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The Motivation Congregation: The #1 Torah & Mussar Podcast
I INTERVIEWED MY HONORABLE FATHER ESQ. ABOUT HIS INCREDIBLY RARE SEFER BY THE CHOFETZ CHAIM OWNS!
Perched on our family bookshelf is a remarkable relic of Jewish history: a rare edition of "Nidchei Yisrael" (The Dispersed of Israel) by the revered Chafetz Chaim. Its significance transcends its age and content, primarily due to a profound personal connection etched within its pages. My great-grandfather's name is listed among the patrons who financed its publication, forging a tangible link to our family’s Eastern European heritage.
Authored by the Chafetz Chaim, this practical guide was intended for Jews immigrating to America during the massive early 20th-century exodus. Despite his initial reservations about leaving Europe, he acknowledged the realities confronting many Jewish families. Consequently, he crafted this indispensable handbook to help them uphold religious observance in their new homeland. The book addresses fundamental aspects of Jewish life—Sabbath observance, kosher dietary laws, family purity, and Torah study—all presented with clarity and accessibility.
What truly captivates me is how this single volume illuminates the struggles faced by immigrant Jews. Men often arrived in America alone, sometimes never reuniting with their wives. Kosher food certification, as we know it today, was nonexistent. The powerful allure of assimilation constantly threatened traditional observance. Through this book, we gain a poignant glimpse into an entire world in transition—Jewish communities grappling with centuries of tradition amidst the uncertain promise of American life.
Adding another layer of intrigue are the mysteries concealed within our copy. An original donation envelope remains tucked inside, prompting questions about whether my great-grandfather ultimately fulfilled his promised contribution. The Russian script on the cover serves as a stark reminder of its Eastern European provenance. Moreover, a dedication reveals names of ancestors previously unknown to me, extending our family lineage back generations to Dvinsk, now part of Latvia.
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Well, Dad, are you able to locate the Nidhe Yisrael?
Speaker 2:Yeah, what's your interest in the Sefer all of a sudden?
Speaker 1:All right, so we have interest, If I recall. Oh, here's the Sefer. You have it right here. This is the Sefer. Nidhe Yisrael Today is the 92nd Yard site of Chavetz Chaim. What Sefer are you holding there, Dad? Is that a Sefer written by the Chavetz Chaim? It?
Speaker 2:was the Nidche Yisrael that you asked about.
Speaker 1:In my estimation, the Nidche Yisrael is a Sefer authored by the Chavetz Chaim and it's all about. I think Nidche is that giving or spreading out of Israel.
Speaker 2:No, it's the dispersed. It's a Sefer about the Jewish people that have been spread out to the four corners of Europe, primarily European Jews who left Europe to go to America. That was the primary concern of the Chavetz Chaim, first warning them they shouldn't go, but realizing, practically speaking, that they were going. And so we see them in Davidim, that they were going. And so, um right, we see him in Davening. Um Israel, right, uh uh Israel they should be.
Speaker 2:Jewish people should be able to come out there. It means but, but, uh, but that wasn't the primary focus. That's the first couple of Procum and then later on mostly the safer talks about if you are going to go to Artsos, to America, that basic halacha, what you should do. You have to keep Shabbos. You have to know there's the Yitahara, you have to know about Kashris, you have to know about davening and Torah learning and all that. It's a very basic Sefer. He wrote a similar Sefer for soldiers that got drafted into World War I and he didn't want them to be drafted, but he recognized it was an inevitability that Jews would have to go to war in World War I. And so he said, minimally, here's the basic things that you have to do to keep up your Torah Judaism if you're going to be in the army.
