Title: Oral History Interview with Morris Heifetz
Inclusive Dates: 1978 September 26

Creator:

• Heifetz, Morris, 1901-

Call Number: Tape 714A

Quantity: 1 tape recording

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Tape-recorded interview conducted in Madison, Wisconsin, on September 26, 1978, by Sara Leuchter of the Historical Society staff with Morris Heifetz, a Russian Jewish immigrant to Madison, Wisconsin, in 1923; primarily concerning Congregation Agudas Achim (later named Beth Israel Center) which he served as secretary from 1924 to 1949.

Note:

Forms part of the Wisconsin Jewish Archives.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-tape00714a

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Morris Heifetz was suggested to me [interviewer Sara Leuchter] as an interview prospect in September, 1978, by David Ottenstein, president of the Beth Israel Center, Madison, Wisconsin. At that time, I was processing the manuscripts collection of the Beth Israel Center, and needed to speak with a member of the Madison Jewish community who might recollect the early years of the congregation, then known as Agudas Achim. Heifetz, at age 77, had been a Madison resident since 1923, and according to Mr. Ottenstein, was one of the last surviving members of the early congregation. Ottenstein acted as the go-between to arrange the interview, which occurred at the Heifetz home on September 27, 1978, and he accompanied me there. We were met at the Heifetz residence by his granddaughter, Deena Heifetz, a University of Wisconsin student who was researching her family roots in the Madison Jewish community.

Heifetz was eager to supply the necessary information concerning the founding of Congregation Agudas Achim, but the interview was slightly hampered by his memory lapses and occasional responses in Yiddish. Little biographical information on Heifetz was ascertained from the interview; he was reluctant to speak of his employment in Madison although for many years he owned and operated a scrap metal business. He was born on June 5, 1901 in Lachwa, Minsk, then Russia but now under Polish rule. The oldest of five brothers and a sister, only he and his brother Jacob, also a Madison resident, fled Russia. The remainder of the Heifetz family perished under Hitler. Lack of money forced Heifetz to reach the United States by way of South America, where he lived for three years before arriving in Madison in 1923.

The majority of the interview pertains to the early years of Congregation Agudas Achim, its founders, organization, and location. Heifetz joined the congregation upon arrival in Madison, as its youngest member, and remained active in synagogue affairs until 1949.

Abstract to the Interview

The tapes for this interview have two tracks: a voice track containing the discussion and a time track containing time announcements at intervals of approximately five seconds. The abstract below lists, in order of discussion, the topics covered on each tape, and indicates the time-marking at which point the beginning of the particular discussion appears.

Thus, the researcher by using the tape recorder's fast-forward button may find expeditiously and listen to discrete segments without listening to all of the taped discussion. For instance, the user who wishes to listen to the topic on “Synagogue Committees” should locate the place on the second track of tape one, side one, where the voice announces the 3:05 time marking (the voice says at this point, "three minutes, five seconds") and at this point switch to the first track to hear the discussion. The discussion on “Synagogue Committees” continues until approximately 3:55 at which point discussion of the next topic (“Arrival in Madison in 1923”) begins.

Notice that in most cases sentences beneath each headline explain more about the contents of the topic. For example, the sentences underneath “Synagogue Committees” give further details on what appears between 3:05 and 3:55.

The abstract is designed to provide a brief outline of the contents of the tapes and cannot serve as a substitute for listening to them. However, the abstract will help the researcher easily locate distinct topics and discussions among the many minutes of commentary.

Records of the Beth Israel Center, Madison, Wisconsin, held by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Archives.

Processing Information

Finding aid prepared by Sara Leuchter, December 13, 1978.

