The Maggid Revealed: Guest post by Zalman Alpert

Guest Post by Zalman Alpert, Judaica Reference Librarian at the Gottesman Library of Yeshiva University from 1982–2014

The posting concerning portraits of gedolim was of great interest to me, as I have been interested in this matter since age 5 "kad havina talya".

In recent years I have grown particularly interested in rabbinic works with frontispieces of their authors. There were few such portraits until after WWI. In the introductory remarks to his biography of the Maharsha, Toldos Adam, Rav Reuvein Margolies lists the classic sefarim with such portraits among them Lechem Shomayim by the Yaavetz, I have never seen this book and was unaware that a portrait of R Emden was extant.

R. Reuven Margolies in his introduction to Toldot Adam, 1912 discussing portraits of Rabbis

R. Reuven Margolies in his introduction to Toldot Adam, 1912 discussing portraits of Rabbis

In the US it was not uncommon for many rabbinic texts to include portraits of the authors, thus even important Rabbinic figures, such as R Tobias Geffen of Atlanta, R Binyamin Fleischer of the Lower East Side, Rabbi Saul Silber of Chicago and others included their portraits in their printed works.

Most rabbinic texts published in the US prior to 1945 were in the category of drash that is homiletics and the target audience were other rabbis, shochetim and reverends of all sorts, and were generaly in Hebrew. A sub-group were books with Yiddish language sermons aimed at baale batim (laymen) who enjoyed a nice vort or were called on to say a few words of Torah at a family occasion etc.

There were more than a few maggidim in the US in the days before 1945, though most have been forgotten by now, despite being very famous in their day. A few were more modern preachers מטיפים, preaching Zionism like the Rev Zvi Hirsch Masliansky who had thousands of listeners, and Rabbi Milikowski, the grandfather of Israels current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Others like the Bialistoker Maggid Rabbi Majrim (Meir) Hillel Rappaport, even accepted pulpits, he served as a rabbi in New Haven and in Washington Hts at my shul Beth Medrash Hagadol.

As an aside, snippets of R Rappoports sermons can be heard on a link on the YU web page, its' really wonderful material, all said with a classic niggun (tune). Many years ago Rav Efraim Oschry the Kovner Rav asked me a rhetorical question whats the difference between a zoger and a maggid, the great writer R Ben Zion Alfes was a zoger in Vilna, who knew the answer, Rav Oschry told me a maggid darshened with a niggun (tune) a zoger without !!

I suspect the reason for including portraits included vanity, following the style in the non Jewish world and as a selling point. Several years ago I purchased a sefer by R Yehuda Leib Lazarov (1875-1939) called Der Yiddisher Redner containing 160 sermons in Yiddish. My copy bears the stamp of Rev Zvi Berkowsky the Shochet (ritual-slaughterer in Monticello, NY.

Rabbi Lazarov 1868-1939. a maggid and rabbi based in Brooklyn was a native of Lithuania who published numerous books in Hebrew and Yiddish and a few sport his portrait. Der Yiddisher Redner includes a frontispiece and the author is indeed impressive with a long beard and Lithuanian style yarmulka, it was worth buying just for the portrait! In his forward R Lazarov is very apologetic for including his picture and says its not because of pride, if that were the case he would have included it in his classic work Divre Yehuda, but he did not.

So why then did he indeed include it ?

He writes that more than one person traveling about selling his book has claimed to be its author, Rabbi Lazarov. In Boston, such a man was found drunk in the street, in the West another supposed R Lazarov misled his audience and sold tickets to his drashoth, so to prevent future identity theft, he printed his picture for all to see לעיני כל ישראל.

As with All good maggidus this book has much humor, page 128 has a great story of a bear learning how to daven which is still very nogaya (relevant) to even Orthodox Jews.

A discussion of R. Lazarov's speech-giving style and a live reading of one of his sermons can be heard here, starting at minute 19.