Yaakov Yosef Herman (1880–1967) was an
Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
pioneer in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in the early 20th century. A native of
Slutsk
Slutsk ( officially transliterated as Sluck, be, Слуцк; russian: Слуцк; pl, Słuck, lt, Sluckas, Yiddish/Hebrew: סלוצק ''Slutsk'') is a city in Belarus, located on the Sluch River south of Minsk. As of 2022, its population i ...
, Belarus, he immigrated with his parents and younger sister to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
at the age of 8 and was left on his own five years later after his family returned to Russia. Following his marriage, Herman became known for feeding and lodging dozens of people in his home, including visiting European rabbis seeking
kosher meals. He displayed a staunch commitment to
mitzvah observance at a time that many abandoned their faith, and urged promising young Jewish men to pursue advanced
Torah study
Torah study is the study of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature, and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the study is done for the purpose of the '' mitzvah'' ("com ...
in the great
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...
s of Europe, including his son-in-law, Rabbi
Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg
Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg ( he, חיים פנחס שיינברג; 1 October 1910 – 20 March 2012) was a Polish-born, American-raised, Israeli Haredi rabbi and rosh yeshiva who, from 1965, made his home in the Kiryat Mattersdorf neighborho ...
(1910–2012). For his promulgation of Torah values to his co-religionists, Herman was called the "
Chofetz Chaim
The '' Sefer'' ''Chafetz Chaim'' (or ''Chofetz Chaim'' or ''Hafetz Hayim'') ( he, חָפֵץ חַיִּים, trans. "Desirer of Life") is a book by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, who is also called "the Chofetz Chaim" after it. The book deals wit ...
of America" by Rabbi
Boruch Ber Leibowitz, the
Kaminetz rosh yeshiva, who lived with the Hermans for two years while he was fundraising in the United States. Herman's youngest daughter,
Ruchoma Shain (1914–2013), immortalized his exploits in ''All For The Boss: The life and impact of R' Yaakov Yosef Herman, a Torah pioneer in America: An affectionate family chronicle'', first published by
Feldheim in 1984.
Early life
Herman was the eldest child of Rabbi Yitzchok Isaac Herman and his wife, Minna Rivka. His father was his primary teacher until his
bar mitzvah.
Finding it difficult to earn a living in Russia and believing that it would be easier to do so in America, his father emigrated with his wife, son, and daughter Molly in 1888. But in New York City, he was unable to find work as a private rebbi (teacher), and could not keep other jobs because he refused to work on
Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath). Five years later, he decided to return to Russia. He did not have enough travel fare for all the members of the family, so Yaakov Yosef, at age 13, was left behind with cousins until money could be saved for his fare.
Yaakov Yosef earned $1.25 a week working as a handy-boy in a Shabbat-observant
fur
Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...
shop in New York City. His cousins charged him $1 a week for
room and board. A few weeks later, they raised his rent to $1.25. Feeling betrayed, he spent Shabbat alone in a park, where he promised himself that he would host poor and homeless people in his home after he married. After Shabbat ended, he moved to a rooming house. At work, he advanced from handy-boy to apprentice to professional worker, and four years later he was able to send money for his parents, sister, and newborn brother to join him. He was able to support his family in New York City on his salary, enabling his father to work as a rebbi.
At age 21 Herman met his future wife, Aidel, daughter of Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchok Andron (one of the founders of
Rabbi Jacob Joseph School
The Rabbi Jacob Joseph School is an Orthodox Jewish day school located in Staten Island, New York that serves students from nursery through twelfth grade, with another branch in Edison, New Jersey. The school was founded in 1903 by Rabbi Shmuel ...
), on a
shidduch
The ''Shidduch'' ( he, שִׁדּוּךְ, pl. ''shidduchim'' , Aramaic ) is a system of matchmaking in which Jewish singles are introduced to one another in Orthodox Jewish communities for the purpose of marriage.
The practice
In the past an ...
. At first Herman's mother nixed the match, since Aidel's father could not afford a
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...
. A few months later, Herman bumped into Aidel's brother Yankel Leib, who asked why he had ended the shidduch. Herman explained his mother's demand and Yankel Leib suggested that Herman give him $2,000, which he would present to Herman as the "dowry" on the night of the engagement. The shidduch was concluded successfully, and the couple was married on 29 December 1903. They had four daughters and one son.
Open house
Herman told his bride that he wished to have an open house in which guests would be welcome for Shabbat and
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstre ...
s, and she agreed. Thus began their "business" of ''hachnasos orchim'' (hospitality to guests). Dozens dined at the Herman table each week, including men with social and emotional disabilities whom no one else wanted as guests.
