Schwab, Simon (1908-1995)

I. Family and Educational Background
Simon Schwab was born in Frankfurt to Leopold (Leib) and Hanna nee Erlanger. He was the oldest of five sons. The Schwab’s were an upper-class Neo-Orthodox bourgeois family affiliated with the Frankfurt Adath Jeschurun.¹ They were associated with elite congregants like Jacob Rosenheim and were actively involved with Agudath Israel.² Notably, the Schwab’s were part of a “post-Neo-Orthodox” faction of the Frankfurt community which, as a result of the trauma and cultural pessimism engendered by the aftermath of World War I, critically reevaluated Western culture and idealized the Eastern European Yeshiva movement. The young Simon Schwab entertained rabbinical aspirations from early childhood.³ From 1916 to 1924 he was educated at the Samson Raphael Hirsch Schule (SRHS) in Frankfurt am Main but his schooling was rather atypical.⁴ Schwab did not formally complete his high-school education, leaving the SRHS early and transitioned into Rabbi Joseph Breuer’s Frankfurt Yeshiva, where he engaged in full-time Talmudic studies from 1924-1926. During this period, Schwab was chided by some local congregants as wasting his scholastic potential by not completing his secular education.⁵ Consequently, Schwab turned away from Frankfurt. In 1926, after attending a Talmudic lecture by visiting Lithuanian scholar Rabbi Joseph Solomon Kahaneman, he decided to study full-time in a Lithuanian yeshiva and subsequently attended the Lithuanian yeshivot of Telz (1926-1929) and Mir (1929-1931), where he received rabbinic ordination in 1931 under Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel.⁶ At the time, his father supported him financially.⁷ Schwab became enamored with the Lithuanian Yeshiva culture, believing it represented the definitive form of Orthodox Judaism, and he persuaded both his younger brothers and friends to join him in the Lithuanian yeshiva of Mir.⁸ In 1931, Schwab returned to Germany and became the rabbinical assistant of Rabbi Dr. Jonah Merzbach in Darmstadt. On 22 October, 1931, he married Recha Froehlich from Gelsenkirchen and they settled in Darmstadt and were blessed with five children (Moses, born 1932, Judith, born 1933, Joseph Chaim, born 1935, Myer J., born 1937, and Jacob B., born 1938). In September 1933, Schwab became the rabbi of Ichenhausen, a small-town community in Bavarian Swabia, and the family relocated there.⁹

II. Flight From Germany and Resettlement in the United States
In reaction to the anti-Jewish boycott and racist Nazi legislations of 1933, Schwab published articles in the German Jewish newspaper Der Israelit that openly criticized the classic Neo-Orthodox ideal of Torah Im Derekh Eretz (meaning Torah with Civilization). In 1934, Schwab expanded his collection of articles into his first book, namely Heimkehr ins Judentum [Return to Judaism]. Here he claimed that the aftershock of the First World War, Weimar, and Nazism, had obviated the power and influence of classic German idealism. He argued that if German society no longer adhered to classic Enlightenment values, then neither should the Jewish minority. Romanticizing the medieval Jewish ghetto life as purer and more authentic, Schwab urged Jewish self-segregation from Western civilization.¹⁰

At the time, Schwab’s book was controversial and sold 850 copies mainly within Neo-Orthodox circles, meeting scathing reviews from several Neo-Orthodox writers including future historian Jacob Katz who disagreed with Schwab’s harsh conclusions.¹¹ In 1935, the Nazi SS took notice of Schwab’s book, remarking that its idealization of the medieval Jewish ghetto ran the risk of promoting “Jewish arrogance” against the Nazis, making Schwab a prime target for them.¹² In 1936, he was briefly summoned to the Gestapo on an unrelated charge, being falsely accused of maligning Hitler in a synagogue sermon. Realizing that he was no longer safe in Germany, Schwab immediately sought emigration.¹³ Schwab initially considered relocation options in Palestine but he was unsuccessful in finding a suitable rabbinical position. Ultimately, the Schwab family emigrated to the United States on the advice of Rabbi Dr. Leo Jung, who helped procure Schwab a visa as well as a rabbinical position at Congregation Shearith Israel in Baltimore. The Schwab’s immigrated to the United States, arriving in New York on December 24, 1936.¹⁴

III. Rabbinical Activities in Baltimore and New York
From 1936 to 1958 Rabbi Simon Schwab officiated at Congregation Shearith Israel of Baltimore. During this period, he taught as a Talmudic instructor at Ner Israel Rabbinical College and participated on its Board of Education. He founded a girls-only Bais Yaakov school for Orthodox girls in Baltimore. From 1941, Schwab was active in the Agudath Israel of America and participated in the organization’s annual conventions as a regular speaker. Additionally, beginning in 1958, Schwab served on the rabbinical board of Torah Umesorah.¹⁵ Between 1941-1951, Schwab published a religious Messianic essay (Beis HaShoeva) as well as excerpts of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch’s Bible commentary.¹⁶

