Monsey Memories: Rabbi Avraham Lehrman
Yitz Fried
The conservative Congregations Sons
of Israel in Nyack was founded in 1891 as the orthodox Congregation of Nyack, B’nai
Israel. In a book written about the history of the congregation, we find the
following:
“Around this time, Gert Goldstein’s
parents brought a family to America that was fleeing the pogroms in Poland. The
father of that family, Abraham Lehrman, was an ordained rabbi and became the
first salaried spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Nyack..
The great biographer of Rabbanim in
America—Rabbi Benzion Eisenstadt, author of Doros Ha’achronim and anshei
Hasheim —writes glowingly about “his friend, a chacham and wonderful darshan
who hails from the greatest dynasties” the Vilna Ga’on, as well as numerous
Polish Chassidishe Gedolim—Rabbi Avraham Lehrman.
Rabbi Lehrman’s father and his grandfather
were each named Eliyahu, after their famous and illustrious ancestor, the Gra
of Vilna—and they hailed from Russia, where the Lehrman family were Ge’onim,
Rabbanim, and mechabrei seforim for generations. On his mother’s
side, however, he was descended from the Chozeh of Lublin, and the sheloh
hakadosh. Thus, the life and tenure of Rav Lehrman would reflect a fusion
of these two worlds; as he was known for his brilliance in Torah, as well as
deeply moving and inspiring oratory.
At some point, they moved over to
Poland, to a town called Mishlenitz (in the Krakow vicinity). At the young age
of 22, Avraham Lehrman received semichah from the Rav Yechiel Meir
Halevi, the Ostrovtzer Rebbe, who was known to have fasted for forty years—and
was one of the leading lights of Chassidus in Congress Poland.
The period
prior to WWI was a tumultuous and difficult one for Jews of Eastern Europe. In
addition to the havoc and displacement, and hunger, there were also regular
pogroms against the Jews. A benefactor in America sponsored the young Lehrman
family. His first stop was at Knesses Yisroel in Harlem, which announced in Der
Morgen Zhournal in 1915 that following the sweetest derashos that
he had given last Shabbos—which had drawn crowds—the young Rabbi Lehrman
was hired instantly. It notes that he has already begun teaching classes for
older boys of Bar Mitzvah age, and the Talmud Torah hopes to grow under his
leadership.
In 1917, Rabbi
Lehrman became the first salaried Rabbi of Congregation Bnai Israel in Nyack,
where he remained for a decade.
In the 1920’s,
Brownsville was a burgeoning Jewish metropolis—with shtieblach and shuls
in abundance. In 1927, Rabbi Avraham Gelerenter, who was the Rav of Talmud
Torah Tiferes Yisroel, also known as the “Pennsylvania Avenue Shul”, passed
away.
Rabbi Lehrman
was hired to replace him and thus began the glorious and final chapter in his
tenure. Located on Pennsylvania Avenue, between Pitkin and Belmont Avenues in
Brownsville, Tiferes Israel was one of the most prominent shuls in Brownsville*.
Rav Lehrman, who was a mesmerizing orator in English as well, would deliver two
derashos on Shabbos, one in English and one in Yiddish. He would draw
great crowds.
Unfortunately,
this period, which lasted two decades, was cut short, as the Rav suffered from
kidney failure. He was niftar on 2 Av, 1945, and interred in Mt. Judah
Cemetery.