The Story Behind the Benjamin Hurwitz Award

My grandfather, R. Yekusiel Raphael Hurwitz, kept probably every piece of paper he ever received, starting as a child in Europe. When his attic was cleaned out in 1963, I salvaged a couple of boxes of these papers. Included were some materials that have never been published dealing with Yeshiva in the 1923-1943 period.

Each year The Benjamin Hurwitz Award for Excellence in Talmud is given to a deserving student of the Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies of Yeshiva University. Who was Benjamin Hurwitz and why is an award given in his name?

R. Yekusiel Raphael Hurwitz, father of Benjamin Hurwitz, had been raised in Novardok with family in Maichat and studied in the Volozhin Yeshiva until it closed in 1893. R. Hurwitz, who received semikha from the son of R. Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor (after whom RIETS is named), was a cousin and close friend of R. Shlomo Polachek, known as the Maichater Illui (one of the early Roshei Yeshiva at RIETS), and knew the Soloveitchik family from Volozhin. Like many students in Volozhin, R. Hurwitz was an Ohaiv Zion; he taught his American-born children to speak Hebrew and had purchased land in Ranaana through the Achooza Aleph organization.

Born on May 4, 1910 in New York City, Benjamin Hurwitz had attended Rabbi Jacob Joseph Elementary School, where his grandfather, R. Moshe Eliezer Gavrin, was one of the founders. As an orphan, R. Gavrin had been raised by the Shatzkes family, one of whose sons, R. Moshe Shatzkes, later became a rosh yeshiva one of the three members of the RIETS semikha testing board. Thus, in 1929, the Hurwitz family had many ties, past, present and future, with Yeshiva.

In 1927, Benjamin Hurwitz graduated from Yeshiva's Teachers Institute and Talmudical Academy High School, now known as the Yeshiva University High School for Boys, where he had been president of the student's organization and business manager of the yearbook, The Elchanite. Soon afterward, Benjamin, together with his mother and two sisters, Deborah (my mother) and Leah (later Wachsman), left for Eretz Yisrael. They resided in Petach Tikvah while Benjamin learned intensively with an older cousin, R. Zvi Puchowitz, who had been a student at the Slabodka Yeshiva and a chavrusa with the young R. Yitzchak Hutner. Benjamin Hurwitz's father remained in New York, with plans to join them after he could arrange his business holdings.

In 1928, R. Puchowitz notified the family that Benjamin Hurwitz was now ready to enter a formal yeshiva. He suggested the Yeshiva Knesseth Israel in Hebron, a branch of the Slabodka Yeshiva that had opened a few years earlier, headed by R. Moshe Mordechai Epstein, author of the Levush Mordechai. Benjamin Hurwitz entered the Hebron Yeshiva in 1928.

On March 19, 1929, Dr. Samuel Sar - who in my time at Yeshiva College, in the late 1950s, was known as Dean Sar - wrote to Benjamin Hurwitz's father: "I am delighted to inform you that the Faculty has decided to award the diploma of the Teachers Institute to your son, who is at present pursuing courses in Palestine... you are respectfully invited to be present and receive the diploma for your son."

The diploma awarded to Benjamin Hurwitz is in Hebrew, hand-written on parchment from the "Beit Midrash LeMorim Shel Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan" [Teachers Institute of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary] and declares him to be a "Moreh u'Mechanech B'Yisrael." It is signed by Bernard Revel, rosh hayeshiva and by Pinkhas Churgin, menahel. (The former was the first president of Yeshiva, and the latter became the first president of Bar-Ilan University.)

Benjamin Hurwitz learned in Hebron until the fateful day of 18 Av 5789 (Tarpat) when the Arabs of Hebron rioted and killed 67 people, including many yeshiva talmidim who were learning there during their bain hazemanim sessions. Benjamin HaLevi Hurwitz was among those killed.