Speaker 1:I forgot the name of that. I forget what that one is also, but it's amazing. The Chabot Chaim wrote Sepharim. It seems like to address specific needs of the congregation and I think it's pretty cool. Rabbi Lopiansky talks about how people often write Sepharim that are their own findings and their own estimations of certain topics that interest them, software and their own estimations of certain topics that interest them. Uh, software and and and copyright and Halacha and their beautiful, brilliant Sfarim. But real Torah giants write things that the congregation needs Right, practical, uh simple text and very um deceptively clear. Um. Dad, I wanted to bring you onto the podcast because you have a very unique Sefer of Nidche Yisrael from the Chavetzim Right. Legend has it that Grandpa old Zaydeh was involved. What's the story?
Speaker 2:It was found amongst the belongings of your great-grandfather, my grandfather, isidore Brooke, who was born in Divinsk and came to Northern Virginia in Virginia, probably in the 20s and 30s, and somehow somebody well, it wasn't somebody, it was the Compete's Climb's son, aaron Kagan, who got to the Norfolk community, either in person or through someone else, and asked to raise money for the printing of this particular and your Zadie. My Zadie, came up with the money and he and some others from the Virginia area got recognition on the front piece of the safer right here.
Speaker 2:Can you hold it up, Daddy-O you can see it, you can see it there, but these are all the donors.
Speaker 1:You put news.
Speaker 2:Well, that was the top guy top donor, but underneath there you should be able to see.
Speaker 1:I see it right there.
Speaker 2:Right. So Brooke Be'er Rish, gov. Kuf Me'er, norfolk, le'ilius Nishmas, aviv, in memory of his father, lev Hirsch, ben Shalom, yaakov so that would be your great-great-grandfather, zatzal Nifter. Dalad Elol is a great-great-grandfather. Zatzal Niftur Daladelol is a speaker here. He was a Yortza who just passed, and there's other relatives, afram, who also gave to the cause. Yeah, it's a lot of famous. There's some Newport News Peninsula people on the second page. I know some of these families, the Wilkes family.
Speaker 2:Yeah, on the second page. I know some of these families the Wilkes family, yeah, and they also gave no-transcript that inside the safer is the donation envelope here from the payable returnable to Aron Kagan, and the only reason that's concerning is it causes one to worry whether they sent the safer and then your great-grandfather failed to send in his check. But I don't think he would have done that. But it's a nice little piece of history there. Kabakor Station, new York, po Box 66, rav Aragagan, he took upon himself the son of Chavetz Chaim. He came to New York because where else was he going to go? And he took it upon himself to print the Svar of his father and became a Torah giant in his own right, got a PhD out of nowhere, from. Torah giant in his own right, got a PhD I don't know where from, and he wrote the. He wrote the. There's also an English version of it there where you can see the.
Speaker 1:Disperse of Israel by Rabbi Israel Marikohen. This is a work, is a form of Shulchan Aruch intended to stress the Torah way of life in the United States of America. That's it. It's a good read.
Speaker 2:It's a short read.
Speaker 1:Why do you think Zayda crossed out?
Speaker 2:No, he didn't cross out, I think, when the envelope was sent in. The Safer Rabbi Kagan just changed the address. It's a change of address from from Broom Street in New York to PO Box 66. I don't think this is just an envelope. But the better question is why didn't he mail it in?
Speaker 1:We don't really know the answer to that.
Speaker 2:Hopefully he did, and it's a nice work. I learned it many years ago with my friend Phil Schwartz and I found it to be very interesting, both as a historical piece and as a basic holocaust safer. What's important, what counts in this world? Okay, you have to live in New York. What was really happening was that men were leaving without their wives and in fact when it was your Zeta they left, they weren't married and that was causing all kinds of problems, because no sooner did they come to the United States and they started to mix into the melting pot of American culture and there was things going on. Sometimes the wives didn't get brought over.
Speaker 2:The kashrus was very suspect in the United States. The Chavitz Chaim knew exactly what was going on. He knew about the Chilul Shabbos, he knew about the kashrus issue. There was no OU, so there was no way to be sure that anything was kosher. So Kosher was a patchwork of Rebaim and semi-Rebaim who said things were kosher, nothing like we have now. And so he knew. He knew that that was slipping. He wasn't in favor of it, but he realized, practically speaking, that if Jews were going to go to this country under these circumstances that he didn't like, then at least they should have a safer that would help guide them in trying to hold on to the Yiddish code in this country.
