Eliezer Silver (; February 15, 1882
Social Security Death Index
The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) was a database of death records created from the United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File until 2014. Since 2014, public access to the updated Death Master File has been via the Limit ...
- February 7, 1968
[
]) was the President of the
Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the U.S. and Canada and among American Jewry's foremost religious leaders. He helped save many thousands of Jews in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and held several Rabbinical positions in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
and
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
.
Biography
Silver was born in
Obeliai
Obeliai (; , Abel) is a small city in the Rokiškis district municipality of Panevėžys County, Lithuania. At the foot of the town is one of the area's many lakes.
The town of Obeliai is small due in no small part to the diversion of the railw ...
,
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
, one of two sons of Rabbi Bunim Tzemach
(1844–1917) and Malka Silver. He had centuries-old rabbinic ancestry.
He studied in
Dvinsk
Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...
, with Rabbi
Yosef Rosen (the "Rogatchover Gaon") and received
Semicha
''Semikhah'' () is the traditional term for rabbiinic ordination in Judaism.
The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 CE. Si ...
from Rabbi
Chaim Ozer Grodzinski
Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (; August 24, 1863 – August 9, 1940) was a '' Av beis din'' (rabbinical chief justice), ''posek'' (halakhic authority), and Talmudic scholar in Vilnius, Lithuania in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for over 55 years. ...
in 1906. He immigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
with his wife in 1907, to escape the anti-Semitism of
Czarist Russia. They settled in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, where Silver worked as a garment salesman and later sold insurance.
However, Silver soon accepted a Rabbinical position at
Kesher Israel Congregation in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...
, which he served from 1907 to 1925. His Torah scholarship soon drew him into leading
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
circles on the national level. In 1912, he was part of a delegation of rabbis that asked President
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...
to void a treaty with Russia because of Russia's persecution of Jews.
Silver was active in relief efforts in World War I. In 1925 he moved to Springfield, Massachusetts. Around 1931, he accepted an invitation to become Rabbi in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained until his death. While in Cincinnati, he caused much controversy when he established the Vaad Hoir of Cincinnati. The most prominent opponent of the Vaad was Rabbi
Bezalel Epstein, who "already had his own kashrut supervision and who viewed Rabbi Silver's activities as encroachment."
Silver was very active in the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the U.S. and Canada, elected its president in 1929. He was also a pivotal founder, organizer, and president of
Agudath Israel of America
Agudath Israel of America (; also called the Agudah) is an American organization that represents Haredi Judaism, Haredi Orthodox Jews. It is loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel. Agudah seeks to meet the needs of the Har ...
.
World War II rescue activities
Silver convened an emergency meeting in November 1939 in New York City, where the
Vaad Hatzalah (Rescue Committee), was formed, with Silver as president. Silver spearheaded its efforts in rescuing as many European Torah scholars as possible from
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
.
Silver launched a fund-raising drive that raised more than $5 million (over $100 million in 2023 dollars), and also capitalised on an exemption to US
immigration quotas allowing entry to ministers or religious students. At his direction, synagogues in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
and across the country sent contracts to rabbis, thereby securing 2,000 emergency visas that were
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
ed to
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
.
With the increasingly desperate race against time, the Vaad, under Silver turned to all channels, whether legal or not,
to save as many lives as possible by bringing Jews to the US,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
.
During World War II, a Vaad representative in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
even negotiated with the
SS, offering to ransom concentration camp prisoners for cash and tractors - talks that freed hundreds from
Bergen-Belsen
Bergen-Belsen (), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen, Lower Saxony, Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, ...
and other death camps.
In October 1943, as the scale of Nazi atrocities was becoming clearer, Silver helped organise and lead a
mass rally of more than 400 rabbis in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
to press for more decisive action by the US government to save European Jews. The rabbis' march was organized by
Hillel Kook
Hillel Kook (; 24 July 1915 –18 August 2001), also known as Peter Bergson (Hebrew: פיטר ברגסון), was a Revisionist Zionism, Revisionist Zionist activist and politician.
Kook led the Irgun's efforts in the United States during W ...
's "Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe".
Post-World War II
In 1949 Silver founded the Chofetz Chaim Day School (also known as the
Cincinnati Hebrew Day School.) He died in 1968, at the age of 85
or 86.
He was interred at Washington Cemetery (Knesseth Israel) in Cincinnati. He had been Rabbi of the ''Kneseth Israel'' Congregation in Cincinnati for nearly 40 years, now known as
Congregation Zichron Eliezer. He authored the ''
Sefer Sefer may refer to:
* Sefer (Hebrew), a term for a book
People with the surname
* Franjo Šefer (born 1905), Yugoslav tennis player
* Bela Šefer, Yugoslav footballer playing in 1924
People with the forename
* Sefer Reis, Turkish privateer and O ...
'' titled ''Anfe Erez''.
Noteworthy students
One of his star students was
Rabbi Shlomo Wahrman, who came from
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
for fifteen years and went on to becoming principal and Rosh Yeshiva of the
Hebrew Academy of Nassau County The Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC) is a K-12, comprehensive, Modern Orthodox Jewish school system, located in Nassau County, New York.
History
In 1953, Nassau County was virtually empty of Jewish education. Through the dedicated effort ...
. Wahrman attributes his success to Silver's insistence and encouragement to hone his writing skills and record his copious chidushei Torah. Wahrman writes in the short biography he published on Silver:
I remember at times he screamed at me for lack of understanding-however, even then I sensed his great love and concern for me and not the slightest hint of hatred. Rabbi Silver was a man whose very essence was giving to others - his ''ahavas yisroel'' (love for his fellow Jew) knew no bounds…he saw every Jew as an extension of himself.
Notes
References
*
External links
He Saved Thousands ou.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silver, Eliezer
American Orthodox rabbis
Leaders of Jewish organizations in the United States
American Haredi rabbis
The Holocaust and the United States
1882 births
1968 deaths
People from Obeliai
Lithuanian Haredi rabbis
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
Rabbis from Cincinnati
American human rights activists
Haredi poskim
Agudat Yisrael
People who rescued Jews during the Holocaust
Jewish human rights activists
Jewish American activists