Morris J. Besdin (July 15, 1913-April 10, 1982, also known as Moshe Besdin) was a Jewish chaplain in the United States Army during World War II, a pulpit rabbi in Pennsylvania and New York, a university Jewish studies educator and a university administrator. For nearly a quarter-century he headed the Jewish Studies Program (JSP) at Yeshiva University, created to appeal to ba’alei teshuva (religious returnees). They constituted “a revolution in Jewish religious life”Victor B. Geller, Orthodoxy Awakens: The Belkin Era and Yeshiva University (Jerusalem: Urim Publications, 2003), 235. and the movement was “a new phenomenon in Judaism; for the first time there are not only Jews who leave the fold ... but also substantial number who ‘return.’”M. Herbert Danzger, Returning to Tradition: The Contemporary Revival of Orthodox Judaism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), 2. The “excellent”Sharon Strassfeld and Michael Strassfeld (eds.), The Second Jewish Catalog (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1976), 259. JSP program was the “first Orthodox residential college (yeshiva) designed for newly or prospective Orthodox Jews”Matthew C. Williams, "American Orthodox Jewish Outreach through Higher Education: Three Strategies for Fashioning a Post-Holocaust Judaism” (Stanford, PhD dissertation, 2021), iv. and the “most dramatically successful” of any in its time.Charles S. Leibman, “Orthodoxy in American Jewish Life,” American Jewish Year Book 1965 (New York: American Jewish Committee, ), 63.
Early years Besdin was born in Pruzhany, Poland,Pruzhany had been under Russian and Polish rule, in 1922 Pruzhany was part of Poland (Encyclopaedia Judaica vol. 16, 2ed., 2007, 656-7). On the List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival, List 4, 27 Jan 1922, line 12, the country is identified as Russia. son of Rabbi Eliezer Zvi BesdanskyList or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States for the ship Zeeland, line 12, the name is spelled “Leiser Bezdansky”. In English works published in America, the name is usually spelled “Besdansky”. Morris Besdin’s father was rabbi of Congregation Chevra Tehillim Nusach Ashkenaz, in what is today Brooklyn (advertisement, “Thank you to Cantor Berele Shikoff,” Jewish Morning Journal, Nov. 6, 1925, 11, Yiddish). (1882-1937"Detroit Rabbi Accepts Call to Serve in City,” Scranton Tribune (Aug. 5, 1937), 21.) and Ida“Rabbi [engaged] to Wed Miss Reichman,” New York Herald Tribune (March 26, 1948), 25. (née OlizevskyHer Polish forename Chaja (Hebrew equivalent, Chaya) is as given in the List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States, line 13; the surname can be deduced from line 12, and is also spelled Oleshevsky (New York Herald Tribune, March 26, 1948, 25).) (1888-1955). On January 27, 1922, he arrived with his parents and two siblings at the Port of New York on board the SS Zeeland (1900).List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States for the ship Zeeland; “Besdin, Morris,” in Philip S. Bernstein, “Jewish Chaplains in World War II,” American Jewish Year Book 1945-46 vol. 47 (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1945), 180. Abraham R. Besdin (1922-93), a brother who published works on Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik,Ari L. Goldman, “Religion Notes,” New York Times (May 22, 1993), 25. was born months after the family emigrated. In the United States, Besdin used the name “Moshe Besdansky”“Moshe” being the Hebrew equivalent of his born Polish-Yiddish forename “Mojsze” (List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States, line 15), and “Besdansky” being an English rendering of his born Yiddish surname, בעזדאנסקי (List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States, line 12). until 1936,“Rabbi [Besdin] to Lecture,” Scranton Republican (Sept. 16, 1936), 12; “Vine Street Synagogue”, Scranton Times (Sept. 22, 1936), 22. when he applied to be the spiritual leader of Machzikeh Hadas in Scranton, Pennsylvania. For the rest of his life he was known as “Morris J. Besdin” or, using his Hebrew name, as “Moshe Besdin” (משה בית–דין).
Besdin was a standout student at New York schools. In 1924, he attended Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim, where he was among the top of his class,“Honor List of the Outstanding Students of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim,” Jewish Morning Journal (Oct. 16, 1924), 4 (Yiddish); Encyclopaedia Judaica vol. 3 (2ed., 2007), 494, says he completed his elementary schooling at Yeshiva Chaim Berlin. and in 1931 he graduated from the Talmudical Academy,“Talmud Class Exercises. Preparatory School Here Presents Diplomas to 64,” New York Times (June 26, 1931), 13. the first high school in America to offer secular and religious subjects in a Jewish setting.Gilbert Klaperman, The Story of Yeshiva University ([New York]: Macmillan Co., 1969), 141. In 1936, at the fifth annual commencement of Yeshiva College,“30 To Be Graduated at Yeshiva Today,” New York Times (June 16, 1936), 31. he received a BA degree cum laude“Yeshiva College Exercises Today,” Brooklyn Times Union (June 16, 1936), 16; “30 To Be Graduated at Yeshiva Today,” New York Times (June 16, 1936), 31. and rabbinic ordination (semikha) from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.“YU Loses Rabbi Besdin: Director of JSS,” Yeshiva University Hamevaser vol. 20 (May 5, 1982), 1. His classmates judged him the “Most Respected” member of the Senior Class.“Yeshiva Senior,” Masmid 1936 (n.p., s.i., n.d.), 72. At the Teachers Institute program at Yeshiva, from which he graduated,“Vine Street Synagogue Selects Rabbi Besdin,” Scranton Republican (Sept. 23, 1936), 21. he was a student of Dr. Nathan Klotz, Professor of Bible.“Tribute Paid To Dr. Klotz At Assembly,” Yeshiva College Commentator (Feb. 27, 1950), 1; “Dr. Nathan Klotz, 67, Taught at Yeshiva U.,” New York Times (Dec. 23, 1949), 21.