In a letter written only two days before he was murdered, Benjamin Hurwitz describes his analysis of the situation which was getting more serious with each passing day. The week before the riot in Hebron, an Arab had murdered a Jew in Jerusalem. Benjamin had been to Jerusalem and recorded his impressions, as well as his part in the preparations for his mother and sisters to return to the United States while he was to continue his studies in Hebron. The letter (written in Hebrew) ended with the prescient words of consolation, "Your son who cries over the destruction of our Holy Temple." These words were the last Benjamin Hurwitz ever wrote to his father. Two days after this letter was written, and, of course, before his father received it, the Arabs of Hebron rioted and Benjamin Hurwitz was brutally killed at the age of 19 years and 3 months.

The Arab rioting was front page news throughout the world, as it seemed that it would lead to a full blown Arab rebellion against the British. The New York Times carried Benjamin Hurwitz's name and some family details every day from August 26 to August 30, 1929.

On August 28, a telegram from the American consul general in Palestine (Mr. Knabenshue) to Mrs. Hurwitz in Petach Tikvah said: "Regret report death your son at Hebron August 23. Mail report follows." The mailed 'report' said exactly the same thing. A telegram from Henry L. Stimson, U.S. Secretary of State, to Mr. Hurwitz in New York confirmed that information. Of course, by then the family knew; this was the official notification.

Among the condolence letters received by the family, were those from Dr. Bernard Revel, R. Moses Z. Margolies (popularly known by his acronym as RaMaZ; an early rosh yeshiva at RIETS), several Teachers Institute faculty members, the Histadrut HaTalmidim of Teachers Institute, the secretary of the June 1927 class, and a representative of the Young Israel Intermediates (where Benjamin Hurwitz had been an active member). Three months later, a personal letter from R. Moshe Mordechai Epstein was received, as well a formal condolence document from the Slabodka Yeshiva office in the United States presented in the name of leading rabbis in the United States at the time. Among the names listed are Baruch Ber Lebowitz (Kamenitz), R. Shimon Shkop (who, at that time, was delivering a shiur at RIETS), R. Eliezer Silver (president of the Agudath HaRabbanim), R. Bernard Levinthal (later Dr. Samuel Belkin's father-in-law), and R. Moses Z. Margolies.

In concurrence with the memorial services a month later, on September 30, 1929, The New York Times (p.20) reported that 500 people were at a memorial to the "students slain in Palestine... Last night at Yeshiva College at a meeting in memory of the slain students ... a resolution was passed for the creation of a library in memory of Hurwitz." On the first Yahrzeit, the Young Israel Synagogue held a Memorial Meeting.

Needless to say, the Hurwitz family was devastated by the loss of Benjamin. Just a few years ago, I met someone who knew my grandfather before and after 1929. She remarked on the major transformation that had taken place in him after the deaths of his close friend and cousin, the Maichater Illui, in 1928 at the age of 50; and his son, in 1929 at the age of 19.

The 75-year old tragic story of Benjamin Hurwitz is, unfortunately, still mirrored today. These days when tragedy strikes, it often leads to the formation of a Foundation or a Memorial which eventually results in an appeal to the public to participate financially in the project. In 1929, my grandfather's response was different and, in part, very personal. There were four aspects to it.

In my opinion the most significant action he took, in spite of the fact that he had lost his only son, was opening his home to the Yeshiva community. In 1920, he had bought a home in the Wavecrest section of Far Rockaway, Queens. It was a 15-room house standing on nearly an acre of ground, with many guest rooms, open lawns, shaded sections and formal gardens.

R. Hurwitz had welcomed guests there for many years. For example, when the rosh yeshiva of Mir, R. Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, (son of R. Nathan Tzvi Finkel, the famed Alter of Slabodka), and his brother-in-law, R. Avraham Tzvi Hirsch Kamai, rav of the town of Mir, had been on a fundraising tour of the United States in the mid-1920s, they stayed at this house and wrote a wonderful thank you letter upon their return to Mir. It must have made an impression on them, because, when I made my first visit to Israel in 1960 I went to visit R. Eliezer Yehuda Finkel. When he realized who I was, his first question was - "Do you still have the big house on the hill?" (We did, until 1964.)

