The Yiddish Book Center's

Wexler Oral History Project

A growing collection of in-depth interviews with people of all ages and backgrounds, whose stories about the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture offer a rich and complex chronicle of Jewish identity.

Stuart Jay Robinson's Oral History

Stuart Jay Robinson, rabbi and lawyer, was interviewed by Danielle Winter at the Yiddish Book Center on January 11, 2014. Stuart was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1948 and raised in a "Conservadox" household. Along with his sister and their friends, he attended Hebrew High School and Hebrew College after school. He laughs about having listened to the Baltimore Colts' games on a transistor radio during Hebrew classes and filling everyone in on the scores. Judaism played a large part in their lives and all four grandparents lived nearby. Stuart sang in the youth choir and chaired the bar mitzvah brotherhood, a training ground for future leadership. He was a USYer and a Ramahnik. He recounts his family's Passover traditions (including his grandfather's enjoyment of a schlivo and cigar) with fondness. Stuart's father's family escaped from France during the Nazi era and is frustrated that their original surname was lost along the way. On his mother's Eastern European side, he is related to Al Jolson, who attended Stuart's rabbinical ordination in New York. Stuart reminisces about the Jewish neighborhoods and synagogues he grew up in. His parents became more Orthodox as they aged, in part due to their objections to some of the changes in traditions that were taking place. For Stuart the most important things were to be able to learn Torah, do a haftorah and lead a service, even as a young child. Stuart and his family now live on Lake Champlain in Vermont, where he practices law and previously served on the leadership of two Conservative synagogues. He davens three times a day and writes a weekly publication, which he tries to make relevant to a modern audience. He does some freelancing as a rabbi and interfaith work; he describes how he got involved in this work in Baltimore years ago and how that work evolved once he came to rural Vermont. Although not much spoken in his home, Stuart's grandfather told him that the Yiddish language and culture helped to keep Jewish immigrants in America in community, since they came from so many different countries. He is proud of having written and received a grant to help restore the building of the oldest synagogue in Vermont, built by a Lithuanian Jewish community who had settled there. There were many restrictions due to the building being listed on both state and national historic registers. Stuart believes that one of the lessons of so many Jewish holidays is to believe in yourself and your ability to survive, no matter what the odds. He is the founder of the Akeda Foundation, an international Jewish non-profit for people of diverse backgrounds. He talks about the need for the established religion's institutions to change some of their attitudes toward women and women's rights.

This interview was conducted in English.

Stuart Jay Robinson was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1948.

Artifacts related to this oral history