[Page 398]

David Eisenstein
[photo:] David and Hendel Eisenstein

Rabbi Yehuda-Leib and Freidel Saks and son
Rabbi Menachem Benzion and Chana Saks

        David Eisenstein was born in Drohitchin to his parents R. Litman and Beila. He studied under Yitzchak Avramchik, Naftali Steinberg, the Obler, Halpern, as well as in the yeshiva of Rabbi Mordechai Minkovitch in the Street House of Study. Later he became involved in business. In 1918 he was one of the leaders of the Self Defense Group in Drohitchin. (See p. 99).

        In 1919 David married Hendel Hausman, a daughter of R. Zelig and Sirka Hausman, and in 1920, he took his family to Chicago in the United States. In Chicago, David found wide opportunities for community work. He served for many years as a Board member and trustee of the Kehilat-Yaakov synagogue and Talmud Torah school at Douglas and Hemlin. Today he is the honorary chairman of the Board of Directors of the new Kehilat Yaakov and Beit Shmuel synagogue; he is president of the Anshei Drohitchin Cemetery; a Board member of the Agudat-Achim South Shore synagogue; a member of the Board of the Knesset Yisrael synagogue in Miami Beach, Flordia, and is a member of the Apollo Masonic Lodge. He [is] also a member of the Shomrim Zionists and other organizations.

        A special chapter in its own right is Eisenstein's activity on behalf of the Drohitchin Aid Association in Chicago, where as president (from 1933 to the Holocaust) he was work devotedly to send large sums of money to assist Jews living in Drohitchin. As a successful businessman (president of A. D. Motors Sales), Eisenstein [is] a great supporter of Jewish religious and nationalist institutions such as the Yeshiva, the Education Committee, Combined Jewish Appeal, Israel Bonds, etc.

        David Eisenstein [is] also chairman of the Drohitchin Yizkor Book Committee. The Eisensteins have three children: Freidel (Frances) Saks, Harold and Bernard (See pp. 99, 240 and 242. W.)

Rabbi Menachem Benzion Saks

        Rabbi Menachem Benzion Saks, a son of R. Dov-Ber and Yocheved-Devorah Saks, was the fourth generation born in Jerusalem (1897). His great-grandfather, R. Zadok Saks from Saksen, Germany, was the first person of his family who had settled in the Holy Land 175 years ago, and founded the first courtyard of homes in the old city of Jerusalem. Rabbi Saks, a student of the Etz Chaim Yeshiva and Rabbi Kook's yeshiva in Jerusalem was ordained by the great scholars R. Avraham Yitzchak Kook and Rabbi Zvi Pesach Frank. Since 1922 Rabbi Saks and his family have lived in Chicago. He was the

[Page 399]

director of the Jewish community in Chicago. Today Rabbi Saks serves as executive director of the Education Committee, is chairman of the Synagogue and Public Division of the Combined Jewish Appeal; he is chairman of the administrative committee of the Religious Zionists (United Mizrachi and Poalei Mizrachi), is director of the Rescue Fund, etc.

        Mrs. Chana Saks, the wife of Rabbi M. B. Saks, is the daughter of the chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Zvi Pesach Frank. Rabbi and Mrs. Saks (married in 1915) have four children: Rabbi Yehuda-Leib Saks, Chava Swirsky, Naomi (wife of Dr. Yitzchak Landes) and Avraham Yaakov (a manufacturer in Colombia).

Rabbi Yehuda Leib Saks

Rabbi Yehuda Leib Saks was born to his parents Rabbi Menachem Benzion and Chana Saks in Jerusalem, and received a religious upbringing. At 11 years old he studied in a yeshiva in Jerusalem. In 1922, his parents and he moved to Chicago and he continued his studies at the Beit Midrash LaTorah and attended Marshall High School, where he graduated with distinction and a scholarship.

        After receiving ordination from the Beit Midrash LaTorah, Rabbi Saks attended the University of Chicago and received a doctorate in philosophy. In 1946 Rabbi Saks married Freidel Eisenstein, a daughter of R. David and Hendel Eisenstein, and went into the rabbinate. His first pulpit was in Indiana Harbor. Later he became the rabbi of the Beit Eliezer synagogue and Humboldt Blvd. Temple (both in Chicago). Since 1952, Rabbi Saks has been the rabbi of the Edmonton Jewish community in Alberta, Canada, where he has been very active in the religious and cultural areas. Rabbi Saks has three doctorates – in philosophy, theology and Hebrew Literature (the last was obtained from Dr. Schechter Seminary). He is a professor at the University of Alberta, the head of the Hillel Foundation, chairman of the Jewish-Christian Friendship Association, and is the religious preacher on a Canadian radio program funded by the government, and which enjoys an audience of thousands of listeners.

        Mrs. Freidel Saks, a clever and educated woman, is also very active in community affairs, and is very involved in community life in Edmonton. The Saks have two children, Zelig-Dov and Yocheved Devorah.

[Photo:]^*

Rabbi Yehuda Leib Saks
David Ben Gurion
Freidel Saks