The Talmudic sages inform us that the deceased are forgotten by future generations, and that this fate befalls even great rabbis and personalities. Such is the case with the subject of the volume under review, Rabbi Dr. Samuel Belkin, the second president of Yeshiva College, which is now known as Yeshiva University (YU). Although Dr. Belkin accomplished much during his tenure as president, his reputation and record have been overshadowed by both his predecessor, Rabbi Dr. Bernard (Dov) Revel, and by his successor, Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm.
In addition, Dr. Belkin had the “misfortune” to serve as president while his colleague, as the de facto spiritual head and rosh hayeshivah, was the larger-than-life figure of the gaon, Rabbi Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the founding father of Modern Orthodoxy in North America. The Rav’s authority and aura always overshadowed that of Dr. Belkin. When thinking of YU and of Modern Orthodoxy in the second half of the twentieth century, most observers think of the Rav rather than of Dr. Belkin.Thus, this volume comes to fill an important lacuna in the study of Modern Orthodoxy and YU—the life and times of Dr. Belkin. The author of this well-researched monograph, Victor Geller served in many important executive positions on the staffs of YU, the Orthodox Union and the National Council of Young Israel. As such, he played a crucial role in building the vibrant and strong Modern Orthodoxy that emerged in the 1970s. Geller was a close associate of Dr. Belkin and was able not only to observe him up close, but also to intimately participate in his activities on behalf of the Orthodox community in the United States.
As a trained and veteran Jewish communal professional, Geller offers his learned and sagacious insights into events and situations involving Dr. Belkin’s work in building American Modern Orthodoxy after World War II. Geller’s observations, recollections and discussions make for interesting and highly rewarding reading. Geller offers the reader a host of recollections about the makers and shakers of Modern Orthodoxy that are not well known. Amongst these are his efforts on behalf of Dr. Belkin to have LIFE magazine, during the Eisenhower years, include an article about Orthodox Jewish life in a special issue about religion in America. Although the task seemed fairly easy at first, it took the steady hand of Geller, with Dr. Belkin’s guidance, to bring this project to fruition. The article, along with accompanying photographs, was able to demonstrate that Orthodoxy in America was not relegated to the dying immigrant community, but also the tens of thousands of otherwise acculturated American families who lived their daily lives guided by the values and guidelines of traditional Judaism. Projects such as these brought Judaism to the “streets” and showed the eternal values inherent in Orthodox Judaism.
Geller also offers a fascinating account of the history of the first Orthodox synagogue in Great Neck, New York. Here Geller played the role of the catalyst, providing learned advice to a tiny group of laymen seeking to break away from a Conservative congregation. The leader of this group was none other than the famed author Herman Wouk. We now take for granted that many suburban communities and areas of second and third settlements have Orthodox synagogues and communities. But that such congregations exist is largely due to the dedication of men like Geller, Dr. Belkin and Wouk. In fact, Geller’s description of Wouk’s struggle in Great Neck is evocative of the mid-nineteenth-century battle Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch led, with a small number of families, to establish an independent Orthodox congregation in Frankfurt.
When thinking of YU and of Modern Orthodoxy in the second half of the twentieth century, most observers think of the Rav rather than of Dr. Belkin.
In general, the twenty-five years after the conclusion of World War II were rough times for Orthodox Jewry. Conservative Judaism (claiming to be loyal to halachah) was on the rise, and the American congregational scene was marked by constant strife over such issues as mechitzah and driving to services on Shabbat. Orthodoxy was on the defensive in those years. Yet with the help of men like Geller, Dr. Belkin and YU succeeded in helping to create a strong American Orthodoxy. This was accomplished through outreach efforts to congregations and the training of young, English-speaking, college-educated rabbis who were able to meet the needs of the new post-War American community. Among those rabbis were men such as the late Rabbi David Stavsky of Colombus, Ohio, who traveled to various communities and succeeded in generating interest in traditional Judaism.