Tape/Side   1/1 Time   00:35	Agudas Achim Founded Scope and Content Note: Congregation Agudas Achim, Madison, Wisconsin, was founded in 1905 [actually, it was 1904]. Names of some of the first members included W. Feldman, Solomon Sweet, Abe Shapiro. Many of these members arrived in Madison in 1907-08, although Sweet may have arrived in 1905.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   1:50	Synagogue Location Scope and Content Note: Old building was at 827 Mound Street, and used to be across the street from the Madison General Hospital.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   2:25	Organized as Orthodox Scope and Content Note: Agudas Achim was not the first congregation in Madison, because The Gates of Heaven synagogue was established in 1857. Agudas Achim was organized as an orthodox congregation with a balcony for women to sit in.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   3:05	Synagogue Committees Scope and Content Note: The Sisterhood was organized in 1927, and there was no men's club. There was a Chevra Kadisha (Jewish burial society) led by A. Cohen. It was nicknamed the “J.B. Committee” (for Jewish Burial).
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   3:55	Arrival in Madison in 1923 Scope and Content Note: He arrived in 1923 and joined the synagogue right away, as its youngest member. He began work with the seating committee but later was named the synagogue secretary, a position he held from 1924 to 1949.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   4:35	Job as Secretary Scope and Content Note: As secretary, he had to call weekly meetings, send post cards as notices, and employ a collector of bills. When he arrived in 1923, there were about 100 members of the congregation, and during the 1930's and 1940's, the congregation expanded in number.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   5:50	Synagogue Dues Scope and Content Note: When he arrived, the dues were six dollars a year, and were soon raised to nine dollars a year. He related story of one congregant who thought it was a scandal to pay so much money for the honor of praying. Members had to pay for extra seating for the High Holidays.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   7:20	Sol Levitan Lies in State Scope and Content Note: When Sol Levitan, former state treasurer of Wisconsin, died in 1940, his body lay in state at the Capitol. He was dressed in his religious garbs.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   8:40	Russian vs. German Jews Scope and Content Note: There was no split between the Russian and German Jews in Madison because there were few German Jews. Most people did not know nationalities, nor did they care.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   9:50	Madison German Jews Scope and Content Note: When Heifetz married in 1924, a German Jew invited him to help himself to the German's furniture as a present. The Madison German Jews established the cemetery at Forest Hill which is now used by the city.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   10:50	Madison Jewish Families Scope and Content Note: When Heifetz arrived in Madison, he became friendly with the Sweets, the Sinaikos, the Meisters, the Steins, and the Shapiros.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   12:15	Talmud Torah Scope and Content Note: The Talmud Torah (religious school) of Agudas Achim paid its teachers twenty-five dollars a week. Madison butchers were usually the teachers. Curriculum included Hebrew language and Jewish history. Although there were not many girls enrolled, one of them was a Christian girl, whose mother was a member of the congregation's Ladies' Auxiliary.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   15:25	German Immigration after 1920 Scope and Content Note: There were few German Jews immigrating to Madison after 1920, and the congregation did little to help them flee Nazi Germany.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   15:50	Palestine Scope and Content Note: The congregation had no special collections for Palestine, except for the Jewish National Fund's “Blue Box,” into which pennies were dropped each week.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   16:25	Beth Israel Center Established Scope and Content Note: In 1949, Rabbi Lifschitz informed the congregation that the name Agudas Achim was to be changed to Beth Israel Center after construction of a new building was completed. It was dedicated in 1950.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   17:30	Madison Jewish Neighborhood Scope and Content Note: The old triangle, on the side of Park St. which now supports low income housing units, was the Madison Jewish neighborhood. It included Washington, Milton, Mound, Brooks, and Emerald Streets. A nice neighborhood, it was comprised mainly of Jews and Italians.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   18:15	The Changing Jewish Community Scope and Content Note: Both the Jewish community and its religious practices are changing. Women can now become rabbis, and Beth Israel Center is no longer an Orthodox congregation. Men and women may sit together, although Heifetz and his wife still sit separately. Beth Israel Center is now a Conservative congregation. Younger Jews are not practicing their religion, and although they still learn Hebrew, they can no longer read from the Torah.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   21:20	Congregation Adas Yeshurun Scope and Content Note: In 1937, a group of men split from Agudas Achim to form Congregation Adas Yeshurun, which was closed in 1949. The split resulted from personal differences, and the new congregation did not have a separate balcony for women.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   23:10	End of Tape 1, Side 1
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   00:35	Anti-Semitism Scope and Content Note: There was little anti-Semitism in Madison when Heifetz arrived; it has always been a friendly town.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   1:15	Night School Scope and Content Note: Heifetz attended night school at the Neighborhood House on West Washington. He also spent two years at night school at Central High, where most of his classmates were immigrants, mostly Germans, Italians, and Russians.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   3:15	Works as Peddler Scope and Content Note: When he first arrived, Heifetz did not have a job, so he became a peddler, and did not make much money.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   4:15	Chevra Kadisha Scope and Content Note: The Chevra Kadisha (J. B. Committee) required an annual dues of three dollars to finance burials. Some people were too poor to pay for funerals, so the committee absorbed the cost.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   5:25	Reason Heifetz Came to Madison Scope and Content Note: Heifetz came to Madison because his wife's family, the Tempkins, had come there from Germany several years before. The Tempkins went first to Ripon to live with an uncle, but later moved to Madison. The father arrived in 1911, but his family did not immigrate until 1920.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   6:30	More on Peddling Scope and Content Note: When he was secretary of the synagogue, Heifetz had an honorable position. As a peddler, he would often go out of town. Related story of trip to visit an uncle in Beaver Dam, in which his truck broke down and he was helped by a German farmer because Heifetz knew nothing about motor vehicles.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   9:20	Friendliness of Farmers Scope and Content Note: As a peddler, he spoke German with the farmers, all of whom were very friendly. One lady in Mt. Horeb even invited him to attend a church dinner with her; he declined.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   10:15	Keeping Kosher Scope and Content Note: Madison had three kosher butchers in 1923, one of whom would get meat from Oscar Mayer's. There was also a Jewish bakery in town.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   11:40	Madison Jewish Community Today Scope and Content Note: There are many Jews in Madison today, but there are too many in the community to retain the family-like quality of Heifetz's earlier days. He doesn't know many people now because he has been ill, but people still say hello to him at the synagogue, even though he doesn't recognize them.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   13:05	Tradition at Beth Israel Center Scope and Content Note: As a young man, Heifetz blew the Shofar (ram's horn) during the High Holidays. Now his son blows the Shofar. There is still tradition in the congregation.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   14:05	Relates a Story Scope and Content Note: Heifetz tells a story concerning a Jewish woman who was wished a “Kosher Passover” by the collector. She threw him out of her house because she felt guilty that she did not keep kosher.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   16:30	End of Tape 1, Side 2