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.
A Hanukkah party in the home of the Horowitz family, Bobover Hasidim. (Part 4) Interview with Mayer Horowitz.
00:00:08 - Mr. Horowitz shows photos of his family’s prewar and postwar history as well as some very rare pictures of Bobov history: This is my father who was put in jail early in the war and was sent away from the town. He was dealing in merchandise that the Germans made illegal and they caught him and they sent him to Auschwitz, while I still remained in our camp. I got a letter from Birkenau, a subcamp of Auschwitz, in which he wrote a letter to us, a very nice letter. The Germans forced these people to write these nice letters, that the only thing Germans do there is make them work. He wrote in the letter that he's working and that he's happy and that they give him food and not to worry. They did all this in order to lure more Jewish people as quickly as possible to Auschwitz. (Yiddish)
00:01:36 - Shows a picture of a Hasidic yeshiva in Rome and points himself out in a photo. Talks about his experiences reconnecting with Judaism after the war. Shows a picture of the Bobover Rebbe in America soon after the war and talks about how a watchmaking course was established for Hasidim. Shows a picture of his wife with students in the yeshiva and talks about how the Rebbe matched them up:
This is the yeshiva in Rome after the war. It's hard to imagine that in Rome after the war, a Hasidic yeshiva was established, it's a miracle from God that we came to Rome and established the yeshiva. We became like one family. We started to learn about Yiddishkyt. The head of our yeshiva, Rabbi Oshry, came to America to raise money so they took a (fundraising) picture. And here is where I am in the picture. The place was in a villa of a wealthy person who had run away from Rome so he gave the place to the yeshiva. Here are pictures from when I came afterwards to Austria.
I was going to smuggle myself to Israel, aliyah bet. There I worked in a kitchen. And I came to the camp where we lived and I heard people singing and dancing. I was a boy then of 18 years old so I also wanted to dance. It was the holiday of Simhat Torah, I didn't even know what that was, so I went in. The man in the picture here, he brought me inside and put on a yamulka on me and asked me my name and brought me over to sleep in their room. So I became a family man with this group. And this man I had told you about who had lit Hanukkah candles was also part of this group. He was very religious and he taught me. There were 10 people in the group and we called ourselves Aguda. In order to travel on aliya bet you had to be part of a group.
00:05:50 - Here's a picture of the first yeshiva we started in America. The Rebbe was distributing presents, I think it was [the holiday of] Lag B'Omer. He was very happy to see new Jewish children. We came without fathers or mothers and had to figure out how we're going to exist here and the Rebbe tried a few things. He made a connection with a watch company and they gave money to create a trade school for watchmaking. I learned well and was considered a very good watchmaker. Later when the teacher left, I began teaching a little.
00:07:30 - Afterwards I worked in the yeshiva in the Yiddish department. I taught the children alef-bais and Khumesh. My wife was a single girl, the rabbi's wife had hired her, and she also thought the children Yiddishkyt, stories about the holidays, etc. Here's a picture of her dancing with children after the war. And the rabbi himself was our matchmaker. He told me to go downstairs (where his future wife was teaching). I was embarrassed but he told me to go and take a look and that's how the match happened.
00:08:50 - Shows a picture of his family and his wedding photos. Talks about how the Rebbe became the stand-in for his parents and how hard it was to not have his parents at the wedding:
00:09:00 - In this picture I already have a family. Here is my oldest son, Yankel. He himself has 10 children today. Here is Shmuley this is my daughter Fraydie who has 11 children. This is Ben Zion, this is Neftali and this is Estie.
00:10.00 -Here are pictures of my wedding. It was hard to be here all alone without a family. The Rebbe was very good to me but still I didn't have a father, a mother or a brother or sister so it was very difficult. There were happy occasions but the absence of family weighed heavily
A Hanukkah party in the home of the Horowitz family, Bobover Hasidim. (Part 4) Interview with Mayer Horowitz.
00:00:08 - Mr. Horowitz shows photos of his family’s prewar and postwar history as well as some very rare pictures of Bobov history: This is my father who was put in jail early in the war and was sent away from the town. He was dealing in merchandise that the Germans made illegal and they caught him and they sent him to Auschwitz, while I still remained in our camp. I got a letter from Birkenau, a subcamp of Auschwitz, in which he wrote a letter to us, a very nice letter. The Germans forced these people to write these nice letters, that the only thing Germans do there is make them work. He wrote in the letter that he's working and that he's happy and that they give him food and not to worry. They did all this in order to lure more Jewish people as quickly as possible to Auschwitz. (Yiddish)
00:01:36 - Shows a picture of a Hasidic yeshiva in Rome and points himself out in a photo. Talks about his experiences reconnecting with Judaism after the war. Shows a picture of the Bobover Rebbe in America soon after the war and talks about how a watchmaking course was established for Hasidim. Shows a picture of his wife with students in the yeshiva and talks about how the Rebbe matched them up:
This is the yeshiva in Rome after the war. It's hard to imagine that in Rome after the war, a Hasidic yeshiva was established, it's a miracle from God that we came to Rome and established the yeshiva. We became like one family. We started to learn about Yiddishkyt. The head of our yeshiva, Rabbi Oshry, came to America to raise money so they took a (fundraising) picture. And here is where I am in the picture. The place was in a villa of a wealthy person who had run away from Rome so he gave the place to the yeshiva. Here are pictures from when I came afterwards to Austria.
I was going to smuggle myself to Israel, aliyah bet. There I worked in a kitchen. And I came to the camp where we lived and I heard people singing and dancing. I was a boy then of 18 years old so I also wanted to dance. It was the holiday of Simhat Torah, I didn't even know what that was, so I went in. The man in the picture here, he brought me inside and put on a yamulka on me and asked me my name and brought me over to sleep in their room. So I became a family man with this group. And this man I had told you about who had lit Hanukkah candles was also part of this group. He was very religious and he taught me. There were 10 people in the group and we called ourselves Aguda. In order to travel on aliya bet you had to be part of a group.
00:05:50 - Here's a picture of the first yeshiva we started in America. The Rebbe was distributing presents, I think it was [the holiday of] Lag B'Omer. He was very happy to see new Jewish children. We came without fathers or mothers and had to figure out how we're going to exist here and the Rebbe tried a few things. He made a connection with a watch company and they gave money to create a trade school for watchmaking. I learned well and was considered a very good watchmaker. Later when the teacher left, I began teaching a little.
00:07:30 - Afterwards I worked in the yeshiva in the Yiddish department. I taught the children alef-bais and Khumesh. My wife was a single girl, the rabbi's wife had hired her, and she also thought the children Yiddishkyt, stories about the holidays, etc. Here's a picture of her dancing with children after the war. And the rabbi himself was our matchmaker. He told me to go downstairs (where his future wife was teaching). I was embarrassed but he told me to go and take a look and that's how the match happened.
00:08:50 - Shows a picture of his family and his wedding photos. Talks about how the Rebbe became the stand-in for his parents and how hard it was to not have his parents at the wedding:
00:09:00 - In this picture I already have a family. Here is my oldest son, Yankel. He himself has 10 children today. Here is Shmuley this is my daughter Fraydie who has 11 children. This is Ben Zion, this is Neftali and this is Estie.
00:10.00 -Here are pictures of my wedding. It was hard to be here all alone without a family. The Rebbe was very good to me but still I didn't have a father, a mother or a brother or sister so it was very difficult. There were happy occasions but the absence of family weighed heavily
Subject
Duration
00:11:45 (HH:MM:SS)
Language:
English
Copyright Date
1997
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