Many great rabbis from Europe stayed with the Hermans while visiting the United States. Noteworthy among them were Rabbi Boruch Ber Leibowitz, rosh yeshivas Kaminetz, and his son-in-law, Rabbi
Reuven Grozovsky, who stayed with the Hermans for two years;
Rabbi
Eliezer Yehuda Finkel,
Mir
''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...
rosh yeshiva; Rabbi
Avraham Kalmanowitz
Avraham Kalmanowitz (also Abraham; he, אברהם קלמנוביץ; March 8, 1887 – 15 February 1964) was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Mir yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York from 1946 to 1964. Born in Belarus, he served as rabb ...
; and Rabbi
Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler
Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler (1892 – 31 December 1953) was an Orthodox rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Jewish philosopher of the 20th century. He is best known for being the ''mashgiach ruchani'' ("spiritual counselor") of the Ponevezh yeshiva in I ...
. The latter wrote to his father, Rabbi Reuven Dov Dessler, about his host during the summer of 1930:
He is a businessman brought up in America. But he is an outstanding ''y'rei Shamayim'' (God-fearing man), who observes the ''mitzvos'' of the Torah meticulously. He influences many people and guides them to become observant Jews. Reb Yaakov Yosef is known for strict adherence to the mitzvah of ''hachnasos orchim''. On Shabbos
Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stori ...
, there are approximately twenty guests at his table.
Herman lost his wholesale fur business and most of his savings in the
1929 stock market crash
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...
. Yet he continued to provide kosher meals and lodging for many guests in his home.
Mitzvah pioneer
At a time when Orthodox observance was lax among Jews in America, Herman upheld his mitzvah observance even in the face of ridicule. He often said, "I am a soldier of the Boss, and I obey His commands". He spoke out publicly against mixed dancing and mixed beaches, and led public protests against
Sabbath desecration
Sabbath desecration is the failure to observe the Biblical Sabbath and is usually considered a sin and a breach of a holy day in relation to either the Jewish '' Shabbat'' (Friday sunset to Saturday nightfall), the Sabbath in seventh-day chur ...
by
pushcart peddlers on the
Lower East Side. For his eldest daughter's wedding in 1922, he took the unheard-of step of printing on the invitation: "Ladies, please come dressed according to the Jewish law". At the entrance to the wedding hall, he had one relative hand out
shawl
A shawl (from fa, شال ''shāl'',) is a simple item of clothing from Kashmir, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, which is often folde ...
s to women who were not
properly dressed, while another relative passed out cards that read: "Men and women are asked to dance separately". Inside the hall, Herman posted a large sign that read: "All the food belongs to the Lord; after the ''
brocho'', to you". Many guests were affronted by such forthright requests, which were not widespread practice in Orthodox circles at that time. While Herman's scrupulous adherence to Jewish law sometimes frustrated his children, since their religious friends did not subscribe to the same high standards, they were nevertheless proud of their father's strength and commitment.
Herman encouraged others to improve their mitzvah observance by providing a ''
shatnez
''Shatnez'' (or ''shaatnez'', ; he, ) is cloth containing both wool and linen (linsey-woolsey), which Jewish law, derived from the Torah, prohibits wearing. The relevant biblical verses ( and ) prohibit wearing wool and linen fabrics in o ...
''-checking service; arranging for the production of
Cholov Yisroel
''Chalav Yisrael'', also pronounced ''cholov Yisroel'', refers to kosher milk whose milking was observed by an observant Jew. The ''halakha'' of ''chalav Yisrael'', which originates in the Mishnah and Talmud, was instituted to ensure that no non ...
(Jewish supervised) milk, eighteen-minute
matzo
Matzah or matzo ( he, מַצָּה, translit=maṣṣā'','' pl. matzot or Ashk. matzos) is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which '' chametz'' ( leaven ...
s and other kosher-for-
Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...
products; and anonymously printing
Jewish calendar
The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. ...
s that listed candle-lighting times for Shabbat and
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstre ...
s. During the Prohibition in the United States, Prohibition era, he produced kosher wine in his home to ensure that other Jewish families could celebrate Shabbat and Jewish holidays according to
Jewish law. He was summoned to court for his winemaking operation, but successfully argued his case that he was acting solely for religious purposes. The judge dismissed the case, and Herman continued producing and selling wine at cost until the
Prohibition law was repealed.
![Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Rabbi_Chaim_Pinchas_Scheinberg.JPG)
At the suggestion of his father-in-law, Herman had undertaken formal Torah learning with private rabbis after his marriage. This enabled him to deliver beginning and advanced ''
shiurim'' (Torah lectures) to men and teach religious subjects to Jewish boys in the
synagogue after evening prayers. He was also asked to give private ''
mussar'' talks to
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...
students. Witnessing the paucity of advanced Torah education in New York City in the 1930s and 1940s, Herman encouraged promising American Jewish youth to travel to the great yeshivas of Europe. He sent approximately 50 young men to the
Mir yeshiva in Poland and other European yeshivas. Among the American boys he influenced were
Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg
Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg ( he, חיים פנחס שיינברג; 1 October 1910 – 20 March 2012) was a Polish-born, American-raised, Israeli Haredi rabbi and rosh yeshiva who, from 1965, made his home in the Kiryat Mattersdorf neighborho ...