Speaker 1:Wow, wow.
Speaker 2:So it's a good read.
Speaker 1:And that'd be pretty cool to actually learn from the safer itself. That is maybe not 100 years old now, but that's pretty cool. So that is your father's father grandfather.
Speaker 2:My grandfather, in memory of my great-grandfather, in memory of my great-grandfather, your great-great-grandfather, Wow oh my grand-grandfather. Yep, and so it's a good name Solemn Jakob. That's the great-great-grandfather, so I might hopefully take that name at some point.
Speaker 1:Right, where is he from?
Speaker 2:Where is he from? You know? I really don't know. I would have to guess if my grandfather was born in Davinsk, so you'd have to think that they were from that area, which is Latvia Now. Current date, avigspolz, what they call it. Very simple, you've asked about that Very simple Davinsk. So hopefully there's some connection there.
Speaker 1:When. So hopefully there's some connection there. When people ask me, where is your family heritage, where are you guys from in Europe, your lineage, your yichos, I will tell them that I'm a benacher, ben of Rav Meir Simcha of Davinsk, and my great-grandfather learned the chavrus all the round. I'm with Rav Meir Simcha and he was part of the writing of the Ursa Meir.
Speaker 2:I mean it might be stressing things a bit. I mean, the real story is that, even though he was born in Davidsk, he came to Lithuania very quickly after that and he lived in Lithuania and he actually knew your great-grandmother because they were third cousins. And then they came to this country one before the other, like the Huffington Client was worried about. They were not married but they remet in the Berkeley section of Norfolk and quickly became married After your great-grandmother dated two other men named Isidore Isn't that crazy? Two other men, both named Isidore. She ended up marrying the third Isidore A third time. Crazy Two other men.
Speaker 1:They're both named Isidore. She ended up marrying the third Isidore. A third time's a charm, or three strikes and you're out, depending on how you look at it, which leads to the old family joke Wait, your grandfather Isidore. Right, right, and that's what Isaac was named for, right? Yes?
Speaker 2:But the name here. There's been some dispute about the name but but the name here. There's been some dispute about the name, but here it is. I mean it's right in writing. It's presumably him Yitzchak Yitzchak Bar-Lev Hirsch Lamed Yud-Yud Beis-Ayen Hirsch. Hey-yud-resh-shun Brook Beis-Resh-Lov-Kuk. So there you go, and yeah, it's a good. It's amazing looking safer. I like this piece, this right here, because you got Israel the front piece Ooh, the binding, dad, the binding it's falling apart.
Speaker 2:It needs work, but published in Russia, and then here it is in Russian also. I know a little bit of Russian. So it's Nidhe Israel. Oh it is, it is. It is. This H in Russian is a.
Speaker 1:Oh, I didn't realize that I was being serious.
Speaker 2:I thought that you were just saying over the name of the safer, because you know that's what it says on top no, no, no, no, safe, safer Mid-hay Israel. Oh wow, the Sefer Nidke. Yisrael, oh wow, the H is an N in Russian. This backwards N is a I. This looks like a delta. It's like a delta, that's D. This X is like a chi letter, a chi, so Nidke. And then this is how you say Israel, i-s-s-r-o-e-l-t and it's a need to pay. And then this is how you say is your I S S R O E L T.
Speaker 1:And why does father know Russian?
Speaker 2:You know, I like to try to know a little bit about a lot of things, so I know some of the Russian letters and I like to try to read when I can. So there you go. Good safer.
Speaker 1:Thank you to your honorary judge for sharing that information. Substitute judge. Substitute judge Avi Murray Esquire, you can return to our scheduled programming now, already in progress.
