Ruth Nussbaum

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ruth Nussbaum (born September 9, 1911 in Berlin as Ruth Offenstadt ; † April 27, 2010 in Los Angeles , California ) was a German-American publicist , translator and Rebbetzin (wife of a rabbi ).

life and work

Ruth Offenstadt was born on September 9, 1911 in Berlin. She was the second daughter of Max and Margarete Offenstadt after Lily, who was two years older. Her father was a trader. Ruth Offenstadt studied French literature , philosophy and art studies at the universities in Berlin and Geneva and spoke several languages. In 1932 she married Fritz Toby, and their daughter Hannah was born two years later. To the terror of the Nazis , the Jews were subjected in Germany to escape, emigrated young families in 1936 to Amsterdam . The following year, the Toby couple divorced. While Fritz Toby moved on to Palestine , Ruth Toby stayed in Amsterdam with her daughter, who had a playmate in Anne Frank . It was there in 1937 that the Berlin rabbi Max Nussbaum and Ruth Toby met. Born in Bukovinian, Max Nussbaum initially enjoyed extensive travel freedom due to his Romanian passport, which is why he was able to stay in Amsterdam more often. He asked for Ruth's hand in the year they met. The two married on July 7, 1938 in Amsterdam. The Jewish wedding, which was under observation by the Secret State Police , was carried out by Rabbi Leo Baeck a week later in Berlin.

While most rabbis had gradually left the city since the mid-1930s, Max Nussbaum stayed with his congregation in Berlin with his wife until 1940 for “personal and conscience reasons”, as he wrote. During the November pogroms in 1938 he saved a small Torah from his burning synagogue , which is still kept in the sanctuary of the Temple Israel of Hollywood in Los Angeles, named after Max and Ruth Nussbaum. Max Nussbaum was considered a liberal Zionist and reformer in the Jewish community and was known for his ardent speeches. He narrowly escaped arrest by the National Socialists . The couple waited 15 months for the papers for the planned emigration to the USA, because a visa was linked to the assurance of permanent employment in America. The New York Rabbi Stephen Wise finally found Max Nussbaum an offer of work in Muskogee , Oklahoma . With the help of a friend, Ruth and Max Nussbaum got to New York via Switzerland, the unoccupied part of France, Spain and Portugal. They arrived there on August 24, 1940. Ruth's daughter Hannah was not allowed to travel with her stepfather due to travel regulations and initially stayed with her grandparents, who only arrived with her in the United States six months later.

Max Nussbaum took up his post as rabbi in Muskogee for two years, where his son Jeremy was born in November 1941. Ruth, who spoke English quite well, supported her husband at first and translated for him. The Nussbaums received invitations to many clubs, schools and churches of all denominations to give lectures on the difficult situation of Jews in Germany. From 1941, Max Nussbaum also gave courses in philosophy at the University of Oklahoma . In August 1942, again on the recommendation of Stephen S. Wise, he was given a rabbinical position at the Temple Israel of Hollywood - an office he held until his death in 1974. The Los Angeles community was once started by film producers and maintained close relationships with members of the local film industry. Max Nussbaum accompanied many well-known personalities on their way to conversion , for example, married Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher or buried Edward G. Robinson .

Ruth Nussbaum played the typical role of a Rebbetzin. She supported and advised her husband, edited his speeches and assisted him in performing his public duties. The Nussbaums cultivated close contacts with the German intelligentsia who had fled into exile here . Ruth Nussbaum was in close correspondence with Arnold Zweig ; she edited and even criticized some of his work. Ruth Nussbaum worked as a translator for various publishers and also for the film industry. For Lion Feuchtwanger she translated Vom historical consciousness of the Jews from German into English ( The Jew's Sense of History ).

The Nussbaums were among the leading figures in the Zionist movement. They participated in the first United Jewish Appeal (UJA) Mission to Israel and together they received the Brandeis Prize from the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA). They spent a sabbatical in Jerusalem in the mid-1960s . In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson invited the couple to a state dinner in honor of Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eschkol at the White House . The two also felt connected to the American human rights movement and fought for the elimination of racial differences in the USA. In 1965, Martin Luther King spoke at the Temple Israel of Hollywood.