Geller also provides the reader with much interesting information about the history of YU. Among the subjects he touches on are Dr. Belkin’s attempt to bring the late gaon, Rabbi Eliezer M. Shach, to YU as a senior rosh yeshivah of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS). (Geller, however, does not mention Dr. Belkin’s invitation to the late Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky to join RIETS in a similar capacity.) He also discusses the fact that the Rav gave serious thought to leaving YU to become head of the Hebrew Theological College in Chicago. Had he accepted the position, Chicago would probably not be “the second city” as far as American Orthodoxy was concerned. In fact, years later the Rav’s younger brother, the gaon Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik, did accept the position. Ultimately, he created his own yeshivah in Skokie, Illinois, Yeshivas Brisk of Chicago. Yet, the book’s most important contribution is its discussion of Dr. Belkin’s impact on YU and, ultimately, on the wider arena of American Orthodoxy.
Dr. Belkin was a pioneer of higher education for Jewish women. In the fifties, against significant opposition, he established Stern College for Women. As such, Dr. Belkin’s actions were as revolutionary as the creation of the Beth Jacob schools for women was in Eastern Europe after World War I. Not only did Dr. Belkin bring about the creation of a cadre of educated Orthodox Jewish women in America, but these same women were responsible for raising halachic standards in the Modern Orthodox community in many areas of Jewish life in which women played a central role. For this alone, Dr. Belkin deserves the collective thanks of American Jewry.
Dr. Belkin was a firm proponent of the Torah Umadda school of Jewish theology. As such, he was committed to the creation of professional schools of higher Jewish education, and to the training of professional laymen dedicated to the ideals of Torah Umadda. Dr. Belkin not only did much to ensure the vitality of RIETS, which trained rabbis and educators, but he established professional schools under the auspices of YU, such as the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. These schools have produced thousands of men and women whose daily lives serve as a study in Kiddush Hashem.
Dr. Belkin treated the Rav with the greatest respect, and their relationship was a model of how executive and spiritual leadership can work in harmony.
Dr. Belkin was also a pioneer in the ba’al teshuvah movement. Together with the late Rabbi Moshe Besdin, he organized the James Striar School of General Jewish Studies (JSS) at YU for newcomers to Judaism. JSS offered an intensive course of Jewish studies to those who were not yet Orthodox. It was a model for various other schools created in the United States and Israel in the wake of the Six Day War. Thousands have since graduated from this school, including more than a few prominent rabbis and scholars.
But above all, Dr. Belkin never forgot his roots as a yeshivah “man” from Radin. He never forgot his days as a rosh mesifta (lecturer in Talmud) in The Yeshivah in New Haven, under the leadership of the chief rabbi of New Haven, Rabbi J.H. Levenberg, nor did he forget his service as a rosh yeshivah at RIETS, under Dr. Revel and the gaon Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik.
Although at times he had policy differences with the Rav, Dr. Belkin always deferred to him. Dr. Belkin treated the Rav with the greatest respect, and their relationship was a model of how executive and spiritual leadership can work in harmony. Dr. Belkin was directly responsible for the hiring of such European scholars as Rabbis David Lifshitz, Avigdor Cyperstein, Shimon Romm (a friend from his days at the yeshivah in Slonim), Yeruchem Gorelik (a top student of the Brisker Rav, Reb Velvele) and other staff members at RIETS. Although not mentioned by Geller, in the late fifties, Dr. Belkin established a kollel for European scholars at YU. But Dr. Belkin also helped to develop American-born scholars to eventually take their places in the leadership ranks at YU. Thus, Dr. Belkin was extremely dedicated to the well-being and growth of RIETS. When thinking about the pioneers of American Orthodoxy, few think of Dr. Belkin, yet without his foresight and executive talent, American Orthodoxy would have a different look today. While the Rav was the developer of the soul of American Orthodoxy, Dr. Belkin was the developer of the body of American Orthodxy.
As with all books of this sort, there are some omissions. I would have been interested in learning more about Dr. Belkin’s halachic outlook and about his relationship with the European roshei yeshivah at the other American yeshivot. His roles as rosh yeshivah and lamdan (Talmudic scholar) need explication too.
Contrary to the doomsayers, Modern Orthodoxy is growing; it is proud of its past and confident of its future. Hopefully, this fine volume will bring Dr. Belkin’s work to the attention of the wider American Jewish community, and his personality and record will be recognized by a wider range of people. It is my wish that Geller’s work will inspire others to record and document their experiences in creating a vibrant and dedicated Orthodox Jewish life in America.
Mr. Alpert is the reference librarian at Mendel Gottesman Library of Hebraica/Judaica at Yeshiva University.