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KAGANOFF/ RABBINIC LITERATURE IN THE U.S.
77
o f the Alliance Colony in New Jersey. In fact, Bayuk was cred
ited with having given the name to the newly established colony
in 1882. Bayuk remained on the farm from 1882 to his death
in 1932 and also served as a Justice o f the Peace for over forty
years. He was considered an outstanding scholar in both tal
mudic and kabbalistic literature as well as in biblical studies.
RESPONSA
During the two decades prio r to the outbreak o f World War
II, at least thirty-two volumes o f responsa literature were pub
lished in the United States. A study has been made o f responsa
that perta ined specifically to questions raised by American Jews
and some o f the results are quite interesting. Apparently the
family life o f the newly arrived imm igrant was not as stable
as popularly believed, even among the religious o r most O r
thodox. Obviously those who would presen t a problem to a rab
binic authority would be religious Jews. The highest number
o f questions raised by American Jews pertained to issues o f the
mental stability o f a spouse which would requ ire the action o f
a rabbinic court to gran t a divorce. Some o f the responsa in
volved questions which were peculiar to the American environ
ment.
One o f the most prolific and authoritative decisors in the
United States in the pre-World War II period was Rabbi Abra
ham Aaron Yudelovitch. Yudelovitch was born in 1850 near
Minsk in Russia. A fter serving as a rabbi in Russia for a short
time, he left for England in 1898 where he served as a rabbi
in Manchester. In 1904 he arrived in America and served briefly
as a rabbi in Boston and afterwards as a Rosh Yeshiva at the
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Yeshiva in New York City. After being
a rabbi in Bayonne, NJ, he re tu rn ed to New York City and
served as the rabbi o f the Congregation Anshe Lubtz on
Eldridge Street where he remained until his death in 1930.
Yudelovitch published the first o f his seven books o f responsa
in Europe u n d e r the title
Bet Av
and his repu ta tion was soon
established th roughou t the rabbinic world as a p rom inen t rab
binic authority. Five additional books o f responsa (four und e r
this title) appeared in America; the first in 1918, two more in
1919, one more in 1920 and the last in 1927. T h e last was en
titled
Av be-Hokhmah.