Kabbalist and the Communal Leader: Rabbi Yudel Rosenberg and the Canadian Jewish Community

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
Kabbalist and the Communal Leader: Rabbi Yudel Rosenberg and the Canadian Jewish Community
Abstract
The author points out that the social, economic and religious pressures encountered by Eastern European Jews who immigrated to North America have been well documented. He notes that the focus on these areas has mostly failed to take into account the relationship between Orthodox Judaism and the process of adaptation to the New World. At the turn of the century, Orthodox rabbis, immigrants themselves, actively wrestled with the competing demands of Orthodox tradition and modern society. The author points out that one such rabbi, Judah (Yudel) Rosenberg (1859-1935), brought with him to Canada, first Toronto in 1913 and then Montreal in 1919, a background combining both traditional Hasidism and secular learning. The author explains that Rosenberg sought to draw the people closer to tradition by making it more accessible to them. The author argues that Rosenberg viewed mysticism as the key to the preservation and regeneration of Judaism amongst a population that found it easier to make excuses than to follow the letter of religious law. Rosenberg served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Orthodox Congregations in Montreal, and vice-chairman of the Jewish community’s Rabbinic Council.
Publication
Canadian Jewish Studies/Études juives canadiennes
Volume
Vol. 1
Pages
41-58
Date
1993
Language
en
URL
Citation
Robinson, Ira. “Kabbalist and the Communal Leader: Rabbi Yudel Rosenberg and the Canadian Jewish Community.” Canadian Jewish Studies/Études juives canadiennes Vol. 1 (1993): 41–58. http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/cjs/article/view/19773/18477.
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