The Kosher Bookworm:In tribute to the 100th yahrtzeit of the Jewish victims of the Titanic tragedy

One hundred years ago this Friday, April 20th, the 28th day of Nissan, the RMS Titanic sank on its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg, killing over 1500 passengers and crew.

The saga that grew out of this tragedy has been the subject of numerous books, documentaries, and films that, when taken together, serve as a legendary resource for generations present and deep into the future.

Having known personally a survivor of this disaster in my youth on the Lower East Side and having taught both the book, “A Night To Remember” as well as the film of the same name at FDR High School for many years, I have come to have a deep respect for what this tragedy has come to represent in the annals of both world, American, and to a more limited, yet important extent, Jewish history.

Recently, a new book was published entitled, “Voyagers of the Titanic: Passengers, Sailors, Shipbuilders, and the Worlds They Came From” [William Morrow/Harper Collins 2012].Its author is the acclaimed British biographer Richard Davenport-Hines.

Among all the books that I previewed on this subject, this was the only work that devoted respectable space and scholarship to the Jewish victims of this tragedy. It will be my honor to share his take on this with you.

Aside from the now legendary roles played by Isidore and Ida Strauss and Ben Guggenheim, no more has been noted by most historians of the other Jews, of all economic strata, who were to experience either death or salvation on that shared fateful journey. This work briefly introduces us to numerous Jewish personalities, from Manhattan affluence to the poverty of the Pale of Settlement, who were to share a vessel of transit to destinations then, as yet, unknown.

Among these are the young diamond dealer, Jakob Birnbaum, originally from Cracow; Samuel Goldenberg, the Broadway lace importer; William Greenfield, the prominent furrier; and garment merchant Martin Rothschild.

And we have a representation of Jews from Eastern Europe. Most of these Jewish passengers embarked at Southampton. A brief notation can be made here of a few of the more colorful personalities; one is David Livshin. According to the author, “We know a little of Livshin’s personal history: he had come to England in 1911, worked in Manchester as a jeweler, and married there a young woman from Lithuania who made sheitels. She was now pregnant. We know nothing of Livshin’s life on board the Titanic: he did not have a future.”

We learn of others; consider the following:

“Another Jewish passenger -- they were all supplied with kosher food – was Eliezer Gilinski, a locksmith aged twenty-two from Ignalina, a town in Lithuania…. Doubtless he had left Lithuania to avoid military service under the Russians and racial prejudice.”

There was also Berk Trembisky, thirty-two years old and a native of Warsaw, and Leah Aks also a Warsaw native who had left Poland for London where she married a tailor. She was to travel on the Titanic with their ten month old son Frank to join him in Norfolk, Virginia. Their saga after their rescue was to be among the great legends of the Titanic experience.

However, what peaked my interest most was the author’s off handed reference above to the availability of kosher food on the Titanic. This led me on an unusual trail of research that I shall now share with you.

This past weekend’s edition of the nation’s oldest Jewish English language paper, The Jewish Exponent of Philadelphia, featured an article written by Marshall Weiss of the Dayton Jewish Observer entitled, “Kashrut Aboard the Titanic Sheds Light on Immigration.” This excellent piece of journalism warrants your attention. It represents a precious piece of newly discovered Jewish history.

A brief outline of the facts now follow. Just remember the venue, the historic context, the dire economic state of these Jews, and the sacrifice that they made to eat according to our faith’s strictures.

Weiss goes into great detail describing the history of the recent availability of kosher food on trans-Atlantic ships.

Consider the following:

“Charles Kennell was among the nearly 700 crew members to die that night. Born in Cape Town, South Africa, the 30-year old Kennel signed on to the White Star Line’s Titanic on April 4, 1912. He listed his address as 6 Park View, Southampton, the port city in southeast England from which the Titanic would embark.

“Kennel had already served on the Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic, which took its maiden voyage in 1911. Now he came aboard the larger more luxurious Titanic for wages of four pounds a month.

“Kennel was the ‘Hebrew cook’ for the Titanic, which had kosher service.”

Further, according to Weiss, “Before liners offered kosher food, Jews had to fend for themselves, bringing their own food. Some didn’t survive.”

Note is made of a Washington Post article dated, November 2, 1909, about Gisella Greiner, a “young Hebrew immigrant,” who died of starvation in Ellis Island’s hospital. Kosher food was not available during her nine day journey to these shores and she chose to fast.

Weiss brings to our attention that detailed knowledge about the kosher food situation on the Titanic is scarce. Nevertheless, there was evidence, as noted in this article of china, stoneware, and silver-plate that were marked in Hebrew and English either “meat” or “milk.” Further, there is a copy of the White Star Line’s food menu for third class that states the following:

“Kosher meat supplied and cooked for Jewish passengers as desired.”

It should be noted that Weiss gives credit to much of his research to Charles Haas, president of the Titanic International Society and John Eaton, who together co-authored “Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy”.

One last fact from Weiss’ article that I found most riveting is the following:

“A day after their arrival at New York’s Pier 54 at 9:30 pm on April 18th aboard the Carpathia, The New York Times reported that “A score of the Titanic’s steerage were taken to the Hebrew Sheltering Home and Immigrant Aid Society, 229 East Broadway, for the night.”

According to HIAS, the agency assisted 27 Titanic survivors.

My dear readers, 229 East Broadway was soon after the above episode to become the home, for most of the next century to the Young Israel of Manhattan.

This shul was the founding synagogue of the Young Israel movement, and the shul where I was to be Bar Mitzva on Shabbat Eikev, 1959.

To this day no one knows the full list of names of those of the Jewish faith who perished in this tragedy. This Friday is their yahrtzeit. I intend to light a candle in their sacred memory, Thursday night after Maariv. I do hope and trust that many of you will do the same.