Friday, October 11, 2013

Rabbi Rosenbaum and the Legacy of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Grodzinsky

Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Grodzinsky was a great Rabbinic figure who lived in Omaha, Nebraska from 1891 until his death in 1947.  Rabbi Grodzinsky was a prolific author of Jewish law and considered at the time to be one of the greatest Torah scholars in America.  He was a cousin of the famed Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinsky, who was considered to be the greatest Rabbi in the world before the Holocaust.

In the 1980s Rabbi Jonathan Rosenbaum researched the life of Zvi Hirsch Grodzinsky and wrote a scholarly paper that is until today considered to be the authoritative essay on the life of this Torah scholar.  

This Shabbos Rabbi Rosenbaum is the guest on Good Shabbos Nebraska - America's favorite Shabbos morning talk show. 

Today we were at the Rose Blumkin Jewish home and we ran into Melvin Tatelman and his son Mark Tatelman.  Melvin is married to Rabbi Grodzinsky's granddaughter and Mark is Rabbi Grodzinsky's great grandson.  

I introduced Rabbi Rosenbaum to the Tatelman's and we sat down and learned some Torah together.
Rabbi Rosenbaum learning Torah with 
the descendants of Zvi Hirsch Grodzinsky

This was a great honor for Rabbi Rosenbaum to learn with them and they were so grateful that Rabbi Rosenbaum ensured that the legacy of Rabbi Grodzinsky will live on.  

Tomorrow Rabbi Rosenbaum will talk a little about Rabbi Grodzinsky, but mostly about his expertize in Biblical archaeology, having studied at Harvard under some of the most influential scholars in the field and having been the deputy director of the Ein Gedi excavation in Israel.

It is going to be a great Shabbos.  It all begins at 10am every Shabbos ONLY at Beth Israel.

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