In 1957, Schwab received an invitation from the Khal Adath Jeshurun congregation in New York (KAJ) to serve as their rabbi together with Rabbi Dr. Joseph Breuer due to the latter’s growing age and declining health. Schwab accepted the offer in 1958, initially sharing rabbinical duties with Breuer and assumed additional responsibilities during the 1970s.  After Joseph Breuer’s passing in 1980, he gained full control over the congregation as its rabbinic leader. As Schwab became older, a new assistant rabbi was sought and in 1987, Rabbi Zechariah Gelley joined the KAJ rabbinate, while Schwab remained the acting senior rabbi and continued to be consulted for Halakhic queries until his retirement in 1993. He passed away on February 13, 1995, in Washington Heights.

As a refugee rabbi navigating the United States, Schwab modified his earlier extreme views on Jewish self-segregation, realizing this approach was impractical, and soon came to appreciate his Neo-Orthodox heritage.¹⁷ His new assessments were captured in his 1966 book, These and Those, which argues for mutual tolerance between Orthodox Jewish followers of Torah Im Derekh Eretz and the contrarian Lithuanian Yeshiva ideal. However, as part of his trauma from the Holocaust, Schwab continued to reject the humanistic legacy of the Enlightenment.¹⁸ Following the outcome of the Vietnam war and the college riots, Schwab denounced the so-called “New Morality” and cultural relativism, including the proliferation of promiscuity, recreational drugs, and student rebellion.¹⁹ He lamented that modern public schools and universities were no longer “cultured citadels of integrity” and had devolved into a “sick society” of “psychedelic euphoria.”²⁰ Promoting awareness of the Holocaust, Schwab composed in 1961 a special prayer for Holocaust victims that was recited in the KAJ synagogue on the Jewish fast day of Tisha Ba’Av. He regularly gave addresses about his own Holocaust experiences on the anniversary of the November pogrom. He visited Germany in 1963 at the request of his father to pray at the cemetery of his grandparents in Frankfurt, but he rejected any idea of permanent Jewish resettlement there because of the trauma of the Holocaust.²¹

At KAJ, Schwab was instrumental in expanding the Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, creating: a boys-only Mesivta High School post-high-school Bais Medrash; a girls-only Bais Yaakov High School and post-high-school teachers’ seminary. Under Schwab’s rabbinical administration, the KAJ’s religious orientation became more conservative. Schwab insisted on establishing separate single-gender properties on the YRSRH to prevent socialization between boys and girls in the schoolyards. He also supported the American Ultra-Orthodox trend of having a dividing wall for males and females eating and dancing at religious weddings. Prior to Schwab’s appointment, men and women at KAJ social events sat together and watched each other dance.²² In the 1970s, Schwab opposed younger KAJ families from owning televisions, although his warnings were not universally heeded. At the time, he was also a staunch opponent of Modern Orthodox Judaism and Yeshiva University.²³

Notwithstanding his cultural reservations, Schwab continued to retain certain enlightened virtues. He urged his followers to treat people of all color or creed with respect, courtesy and equality.²⁴ In the classic Neo-Orthodox style, Schwab also believed that the study of science and world history was spiritually enriching for religious Jews,²⁵ and was proud of how the Founding Fathers of the United States drew from the Hebrew Bible.²⁶

Under Schwab’s tenure, the KAJ became publicly aligned with the American Agudath Israel, of which Schwab was an active member, and it organized collaborative events with other mainline Ultra-Orthodox schools, including the Lakewood Yeshiva.²⁷ Moreover under Schwab, the KAJ developed more solidarity with the State of Israel. In his sermons, Schwab regularly expressed support for Israeli soldiers,²⁸ and organized prayer vigils for Israel’s victory and safety during the wars of 1967, 1973, and the Gulf War of 1994.²⁹

IV. Legacy
A gifted orator and eloquent writer in both English and German, Schwab’s Neo-Orthodox training in Frankfurt, coupled with his Eastern European yeshiva studies in Lithuania, distinguished him among younger Neo-Orthodox rabbis who survived the Holocaust. Emerging in the post-war American Jewish scene as a vocal Ultra-Orthodox rabbi and educator, Schwab transmitted to the American milieu both the Jewish cultural values of Western and Eastern Europe, which lent him an influential impact not only on the KAJ congregation but also the greater New York Orthodox yeshiva community.