After the death of her husband in July 1974, Ruth Nussbaum devoted herself entirely to the Zionist movement and became vice chair of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA) and co-chair of the women's department in the United Jewish Welfare Fund. She has given numerous lectures at national and international conferences and was awarded the Shield of Zion Award by the American Zionist Federation in 1979. In 1992 the sanctuary of the Temple Israel of Hollywood was named after them in honor of Max and Ruth Nussbaum. A dedication that honors both the rabbi and the Rebbetzin a synagogue is unique to date. Max Nussbaum is considered the most important rabbi in the history of the Temple Israel of Hollywood. When he took over the congregation, it had around 300 members; in the early 1970s there were already 1,000 families. In 1994 the anthology Max Nussbaum: From Berlin to Hollywood was published , which summarizes basic essays and speeches. Ruth Nussbaum acted as estate inspector, translator (originally for German-language articles) and co-editor. In 1996 the Hebrew Union College awarded Ruth Nussbaum an honorary doctorate . In 2005 she was the first to be honored with the newly created Roland Gittelsohn Prize of the ARZA. At the time she had just been working on a new machsor for the Temple Israel of Hollywood. She died on April 27, 2010 at the age of 98.

About Ruth Nussbaum

“Ruth was sui generis, unique, wondrous and beautiful in form, heart, mind, soul, and spirit. So very intelligent, astute, gracious, kind and refined, Ruth mixed easily with people of every age and station, from the most simple to world class leaders and intellects. "

“Ruth was like no other, unique, astonishing and well-behaved in form, heart, mind, soul and spirit; extremely intelligent, clever, gracious, kind and clever. Ruth found easy access to people of all ages and positions, from the simplest people to the world's leading figures. "

- Rabbi John L. Rosove : Jewish Women's Archive

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j John L. Rosove: Ruth Nussbaum. Zionist Leader, Activist, Rebbetzin. 1911 - 2010. In: jwa.org. Jewish Women's Archive, April 29, 2010, accessed July 16, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Max Nussbaum: My life in America . In: German Coordination Council of Societies for Christian-Jewish Cooperation, German Israeli Society (ed.): EMUNA. Horizons . To discuss Israel and Judaism. VI. Volume No. 5 . Emuna-Verlagsverein, Frankfurt am Main October 1971, p. 353-356 .
  3. ↑ Max Nussbaum, Hollywood Rabbi. In: nytimes.com. July 22, 1974, accessed July 16, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b Nussbaum, Max. In: jewishvirtuallibrary.org. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise , accessed July 16, 2017 .
  5. ^ A b Tom Tugend: Ruth Nussbaum, Zionist, activist and famous rebbetzin dies at 98. In: jewishjournal.com. April 28, 2010, accessed July 16, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Ruth Nussbaum Archive. Description of the stock. In: adk.de. Retrieved July 16, 2017 .
  7. ^ A b Tom Tugend: Ruth Nussbaum, Reform Zionist activist, dies. In: jta.org. Jewish Telegraphic Agency, April 28, 2010, accessed July 16, 2017 .
  8. ^ A b Susan Freudenheim: Temple Israel Honors It's "Conscience". In: jewishjournal.com. December 15, 2005, accessed July 16, 2017 .
  9. ^ Max Nussbaum: Max Nussbaum: From Berlin to Hollywood. A Mid-Century Vision of Jewish Life . Ed .: Lewis M. Barth, Ruth Nussbaum. Joseph Simon / Pangloss Press, Malibu, California 1994, ISBN 0-934710-30-9 , Acknowledgments, pp. X - XI .
  10. ^ The New York Times: Ruth Nussbaum. Obituary. In: legacy.com. May 2, 2010, accessed July 16, 2017 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Nussbaum, Ruth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Offenstadt, Ruth (maiden name); Toby, Ruth (married name 1932–1937)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American journalist, translator and Rebbetzin
DATE OF BIRTH September 9, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 2010
Place of death los Angeles