Friday, January 3, 2014

2 Books written by Rabbis in an old age home in the Lower East Side: Agudas Anshei Mamod Ubeis Vead Lachachomim




 Chidushe Torah by Rabbi Meir Zachman

 זעירא דחברייא



I recently came across 2 books, written by authors who were members and residing in the Agudas Anshei Mamod Ubeis Vead Lachachomim, at 283 East Broadway, on the Lower East Side of New York, an old age home, for elderly Rabbis. The book: The synagogues of New York's Lower East Side : a retrospective and contemporary view by Gerard R Wolfe contains a nice description about the history of the Agudas Anshe Mamod, with several photos. Here is a scan from the book:





The 2 books I found, was Chidushe Torah by Rabbi Meir Zachman, printed in Munkatch in 1929 and the second was Vayosef Avraham by Rabbi Avraham Yekutiel Sukelik, published in Warsaw in 1938. Both authors describe themselves as זעירא דחברייא "the youngest/smallest of the society".

Vayosef Avraham by Rabbi Avraham Yekutiel Sukelik

 זעירא דחברייא
hat-tip: Elimelech Polinsky

3 comments:

  1. Here is some more info, with audio as well - http://yiddishradioproject.org/exhibits/rubin/

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  2. זעירא not צעירא

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    Replies
    1. Actually, it's זעירא. This is an Aramaic word meaning "small" and used to denote smallness in years or stature as well as size. Note that the rest of the phrase is Aramaic as well.

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