The Jewish New Year is a time to reflect and consider the actions we have taken over the past 365 days. The Bible and our morals tell us that we should strive to be good people all the time, whether it's convenient or not. I'm not sure if there was some sort of memo, but a lot of rabbis used this week's events on Wall Street to reinforce why it's important to be an upstanding and moral person. My rabbi in Stoughton reminded us of the deeds of Aaron Feuerstein, the CEO of Malden Mills. When a fire destroyed his Massachsetts textile plant in 1995, Feuerstein took the moral high ground and paid his 3,000 employees their regular wages until a new plant could be built.
My sister's rabbi in Baltimore took a slightly different approach with his sermon. Rather than reflect on the good deeds of others, he focused on past and present members of the American Jewish community who chose a different path than Mr. Feuerstein. One rogue character he mentioned as an example was a Jewish man from New England named Samuel "the Chief" Levine, a Boston ward boss who worked under Mayor James Curley. Very few Jews under the age of 60 can recall the exploits of Chief Levine, so I was pretty surprised that his notoriety extended all the way down to Baltimore.
Chief Levine was my great-uncle, though I never had the chance to actually meet him. My grandfather rarely spoke of him, so most of the information I have on Chief is from what I read in a book called The Death of an American Jewish Community. Before World War II, Mattapan, Dorchester, Roxbury was almost predominately Jewish, with the rest of the population living in pockets throughout the North End and what used to be the East End (now Government Center). As different ethnic groups clamored for power over City Hall, Chief Levine was assigned to gather votes for the city's elite. He worked closely with Mayor Curley, a mayor so corrupt that he was and still is the only American mayor to ever have been re-elected from a jail cell.
During the weeks before Passover, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, the Chief and his fellow Brunswick Club members served Jewish shops along Blue Hill Avenue with a nonnegotiable list of the items needed to provide festive holiday baskets for the needy of all races. When the burly Chief told a local butcher than an eighteen-pound turkey would greatly enhance the holiday season for a local family, he didn't mean fourteen pounds and he didn't mean maybe....
....Votes cost me money and they cost me favors. I got jobs. I got housing. I got anything they asked me for. I expected the same in return. If Chief Levine told them to vote for Mickey Mouse, then they voted for Mickey Mouse. I paid for and was accorded that kind of loyalty. - page 29, Death of an American Jewish Community
So was Chief Levine a bad guy? From what I've read and heard about him, I would categorize him as a somewhat shady character whose intentions were good. Politics from the immigration wave of 1880 up until the Second World War were rife of stories of corruption and bribery. Whether it was stuffing the ballot box in Tammany Hall or paying for votes in Boston, men like Chief Levine were iconic of what life was like for first and second generation Americans in the early 20th century.
Chances are that nobody is going to offer you a job or a $20 bill to vote for a particular candidate this November 4, but the legacy of men like the Chief lives on this election season. Whether it's "swiftboating" a particular candidate or union-backed politican caving on a particular issue, justice and morals continue to rest squarely on the conscience of the American voter.
In an ideal world we would all strive to live by the actions of people like Aaron Feurenstein. However, as mere mortals we will all cave into our own self-interests during bouts of weakness. It's easy to get swept up with modern day Chief Levines, who convince us that it's more rewarding to go with the flow than to swim against the stream. The Jewish New Year gives us a time to wipe the slate clean and to live the types of lives that we were born to lead. Whether you choose to be a Levine or a Feurenstein or a combination thereof is completely up to you.
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3 comments:
Hmmm... I think I heard the exact same sermon. Wouldn't have been in Newton would it? On the other hand, perhaps it was a common sermon all across the area due to current events.
I think the best part is that it doesn't take a Jewish New Year, a secular new year, a Christmas or a birthday to decide that you want to act out of kindness to others.
You can do that today. This very minute - and believing in God or in a political party is not a requirement.
It's awesome. Great post Sher.
Just discovered your blog, (via today's link to this post from adamg at Universal Hub) have subscribed, and look forward to reading more.
We have the honor of davening at the same shul as Mr. Feuerstein.
I've lost track of the number of references to him on-line. This is the very definition of being a "kiddush Hashem."
My grandparents had a drugstore on Blue Hill Avenue, and were the last to leave their neighborhood.
My grandmother never mentioned your uncle in particular, but she shared colorful accounts of those times, when she and my grandfather, along with the other business owners, were squeezed from every angle by politicians, police, and criminals, who seemed like so many sports teams, distinguishable from one another only by the cut of their uniforms.
I don't know how to evaluate Chief Levine in the light of all this. Those were murky times.
Thank you, for this very appropriate post during the asseret yimei teshuva. I've printed your post, in order to discuss it with my kids at the Shabbat table tonight (Shabbat shuva).
It'll be particularly appropriate (and I hope effective) because they know and respect Mr. Feuerstein and his family, and because of their great grandparents' connection to your uncle. I won't slander him, but will make the point about the choice between being a kiddush Hashem and being a chillul Hashem, and how the choice is before each of us always, in every generation.
When we die, we persist in the memories of the living. Our choices determine whether those memories will be for a blessing, or otherwise.
Thanks again. Gmar chatima tova!
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