Entries from The Diary of a Jewish Bookseller and recent acquisitions, Jan 2018

It's been long overdue, but I finally hosted my first recognizable Neo-Nazi in the store. A tourist from Germany, the middle-aged man called to make an appointment to visit, telling me that he bumped in to Jews regularly and wanted to learn more about them. Upon entering the store, he tells me that his interest of study is on the "attempted assimilation of Germany Jewry". It soon became apparent that what attracted him most were 1930s German Antisemitica and his political ramblings confirmed his alignment with Neo-Nazi beliefs. Thankfully, he was of the pseudo-intellectual type, and of the preference, that though Jews need to be eliminated, he would leave the work for others.

A regular customer who is master linguist, with an avid interest in ancient Biblical languages, chanced upon a scholar in the store who wrote a lexicon of the Phoenician Language. It was elating to view the fanfare and excitement in which the scholar was received, with selfies taken, and autographs given. A brief conversation in Phoenician ensued, most likely the first time a proper conversation took place in this language since the fall of Sidon to Alexander the great.

Early one morning, I receive a call from 2 Jews who want to come in from Kiryat Yoel to visit the store. Upon arrival, one enters the store and the other calls me from the car with a minor request. He would love to enter the store, but his Rebbe forbids him to enter a building that has an Israeli flag, as it is comparable to idol worship. He kindly requested that I remove the flag, which has been on the store door since day one, until he leaves, to which I flatly refuse. After a half hour of contemplation in his car, a solution was discovered. His friend, who apparently was ok with entering the store, would block the door as he entered, so the flag will not be seen by him. The same maneuver was performed when he exited the store.

After an intense bout of persuading and cajoling, I was able to convince a woman who called to sell her husband's library, to wait until the Shiva is over. It appeared that the wife had finally won, by the act of outliving him, the lifelong battle she had with her husband over his overflowing library which took over ever nook and cranny of the house. She wanted them out immediately, though thankfully, I was able to push it to a time when I wouldn't have to work around those paying a shivah call. 

A customer who made no contact for many months after leaving behind a hefty balance, called to apologize. He was arrested and was in custody, and thus could not call, but once he obtained the possibility, he says I was the first phone call he made. We settled the balance, and I was given the address of the correctional facility where the future orders would go.

An actual message I received from a customer who demanded I allow him to return a score of Steinsaltz Talmuds he ordered over the last year; "I read a katava signed by Rav Shach zecher tzaddik livracha, Rav Kanievsky shlita and Rav Shteinman shlita forbidding those to read adin steinsalz works. I know Rav Shach was a tzaddik and if he hates someone it is because they oker Torah as real tzaddikim do not hate. do not speak bad about tzaddikim as if you do you will inherit gehinnom"

A seventh day adventist pastor visiting the store this week remarked, "I identify more with Maimonides, less so with the thought of R. Samson Raphael Hirsch".

Some prominent recent acquisitions include the libraries of:

Rabbi Mordecai Efron a"h, who served as Rabbi of Hillcrest Jewish Center of Queens. A long-time member of the Hillcrest community, Rabbi Efron has served as the associate rabbi of the congregation for almost a quarter of a century. Upon his graduation from Yeshivah University, Rabbi Efron continued his studies at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, where he was ordained in 1945. Not long after his graduation from the seminary, Rabbi Efron assumed the pulpit of the Sons of Jacob Congregation in Vineland, NJ, where he served for 23 years. Upon an invitation from Israel Mowshowitz, who was then the rabbi of the Hillcrest Jewish Center, Rabbi Efron joined the congregation as assistant rabbi. In the course of the 23 years he was to serve the Hillcrest Jewish Center, he has led a variety of programs that involved teaching, counseling, preaching, and ministering in all rabbinic functions for the congregation's thousands of members. Rabbi Efron's talents and contributions have also extended beyond the Hillcrest community. He has been honored by the United Jewish Appeal, State of Israel Bonds, and the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League.

Rabbi Samuel H. Dresner ob"m, who had served congregations in Highland Park and Deerfield, where he was widely credited with increasing attention to Jewish traditions on the holidays of Succoth and Shavout, as well as with increasing the number of families in those communities keeping kosher homes. Rabbi Dresner headed the Beth El synagogue in Highland Park from 1969 until 1977, founding Deerfield's Moriah Congregation immediately after that. He retired in 1984 and moved to New York, where he has served as a visiting professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Rav Tzvi (Hersh) Levenberg zt”l. Rav Levenberg was a son of Rav Yehuda Heschel Levenberg, a well-known pioneer in the implanting of the European Jewish community on the shores of America. Rav Hersh’s father immigrated to the United States in the summer of 1910 and soon afterwards was appointed as chief rabbi of Jersey City, New Jersey. In 1917, he accepted a rabbinical position in New Haven, Connecticut, and was appointed as chief rabbi there in 1920. He established a yeshiva there in 1923. In 1930, after accepting a position as rov in Cleveland, Ohio, Rav Yehuda Heschel moved his yeshiva there. In his youth, Rav Hersh studied at Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn, where he drew especially close to the rosh yeshiva, Rav Yitzchok Hutner zt”l. Rav Hersh, upon reaching the age of marriage, wedded his wife Chana, a daughter of Rav Moshe Shatzkes, the Lomza Rov. Rav Hersh, who was known as a young budding talmid chochom, became a rebbi at Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn, where he was marbitz Torah for decades, and then taught at Yeshiva of Eastern Parkway.

Prof. Rabbi Allan Nadler, Professor of Religious Studies at Drew, former Rabbi of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Montreal, Quebec and author of The Faith of the Mithnagdim: Rabbinic Responses to Hasidic Rapture, as well as numerous articles and book reviews.

Rabbi Yosef Katzenstein, Rav of a kehillah in Brooklyn, NY for many decades, a talmid muvhak of Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner and author of Lema'an Achai and other sefarim.

Rabbi Joyce Newmark of Teaneck, New Jersey, a former religious leader of congregations in Leonia, New Jersey, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the only Rabbi to win Jeopardy.

Rabbi Dr. David S. Halpern ob"m, Rabbi Halpern graduated from Yeshiva College in 1949, and received his rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University in 1952. The Smicha was signed by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Rabbi Samuel Belkin, and Rabbi Moshe Shatzkes. Rabbi Halpern served as Rabbi of Flatbush Park congregation in Mill Basin, Brooklyn for many decades from 1952 and on.