Hans Lehmann (1885-1949)

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There is an unusual verse in the Book of Tehillim (45:17) that states, "Tachat avoteycha yihyu benyecha" ("In the place of your fathers will be your sons"). The language is hardly the type of "Tehillim language" we are used to. In fact the entire Chapter 45 is different from almost all of Psalms. It is not addressed to either G-d or to the individual worshiper. It is an expression of adoration of a king by a scribe at the court of the king -- the "'safer mahir," (skilled scribe) mentioned in Verse 2. Therefore, the verse expresses the hope for a continued royal dynasty, where grandfather, fathers and sons harmonize in the same destiny.

I have often thought how this verse applies to my own family. And it bring to my mind many of the things that my own father Hans Lehmann, z"l (1885-1949), used as his motto in life. One of his main themes in life was the verse at the end of the Book of Malaki referring to the prophet Elijah in the end of days: "And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their sons, and the hearts of the sons to their fathers." He stressed that it is not the fathers, the old generation, which is to discipline the young generation on into respect and obedience to their elders. It is the elders who have to turn their hearts and understanding to the young generation, which will in the end bring about the harmony between generations.

I was privileged to have had an unusual father -- a Jew who lived an unusual life and who benefited enormously from his experiences. His shining example was enough to place an imprint on his children -- no regimenting or nagging, so often found in parents, was ever his conduct, only through personal example. But to understand the unusual aspects of his life, I must outline his biography.

My father came from a very long line of German Jews. Their roots were in Halberstadt in Central Germany, a city made famous not only through its many outstanding rabbis and scholars and institutions, but also because of the outstanding deeds of our namesake, Behrend Lehmann, who was the finance minister to the King of Saxonia and who lived about 300 years ago. His outstanding example was in achieving social relief for his fellow Jews and in bringing Jewish scholarship to its greatest height in Germany by establishing an important Torah academy in Halberstadt shortly after the 30-Year War and the Chmelnetzky pogroms of the 1640s.

My father was born in Leipzig, also in the Kingdom of Saxonia, Leipzig was a unique city in that it was a meeting point of East and West. The annual Leipzig Fair still maintained today, brought Russian fur and bristle dealers to sell their ware at the fair. Many of them ultimately settled in Leipzig, thereby making the city thoroughly mixed community of Eastern and German Jews. The German Jews were quite assimilated by the end of the last century, and it was a G-d send that the Russian Jews -- many of them outstanding Talmidei Chachamim, brought strong Orthodoxy and learning to the town.

Although German Jews traditionally looked down on "Eastern" Jews, in Leipzig there was more amalgamation of the different groups than elsewhere in Germany. My father had many good friends among the Russian Jews -- for example, the outstanding banker, Hans Kroch, a first generation German Jew, whose grandfather had been a great Russian Talmid Chacham whose works the grandson would publish one volume for each Yahrzeit. My father was also friendly with leading Russian fur dealers, among the Merkin, Ettingon and Kestenbaum families.

A turning point in my father's life occurred when a young charismatic rabbi, Ephraim Carlebach, of the famous German rabbinical family arrived in Leipzig. He organized the youth and brought enthusiasm into their life. He formed a Hebrew school, and my father taught there from time to time. A young lady, Fannie Taub, born in Berlin but of Lithuanian lineage was also one of the Carlebach enthusiasts. She came from a very poor home, but my father paid no attention to her financial standing, but only to her fine qualities, but once he had made up his mind to marry her, he followed her after nine years separation, after she and her family had emigrated to New York. And so in 1912 they got engaged in New York, and a year later were married by Rabbi Dr. Meyer Hildesheimer of the famous rabbinical family of Berlin, who happened to be in New York on assignment for the Agudah. The result of the influence of Rabbi Carlebach on my father was that throughout his life he made it his goal to be in the company of scholars and teachers. He also decided that he would sacrifice everything for a Jewish education for his children.

