By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com

Once, about 70 years ago or so, Orthodox Jewry was nearly written off.  “The future is with Reform and Conservative!” – was the cry.  What saved the day were the unsung heroes of Yiddishkeit.

They were the orthodox Rabbis who persevered and continued to teach Torah and Judaism.  They were not only shul Rabbis, but they taught in the day schools and in the Yeshivos.  And they stood staunch while society around them declined morally, and religiously.

This was during the hippy sixties – with Timothy Leary, Woodstock, f.l., drugs, and all else that personified that generation.  Through it all, these Rabbis and these organizations saved orthodoxy.  Their students went on and helped fill the ranks of our Yeshivos.  Their children and grandchildren, and so many others, are remarkable Bnei Torah because of the path that they took.

One such hero was Rabbi Max Schreier ob”m, who passed away Tuesday, May 16^th.  He was 95 years old.

His family presciently fled Stettin, Germany with the rise of Naziism in 1937. Stettin, an ancient port town near the Baltic, had been home to roughly 2,500 Jews at the time of the Nazi takeover in 1933. About half emigrated over the next seven years. The record shows that the rest of them, just over 1,000 people were rounded up on February 12/13, in 1940.

Rabbi Schreier was at the tender age of 9 years old when his family left Stettin. He came with his parents, Sigmund and Regina, along with his two older sisters Ida, 16, and Betti, 14.  They met relatives in new York and soon, the family settled in Williamsburg.  Reb Max was studying at Yeshiva Torah V’Daas.  His menahel, interestingly enough was Rabbi Dovid Bender a’h, father of Rabbi Yaakov Bender (of Yeshiva Darchei Torah).  After Torah V’Daas he attended Yeshiva University and studied under Rav Yosha Ber Soloveitchik zt”l.

Rabbi Schreier was a member of the YU smicha class of 1951.

He was the moreh d’asrah of the Avenue N. Jewish Center in Brooklyn for some fiftyyears. He was a past President of the Rabbinical Council of America, as well as a past President of the Rabbinic Alumni of RIETS. Yeshiva University conferred upon him a Doctor of Divinity Degree for distinguished service to the Yeshiva and to the American Jewish Community. He was also a past President of the Va’d Harabanim of Flatbush. Rabbi Schreier was a member of the Board of Governors of the OU.

Rabbi Schreier motivated and inspired so many people, young women, congregants, his Talmidim and Rabbis as well.   He was the Rav in Rochester, New York from 1951-1956, he continued on in Bridgeport, Connecticut from 1956-1963.   Ultimately, he became the Rav in the Avenue N Jewish Center from 1963-2013.   When he arrived in Flatbush he was also the chaplain in Coney Island Hospital.

Rabbi Schreier was a brilliant Talmid Chochom, and Torah permeated everything he did.   He always had a pedagogical angle in everything he did as well.  Singing davening and zmiros was very much a part of his life.  Later in life, even one of his aides would hum along to the tune of Adon Olam – his favorite zemer.

“Rabbi Schreier was my Rabbi growing up. Just as important, he and his entire family were neighbors and friends. There are too many stories to relay here. The Rabbi was not only a spiritual leader but a caring and sweet man,” wrote Reb Buzzy Rosenthal.

Dr. Dovid Krinsky commented, “I cannot forget, I will not forget, the caring patience that he showed to me over quite a period of time, When I needed somebody. Nor, that he taught this remarkable מדה to our beloved Zev.”

Dr. Aaron Greenberg remarked, “I had the pleasure of growing up in Rabbi Schreier’s shul . I was bar mitzvahed there. He performed my wife Linda and my wedding ceremony.I went to school with his children I have wonderful memories of going to the Schreiers house for Shabbos meals as well as having enjoyable time at their summer bungalow in the Catskills. I will always remember Rabbi Schreier wonderful oratory as he always found to way to connect the parsha to current events and helped share with me and inculcate in me an unabashed love and defense of eretz Yisroel.”

Rav Hershel Schechter shlita was one of the maspidim at the levaya in new York.  He is buried in the Etz HaChaim Cemetery in Eretz Yisroel.

Among other things, Rabbi Schreier leaves a legacy of remarkable children and family members throughout Eretz Yisroel and America.

The author can be reached at [email protected]

The levaya that took place in Eretz Yisroel can be seen here.