In 1948, Besdin married Bertha Reichman (d. 2012), who had studied in Vienna, Antwerp, and New York City.Congratulatory advertisements (noting her Yiddish name, Bryna), including from Yeshiva Rabbi Moses Soloveitchik and Beth Hamedrash Hagodol, Jewish Morning Journal (June 22, 1948), 10 (Yiddish); “Rabbi [engaged] to Wed Miss Reichman,” New York Herald Tribune (March 26, 1948), 25. The couple had four children.“Condolences,” Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Chavrusa vol. 47 (Sept. 2012), 30.
Pulpit career In September 1936, Besdin succeeded Moses Mescheloff“Vine Street Synagogue Selects Rabbi Besdin,” Scranton Republican (Sept. 23, 1936), 21. at Congregation Machzikai Hadas“Machzike” is variously spelled: Machzikei, Machzikeh, also known as Vine Street Synagogue; amalgamates with Penn Avenue Synagogue (as “Michrikeh Hadas Synagogue”) around 1947 (Scrantonian Tribune, May 11, 1947, 7). (also known as the Vine Street Synagogue), in Scranton, Pennsylvania, as rabbi and principal of the Hebrew school. There on occasion he delivered sermons in Yiddish and English.“Rabbi to Be Speaker,” Scranton Times (Aug. 28, 1936), 15.
In 1937,“News Notes,” Yeshiva College Commentator (Jan. 5, 1938), 4, referencing “Morris Besdansky”. Besdin was appointed rabbi at Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Synagogue, West 175th Street,“News Notes,” Yeshiva College Commentator (Jan. 5, 1938), 4. Also rendered: Beis Medrash HaGadol (Encyclopaedia Judaica vol. 3, 2ed., 2007, 494). the oldest synagogue in Washington Heights (founded 1916).David Smigel, “Struggle and Triumph: A (Brief) History of the Oldest Shul in Washington Heights,” Yeshiva University Observer (Stern College) (March 10, 2025). In 1938, he started the Yeshiva Rabbi Moses Soloveitchik in Manhattan, which was located on the synagogue premises.Bernard Postal and Lionel Koppman, Jewish Landmarks of New York: A Travel Guide and History (New York: Fleet Press, revised ed., 1978), 151 (where the name is spelled “Soloveichik”); the yeshiva closed in 1982 (Peretz Hochbaum, “Soloveichik Building Purchase,” Yeshiva College Commentator (Sept. 11, 1984), 1. From its early years, it appealed to boys and girls who had minimal knowledge of Hebrew.Advertisement, “Yeshiva Rabbeinu Moshe Soloveitchik”, Jewish Morning Journal (Feb. 18, 1948), 18 (Yiddish).
Besdin continued as chairman of the education committee at the Yeshiva, and at the synagogue itself, until 1950, when he became spiritual leader of Kew Gardens Adath Yeshurun Synagogue in Kew Gardens, Queens.David Smigel, “Struggle and Triumph: A (Brief) History of the Oldest Shul in Washington Heights,” Yeshiva University Observer (Stern College) (March 10, 2025); “Death Notices. Rabbi Morris Besdin,” National Jewish Post and Opinion (April 16, 1982), 16. The synagogue was located at 82-17 Lefferts Blvd. (New York Daily News, Oct. 21, 1951, 31Q). The institution was “the first Orthodox synagogue established and built in New York shortly after the war.”Victor Geller, “Besdin, Morris J.,” Encyclopaedia Judaica vol. 3 (2ed., 2007), 494. For Kew Gardens Hills, this distinction is accorded to Rabbi H. Joel Laks (1921-2001). It helped to meet the needs of the Jewish population of the Borough of Queens, which had increased from fewer than 25,000 in 1920 to 200,000 in 1950 and 250,000 in 1953.Bernard Postal and Lionel Koppman, A Jewish Tourist’s Guide to the U.S. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1954), 459. He remained there until 1958.Victor Geller, “Besdin, Morris J.," Encyclopaedia Judaica vol. 3 (2ed., 2007), 494.
Chaplaincy Besdin’s pulpit career was interrupted in March 1944, when he was inducted into the United States Army as a Jewish chaplain.“Besdin, Morris,” in Philip S. Bernstein, “Jewish Chaplains in World War II,” American Jewish Year Book 1945-46 vol. 47 (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1945), 180. A shortage of available Jewish Army chaplains persisted throughout World War II, with Besdin being one of 68 Orthodox rabbis to serve in that position during that time.Albert Isaac Slomovitz, “The Fighting Rabbis: A History of Jewish Military Chaplains, 1860-1945” (Loyola University Chicago, PhD dissertation, 1995), 174-186.
In April 1944, Besdin was assigned to the U.S. Military training base at Camp Livingston, Louisiana.“N.Y. Rabbi Named as Chaplain for Hebrew Soldiers,” Alexandria Daily Town Talk (Louisiana)(May 4, 1944), 5. That Christmas, he urged Jewish soldiers in the “spirit of brotherhood and cooperation” to volunteer to take the assignments of Christian soldiers who wished to observe the holiday.“Jewish Men Urged to Volunteer For Duty on Christmas Holiday,” Camp Livingston Communiqué (Dec. 22, 1944), 3.