10 minute read
The Wandering Jew
The Wandering Jew Richmond, Virginia
By Hershel Lieber
The statue of Robert E. Lee on Monument Ave
In the spring of 2015, we traveled to Virginia – not that we hadn’t been there before. As a teenager in the early ‘60s, I went with my mother to visit her first cousin who was living at the time in Newport News. During a number of occasions, while visiting Washington, D.C., we were in Arlington and Mount Vernon. In the summer of 1981, we traveled with our three girls to Williamsburg and Busch Gardens as part of a twoweek family vacation.
Where we had not been before was the historic capital of the state, Richmond. Richmond played a big role in U.S. history in the Colonial era, during the American Revolution, and as an important and vibrant city of the Early United States. Richmond was the capital of the Confederate States of America and was a major player during the Civil War. Richmond’s prominence waned after the War of the States, but it still retains its significance as a major city of the Southern states.
As part of planning our trip, I was in touch with Rabbi Dovid Asher of Keneseth Beth Israel. The rabbi arranged that we would stay for Shabbos at the home of Stuart and Joan Cantor. Stuart’s brother, Eric, was a U.S. Congressman from 2001-2014 and the House Majority Leader during the final four years of his tenure.
Rabbi Asher’s shul had minyanim all week long, and there was a daily minyan at the boys’ yeshiva high school. I was told that although there were supermarkets that carried an extensive line of kosher products, there really were no kosher eateries in town. Hence, we brought along some food from home. Our plan was to stay in Richmond for six days with stopovers in Silver Springs, Maryland, on the way there and on the way back.
We left on Thursday, April 30, and drove to Silver Springs. We ate out at a great fast food restaurant called Max’s. Their shawarma in pita was heavenly and very filling. We
With Stuart Cantor
stayed over at the Sheraton where we showered and got ready for Shabbos the next morning. After davening at the Woodside Synagogue and picking up chicken sandwiches for lunch, we drove to Richmond. There was a
lot of traffic on the way, and we arrived after 4 PM. We went directly to the Cantors, where they prepared a comfortable room for us. They introduced us to their fifteen-year-old triplets, two daughters and a son, and I met another son later on in shul. We did not have much time to socialize initially as Shabbos was quickly approaching.
On Friday evening, we went Keneseth Beth Israel, where I met and thanked Rabbi Asher for arranging such wonderful hosts. Walking to and from shul, Stuart filled me in about Jewish life in Richmond. There is an elementary yeshiva from kindergarten through eighth grade and separate high schools for boys and girls. There are three Orthodox synagogues. There are also two mikvahs. Besides for some supermarkets that carry kosher products, most religious families get deliveries from Baltimore, which is only two and a half hours away.
In that short walk, I learned a lot about Jewish life in the capital of the South.
We had a most beautiful and spiritually charged Shabbos seudah at the Cantors. The food was delicious, the zemiros were lively, and the conversation ranged from Torah thoughts to personal stories interspersed with a healthy dose of humor. Our biggest surprise came when I was telling the Cantors about our involvement in the Soviet Union and our subsequent association with the Yeshiva of Kishinev. We were then told by Stuart and Joan how they hosted two sisters in their home for a few years when they came from Kishinev and were studying at the Rudlin Girls High School. We were shocked at the coincidence. We remembered when the
Standing with Thomas Jefferson
sisters, Elana and Anya, were sent to study in Richmond and knew their mother, who was the doctor at our Yeshiva in Kishinev. What a small world, indeed!
After a sumptuous dessert, we went with our host to visit Rabbi Hal Klestzick, the principal of the boys’ yeshiva high school, and his wife. There, we were engrossed in both serious and entertaining conversations. We did not get to bed until way after midnight.
The shul had a larger amount of mispallelim that Shabbos morning. It seems that once a month both the boys’ and girls’ high schools join for davening at Keneseth Beth Israel. The tefillos were nice, I got an aliya, and we joined the rather large crowd for kiddush where both of us had a chance to mingle with the locals and share information. We also met Chuck Lessin and his wife, with whom we had a chance to talk with at length. We then met a relative who was studying at the girls’ high school. This was truly a surprise that we did not anticipate.