After 1929, my grandparents' hospitality took on a different dimension. During the summer breaks between 1930 and 1933, my grandparents invited groups of senior RIETS students to spend 10-14 days with them at the seashore, thereby allowing them to get away from the hot tenements in the city. Thus, Rabbi and Mrs. Hurwitz were surrounded by their late son's classmates and contemporaries for weeks at a time. Seventy years later, I meet people who still appreciate the physical accommodations as well as the spiritual and mental stimulation my grandfather afforded them during those summer months. I can only empathetically visualize how he must have felt inwardly while talking to these young men.

In addition to the talmidim, there were several other connections between the 'house' and RIETS /YC:

The Maichater Illui, a cousin, had visited often, before 1928. R. Moshe Soloveichik, rosh yeshiva at RIETS after the Maichater, spent his first Pesach in the United States as personal guests of my grandparents. (I was told that he brought his own matzos with him.) He was accompanied by his wife, daughters and youngest son, Aaron. Before the following Rosh Hashanah 5691 (1931), R. Moshe and his wife Pesha wrote letters to my grandparents. Interestingly, the return address was: "Rabbi M. Soloweyczyk, 435 Ft. Washington Avenue, NYC." He was still using a Polish spelling of the family name. (As a more recent follow-up to this story, last year my granddaughter married R. Aaron Soloveichik's grandson. We presented them with a picture showing the chassan's grandfather with the kallah's great-grandmother that had been taken seventy years earlier.)

Dr. Bernard Revel, rosh hayeshiva of RIETS and the first president of Yeshiva College, also spent time there with his wife. After one of their visits, Mrs. Revel (whose given name was Sarah, but who my mother and aunt called Suzie) wrote a letter in which she expressed her appreciation for allowing Dr. Revel an opportunity to relax away from the tension caused by the severe financial burdens Yeshiva faced during the Great Depression. In a letter (September 1932) to my mother asking her to bring into the city some items Mrs. Revel had left in Wavecrest, she wrote: "I have no phone and am too busy to go out to make my calls...[M]y poor man [i.e., Dr. Bernard Revel] is suffering severely from his hay fever which has been complicated by asthma and I am hoping he gets relief soon...It was indeed a great sacrifice on your part but it was one of the most beautiful humanitarian acts which I have ever in my life witnessed. The hard work, motherly devotion and generosity of both your mother and father is unparalleled and is a great source of inspiration to us in these trying days at the Yeshiva. My husband and boys [Herschel and Norman] as well as myself speak of it with awe...The boys have been benefited not only physically and socially by the house environment, but it has strengthened their minds, their hearts and their devotion to Torah and its teaching and has given them the courage that comes from knowing there is someone who is vitally interested in and devoted to them."

Among the young men who spent time there, was Samuel Belkin, who would later become second president of Yeshiva. While a graduate student at Brown University in 1933, Belkin wrote several letters. Some excerpts which may be of interest to current Yeshiva students:

"You know I am a simple man...I can study seven hours without stop and sometimes waste plenty of time, but as a whole I am neither a 'batlan' nor a 'masmid.'" (Jan. 29, 1933)

"I was glad to hear from the languages department that I passed both [German and French]. If I should pass in September my preliminary examination I will actually be through with college. I would not advise you to work too hard because I came to the conclusion it does not pay." (May 18, 1933)

"My ambition was always to be a real philosopher." (July 20, 1933)

"An ideal man is one who possesses different qualities and tries to see that they should work in harmony..." (July 26, 1933)

The house has another small place in Yeshiva's history: On at least one occasion, in the mid-1930s, the Yeshiva College Women's Organization held a meeting there. A picture of the thirty or so women, including my grandmother, standing on the lawn is still used from time to time in Yeshiva's mailings.

R. Hurwitz's second means of response to Benjamin's loss was the founding support of one of Yeshiva's first serial publication. Starting with Volume 1, Number 1 in Nissan 5694 (1934), the Beit Midrash LeMorim (Teachers Institute) published a semi-annual Hebrew journal, Chorev, edited by Dr. Pinkhas Churgin. Until at least 1943, the cover of each issue carried the notice: Published by the Benjamin Hurwitz Foundation.

