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Biography essay
Biography essay
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Mike Tress, otherwise known as Reb Elemelech Tress, was the founder and President of the world renowned Agudas Yisroel of America. Mike wasn’t just an ordinary man; rather, he was a man worthy of great admiration. Reading this book has taught me many valuable lessons that I’d love to share. Mike tress was born in America in the year 1909 and was niftar 58 short years later.Mike wasn’t an ordinary gadol; rather, he was raised in a more secular environment. Aside from the public school he attended, Mike joined an afternoon cheder, where he was taught nothing compared to what yeshiva boys learn today. After graduating Queens College mike was introduced to Zeirei Agudath Yisroel via a classmate Aharon M. Dershowitz. Mike was a man who continuously …show more content…
Mikes father had died when he was only a little boy and you’d never believe it by looking at his mental state. The financial problems he went through being that he left an exceptional job in place for volunteering all his time toward Klal Yisroel, was only something such a holy person could handle. Although Mike hadn’t gone through the war he suffered every time a single Jew was not granted a visa to enter the united states. In order to understand this concept we need to know that Mike was an exceptional man whom throughout the war worked day in and day out trying to grant suffering yidden in Europe. Mike suffered to the extent that once when he heard that a specific person was not granted to enter the U.S.A he fainted on the spot. In conclusion Mike was an exceptional man with exceptional middos and there is much to learn from him. Over the course of this assignment I’ve been thinking about the many areas I can and imy”h will change in. Mike helped everyone it didn’t matter if you were his best friend, his neighbour or unknown to him, the only thing that matters was that you were jew. So too in our days it doesn’t matter if you’re smart, granddaughter of the gadol hador or good looking – everyone should be treated the same way. I hope this writing has influenced you because it surely impacted
Throughout Mike’s life, he had the fortunate experience of having some inspirational mentors. I have identified four of his numerous mentors as the most critical to his development, both educationally and personally.
Mike was also a paranoid person. For example, he gave the wrong address and phone number to the school so if something happened they could not contact him.
In studying the Jewish elderly members of the Center, Myerhoff attempted to understand the people there as an isolated society with a distinct culture. Through participant observation, as well as carefully recorded interviews and conversations, Myerhoff aimed to document this culture and understand it as a basis for unity among the Center members. Her immersion in this culture along with her anthropological perspective made her successful in representing the people of the Center. In her book, Number the Days, Myerhoff provides readers with an ethnographic analysis of the existence of a culture. After reading the book, I feel that I have a comprehensive understanding of the Center people. Through her descriptions, based on observation, and her recorded dialogues Myerhoff actually offers readers an illustration of this `society.' "She uses this material to show us the very processes through which her subjects weave meaning and identity out of their memories and experiences," thus not only presenting the culture itself, but defining the context in which it emerged (Turner (in Myerhoff), xv).
The Silber Medal winning biography, “Surviving Hitler," written by Andrea Warren paints picture of life for teenagers during the Holocaust, mainly by telling the story of Jack Mandelbaum. Avoiding the use of historical analysis, Warren, along with Mandelbaum’s experiences, explains how Jack, along with a few other Jewish and non-Jewish people survived.
Although she always denied claims of having a distinct Jewish calling, being a second generation German Jewish immigrant, she has always been associated with Jewish New York. Wald has never laid claim to being a crusader for the Jewish people, and yet most of the information published about her comes from the Jewish community trying to sell her as an activist for the Jewish cause. Marjorie N. Feld gives readers a critical look into the life and work of woman dedicated to revealing the similarities of people not their differences. Lillian Wald’s story is an important one because she spent her life working towards a universal vision that would group people together and yet remembered by her difference from other progressive reformers of the time, being Jewish. In this book Feld describes Wald not as person fighting for a particular group, but a person fighting for humanity's equality.
Taitz, Emily, and Cheryl Tallan. "Entrepreneurs." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 1 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. December 4, 2011 .
The unimaginable actions from German authorities in the concentration camps of the Holocaust were expected to be tolerated by weak prisoners like Wiesel or death was an alternate. These constant actions from the S.S. officers crushed the identification of who Wiesel really was. When Wiesel’s physical state left, so did his mental state. If a prisoner chose to have a mind of their own and did not follow the S.S. officer’s commands they were written brutally beaten or even in severe cases sentenced to their death. After Wiesel was liberated he looked at himself in the mirror and didn’t even recognize who he was anymore. No prisoner that was a part of the Holocaust could avoid inner and outer turmoil.