My father refused to settle down in America -- a country he considered much too materialistic and superficial. Instead they returned to Leipzig, where my father had meanwhile started his own business. But when World War I broke out, in 1914, they moved to Sweden, where my father had an active business. As the family grew, the problem with Jewish education became precarious, as Swedish Jews were almost all assimilated Reform Jews, without a proper Jewish school. At first my father engaged private tutors for my brothers, but in 1928 decided to move the entire family to Hamburg, known for its outstanding day school, the Talmud Torah Realshule.

During our stay there, I remember countless rabbis, roshei yeshivot and other scholars who visited our home. One of them, professor Isaak Markon, an outstanding Russian scholar, was the librarian of the Jewish library in Hamburg, and he initiated me -- at the tender age of 10 years -- into the various uses of a library.

One of my fathers main logos was Torah u-gedulah be-makom echad Torah and worldly greatness in one and the same person. He admired greatly those figures in our history who personified this slogan, although there were admittedly not too many of them. But he impressed on me this ideal, which I have always tried to pursue.

He also used a German saying to the effect: Each person must contribute something for eternity. With this he meant, that it is not enough to follow the average course of life, but one must achieve something that excels and surpasses usual standards in order to leave a mark on history forever. This attitude impressed on me a search for accomplishments which others have not necessarily achieved. It is a principle that does not only apply to learning and religious observance, but also to general academic scholarships and even business. It can best be described as a koach hichiddush ability to innovate! My father undertook business transactions which were quite unusual. In my own career my wife and I have pioneered commercial transactions and constellations which broke new ground -- in many parts of the world -- not to speak about political and cultural achievements.

Papa -- as we called him -- was a history buff. Even when before my Bar Mitzvah my father would spend long sessions with me during which he related world history, going back to Otto vonBismarck through the First World War, of which he knew every battle, general and campaign.

He was an enthusiastic Zionist and had dreamed of a Jewish State long before it became a reality. He knew all the writings of Moshe Hess, Herzl and other early Zionists. Yet he used to warn me that Zionism is something like a Para Aduma -- the Red Heifer -- which defiles the pure but would purify the impure.. This meant that religious Jews sometimes turned irreligious in pursuit of Zionism, while it would attract to Judaism those had been alienated through assimilation.

Papa was fluent in German, Swedish, French, English and Italian. He loved to teach us proverbs in these languages. One which has stayed with me throughout life, in Italian, can often be applied: Si nonre vero e ben trovato (If it is not true, it is nevertheless a good invention.) How many times have I thought of this when I hear a pilpul or forced Dvar Torah, which even it's author knows is not really true, although it sounds clever.

He was exceptional in that he had no ambition that he should be ahead in education of his own children. For some parents like their children to advance no further than their own level of education. But Papa wanted me and my brothers to surpass him in Jewish and secular education, and he rejoiced in our academic and cultural accomplishments.

My parents spent the entire War 1939-1945 in Sweden. My father had personally rescued one synagogue from destruction by the Nazis and had brought it to Stockholm were it still is in use today. He was an essential link in all rescue operations, since Sweden was neutral and had links with Germany as well as with the Allies. Entire Lithuanian yeshivot were saved to Japan and the United States through my father's untiring efforts. He also arranged South American passports for Jews whom he never knew -- as long as he could save a Jew! Toward the end of the War, he was the first Western Jew allowed into Russia and he used the time to mobilize Russian Jews with hope of emigrations and rebuilding of Jewish life.

A few weeks before he passed away in 1949, we had the zehus of his coming to New York for my wedding. He returned to Sweden, where he died. We buried him in Israel, the Land -- like Moses -- he had not been privileged to visit himself. In his memory I established a few buildings in leading Yeshivot in Israel and published Sefarim which are important for Torah study. This life which began in Germany, and brought Papa to various countries, ended in the fulfillment of his most cherished dreams, the redemption of our people, and the re-establishment of Judaism after the Holocaust. As the verse in Tehillim states, a royal dynasty deserved that generation after generation live up to the aims and principles established in the past.

May my father's memory always be blessed.

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