The life & times of Rabbi Dr. Leo Jung
— Rabbi Dr. Leo Jung; Preface to Men of the Spirit; Volume 8 of The Jewish Library series
With this preface, Rabbi Leo Jung — far from a “typical rabbi” himself — could have been describing his own achievements and life experiences. The “accidents of history” that set the backdrop of his own long life placed him at the center of almost every religious event, endeavor, and initiative of the tumultuous 20th century. His work spanned continents and eras, oversaw destruction of the old and rebuilding of the new. And his ceaseless activism rejuvenated the diverse world of traditional Judaism that struggled to survive and flourish throughout the many decades of his public service.
As someone who regularly peruses archives, libraries, and used book shops, I am constantly eager to learn about new people, places, and unique stories. Yet it was on a late 2019 visit to the American Orthodox Archives of Agudath Israel that I learned of a personality whose story I’d long neglected. My close friend and mentor, the long-time devoted Agudah archivist Rabbi Moshe Kolodny, got into a discussion about the “lost heroes” of early American Orthodoxy — those who fought the battles that set the stage for the metamorphic growth of Torah Jewry in America in the post-war era. “Have you ever seen the papers of Rabbi Leo Jung?” Rabbi Kolodny asked. “He was one of the founders of Agudath Israel in America in the early 1920s and represented the movement at the first Knessiah Gedolah in Vienna in 1923.”
He then laid out three boxes on the table in front of me. As I began to peruse the contents, I was astounded by what I saw. This was an American rabbi who regularly corresponded with the Chofetz Chaim, Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzenski, Rav Aharon Kotler, Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, Rav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Rav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, Rav Moshe Feinstein, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and many other gedolei Yisrael. Secular icons Jacob Schiff, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Albert Einstein were his acquaintances as well. Even more impressive were the long lists of rabbanim he supported under the aegis of his lifesaving Rabbinic Assistance Fund, which would send out funds before Yom Tov to hundreds of struggling Torah scholars throughout the world.
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