Washington Heights, NY – With small but energetic steps, Walter Schnerb turned from a cutting machine to his desk, with a page in his hand. Using his index finger, he reached inside a small blue glue pot, then swiftly stuck a thin strip of paper over a ripped edge of the page to repair it.
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Mr. Schnerb, 82, was born and raised in Frankfurt and left his homeland in 1938. He is the quintessential German Jew, and like few people alive, he represents the old Washington Heights, which in its heyday was called Frankfurt on the Hudson, home to at least 20,000 displaced refugees from Germany and Austria during the Nazi rise to power.
The names remaining in the lobby of Mr. Schnerb's building speak volumes: Goldfarb, Rosenberg, Zimmerman, Hoffman, Mandelbaum, Schoenberg. But most of these early residents have long since died or moved away.
The Schnerb family moved into an apartment on West 176th Street in 1939, and a few years later, Walter Schnerb became an apprentice to a bookbinder named Gabriel Harwitt. Since 1951, he has owned the business, which is still called Harwitt Bindery, and he operates out of a large basement room filled with dusty machines and documents waiting to be repaired.
Along with his wife, Elsie, Mr. Schnerb made a living repairing and binding dissertations, scores and other reading material.
Since the death of his wife last year, Mr. Schnerb has been doing everything in the bindery by himself. His wife used to stitch together different sections of manuscripts using a sewing machine, but Mr. Schnerb never learned to operate the machine, so he resorts to needle and thread.
The only interruptions of his days are occasional visits from customers and the obligatory prayer break at 1:15 p.m.
The memories of his late wife, to whom he proposed in 1951, are ever-present. "She was something special," Mr. Schnerb said in a creaky voice, "Everybody loved her." [NY Times]
9:10: I wasn’t suggesting that this article is anti-semitic. just that the NYT’s pattern of news coverage leaves a lot to be desired.
9:45: again, i wasn’t suggesting that this fellow is chassidic. not at all. being chassidic myself, I do know the difference.
And, oh yes, being ten years out of law review, i will capitalize whatever words i want to. so, there!
if i’m not mistaken, his einkle’s [or nephew’s] chassuna is tonight!
This was probably brought to the Times’ attention when Mr Schnerb amus”h was profiled by Mishpacha as part of their article about the kehilla of Washington Heights.
Big City Actuary:
I’m reticent to accede to your insinuation that this quintessential yekke hails from the Chasidic realm.
Oh, and for your edification, in normative Standard English “Orthodox Jews,” being a proper noun, receives the Upper Case, as does the beginning of a sentence.
Big city, not every article that appears in the paper, be it about Monsey and its tax cheat supervisor, or about German Jews in Washington Hts, is Anti-Semetic.
this article fits in nicely with NYT’s world view that orthodox jews belong in museums: “Oh, look – how cute! And, there’s a Chassidic one! Mommy, can we touch it?”