As a young man of twenty, Rabbi Naftali Neuberger, ztz”l, met with Rav Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman, and so began a “career” of taking responsibility for the world, a passion that would eventually spread light throughout the globe — from Baltimore to Iran, and from Great Neck to Panama.
T raveling from Baltimore’s Penn Station to Mt. Wilson Lane, just northwest of the city limits, one passes through the city’s frum community, with signs of a flourishing kehillah evident on all sides: shuls, homes with mezuzos on their doors, and stores carrying goods for the Jewish community.
One building catches the eye. Rising high above Park Heights Avenue, this edifice is somewhat of an architectural curiosity. The design, color, and flair suggest a Persian influence, incongruous among the more traditional buildings on either side.
There are words emblazoned across the structure’s front: “The Rabbi Herman Naftali Neuberger Building.”
It’s a shul, a congregation serving a tzibur from Iran, where they preserve a mesorah thousands of years old, here, in the freedom and safety of America, but those words pay tribute to a Yid from … Wurzburg, Germany.
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