Notebook

Once And Future Warrior

I

often think fondly of the late Rabbi Avrohom Abba
I felt Rabbi Freedman's overwhelming presence in the
Freedman, whose Monday night study group I attended in bookstore, giving me, at last, his personal "Welcome to
the dining room of the late businessman Marvin Berlin and
Borough Park." It was like a voice from the past reaching
later at the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah building, both in Southfield.
into the future — providing me a small taste of the oppor-
In 1944, Rabbi Freedman was the first instructor hired to launch tunity I had missed while he was alive.
the Yeshiva day school. He never left.
One night after our study group,
RBent History
Rabbi Freedman told me that I should
But on the bookrack right behind me was another volume
join a busload of people he periodical-
that drew my attention. It was a book commemorating the
ly took to celebrate Shabbat or a Jewish 20th anniversary last year of the weekly publication Yated
holiday in Borough Park, a predomi-
Ne'eman, "the Torah family newspaper." I remember that
nantly Orthodox section of Brooklyn,
Rabbi Freedman was a strong advocate of the paper, urging
N.Y. Unfortunately, the rabbi died sud-
everyone he met to subscribe. He saw the frum publication
denly at age 81 on Feb. 2, 2002, and I
as the fulfillment of a need envisioned by his childhood
never made the journey.
mentor and teacher, Ray Sharga Feivel Mendlowitz of New
David Sachs
Recently, I was in the metro New
York, who died in 1948.
Senior Copy
York area for a wedding and had the
The large, thick book contained many testimonials as
Editor
opportunity to explore the city on
well as reprints of scores of front pages from the paper's
my own. While in lower Manhattan, I
two decades of existence. I quickly checked for the issue
approached a yarmulke-wearing clerk at J&R Music World,
just after the death of Rabbi Freedman and, yes, there was a
which stands in what was once the shadow of the World
front-page tribute to him.
Trade Center. He very graciously told me which subway to
Among the testimonials in the book, I found one written
take to Brooklyn and where to visit.
by one of the rabbi's sons, Rabbi E.B."Bunny" Freedman,
So, here I was on a Tuesday afternoon on the "D" subway
founder and director of the West Bloomfield-based Jewish
line, headed to Borough Park. Granted, it was not Shabbat or
Hospice and Chaplaincy Network. In it, Bunny reminisces
a holiday, but I still hoped to gain a glimpse of what it was
about his father's zealous dedication to the ink-and-news-
like to be a part of the large, vibrant Jewish community.
print realization of his rabbinic mentor's dream.
At 50th Street and 12th Avenue, I exited the subway car
But thumbing through the newspaper's 20 years of front
that had since morphed into an elevated train. I was imme-
pages, I was uncomfortably reminded of all the war, terror-
diately lured by a kosher market, a kosher bakery and a
ism and scandal that had befallen Israel during the past two
kosher candy store. I took a moment to
decades — not to mention the numerous
consume something sweet at each venue.
dead-end peace initiatives. And today, with
I then walked a block east toward the
heavily armed terrorists looming on sev-
HOLY WARRIOR
primary commercial district, passing small
eral of Israel's borders and the prospect of
Ratsn
yeshivot along the way. Once on 13th Avenue,
a nuclear-armed, crazed Iran, I feared what
I encountered blocks of Jewish businesses
awful history a commemorative volume 20
— additional kosher markets, bakeries and
years hence would chronicle.
candy stores along with restaurants, book-
stores, music shops and a hotel.
Faith h- 1. The Future
I purchased both books and began read-
A Familiar Face
ing them on my return. At the end of his
The first attraction that drew me in
biography of Rabbi Freedman, Gary Torgow
was the biggest bookstore on the block,
includes an essay written by the rabbi titled
Eichler's. As I perused the shelves, I came
"We Are A Historical Society" In stark con-
across the section of books displaying
trast to the bleak outlook one gets from fol-
biographies of many great rabbis of past
lowing current events and the sense of dread
centuries. All of a sudden, while I scanned
of what might lay ahead — Rabbi Freedman's
the array of noble sages, I was extremely
words abounded with joy in the here and now
pleased to see the familiar face of a more
and overflowed with optimism for the future.
common but noble man peering back at me — albeit cross-
Everything, he assured us, is in God's hands. While the
eyed and through large, thick-lensed glasses.
once-mighty ancient empires that oppressed us are but
The friendly, bespeckled face on the book jacket was that
forgotten dust, under God's shepherding, the Jewish people
of Rabbi Freedman; his biography Holy Warrior: A Portrait
and our Torah have survived for thousands of years and will
of Strength and Determination was penned two years ago
survive forever. Our future is "as clear and vivid to us as our
by Detroit community leader Gary Torgow. So, here was the
past," Rabbi Freedman declared.
rabbi's life story enshrined on a bookrack in Borough Park,
"We are historians, yesterday, today and tomorrow," he
side-by-side with the histories of the great rabbis of our
confidently explained. "We are as sure of the unwritten last
heritage! The "warrior" reference in the book's title describes chapters of history as of those that have already transpired."
Rabbi Freedman's legacy: 58 years of relentless striving in
The rabbi's last message to me was this bold, fearless
Detroit to instill in children and share with adults — espe-
vision of a peaceful, holy future. All this wisdom from a day
cially the waves of Russian immigrants — his love for Torah school teacher who, in his long lifetime, was a relentless
and dedication to the religious way of life.
warrior for the Torah and the Jewish way of life. ❑

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August 20 2009

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