Category Archives: Religious

In Prison

Dr. Aharon Pick This recollection by Keidan native Dr. Aharon Pick, of his time as a poor yeshiva student in Kovno, was published in 1935 in HaOlam, the official Hebrew weekly organ of the World Zionist Organization. Edited by Nahum … Continue reading

Posted in Memoir, Personalities, Pre-WWI, Religious, Russia, Zionism | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reb Zvi the Cooper

(Memories of M.L. Lilienblum’s father) By Dr. Aharon Leib Pick (Šiauliai) Published (in Hebrew) by the Keidaner Assn. of NY, 1930. Translated by Nathaniel Stampfer. The area around the Lithuanian city of Keidan has been famous for its beauty since … Continue reading

Posted in History, Memoir, Personalities, Pre-WWI, Religious, Zionism | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Coming Together for Passover

“Getting together for Passover” used to be one of those second-nature ideas, an assumption for families and groups of friends every year about this time. This year, of course, the phrase has become bitterly ironic. With everyone more or less … Continue reading

Posted in History, Interwar, Landsmanshaft, Religious | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Three Memorable Characters

A regular feature of “The Keidaner,” the monthly bulletin of the Keidaner Assn. of New York, were short sketches of life back in the old hometown.  Here are three: The Coachman / The Feldsher / Yosse-Itse’s Payos The Coachman By … Continue reading

Posted in Economy, Memoir, Personalities, Pre-WWI, Religious | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shevuos in Keidan

by B. Cassel Published (in Yiddish) in “The Keidaner” monthly bulletin of the Keidaner Assn. of NY, June, 1941. After Pesach, Spring ruled our lives more and more each day. The days became warmer, lighter. From after cheder until bedtime … Continue reading

Posted in Memoir, Pre-WWI, Religious | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

From ‘The Annihilation of Lithuanian Jewry’

Keidan by Efraim Oshry The following is an entry from Oshry, Efraim, “The Annhilation of Lithuanian Jewry” (New York, 1995) Originally published in Yiddish as  “Khurbn Lita”. New York, 1951. LITHUANIAN NAME: Kėdainiai RUSSIAN NAME: Keidany LOCATION: A district capital … Continue reading

Posted in History, Holocaust, Religious | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Echoes of a Vanished World

By B. Cassel Originally published Nov. 17, 1940, in the 40th anniversary edition of The Keidaner, the bulletin of the Keidaner Assn. of New York.  Keidan’s Great Synagogue was packed. From all the small prayer-houses and minyans, people had come … Continue reading

Posted in History, Memoir, Music, Personalities, Pre-WWI, Religious | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tales of the Talmud Society

by Dr. Hyman J. Epstein Dr. Hyman (Chaim Yakov) Epstein (1881-1951) was an active participant in Jewish affairs in early 20th century New York, helping to organize the Bronx Jewish Hospital and the New York “kehillah” which for several years … Continue reading

Posted in Memoir, Music, Pre-WWI, Religious | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Rabbis of Keidan

By Shmuel Hadari and Josef Chrust The Jewish settlement in Keidan is ancient, and the town’s Jewish community is one of the oldest in Lithuania. The town held a respected place in the “Council of the Land of Lithuania,” in … Continue reading

Posted in History, Religious | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A Lament for Keidan

By Rabbi Y. M. Fishleder  (Mexico) “How deserted lies the city…” (Lamentations of Jeremiah 1:1) How did it happen that my city of birth, Keidan, was left lonely and abandoned, without its holy community? No one is left there to … Continue reading

Posted in History, Holocaust, Religious, Yizkor Book | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment