585.0007 the forefront of everything that took place in Baltimore.”
rc.video@comcast.net Morris Siegel’s unflagging commitment to Sabbath
observance had been bred into him by his parents, Chaim
Since 1991 and Sora Fayge Siegel, who had immigrated to America in
the 1890s from Ponovez, Lithuania with a position on
shemiras Shabbos that was absolute and non-negotiable.
In those years, shomer Shabbos employment was unheard
of. The resultant financial stress to the Siegel family was
overwhelming, as Morris and his seven siblings struggled to
maintain regular employment and keep the family above
the poverty line. Yet the Siegel family’s unwavering dedica-
tion to the Shabbos was rewarded as six of the siblings
were able to maintain and thrive in their Yiddishkeit: Rose
(Scherr); Lena (Sugarman); Ann (Lauer); Morris Siegel;
Chester Siegel; and Lillian (Shavrick).
Every Shabbos, Morris Siegel would gather the young
children in need of a Shabbos experience and take them
to the Adas for a captivating afternoon of serialized story-
telling and refreshments that induced them to return for
more on a weekly basis. With Morris Siegel’s encourage-
ment and assistance, a number of his Adas “graduates”
moved on to advanced learning in North America and
Europe and eventually became prominent and internation-
ally renowned Torah leaders.
It was into this environment of passion for the Shabbos
and fervor for learning that our father was born in 1930.
The Humble Pioneer
Our father did not view himself as a pioneer. He was never
an adventurous sort. Far from it. In fact, he was a very quiet
fellow and heartily eschewed the public limelight. Yet the
choice about whether or not to be a pioneer was taken from
him, as the time in which young Shmuel Dovid came of age
in Jewish Baltimore in the 1930s catapulted not only him
but also his young contemporaries into leadership roles.
By the time our father had reached the age of five, his
parents and other parents in the community had deter-
mined that it was time to take Jewish Baltimore to the next
level by growing the existing Talmudical Academy Hebrew
Parochial School, the elementary school for boys, into an
educational system that would extend through high school.
Until then, most of the local boys were attending public
high school and studying with private melamdim.
Never backing down from a challenge and the opportu-
nity to generate Torah growth, the Siegels jumped at the
chance to enroll their son, Shmuel Dovid, in what they
32 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
Weddings • Bar/Bat Mitzvahs R’ Shmuel Dovid’s father, Morris Siegel, with his unique
All Occasions blend of charisma and good humor,turned shmiras
Shabbos (Sabbath observance) into an art form that
Video Tape to DVD Transfers inspired and energized the entire community. His store-
Promotional & Corporate Video front bore the sign, “Adas Bnai Israel: Judaism in general –
Sabbath in particular.” According to Rav Aharon Feldman,
Jeffrey Reches shlita, the Rosh Yeshiva of Ner Israel, “Morris Siegel was at
410.585.0007 the forefront of everything that took place in Baltimore.”
rc.video@comcast.net Morris Siegel’s unflagging commitment to Sabbath
observance had been bred into him by his parents, Chaim
Since 1991 and Sora Fayge Siegel, who had immigrated to America in
the 1890s from Ponovez, Lithuania with a position on
shemiras Shabbos that was absolute and non-negotiable.
In those years, shomer Shabbos employment was unheard
of. The resultant financial stress to the Siegel family was
overwhelming, as Morris and his seven siblings struggled to
maintain regular employment and keep the family above
the poverty line. Yet the Siegel family’s unwavering dedica-
tion to the Shabbos was rewarded as six of the siblings
were able to maintain and thrive in their Yiddishkeit: Rose
(Scherr); Lena (Sugarman); Ann (Lauer); Morris Siegel;
Chester Siegel; and Lillian (Shavrick).
Every Shabbos, Morris Siegel would gather the young
children in need of a Shabbos experience and take them
to the Adas for a captivating afternoon of serialized story-
telling and refreshments that induced them to return for
more on a weekly basis. With Morris Siegel’s encourage-
ment and assistance, a number of his Adas “graduates”
moved on to advanced learning in North America and
Europe and eventually became prominent and internation-
ally renowned Torah leaders.
It was into this environment of passion for the Shabbos
and fervor for learning that our father was born in 1930.
The Humble Pioneer
Our father did not view himself as a pioneer. He was never
an adventurous sort. Far from it. In fact, he was a very quiet
fellow and heartily eschewed the public limelight. Yet the
choice about whether or not to be a pioneer was taken from
him, as the time in which young Shmuel Dovid came of age
in Jewish Baltimore in the 1930s catapulted not only him
but also his young contemporaries into leadership roles.
By the time our father had reached the age of five, his
parents and other parents in the community had deter-
mined that it was time to take Jewish Baltimore to the next
level by growing the existing Talmudical Academy Hebrew
Parochial School, the elementary school for boys, into an
educational system that would extend through high school.
Until then, most of the local boys were attending public
high school and studying with private melamdim.
Never backing down from a challenge and the opportu-
nity to generate Torah growth, the Siegels jumped at the
chance to enroll their son, Shmuel Dovid, in what they
32 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