,
Baruch Kaplan (founder of the
Bais Yaakov
Bais Yaakov ( he, בית יעקב also Beis Yaakov, Beit Yaakov, Beth Jacob or Beys Yankev; lit., House fJacob) is a genericized name for full-time Haredi Jewish elementary and secondary schools for Jewish girls throughout the world.
Bais Yaa ...
movement in America),
Shachne Zohn (future rosh yeshiva in
Torah Vodaas)
Shmuel Schecter
Shmuel Halevi Schecter ( he, שמואל הלוי שכטר, February 21, 1915 – September 30, 2000) was a Canadian–American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, educator, and author. Born in Quebec and raised in Baltimore, he traveled to Eastern Europe to stu ...
, and
Avigdor Miller. Herman met Scheinberg when the latter was 14 years old and decided that the youth would make a good husband for his third daughter, Bessie (Basha), who was then only 12. When Scheinberg was 19, Herman suggested the match with his 17-year-old daughter and Scheinberg's parents agreed. With the encouragement of his father-in-law, Scheinberg and his new wife spent their first five years of marriage in the town of
Mir, Belarus
Mir ( be, Мір; russian: Мир; ) is a town in the Karelichy District (Карэліцкі раён) of Grodno Region, Belarus on the banks of Miranka River, about 85 kilometers southwest of the national capital, Minsk.
History
Mir village was ...
(then Poland).
[Margolis, Nechamie. ''A Living Sefer Torah: Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, shlita''. ''Hamodia'' Magazine, 28 April 2011, pp. 13–18.] They lived next-door to the
Mir yeshiva, where Scheinberg immersed himself in Torah study.
Herman also sent his son, Nochum Dovid, and his wife to Mir right after their marriage,
as well as his daughter Ruchoma and her new husband, Moshe Shain.
Move to Israel
Herman and his wife decided to make
aliyah to the
Land of Israel in August 1939. They arrived on 1 September, the day World War II broke out in Europe. Theirs was the last passenger ship to leave the United States before the war started.
Herman bought a
key money apartment in the
Zikhron Moshe
Zikhron Moshe ( he, זיכרון משה, lit. ''Memorial for Moses'') is a Haredi neighborhood in central Jerusalem. The neighborhood is bordered by Geula to the north, Mekor Baruch to the west, David Yellin Street to the south, and Mea Shearim to ...
neighborhood of Jerusalem, where he continued to invite dozens of guests to his Shabbat table. He gave a nightly ''shiur'' (Torah lecture) in the Zikhron Moshe synagogue, as well as talks in other synagogues on Shabbat. He was considered the "spiritual leader" of the Zikhron Moshe synagogue.
Following the death of his wife Aidel in 1946, Herman remarried to Mirel, a widow with two married children. He opened a store selling
mezuzah
A ''mezuzah'' ( he, מְזוּזָה "doorpost"; plural: ''mezuzot'') is a piece of parchment, known as a '' klaf'', contained in a decorative case and inscribed with specific Hebrew verses from the Torah ( and ). These verses consist of the ...
s,
tefillin
Tefillin (; Israeli Hebrew: / ; Ashkenazic pronunciation: ), or phylacteries, are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. Tefillin are worn by adult Jews durin ...
, and
Torah scrolls
A ( he, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: ) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Tor ...
in the
Mea Shearim
Mea Shearim ( he, מאה שערים, lit., "hundred gates"; contextually, "a hundred fold") is one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem outside of the Old City. It is populated by Haredi Jews, and was built by members of the Old Yish ...
neighborhood, and also headed a loan society and charity fund.
In 1964 both he and his second wife were weakened by illness. Herman moved in with his son and daughter-in-law in Jerusalem, while Mirel moved in with her daughter in
Bnei Brak. Mirel died in late 1966. Herman died of
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
on 24 July 1967 (17
Tamuz 5727) at the age of 87. He was buried on
Har HaMenuchot
Har HaMenuchot ( he, הר המנוחות, Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi pronunciation, Har HaMenuchos, lit. "Mount of Those who are Resting", also known as Givat Shaul Cemetery) is the largest cemetery in Jerusalem. The hilltop burial ground lies at ...
.
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
"All His Worldly Possessions: A Shabbat story"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herman, Yaakov Yosef
1880 births
1967 deaths
People from Slutsk
People from Slutsky Uyezd
Belarusian Orthodox Jews
Jews from the Russian Empire
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
American Orthodox Jews
American emigrants to Mandatory Palestine
Orthodox Jews in Mandatory Palestine
Israeli Orthodox Jews
Israeli people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
People from New York City
People from Jerusalem
Burials at Har HaMenuchot