Nesvisky - Jewish Philadelphia: a guide to its sights & stories

LINDA NESVISKY

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2010 by Linda Nesvisky

All rights reserved

Cover: Religious Liberty by sculptor Sir Moses Ezekiel, commissioned by Bnai Brith for the American Centennial. Photograph by Ben Sutherland.

First published 2010

e-book edition 2011

ISBN 978.1.61423.209.4

Nesvisky, Linda.

Jewish Philadelphia : a guide to its sights and stories / Linda Nesvisky.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

print edition ISBN 978-1-59629-903-0

1. Jews--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History. 2. Historic sites--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--Guidebooks. 3. Walking--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--Guidebooks. 4. Philadelphia (Pa.)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Guidebooks. 5. Philadelphia (Pa.)--Guidebooks. I. Title.

F158.9.J5N47 2010

974.811--dc22

2010003360

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For Carmel, Leon, Alma, Tevah, Tali and Eden.

I am grateful to all those who willingly gave of their time in helping me to write this book. Several are acknowledged within the text, but I also benefited greatly from the assistance of Stuart Appel, Lynne Balaban, Norm Brody, J. Lee Deddens, Karie Diethorn, Frank Eidmann, Judah Ferst, Claudia Fisher, Nina Fisher, Howard Fishman, Harvey Friedrich, Rabbi Albert Gabbai, Rabbi David Glanzman-Krainin, Judy Golden, Ruth Kapp Hartz, Jim Hauser, Professor Joel Hecker, Donna Katz, Lou Kessler, Cornelia King, Rebecca Levine, Anne McLaughlin, Myrna Merbeck, Christopher Mulvey, William Novak, Beth Peckman, Alex Podmaski, Rita Poley, Claire Rechnitzer, Rabbi Haim Rechnitzer, Mickie Rosen, Martin Jay Rosenblum, Karen Schoenewaldt, Joseph Smuckler, Rabbi Lance Sussman, Ellen Tilman and, oh yes, my husband Matt. Lastly I want to thank The History Press for its guidance and encouragement.

Its widely agreed that the capital of Jewish America is New York City. That may be true today, but it wasnt always sono more than Washington, D.C., was always the capital of the United States. You know, of course, that the original capital city of this great country was Philadelphia, the very place in which the whole notion of independence and a federal union of the colonies was designed and hammered out. Well, in many respects, the story of Jewish America was formed right along with the new nationright here in the City of Brotherly Love.

Philadelphia remains one of the centers of Jewish life in America. According to a recent census (Jewish Population Study of Greater Philadelphia) commissioned by the Jewish Federation in 2009, there are 215,000 Jews residing in the greater metropolitan area. Equally significant, Philadelphia is home to some of the nations greatest American Jewish institutions, with special value for historians, researchers and genealogists (take that, New York!). But even Jewish Philadelphians may not always be aware of the history of their forefathers in this city, how and why they came here and the impact they and Jewish thinking had on the founding of the new nation.

In this regard its no accident that the National Museum of American Jewish History is located in Philadelphia and not in New York or Washington or Los Angeles. It is entirely appropriate that the museum is just a few steps from the church in which George Washington worshipped, the building in which the Declaration of Independence was drafted and the chambers in which the U.S. Congress first assembled. Thats because both the United States and the American Jewish story were essentially established on the same groundon the same cobblestoned streets and alongside the same riverfronts.

A birds-eye view of Philadelphia.

Yet this is history too little known, and thats why this book was writtento highlight for visitors (and natives) some fascinating stories about Jews and Philadelphia.

So get ready to enjoy some history, some biography, some art and some culture. (Dont worry, Ill also tell you where you can get a good nosh.) Then come take a walk for an hour or two. This book will help you see where so much important history occurred, both Jewish and American. Along the way, well share some fascinating stories and hear about some outstanding individuals and some astonishing ideas.

A note on the books organization: First I offer you ten snapshot vignettes concerning the most important sites and institutions in the Greater Philadelphia area. Then, for our walking tour, Ive selected nine of the most significant central locations regarding Jewish history in colonial Philadelphia. Our stops are based on the walking tours that Ive been leading since the formation of ShalomPhillyTours in 2005. I created those tours because, after guiding in Philadelphia for some twenty years, I felt that not enough Jewish history was being covered here. I also include information on the brand-new National Jewish American History Museum on Independence Mall.

Ask sculptors when it became apparent to them that three-dimensional art would be their chosen form of expression, and almost to a person they will answer that it was realized from a young age. This was the case with Nathan Rapoport, the creator of Monument to the Six Million Martyrs, located on the magnificent Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Rapoport decided to be a sculptor by the age of fifteen. But lifes unhappy experiences made him dedicate himself to memorializing the Holocaust. This was his sole theme. His monumental sculptures are located throughout the world. Philadelphias is the first Holocaust memorial sculpture in North America. Michael Kimmelman, art critic of the New York Times, summarizes Rapoport as a realist sculptor of dead and battling Jews.

Rapoport was born in Warsaw in 1911. In 1936, he was offered the opportunity to study in France and Italy but opted for the Soviet Union when the Soviets invaded Poland. In Russia, he acquired a studio and began creating Soviet-style sculptures. He developed his socialist realism style during this time and continued to work in the official style of the Soviet Union until his death.

At wars end, he returned to his native city to study art at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Art. As a Polish citizen he was entitled to a free college education. Still, Rapoport had to have been a determined student to contemplate returning to the graveyard of Poland. Indeed, when his studies were completed in 1950, he immigrated to the United Statesbut not before erecting his first monumental sculpture,