Albert Einstein could have been writing about the Twerski family in 2003 when he wrote, in his 1929 book “Cosmic Religion,” “It is now, more than ever, necessary to preserve the Jewish community in a vital form.”
Einstein probably didn’t know that two years earlier, Rebbetzin Leah and Rabbi Jacob Twerski arrived in Milwaukee and set roots for what would become a thriving Orthodox community.
Now, 75 years later, the community of Congregation Beth Jehudah will gather for their annual banquet on March 9 at the Sheraton North Hotel to honor the many years of Twerski leadership in Milwaukee.
The banquet’s theme is “Was… Is… Needs to be… .” Howard Karsh, banquet general chair, explained: “One of the key themes of all Jewish life today is continuity and survival, and we wanted to celebrate the continuity of leadership and the continuity of these particular families…. [T]he resolution that what was, is and needs to be … forms a kind of core in the Milwaukee Jewish community that needs to be nurtured.”
Twerski, grandson of the founder of the Hornesteipel Hasidic dynasty from Ukraine, and his wife, daughter of the rebbe of the Bobov dynasty from Poland, founded Beth Jehudah in 1939 at 2234 N. 11th St. Later, the shul moved to Center and 54th Sts., and, in 1999, into its current building at Burleigh and 52nd St.
But the community has developed into much more than just a building or a synagogue; it’s now the hub of a growing community that has attracted people from across the country and comprises Yeshiva Elementary School and the Milwaukee Kollel Center for Jewish Studies.
Its influence extends beyond the Sherman Park neighborhood, having spawned the birth and growth of schools and synagogues that have developed into separate and vital pockets of Orthodox life and Jewish education in Milwaukee.
Twerski, who died in 1974, left the community in the care of his son, Rabbi Michel Twerski, and his wife, Feige, and now his grandson, Rabbi Benzion Twerski, and his wife, Chanie.
Eleventh generation
According to Feige, the values that underlie the community today are the same as those on which it was founded.
“‘[N]o matter how different we may be, the bottom line is that we’re Jewish, we’re brothers, and to the extent that you hurt, I hurt. I can’t be whole without you being whole.’ I think that’s the bottom-line philosophy that covers everything [the rabbis] do, and it hasn’t changed in 75 years,” she said.
The truth is, the community’s values extend much farther back in time. Benzion, 36 and assistant rabbi at the shul, is the eleventh generation in a direct line of father-son transmission, a responsibility that the younger rabbi doesn’t take lightly.
“Very often I’m able to represent my parents. But there’s also a deeper and long-standing mission, as I see it, to represent ancestors and ancestresses who go back generation after generation after generation,” he explained.
And that’s a gift for the entire community, explained Shari Malofsky-Weingrod, who grew up in the community and whose great-grandfather had a relationship with Jacob.
After musing on the importance of the Twerskis’ 75 years here, Malofsky-Weingrod called her daughter, Molly, 21, who lives in New York. “She told me, ‘It’s an inheritance for the whole community. Mom, it’s the continuity that’s important.’”
Malofsky-Weingrod agrees with her daughter. “Of all the blessings and gifts that my parents bestowed on me, by far the most meaningful is my association with the Twerskis,” she said.
“I just get so much naches from them,” said Sandy Kramer, whose family has also been involved with the community for four generations. “We’re so fortunate to have them in our community.
“They’ve always been leaders and friends to the whole Jewish community. People from all over the city used to come to them for blessings, counseling and more. They’re still that way,” said Kramer.
Sara Gimbel, of River Hills, also claims a long association with the family. Her parents, she explained, enjoyed a close relationship with Jacob and Leah. For the past nine years, she’s been taking a weekly class with Feige at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center.
“They’re the perfect role models for Milwaukee Jewry. They’re intelligent. They have compassion. They’re warm people who know how we should live,” said Gimbel.
The rebbetzins are also powerful links in the chain, Kramer explained. “They’re all similar role models. They all teach. They open their homes and, through their example, you end up learning from them to be a better person.”
If the past 75 years have brought enormous change coupled with extraordinary stability, what will the next 75 bring?
Michel has two different visions. “One would be,” he explained, “that I believe we will see a great deal of robust growth…. I think that people are gravitating toward more identification with tradition and want a stronger identity.
“Also, I think that to deal with all the corrosive influences of our times you need an anchor, and people appreciate that tradition has worked as an anchor for thousands of years, and that’s going to fuel growth.”
And as for future Twerski leadership, he’s already got his eye on his grandson. “I’m looking at Benzion’s son Chaim, 15, and I see that if Chaim chooses to do so, he would be a very powerful link in that chain. He’s a really great people person.
“That’s the pragmatic side of things,” he said.
His other vision is a sense, a growing conviction, he explained, “that Jews are going to find themselves drawn to gather and settle in Israel because that will be the context of our greatest vitality and … the place where Jews will feel ultimately at home.”
The banquet will celebrate continuity not only within the Twerski family but among its congregants as well. It will recognize five families who have been involved in the shul for four generations: the Anton, Glazer, Kahn-Kramer, Malofsky-Weingrod-Jacobson and Saltzman families.
It will also include presentation of the annual Pillar of Chesed award to Lisa and Jim Hiller. The award, explained Karsh, “is given to individuals or couples who, by the very integration of their lives, demonstrate the finest aspects of chesed, loving kindness.”
“Jim and Lisa are furiously loyal,” said Benzion. “They are people who can be counted on day or night, 365 days a year.”
The reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. Dinner will begin at 6 p.m. Tickets are $50. For more information, contact the shul office, 414-442-5730.
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