NEW YORK (VINnews) — A mitzvah campaign by Chabad chasidim in Manhattan this week succeeded in arousing a priest to his Jewish roots after more than 80 years, according to a report by Matzav.
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During a regular trip to Manhattan, Rabbi Yosef Kratz, caretaker of 770, and Rabbi Yehuda Pevzner who coordinates the Crown Heights Mitzva Tank parked the tank near Union Square and started asking passersby if they were Jewish and would like to perform a Mitzvah.
Seeing an elderly priest approaching, the two decided to ask him as a joke if he was Jewish.
“The truth is that when we asked him if he was Jewish, we were sort of joking. Why would we ask a priest, dressed in long flowing white robes, with a huge cross dangling across his chest, if he was Jewish?” Rabbi Kratz told Anash.org.
However the priest stunned them by replying in the affirmative.
“What do you mean? Was your mother Jewish?”
He answered, “Both my parents were Jews.”
It transpired that as a child the priest had been placed in a church to survive the Nazi onslaught and although his parents had perished, he survived in the church. Following the war, he began studying to be a priest, but despite affirming Christianity he suffered antisemitism from his peers. A teacher told him that a Jew will always be persecute until he becomes a successful pastor, a goal he eventually accomplished.
After a long career abroad, the priest moved to New York 15 years ago.
“Why don’t you come to synagogue?” Rabbi Kratz asked the man.
He wasn’t sure, “Is a priest allowed to come?”
“I work for the Lubavitcher central synagogue in Crown Heights, and I invite you to come.”
The priest asked for a business card, and said he would keep in touch. The two Lubavitch chasidim continued to speak with him about his past.
“I talked to him about speaking to people about the Holocaust. He demurred, saying that we have to pray that it will never happen again. I encouraged him to speak to the young people about it, thus ensuring that it won’t happen again,” Rabbi Kratz said.
Before leaving, the elderly man, who until recently had no visible connection to Yiddishkeit, said he would stay in touch, and try to visit 770. “Make sure to prepare some gefilte fish and kugel for me,” he told them. “Or at least some chopped liver.” Apparently he had not forgotten the taste of Jewish food from his youth, but his soul also yearned for some connection to his Jewish roots.
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That’s a great story. This man still has a “pintele yid”.
This shows the great mitzva of a “Mitzva Tank”.
Even if nothing more comes of this, this priest was a “tinnuk…” Unfortunately, he had little choice and is a victim of the Churbon.
A guten Shabbos.
very sad story, much kudos to the Chabad guys out on the street where they get ignored, weird looks or even hostility. True soldiers of the Rebbe.
A priest named Father Jacob in NYC in the 1970’s was the child of Holocaust victims, hidden in a convent. He was known for being a total mensch, helping many with good deeds and going the extra mile. He fought the Church over some of its intolerant doctrine. I wonder if this story was about him…
This is really great. I wish they would have taken his number and have someone follow up. He might need a second invite.
I know an Eastern Orthodox (not Catholic) priest whose parents were Jewish. They were not practicing at all, and he decided his spritual path lay elsewhere. I don’t see him often, but he’s a good man and a could become a good friend by now, if not for Covid. (I met him when he was officiating at a Funeral.) If his responsibilities didn’t tie him up for Friday night, I’d have had him over for Shabbos by now.
Reminds me of the (true) story of Edgardo Mortara, who was kidnapped in 1858 by the church and pope pius 9th ym”sh,at the age of 6 and eventually became a priest. Many decades later he met with his family and it was noted he asked for the Jewish foods he remembered.
& what may end up clinching him back to Judaism like with most business deals, is food & a good meal, as already hinted by the priest with his Gefilte fish & Chopped liver, and as we shall see in Parsha in 2 weeks time with יצחק אבינו being in need of good vension to bestow Benediction
This is no the first case, there is a Jewish priest in Israel who knows that he is Jewish, but because of similar circumstances, ended up in a church as a child. The Church refuses to give back the Jewish children.
CHAVAL.
GP
What a great story!
I hope they took his information too. So in case he doesn’t get the courage to reach out to them they can reach out to him.
Nice story. Does Hashem want us to post a picture in such a case?
Nice bubbemeiser from Chabad to justify their existence. It’s a fairy tale and I don’t believe they would make fun of a priest by asking if he is Jewish.
The priest saw the mitzvah tank involved, which has יחי אדונינו מורנו מלך המשיח לעולם ועד on it, and he fit in with the theme of having a deceased messiah.