Starting in the late 1800s, a stream of European-born rabbanim found themselves headed to the New World due to financial constraints and open anti-Semitism. Once in America, though, the rabbis faced a new problem: educating their children Jewishly in a land where only a minimal yeshiva infrastructure existed.
One sefer I acquired last week – Imrei Shalom (St. Louis, 1943) – offers an example of the great generation gap that often grew between immigrant parents and native-raised children. Its author, Rabbi Mordechai Leib Charney, was a graduate of the Volozhin Yeshiva, received semicha from the Netziv, and served as a rabbi in Europe in several locales.
Financial constraints forced him to immigrate to the United States, where he arrived in 1902. He wound up serving as a rabbi in Port Chester, NY, for 29 years, until his death in 1931.
He left behind 10 children, five boys and five girls. One of them, Sam Schwartz of Charlotte, NC (Charney in Polish means black, as does Schwartz in Yiddish) published Divre Shalom posthumously. The greatness of the author can be seen by his correspondence with the Oneg Yom Tov, Rav Chaim Berlin, and other great luminaries of the day.
Alas, a wide generational gap appears to have grown between him and his children. The tribute Sam writes to his father in this book, though loving and respectful, sounds akin to what someone might write about viewing the pyramids from afar with a telescope:
“This book is published for those who care to study the deep meaning of the Jewish Law. It was written by my father, a great rabbi. His life and the memory of his teachings, have always been a source of inspiration to me. Perhaps someone else will find inspiration and comfort in the knowledge set forth herein. If so, his life has been fruitful.
“I am not just a dreamer, or a scholar. I am very much a realist – my only two sons are now in the army fighting for their country, but I am aware that dreams are still possible and dreamers do exist. And above the clouds of war, I dream that the sun is fighting to shine through and scholars will lay aside their guns and think and dream again.
“It is my hope that this book will furnish much food for their thoughts and dreams.”
