Abstract
Footage from the 1997 documentary “A Life Apart: Hasidism in America” (directed by Menachem Daum and Oren Rudavsky), the first in-depth documentary about Hasidic Jews, members of a distinctive group within Judaism that has roots in pre-World War II Eastern Europe.
Satmar Hasid Nuta Kaufman and others at a Jewish summer camp on or near the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, Uman, Ukraine. Scenes of the camp. (Part 3)
00:00:06 - Interview with Nuta Kaufman, Hasidic fishmonger from Brooklyn, in Ukraine. He is on leave from his fish store to teach less religious Jews at a summer camp. He coaches a boy to explain what tsitses (tassels worn on traditional garments by Jewish males as reminders of the commandments of Deuteronomy 22:12 and Numbers 15:37–41) are and to recite the alef-bais (alphabet). The boy is given a candy as a reward and coached to say a blessing over it. Nuta Kaufman speaking to a camper: A Jew who does not believe there is a God in this world is no different than a gentle. There is no difference between such a Jew and a gentile. Only a Jew believes in God and that everything that happens is through Him. Until now we were unable to teach you because it was forbidden by communism, but now that thank God communism has fallen we can teach you Judaism. So people have left their businesses and families and children to come here to teach you some Judaism so that you will become Jews. (Yiddish)
00:02:51 - Kaufman give Misha a talk on what it means to be a Jew, generation after generation, and how one must conduct one's self in such a way, that when people see you they say: "That's a wonderful Jew": Nuta asks a boy to kiss the ritual fringes that the boy is wearing and about the yamulka on his head, Nuta asks him to recite the Hebrew alphabet which he does successfully. When the boy finishes they give him a thumbs up and tell him it’s excellent, the boy is give a candy and asked to make a blessing in Hebrew over it which he does very well. Nuta ask the boy, Misha, “Do you like to be a Jew?" To which the boy replies yes. Nuta tells the boy that your parents and grandparents were Jewish and now you will pass this on to future generations. If your mother was a Jew then you are a Jew and you must be a Jew, you must be an observant Jew. An observant Jew is one who is honest and pleasant and when people see him on the street they say,"That is a wonderful Jew." That is how you must behave. (Yiddish)
00:03:58 - Men and boys at the summer camp.
00:04:46 - Boys sing Yiddish songs to the accompaniment of an accordion.
00:10:15 - (No audio) Boys and men dance.
00:11:20 - Campers and counselors assemble for group portrait. Accordionist plays Israeli song, "Jerusalem of Gold."
00:13:27 - Nuta to camera: I asked one of the counselors, it cost so much to run this camp, we just had to bring in nine counselors and we send food and money from New York and it’s such an expense on us, what will be the outcome? Will anything emerge from all this? Will at least one boy remain a Jew and continue studying after this summer? He said he hopes there will be two such boys. For us that is very good news, the whole thing was worthwhile just for one boy, and now there will be two so that is a double profit. But for each child something will definitely stay with them and God should help that we should be able to continue with these children so that they should set up future Jewish generations.
00:14:50 - We let local parents know that there is a Jewish camp so they bring their children here and pretend to be Jews and want their kids to be in camp. We ask them, “Why do you want to bring your child to this camp? And every father has different stories that they tell, why they want to bring their child to be among Jews. One such story was very touching, A father told me he brought his child to camp here, because when the Nazis entered where they lived his mother removed all signs it was a Jewish home, and when they entered we said there are no Jews living here. Then I noticed there was a prayer book so I got very scared about what’s going to happen when they see the prayer book, the whole family will be in danger. So I had no choice and I took the prayer book and threw it into the stove and I watched while the prayer book was burning. It’s now over 50 years later and it still is in my heart." For the father it was too late, he couldn’t go back, but for his child he wants his child to learn the letters that he saw being burned in that prayer book, and we hope that God will help that it will be so.
I’m here a whole week but now I heard the singing so I came running and it gave me much joy, we see when they sing a Jewish song, that a small flame is lit and we hope this will become a big flame, so we see that our efforts were not in vain.