Ehrman, Chaim. My Rebbe Rav Schwab. New York: Menucha, 2019.
Eleff, Zev. “Between Bennett and Amsterdam Avenues: The Complex American Legacy of Samson Raphael Hirsch.” Tradition 46 (4). Winter, 2013. 8-27.
Fink, Elias. Mitteilungen aus der Geschichte der Realschule der Israelitischen Religionsgesellschaft in Frankfurt am Main 1915-1925. Frankfurt: Golde, 1925.
Klugman, Eliyahu Meir. “The Ish HaEmes: Rabbi Simon Schwab,” The Jewish Observer 28 (5) (Summer 1995): 11-22.
KAJ Newsletter 10 (5) (Nov. 1979): 4.
KAJ Newsletter 21 (9) (Jan. 1991): 1.
Lesher, Shmuel. “Hirschian Humanism After the Holocaust: An Analysis of Rabbi Simon Schwab’s Approach.” Hakhmei Lev 1 (1) (Fall 2021): 60-67.
Levine, Yitzchok. “The Life of Rav Shimon Schwab Pt 1,” The Jewish Press, 3 December 2015, retrieved 23/11/2024, https://www.jewishpress.com/sections/magazine/glimpses-ajh/the-life-of-rav-shimon-schwab-part-i/2015/12/03/.
Lipschutz, Pinchos. “Rav Mordechai Schwab.” In Stammbaum und Chronik der Familie Abraham Erlanger. Edited by Ruben Erlanger. Jerusalem: Solo Tech, 1998. 307-310.
Miron, Guy. The Waning of Emancipation: Jewish History, Memory, and the Rise of Fascism in Germany, France, and Hungary. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2011.
Schwab, Moses L. “Rav Simon Schwab: A Biography,” In The Living Hirschian Legacy: Essays on Torah im Derech Eretz and the contemporary Hirschian Kehillah. Edited by Eliyahu Glucksman. New York: Feldheim, 1988. 45-51.
Schwab, Simon. “Leopold und Hanna Schwab-Erlanger,” Stammbaum und Chronik der Familie Abraham Erlanger. Edited Ruben Erlanger. Jerusalem: Solo-Tech, 1998. 110.
Schwab, Simon. “Age of Uncertainty,” Mitteilungen 30 (April 1969) 1.
Schwab, Simon. “The Strange Sickness,” Mitteilungen 30 (June 1969): 1-2.
Schwab, Simon. “The Aftermath of the War,” Mitteilungen 35 (Feb. 1974): 1.
Schwab, Simon. “Some Reflections on the Bicentennial Celebration,” Mitteilungen 38 (Apr. 1976): 1-2.
Schwab, Simon. “The Tears and the Hand,” Jewish Observer 18 (4) (March 1985): 11-15.
Schwab, Simon. “Long Range Planning,” Mitteilungen 40 (Oct. 1988): 1-2.
Schwab, Simon.  “Jewish History,” Mitteilungen 36 (Jan. 1985): 1-2.
Private Archive Raphael Thurm. Interviews with Rabbis Joseph Myer Schwab, Dr. Chaim Ehrman, Larry Gevirtz, Allen Bodenheim and Leon Metzger by Raphael Thurm, textually recorded August 2021, April 2022, July 2023.

Schwab, Simon. Heimkehr ins Judentum. Frankfurt: Hermon Verlag, 1934. Digitally available: https://portal.dnb.de/bookviewer/view/1032818913#page/n0/mode/2up.
Schwab, Simon. Sefer bet ha-sho’evah: kovets ma’amarim al ikvete di-meshiha [Book of Celebration: Collected Rabbinical Statements on the Messianic Age]. New York: Schulsinger, 1942. [Hebrew]
Schwab, Simon. These and Those. New York: Feldheim, 1966.
Schwab, Simon. Selected Writings: A Collection of Addresses and Essays on Hashkafah, Jewish History and Contemporary Issues. Lakewood: C.I.S., 1988.
Schwab, Simon. Selected Speeches. A Collection of Addresses and Essays on Hashkafah, Jewish History and Contemporary Issues. Lakewood: C.I.S., 1991.
Schwab, Simon. Selected Essays: A Collection of Addresses and Essays on Hashkafah, Jewish History, and Contemporary Issues. Lakewood: C.I.S., 1994.
Schwab, Simon. Maayan Beit haShoeiva. New York: Artscroll, 1994. [Hebrew]
Schwab, Simon. Rav Schwab on Prayer: The Great Rav’s Teachings on the Siddur. New York: Artscroll, 2001.
Schwab, Simon. Rav Schwab on Iyov – The teachings of Rabbi Shimon Schwab zt”l on the Book of Job. New York: Artscroll, 2006.
Schwab, Simon. Rav Schwab on Yeshayahu – The teaching of Rabbi Shimon Schwab zt”l on the Book of Isaiah. New York: Artscroll, 2009.
Schwab, Simon. Rav Schwab on Ezra and Nechemia – The teaching of Rabbi Shimon Schwab zt”l on the return to Eretz Yisrael and the early years of the Second Beis Hamikdash period. New York: Artscroll, 2012.
Leo Baeck Institute. The Oral History Collection of the Research Foundation for Jewish Immigration, New York, 1971-1981 AR 25385.  Oral History Interview Simon Schwab by Jack Wertheimer, July 1971, transcript and recording: https://archives.cjh.org/repositories/5/archival_objects/1233867.