Els Bendheim
Personal
Born
Els (Rivka) Salomon-Prins Bendheim

(1923-07-07)7 July 1923
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Died12 January 2023(2023-01-12) (aged 99)
Jerusalem, Israel
ReligionJudaism
SpouseCharles Henry Bendheim (1917-1997)
Children7
Alma materBarnard College
Occupation
  • Theologian
  • author
  • photographer

Els Salomon-Prins Bendheim (7 July 1923 – 12 January 2023, 23 Tammuz 5683 – 20 Tevet 5783) was a Dutch-born Orthodox Jewish philanthropist, theologian, author and photographer. In 2002, Bendheim was awarded the Yakir Yerushalayim (Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem) prize for her contributions to the development of Jewish institutions in Jerusalem.

Biography

Els (Rivka) Salomon-Prins was born in Amsterdam, daughter of Iwan (Yitzhak) Salomon and Sophie (Shifra) Wilhelmina Prins Salomon. Her grandfather was the Dutch merchant and Jewish scholar Eliezer Liepman Philip Prins. Her brother was the linguist Herman Prins Salomon. Her half siblings were Robert Salomon, Erna Steindecker and Theodore Salomon. Els Bendheim grew up in Amsterdam and attended the Amsterdams Lyceum.[1]

In 1939, after Hitler's rise to power, the family fled to Canada. They settled in Montreal, where Bendheim attended Westmount High School. In 1944, she graduated from Barnard College with a B.Sc. in Chemistry.[2][1]

In 1957, Bendheim graduated from the New York School of Interior Design and continued to engage in photography and design throughout her life. Although forced to give up her Dutch citizenship after becoming an American, she considered herself Dutch and visited the Netherlands often. She later exhibited her photographs of tulips and Dutch landscapes on the walls of Shaare Zedek Medical Center.[3]

Bendheim was married to Charles Henry Bendheim, with whom she had seven children.[4]

She died in Jerusalem on 12 January 2023, at the age of 99.

Literary and scholarly career

Bendheim published extensively in English, Hebrew and Dutch on topics of theology, rabbinic writings and European Jewish history. Inheriting a love for Jewish literature, she initiated the publication of her grandfather's correspondences, the notes he left in the margins of his books and an anthology of his work in Dutch. [5][6]

One of Bendheim's halakhic position papers led to the establishment of the Manhattan Eruv in 1962.[7] Bendheim stressed the importance of community and inclusiveness in Jewish rulings, arguing that Orthodox Jews who were wheelchair bound and young mothers with infants could not attend synagogue on the Sabbath without an eruv.[8][9]

Another project was a book of blessings entitled "Pereḳ Shirah" dedicated to President Chaim and Aura Herzog and later republished for subsequent presidents including their son, President Isaac Herzog.[10]

Edam-Zuidpolder windmill with flowers, 2008, photograph by Els Bendheim

Philanthropic activities

In 1976, Bendheim and her husband worked with Uri Lupolianski to establish Friends of Yad Sarah Association in the United States. Her dedication to this project continued over forty years. Her son, Philip Bendheim, serves on the board and coordinates the activities of the Friends of Yad Sarah Associations in the United States and Europe.[11] Bendheim was involved in establishing and upkeeping the Shaare Zedek Medical Center, and was among the founding members of Manhattan Day School, Stern College for Women and Yeshiva University.[12] Bendheim was also a generous donor to the Jerusalem College of Technology[13] and the Jewish Institute for the Blind.[14]

Awards and recognition

Published and edited works

  • Memoirs of Childhood: An approach to Jewish philosophy Nima H. Adlerblum, ed. Els Bendheim
  • Pereḳ Shirah: osef pesuḳim ṿe-ḳiṭʻe tefilah, 1986 (Hebrew)
  • The Manhattan Eruv: From the Writings of Rav Menachem M. Kasher, ed. Els Bendheim (Ktav Publishing House, 1986). ISBN 9780881251104
  • Parnas le-dorot : Hagahot u-maʼamarot, Liepman Philip Prins, 1999/2001 (Hebrew and English)
  • The Synagogue Within : Antwerpen's Eisenmann Schul
  • The Lesson of Amalek : A teaching guide Mayer Herskovics, ed. Els Bendheim, 1990/2007 (English and Hebrew)
  • Flowers for You: From Shaare Zedek Medical Center Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem (English)
  • Neʻimot Elef : Catalogue of Hebrew books in the library of Eliezer Lipman Prinz, Amsterdam, now held in the Mizraḥi Teachers ̀seminary in Jerusalem, Judah Leyb Polak, ed. Els Bendheim, 1990 (Hebrew)
  • Parnas le-doro : Hitkatvut Eliʻezer Liepman , 1992 (Hebrew)
  • Neʻimot Elef, 1992 (Hebrew)
  • Liepman Philip Prins: His Scholarly Correspondence, Meyer Herskovics and Els Bendheim eds.(New Jersey: Ktav, 1992)
  • Letter dated 3 Nissan 5660 (1900) from the Chafetz Chaim to R. Eliezer Liepman Philip Prins, Israel Meir, 1993 (Hebrew)
  • Eliezer Liepman Philip Prins Family Tree, New York, Ezra, 1993
  • Eisenmann Synagogue, Vignettes, founded 5668-1908 by Jacob [Yaʻaḳov ha-Leṿi] Jacques S. Eisenmann, Oostenstraat 41, Antwerpen, België, 1998 (English)
  • Rededication of the "Eisenmann Sjoel", founded 5668-1908 by [Yaʻaḳov ha-Leṿi] Jacques S. Eisenmann : Oostenstraat 41, Antwerpen, België, 1998 (English)
  • Qehilat Yaʻaqov: The Eisenmann Schul: Vignettes, 1998 (English)
  • Commentaries of Rabbi Simon Hammelburg on Seder Nashim, edited and translated from Dutch, Els Bendheim
  • Eliʻezer Lipman Prinz̲: Parnas ledorot : Hagahot u-maʼamrot, Liepman Philip Prins, 1999 (Hebrew)
  • Pereḳ shirah : Shirim zemirot u-verakhot, 2000 (Hebrew)
  • Aantekeningen in de marge : Liepman Philip Prins : een Ansterdamse geleerde uit de Mediene, Liepman Philip Prins, 2001 (Dutch)
  • Charlie Reminisces, 2002 eds. Noam Eisenberg and Els Bendheim (English)
  • Els Reminisces, 2003 (English)
  • The Synagogue Within, Antwerpen's Eisenmann Schul, 2004

References

  1. 1 2 Els Bendheim (2003). Els Reminisces. Newark: Ktav.
  2. ↑ "Seniors Feted in June Week". Barnard Bulletin. Vol. 49, no. 44. 5 June 1945. p. 1.
  3. ↑ Flowers for you: from Shaare Zedek Medical Center by Merkaz ha-refuʼi Shaʻare tsedeḳ (Jerusalem), English
  4. ↑ Saxon, Wolfgang (18 May 1997). "Charles Henry Bendheim, 79; Industrialist Aided Jewish Causes". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  5. ↑ "Prins, Liepman Philip". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  6. ↑ ""An Extraordinary Library - Remembering Mrs. Els Salomon-Prins Bendheim", Theodor Dunkelgrün, September 15, 2023". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  7. ↑ Jack O'Dwer (14 July 2015). "Video Shows Political Clout of NYC Eruv Supporters". O'Dwyer's PR News. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
    Rabbi Henkin and other rabbis of the time were involved in this discussion.
  8. ↑ Mintz, A. (2014). It's a thin line: Eruv from Talmudic to modern culture. Brooklyn, NY: Ktav Publishing House. ISBN 978-1602802766.
  9. ↑ The Manhattan Eruv. Edited by Els Bendheim, a compilation of rabbinic scholarship and source material published on the topic of the eruv.
  10. ↑ Pereḳ shirah : shirim zemirot u-verakhot, 2000, Hebrew
  11. ↑ "International Board of Trustees of Yad Sarah". יד שרה > אגודת המתנדבים הגדולה בישראל. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  12. ↑ "Your Daily Phil: A new center advancing Rabbi Sacks' legacy + An obscure U. of California scholarship". eJewish Philanthropy. 17 January 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  13. ↑ Charlie Reminisces, 2002, English, eds. Noam Eisenberg and Els Bendheim
  14. ↑ Hadassah Chen (25 November 2021). "How to create your dream home with Sharonne Turen". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
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