Satmar Hasid Nuta Kaufman and others at a Jewish summer camp on or near the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, Uman, Ukraine. Scenes of the camp. (Part 3)
00:00:06 - Interview with Nuta Kaufman, Hasidic fishmonger from Brooklyn, in Ukraine. He is on leave from his fish store to teach less religious Jews at a summer camp. He coaches a boy to explain what tsitses (tassels worn on traditional garments by Jewish males as reminders of the commandments of Deuteronomy 22:12 and Numbers 15:37–41) are and to recite the alef-bais (alphabet). The boy is given a candy as a reward and coached to say a blessing over it. Nuta Kaufman speaking to a camper: A Jew who does not believe there is a God in this world is no different than a gentle. There is no difference between such a Jew and a gentile. Only a Jew believes in God and that everything that happens is through Him. Until now we were unable to teach you because it was forbidden by communism, but now that thank God communism has fallen we can teach you Judaism. So people have left their businesses and families and children to come here to teach you some Judaism so that you will become Jews. (Yiddish)
00:02:51 - Kaufman give Misha a talk on what it means to be a Jew, generation after generation, and how one must conduct one's self in such a way, that when people see you they say: "That's a wonderful Jew": Nuta asks a boy to kiss the ritual fringes that the boy is wearing and about the yamulka on his head, Nuta asks him to recite the Hebrew alphabet which he does successfully. When the boy finishes they give him a thumbs up and tell him it’s excellent, the boy is give a candy and asked to make a blessing in Hebrew over it which he does very well. Nuta ask the boy, Misha, “Do you like to be a Jew?" To which the boy replies yes. Nuta tells the boy that your parents and grandparents were Jewish and now you will pass this on to future generations. If your mother was a Jew then you are a Jew and you must be a Jew, you must be an observant Jew. An observant Jew is one who is honest and pleasant and when people see him on the street they say,"That is a wonderful Jew." That is how you must behave. (Yiddish)
00:03:58 - Men and boys at the summer camp.
00:04:46 - Boys sing Yiddish songs to the accompaniment of an accordion.
00:10:15 - (No audio) Boys and men dance.
00:11:20 - Campers and counselors assemble for group portrait. Accordionist plays Israeli song, "Jerusalem of Gold."
00:13:27 - Nuta to camera: I asked one of the counselors, it cost so much to run this camp, we just had to bring in nine counselors and we send food and money from New York and it’s such an expense on us, what will be the outcome? Will anything emerge from all this? Will at least one boy remain a Jew and continue studying after this summer? He said he hopes there will be two such boys. For us that is very good news, the whole thing was worthwhile just for one boy, and now there will be two so that is a double profit. But for each child something will definitely stay with them and God should help that we should be able to continue with these children so that they should set up future Jewish generations.
00:14:50 - We let local parents know that there is a Jewish camp so they bring their children here and pretend to be Jews and want their kids to be in camp. We ask them, “Why do you want to bring your child to this camp? And every father has different stories that they tell, why they want to bring their child to be among Jews. One such story was very touching, A father told me he brought his child to camp here, because when the Nazis entered where they lived his mother removed all signs it was a Jewish home, and when they entered we said there are no Jews living here. Then I noticed there was a prayer book so I got very scared about what’s going to happen when they see the prayer book, the whole family will be in danger. So I had no choice and I took the prayer book and threw it into the stove and I watched while the prayer book was burning. It’s now over 50 years later and it still is in my heart." For the father it was too late, he couldn’t go back, but for his child he wants his child to learn the letters that he saw being burned in that prayer book, and we hope that God will help that it will be so.
I’m here a whole week but now I heard the singing so I came running and it gave me much joy, we see when they sing a Jewish song, that a small flame is lit and we hope this will become a big flame, so we see that our efforts were not in vain.
Collection
Subject
Duration
00:18:45 (HH:MM:SS)
Language:
English
Copyright Date
1997
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This recording is protected by copyright. You are free to view it but not download it. Please contact the Brooklyn College Archives for further information about how you may use this recording.
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