Last month, the Kleinman Holocaust Education Center presented a world premiere exhibit, titled Comfort, Comfort My People, marking 50 years since the passing of Rabbi Yaakov Rosenheim. Rabbi Rosenheim was the founder and president of the Agudath Israel World organization, the international umbrella organization representing the Orthodox Jewish community, from 1912 to 1965. The premiere was held at the Agudath Israel Convention at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Stamford, Connecticut.
The KHEC Rosenheim Collection features never-before-seen original artifacts, documents, and photos from Agudath Israel’s history and its founder and president, brought together for the first time in more than a half-century after years held in private collections in Israel and the U.S.
One of the items in the exhibit is a letter composed in 1933 by the Orthodox Jewish community in Germany, addressed to the leaders of the Nazi Party. It was an appeal to the government asking for religious practices to continue, cosigned by Yaakov Rosenheim. Other artifacts in the exhibit include institutional materials such as the Founding Document of the Agudath Israel, Yaakov Rosenheim’s wartime diary detailing rescue efforts, and personal items such as his tallis bag and kesubah.
“Rabbi Rosenheim created the organization that is the collective voice of the Orthodox Jewish community, and it was an honor to celebrate his legacy with this exhibit,” said Rabbi Sholom Friedmann, director and chief executive officer of the KHEC. “Bringing together under one roof all the priceless items that span the history of the Agudath Israel World organization and its founder tells a story that has never before been told.”