Roosevelt’s death is followed by Reuven’s fever, and David Malter’s and Reb Saunders’s illnesses (Potok 189). They are both ill on the day in May when the war in Europe was over. Furthermore, the reports of the German concentration camps shock the Jewish community. Reuven is devastated by the stories of destruction, and David Malter and Reb Saunders weep for the loss of millions of European Jews. Hence, the revelation of the Holocaust in Europe is followed by David Malter’s heart attack. Although the historical tragedies do not directly cause the characters’ illnesses, its consequences imply that World War II is not merely a setting for the novel, but an essential influence on its characters’ lives. In addition, although both David and Reb are pained by the mass slaughter of the Jewish people, their political responses are profoundly different. Hence, the revelation of the Holocaust and end of World War II emphasizes their conflicts based on opposing beliefs on Judaism. Reb Saunders accepts the Holocaust as God’s will and, thinks that Jews should wait for the Messiah to come to lead them to the Promised Land according to a conservative interpretation of Jewish tradition. On the other hand, David Malter argues that Jews cannot wait for God any longer, and they must found a Jewish state in
The Eastern European Jews had many troubles before immigrating to America. Jews are well known for overcoming hardships that are thrown at them. In A Bintel Brief, they weren’t exactly overcoming genocide, but they were having many hardships that would be tough for anyone including love, missing family members, poverty, and different religious problems. Many Jews had nothing but the clothes on their backs when they arrived in America. Few had money to bring along with them, all though some did have money. The majority of the people or families that came to America had to start with nothing, and work from the ground up. Some of the people were working for a measly two dollars a week. The Eastern European Jews at that time weren’t working for themselves most of the time. Most of the time they had whole families to feed, or they had prior obligations they had to fulfill. Many of the Jewish people’s wages were put towards a ship fare, to get their family out of Eastern Europe and into the free America. The majority of the Jews were working in shops all over. Many of the Jews were persecuted. They weren’t allowed to have certain jobs. One instance in the book a mother wrote in for her son, who desperately wanted to be a chemist. The mother was outraged, because many people were saying that they wouldn’t hire a Jewish chemist. A lot of the immigrated Jews were finding partners that weren’t of the same religion. The book mentions Gentile and Jewish relationships a countless number of times. Many of the submitters found their relationship with a gentile was not working, that they started out in love, but the other is teaching the wrong things to their children. On the other hand, many Jews were becoming freethinkers.
Eliezer Wiesel loses his faith in god, family and humanity through the experiences he has from the Nazi concentration camp.
He wanted to be challenged in both his life and in his faith. He wanted to know that his faith was real, to literally depend on God and God alone. As opposed to his life, job and school being the number one and God being in the background. He had never literally needed to depend on God, but he wanted to and he needed to. He had then discovered a way to do all of this, and a way to find God in a way that he would know is real. Though thought of as strange, and in many cases looked down upon he knew he had to. Mike was going to become homeless for a 5 month period. With nothing but his backpack and a sleeping bag. No food, and no money. He would attempt to quite literally live off of God. But he would not do this alone, and therefor needed to find someone just as crazy as himself. What mike wanted, was a traveling partner, someone to keep him company.
Einstein, Stephen. & Kukoff, Lydia. (1989). Every Person's Guide to Judaism. New York: UAHC Press.
In “Keeping Memory Alive”, Elie Wiesel shared his remembrance of living in the ghetto and surviving World War II. He stated, “That I have tried to keep memory alive, that I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices.” Wiesel feels as if we should all remember the concentration camps and stand up for the unfair treatment that they received. “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim,” Wiesel
The Rev. Mark B. McFadden was born and reared in Lebanon, VA. He is the fourth child of the late Wayne and Elnor Mae Hoops McFadden. He is a graduate of Lebanon High School. Upon graduation from high school the Rev. McFadden served in the U.S. Army for four years as a Chaplain’s Assistant and in linguistics. After four years in the Army, the Reve. McFadden completed a B.A. in Theology at Lee University; and a Master of Divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary.
“The Perils of Indifference” is a speech that Elie Wiesel delivered in Washington D.C. on April 12, 1999, exactly 54 years after his release from the Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald by American troops. Both Congress along with President Clinton and Mrs. Clinton were present to hear the speech. Wiesel spoke briefly about what it was like in the concentration camps, but he focused mostly on the topic of Indifference. His speech was effective in its use of rhetoric to convince the audience that as individuals and as a world culture we cannot afford to become indifferent to the suffering around us.