This journal was suggested by Dr. Churgin in a letter to my grandfather dated 11 Sivan 5693 (1933). He suggested an annual journal that could be printed in Jerusalem for a price of $100-$125 per issue and to be dedicated to the memory of Benjamin Hurwitz. Dr. Churgin asked if R. Hurwitz would be able to fund this project, in part or in whole. If he would undertake to support it, R. Hurwitz would be in charge of disbursement of funds to ensure that they are used for its intended purpose. A note, in my grandfather's hand at the end of the letter, states that he deposited $125 in the bank but that he appointed Dr. Churgin to be in charge of signing the checks. The first issue was printed in Jerusalem by Solomon Printers, but during the Second World War Chorev was printed in New York by the Shulsinger Press. After 1939 it continued to appear, on an irregular basis until 1960.

The inside cover of the first issue had a black-bordered box which read (in Hebrew, as was the entire issue): "In memory of Benjamin Hurwitz, z"l, born Nissan 25, 5670, completed his course of studies in the Teachers Institute of RIETS, went to study Torah in Yeshivat Hebron. He fell along with the martyr's of Yeshivat Hebron on that bitter day 18 Menachem Av, 5689." Among the authors in the first 122-page issue were Dr. Bernard Revel, Dr. Pinkhas Churgin, and Dr. Samuel K. Mirsky.

In addition to supporting Chorev, my grandfather also helped raise funds from people he knew in the textile business. In one particular case, Dean Sar sent him the text of a letter that he asked R. Hurwitz to send out under his own name. To indicate the financial condition of the Yeshiva, on the occasion of my parent's wedding in 1934, my grandfather sent a check for $200 made out to RIETS with the notation: "For Back Pay Only."

So, what about the Benjamin Hurwitz Award?

Chronologically speaking, this was the first Yeshiva-related response my grandfather had to the loss of his son. On March 31, 1930, Dr. Revel wrote: "It is with heavy heart that we accept your offer for the establishment of a memorial at the Yeshiva for your beloved sainted son, Benjamin... The income from the $500 you have sent will be used every year, as you suggest, as the Benjamin Hurwitz Prize (sic) to the best scholar of the Yeshiva Teachers Institute on the subject of the Bible or Jewish History (sic). The annual occasion of its award will provide an opportunity to bring vividly into the students' minds and hearts the example and inspiration of a beautiful life and heroic death of our beloved Benjamin, of blessed memory." (These sentiments were reflected in a letter of April 3, 1930 signed by Mendel Gottesman, president of the Yeshiva Endowment Foundation, Inc.)

By May 6, 1931, the fund had been raised to $800 and by 1932 it had reached $1000. This was commemorated by a panel on the bronze tablet on the wall of David H. Zysman Hall: "In Memory of Benjamin Hurwitz, created by Raphael and Esther Hurwitz." A photograph of this tablet appears in the 1934 Annual Report of the Yeshiva Endowment Foundation, Inc. (For some reason, they dated the Benjamin Hurwitz panel 1928, when it should have read 1932.) When I was a student at Yeshiva in the late 1950s, the tablet was still there, although in need of some polishing.

For 60 years the annual awardee of this prize would write a short note to the family acknowledging receipt of this award. When my mother, of blessed memory, moved to Israel in 1992, presumably without leaving a forwarding address, the letters stopped coming.

Over the past 75 years, Teachers Institute has changed its name from the Teachers Institute of RIETS, to plain Teachers Institute, to the Erna Michael College, to Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies of Yeshiva University. In a similar vein, the Benjamin Hurwitz Prize for Bible or Jewish History (c. 1932) has now become the Benjamin Hurwitz Award for Excellence in Talmud.

Hashem Yinkom Da'mo.

Dr. Reuben Rudman, YUHS '53, YC '57, BRGS '61, RIETS '61, is a Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, at Adelphi University, NY, currently living in Jerusalem and lecturing in the graduate school of the Hebrew University.