Chaskel Besser
Encyclopedia
Chaskel Besser was a well known Orthodox
rabbi
for much of the 20th and early 21st century, living in Manhattan, New York. He was born in Katowice
, Poland
and lived there until the dual Nazi and Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. He was affiliated with Congregation B'nei Israel in New York. He was the most prominent member of Radomsk Chassidic movement.
His original family name, Koszycki, was changed by his father while the family still lived in Poland. His father, a successful businessman, and close associate of the Radomsker Rebbe, moved to pre-war Palestine. After Rabbi Besser escaped Poland and Europe in 1939, he was reunited with his family in Tel Aviv. He came to the United States in 1949, together with members of his family.
He is the subject of a book written by Warren Kozak
called The Rabbi of 84th Street. He appeared in the television program The Jews of New York talking about the experience of Jews in pre-World War II Germany.
He achieved renown as a leader of the American Agudath Israel movement, where he helped reestablish American Jewish Orthodoxy in the aftermath of World War Two. He was close to several chassidic groups including Lubavitch, Bluzhev and Ger
. He was the International Chairman of Daf Yomi
for many years, helping to promote the daily study of Talmud.
Rabbi Besser was the principal spiritual leader of the renewal of Polish Jewish life, and traveled their frequently to teach until not long before the end of his life. He helped to find Jews and rebuild Jewish life in Poland towards the end of the communist era, partnering with Ronald S. Lauder. This partnership established Rabbi Besser as the Director of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation for Poland.
He found Rabbi Michael Schudrich
, currently Chief Rabbi of Poland, to move Poland to establish Jewish communal life, on behalf of the Lauder Foundation. In addition to his work to restore Jewish communal life, he also helped restore many Jewish holy sites in Poland, negotiating with the Polish government on preserving the legacy of Polish Jewry before the war. One of those Jewish cemeteries is in Oświęcim
, where his maternal grandparents are buried.
Among his children are Rabbi Shlomo Besser, a Rabbi and teacher active for the cemeteries of Eastern Europe and Aliza Grund, President of the women's division of the Agudah. His two other children are Mrs. Debbie Rosenberg of London, England and Rabbi Naftali Besser of Brooklyn, New York. Yisroel Besser, author of Warmed By Their Fire, is his grandson.
Rabbi Yonah Bookstein, former Director of The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation in Poland, and currently a Director of JConnect and Jewlicious Festival, is one of his students. In 1992, Besser sent Bookstein to Poland to work at the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation Summer Camp with Rabbi Schudrich.
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
for much of the 20th and early 21st century, living in Manhattan, New York. He was born in Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and lived there until the dual Nazi and Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. He was affiliated with Congregation B'nei Israel in New York. He was the most prominent member of Radomsk Chassidic movement.
His original family name, Koszycki, was changed by his father while the family still lived in Poland. His father, a successful businessman, and close associate of the Radomsker Rebbe, moved to pre-war Palestine. After Rabbi Besser escaped Poland and Europe in 1939, he was reunited with his family in Tel Aviv. He came to the United States in 1949, together with members of his family.
He is the subject of a book written by Warren Kozak
Warren Kozak
Warren Kozak is an American writer, journalist, a former contributor to National Public Radio and the New York Sun, and a former writer for ABC News...
called The Rabbi of 84th Street. He appeared in the television program The Jews of New York talking about the experience of Jews in pre-World War II Germany.
He achieved renown as a leader of the American Agudath Israel movement, where he helped reestablish American Jewish Orthodoxy in the aftermath of World War Two. He was close to several chassidic groups including Lubavitch, Bluzhev and Ger
Ger (Hasidic dynasty)
Ger, or Gur is a Hasidic dynasty originating from Ger, the Yiddish name of Góra Kalwaria, a small town in Poland....
. He was the International Chairman of Daf Yomi
Daf Yomi
Daf Yomi "page [of the] day" or "daily folio") is a daily regimen undertaken to study the Babylonian Talmud one folio each day...
for many years, helping to promote the daily study of Talmud.
Rabbi Besser was the principal spiritual leader of the renewal of Polish Jewish life, and traveled their frequently to teach until not long before the end of his life. He helped to find Jews and rebuild Jewish life in Poland towards the end of the communist era, partnering with Ronald S. Lauder. This partnership established Rabbi Besser as the Director of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation for Poland.
He found Rabbi Michael Schudrich
Michael Schudrich
Michael Joseph Schudrich is the Chief Rabbi of Poland. He is the oldest of four children of Rabbi David Schudrich and Doris Goldfarb Schudrich.-Biography:...
, currently Chief Rabbi of Poland, to move Poland to establish Jewish communal life, on behalf of the Lauder Foundation. In addition to his work to restore Jewish communal life, he also helped restore many Jewish holy sites in Poland, negotiating with the Polish government on preserving the legacy of Polish Jewry before the war. One of those Jewish cemeteries is in Oświęcim
Oswiecim
Oświęcim is a town in the Lesser Poland province of southern Poland, situated west of Kraków, near the confluence of the rivers Vistula and Soła.- History :...
, where his maternal grandparents are buried.
Among his children are Rabbi Shlomo Besser, a Rabbi and teacher active for the cemeteries of Eastern Europe and Aliza Grund, President of the women's division of the Agudah. His two other children are Mrs. Debbie Rosenberg of London, England and Rabbi Naftali Besser of Brooklyn, New York. Yisroel Besser, author of Warmed By Their Fire, is his grandson.
Rabbi Yonah Bookstein, former Director of The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation in Poland, and currently a Director of JConnect and Jewlicious Festival, is one of his students. In 1992, Besser sent Bookstein to Poland to work at the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation Summer Camp with Rabbi Schudrich.