Sep: WAR IN ISRAEL #11
Baruch Hashem, a rabbi's pick of the month's best moments.
PHOTO OF THE MONTH
COMEDY OF THE MONTH
TORAH THOUGHT OF THE MONTH
*Recommended by our beloved member, Steve Harris.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
SONG OF THE MONTH
NOACHIDE HERO OF THE MONTH
JEWISH HERO OF THE MONTH
MEMES FOR ISRAEL
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PRO-ISRAEL MOMENT
SHIDDUCH CORNER:
Torah Classes with Rabbi Welton:
All Times are Eastern. Classes meet online.
SECURITY FOR ISRAEL: Mon nights, Google Meet Video, 7-715pm. Discussing the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s opinions and advice for keeping Israel (and the world!) secure.
WED PARSHAH CLASS: Wednesday, 11-1130am, WhatsApp Video. In this class, we analyze and debate the weekly Torah portion, just like they do in Yeshivahs!
THURS NIGHT TORAH: Thurs, 8-830pm, WhatsApp Video. For Young Jewish Professionals. We learn some Maimonides & watch short YouTube videos.
ARTICLE OF THE MONTH:
“The Historic Jewish Cemetery of Charlotte” by NILS SKUDRA. Edited by TRP Staff.
Recently, I took a day trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, with the goal of visiting the city’s different museums and historic sites. Among these locations, I was especially interested in touring the Hebrew Cemetery, home to the graves of various Jewish residents of Charlotte dating back to the 19th century. These included several Jewish Confederate soldiers, whose graves I was particularly interested in seeing because of my passionate love of Civil War history.
Upon arrival at the Hebrew Cemetery, I was given a tour by a local historian and member of the Jewish community, who possessed an immense knowledge of Charlotte’s Jewish history. Venturing to the older section of the cemetery, he showed me the graves of four Jewish Confederate soldiers: Louis Leon, Julius Roessler, and the brothers Jonas and Philip Schiff. Private Leon famously wrote the Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, a memoir of his wartime experiences.
When considering how Jewish Confederate soldiers sought to accommodate their Jewish lifestyle to a predominantly Christian military setting, the Torah’s laws on ethical conduct in wartime are particularly noteworthy. Deuteronomy 23:10 states, “When you go forth against your enemies and are in camp, you shall keep yourself from every evil thing,” which was interpreted by the Sages in the Tannaitic Midrash as referring to “matters of defilement and purity, tithes, incest, idolatry, bloodshed and slander[.]” Because of the loosening of moral restraints that typically takes place in wartime, the Torah emphasizes the importance of purity and physical cleanliness in the military camp, explaining, ‘“Because the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to save you and to give up your enemies before you; therefore your camp must be holy, that He may not see anything indecent among you, and turn away from you’ (Deut. 23:15).” For Jewish soldiers serving in a largely non-Jewish environment, the commandments on purity and cleanliness would have also likely been interpreted in reference to maintaining kosher dietary restrictions, which required them to improvise or receive traditional Jewish food parcels from their families at home. In addition, observant Jewish Confederate soldiers would return home on furloughs to commemorate the Jewish holidays, although the local historian noted that Private Leon did not take this opportunity since he was more camp-oriented and preferred to stay with his comrades on the march.
Another notable Charlotte Jewish resident whom the local historian talked about was Samuel Wittkowsky, an immigrant from East Prussia who became a merchant and operated several stores in Alexander County, Caldwell County, and Boone. In May 1865, when North Carolina governor Zebulon Vance was arrested in Statesville by Union cavalry, Wittkowsky volunteered to drive Vance in his carriage to the depot in Salisbury since they only had pack horses available. Following Vance’s release, Wittkowsky helped him to open a law practice in Charlotte, which led to Vance’s defense of Tom Dula in the Laura Foster murder case. According to the local historian, Wittkowsky’s generous aid played an important role in Vance’s transformation into an opponent of antisemitism, articulated in his highly publicized “Scattered Nation” address, although he remained a committed white supremacist in his stances toward African Americans.
As I left the Hebrew Cemetery to explore the other historical landmarks and museums of Charlotte, I went with a profound appreciation for its remarkable Jewish history that was embodied in the graves that I had visited. Furthermore, the cemetery tour reinforced my impression of the role of place as a central part of Southern Jewish identity. Throughout my time living in North Carolina, I have found this to be a unique aspect of Southern life since people here are deeply rooted and can trace their ancestry back to the Revolutionary and Civil War periods. Learning about the Charlotte Jewish community demonstrated that this is also true for Southern Jews since many of them have ancestors who settled in the Southern states as far back as colonial times. This unique connection between place and identity is something I’ve found to be entirely absent among Jews in my home state of California, which has a much more transient culture – many Californians are likely to say that their parents or grandparents came to California from out of state, so there isn’t as strong of a sense of regional identity. By visiting the Hebrew Cemetery of Charlotte and studying Charlotte’s Jewish history, we can develop a new appreciation for the role of place in shaping a distinctive Jewish identity tied to Southern culture.
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