The rest of Shabbos was also quite
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The Virginia Holocaust Museum At the Museum of the Confederacy The interior of Keneseth Beth Israel
enjoyable. The Shabbos day seudah was followed by a short nap and then it was back to shul for Mincha, shalosh seudos, and Maariv. After havdalah and taking some photos, we said our thank yous and goodbyes and headed for the Embassy Suites less than a mile away.
On Sunday, Pesi did not feel well. After Shacharis we took a walking tour in the hot sun along the city’s famed canals, which turned out to be a bit boring. Then we headed back to our hotel suite. Other than going to shop at the supermarket and I going to daven Mincha and Maariv, we relaxed in our room.
On Monday, I davened with the boys at the yeshiva, and then we started to take in Richmond’s historical attractions. We toured the State Capitol, the Confederate White House, and the Museum of the Confederacy. We have been to many places associated with the Civil War era and yet still find these sites and the War’s history fascinating.
For dinner, we were invited to the Lessins at their elegant home where we dined on salmon accompanied with fine white wine. We went out to daven and then returned for cake and tea and more conversation.
On Tuesday, we took a two-hour walking tour of the Botanical Gardens. It was the beginning of spring, and many flowers were already in full bloom – after all, this is the South. Then we went to Agecroft Hall to explore the Tudor Manor House and its gardens. This tour took one and a half
hours. We stopped at the Hollywood Cemetery where Presidents James Monroe and John Tyler are buried, as well as the only President of the Confederate States, Jefferson Davis. This was followed by a visit to the Virginia Holocaust Museum.
We have been to quite a few museums dedicated to this terrible tragedy of the Jewish people. Many of these places rely on exhibits where one reads long texts and views photos about the horrid events of those years. I find those exhibits somewhat lacking, as with the addition of artifacts and visual aids one can gain so much more understanding of the catastrophe. This museum, though it was small, was able to convey the message of the Shoah in a very moving and inspiring way.
On Wednesday, we went to the Virginia Fine Arts Museum, a treat that we enjoyed immensely. There were Van Goghs, Manets, Matisses, and many other famous artists. We took the audio tour, which made seventeen stops at the museum’s most famous collections. We also stopped to see a historic synagogue called Beth Ahabah. Like many synagogues in the South, Beth Ahabah started out in 1841 as an Orthodox shul for Ashkenazim. In 1867, it moved gradually towards Reform. The present building was built in 1904 and houses a Jewish museum next door.
We ended our day at the Tredegar Iron Works, which operated from 1837 until 1957 and was part and parcel of Richmond’s colorful history. During the course of the last four days, we had passed Monument Avenue many time. It is a grand boulevard with five massive statues at intersections. The statues were dedicated to leading generals of the Confederacy including Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. The statues always elicited controversy as they glorified personalities that were associated with and supported slavery. Recently, the statues were removed after violent protests and vandalism. This issue is part of an ongoing debate that I will not address in this article.
On Thursday, we started making our way back home. We stopped at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home, and took a great tour including inspecting the slaves’ quarters. Jefferson has also become very controversial during the past few years, although that does not diminish the historical significance that his estate represents.
We continued on and drove for one hour along the scenic Skyline Drive and made it to Silver Springs in time to pick up food at Max’s which we ate in our hotel room. The next day we ate tuna wraps in Baltimore on the way to Lakewood for Shabbos. We let our daughter-in-law Leah know that we were coming for Shabbos, but our son Mechel and our grandchildren were in for a complete surprise.
Hershel Lieber has been involved in kiruv activities for over 30 years. As a founding member of the Vaad L’Hatzolas Nidchei Yisroel he has traveled with his wife, Pesi, to the Soviet Union during the harsh years of the Communist regimes to advance Yiddishkeit. He has spearheaded a yeshiva in the city of Kishinev that had 12 successful years with many students making Torah their way of life. In Poland, he lectured in the summers at the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation camp for nearly 30 years. He still travels to Warsaw every year – since 1979 – to be the chazzan for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur for the Jews there. Together with Pesi, he organized and led trips to Europe on behalf of Gateways and Aish Hatorah for college students finding their paths to Jewish identity. His passion for travel has taken them to many interesting places and afforded them unique experiences. Their open home gave them opportunities to meet and develop relationships with a variety of people. Hershel’s column will appear in The Jewish Home on a bi-weekly basis.
Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson
