This is an article which appeared in the September 14, 1950 edition of The Sentinel. The article relates an anecdote about a wealthy and influential American Jewish businessman called Bernard Baruch which took place on Yom Kippur. The article’s subheading reads: “Bernard Baruch Stayed Away from Wall Street on Yom Kippur – And Made a Fortune!” The article, written by David Schwartz, opens with a surprising comparison between Wall Street and the Western Wall, explaining that although these two “walls” are at opposite poles, the men at the Stock Exchange also display a “kind of religious fervor.”
The article tells a story about Bernard Baruch, a Wall Street dealer at the time. During a phone call to his mother, Baruch mentioned the importance of the following Monday at work, describing it as his “Day of Judgement.” His mother reminded him that this day was in fact Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Judgement. His mother, it is mentioned, was of Sephardi origin and thus felt especially connected to this day: “Yom Kippur, more than any other holy day, seems to epitomize these Jews who suffered so much martyrdom in the Spanish Inquisition.” The article goes on to discuss the connections of Spanish Jews to Yom Kippur. It mentions that the Spanish origins of the Kol Nidrei prayer of Yom Kippur and special customs of the day stemmed from the need to hide observation of the holy day from the Inquisition soldiers (named the Inquisition “Gestapo”).
Ultimately, following his mother’s request, Baruch did not go to work on Yom Kippur although it was very important for his business. The article concludes by describing the result of his absence from work on Yom Kippur. Upon returning from the Yom Kippur services, Baruch read the newspaper and found that over Yom Kippur, his stock had risen and “Baruch found that by absenting himself from his office he had made his biggest gain of a single day on Wall St.”
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Yom Kippur – Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the Jewish year. The date of Yom Kippur is 10 Tishrei, and it marks the end of the ten-day period beginning with Rosh Hashanah which is called the High Holy Days and the Ten Days of Repentance. According to tradition, God evaluates each person’s life and writes their name in either the Book of Life or the Book of Death during the Ten Days of Repentance; on Yom Kippur, the books are sealed. While reflection and prayer take place throughout the ten days, Yom Kippur is the most solemn day, and it is traditional to pray, fast, and refrain from bathing and wearing leather shoes. It is also traditional to give tzedakah (charity), during this time period. Another unusual custom is wearing a tallit for all of the prayers, when it is usually only worn during the day, and in some communities men wear a special white robe named a kittel. There are five services on Yom Kippur, beginning with the Kol Nidrei prayer and the Maariv service in the evening. Prayers are resumed the following day with Shacharit (morning service) and the Musaf (additional service) which includes a description of the special ceremonies that took place in the Temple on Yom Kippur. Later in the day is the Mincha service, during which the Book of Jonah is read, and the day comes to close with the Neilah service, considered to be the final opportunity to ask God to be written in the Book of Life, which ends with the congregation saying the Shema and the blowing of the shofar.
Bernard Baruch – Bernard Baruch (1870–1965) was a wealthy American Jewish businessman with close ties to the Democratic Party. Presidents Harding, Hoover, Wilson, and Roosevelt all consulted with Baruch, and he served on many governmental committees. Baruch was a successful trader on the New York Stock Exchange and a philanthropist who supported various charities and Columbia University.
The Chicago Sentinel - The Chicago Sentinel, a weekly newspaper for the Chicago Jewish community, was one of the longest continuously published Jewish weeklies in the United States. The first issue of the Sentinel was published on February 4, 1911. The newspaper focused on cultural events and included many eye-catching illustrations and photographs. It also published short stories and reports about events in the various Jewish communities. The Sentinel differed from many other English-language, often highbrow, Jewish weeklies, because it reached out to the Zionist immigrants who preferred to read in English and not Yiddish. The Sentinel is a treasure trove for social, cultural, and religious historians who are interested in American Jewish life outside of New York during the twentieth century.
