JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

juedischer Autoren 2 (1993), 289–300 (bibl.); G. von Glasenapp, Aus
der Judengasse (1996).
[Robert Weltsch / Marcus Pyka (2nd ed.)]
BERNSTEIN, ARYEH LEIB (1708–1788), chief rabbi of
Galicia, and merchant; born in Brody. While a young man he
served for a brief period as rabbi of Zbarazh, subsequently returning
to Brody where he entered commerce. The 1740s was
a period of prosperity for Brody; the Jews there began to establish
commercial links abroad. Bernstein succeeded in concentrating
a large part of the trade in his hands. When in 1776
the election of a chief rabbi (Oberlandesrabbiner) of Galicia
was about to take place, the rabbi-designate Ezekiel *Landau
remained in Prague, and Bernstein was appointed. At his new
place of residence in Lemberg, Bernstein took over control
of the religious functionaries and the administration of taxes
in the communities under his jurisdiction. His authoritarian
ways and interference in the administration of the communities
aroused opposition which was exacerbated by his financial
dealings, which he continued while serving as chief rabbi.
His opponents complained bitterly against him, and in 1785
an investigation was begun. However, through his influence,
the charges were dropped and his accusers were punished.
Despite this, his authority was undermined. The increasing
dissatisfaction among the mass of Jews, coupled with the inclination
of the authorities to abolish the centralistic chief rabbinate,
led to its abrogation on Nov. 1, 1786. Bernstein, who
was permitted to retain the title only, did not succeed in his
intention to continue to manage religious affairs. He subsequently
devoted himself mainly to commerce and left a large
fortune to his heirs.
[Moshe Landau]
His father, ISSACHAR BER (d. 1764) was also a distinguished
scholar, rabbi, and communal leader. Issachar Ber’s
first position was as a rabbi of the Kehillat Ḥayyatin (“Congregation
of the Tailors”) in Brody. In 1750, he was elected rosh
ha-medinah (“head of the province”) of Brody, and also was
appointed “a trustee of the Council of Four Lands and parnas
of Rydzyna Province.” Despite the intense opposition of some
communities, he remained a trustee until 1763.
[Itzhak Alfassi]
Bibliography: N.M. Gelber, Aus zwei Jahrunderten (1924),
14–37; idem, in: JQR, 14 (1923/24), 303–27; S. Buber, Anshei Shem
(1895), xixff.
BERNSTEIN, BÉLA (1868–1944), Hungarian Jewish historian.
Bernstein was born in Várpalota; he graduated in 1892
from the Jewish Theological Seminary of Budapest, and received
his doctorate in 1890 in Leipzig. He served as rabbi
in Szombathely from 1892 to 1909 and then became rabbi in
Nyiregyháza. He tried to introduce a uniform religious education
in Hungary in 1901. Bernstein wrote works devoted to
the history of the Jews in Hungary: Az 1848–49-iki magyar szabadságharc
és a zsidók (“The 1848–49 Hungarian Revolution
bernstein, carl
and the Jews” (1898), preface by Mór Jókai); “The History of
the Jews in Vasmegye,” in: Magyar Zsidó Szemle, vols. 30–32
(1913–15); and “Die Anfaenge der Judengemeinde inNyiregyháza”
in Semitic Studies in Memory of Immanuel Loew (1947).
In his last years Bernstein worked on his memoirs. He was deported
to Auschwitz by the Nazis in 1944 and died there.
Bibliography: Magyar Zsidó Szemle, 49 (1932), 235–8.
[Alexander Scheiber]
BERNSTEIN, CARL (1944– ), U.S. investigative reporter.
Born in Washington, D.C., Bernstein, with Bob Woodward,
succeeded, with their disclosures of the Watergate scandal
in the 1970s, in helping to end the presidency of Richard M.
Nixon, who resigned in disgrace rather than face impeachment.
After attending the University of Maryland from 1961
to 1964, Bernstein worked as a reporter for the Washington
Star. He joined the Elizabeth (N.J.) Daily Journal in 1965 and
worked until the following year as a reporter and columnist
before joining the Washington Post, where he worked as a reporter
for ten years, ending in 1976. Bernstein was a reporter
for six years before he began work on one of the most important
news stories of the 20th century. He covered local county
and municipal governments, and liked to write long articles
about Washington’s people and neighborhoods. Although he
was not assigned to the story of the break-in at the Watergate
complex headquarters of the Democratic National Committee
on June 17, 1972, he wrote an accompanying story about
the five burglary suspects to complement Woodward’s coverage
of the break-in. He then persuaded his editors to let him
cover leads that Woodward was not following. After Bernstein
traced the origin of a $25,000 payment to the burglars back
to the Republican re-election committee, he and Woodward
began working together. At first the relationship was testy
but they agreed they had to discover more about the story,
and began to cooperate. They labeled one anonymous source
Deep Throat and vowed not to disclose his/her identity. As
the Watergate stories began to implicate high officials in the
Nixon administration, White House officials denied the stories
vigorously. The pair worked on the story almost alone for
a year. In March 1973, a letter from one of the burglars, James
McCord, to the judge presiding over a grand jury, implicated
highly placed administration officials in perjury and use of
political pressure, confirming Woodward and Bernstein’s reporting.
The reporters wrote All the President’s Men, recounting
their exhaustive and exclusive reporting, and the account
was a huge bestseller. It became a major motion picture, with
Robert Redford portraying Woodward and Dustin *Hoffman
playing Bernstein.
Within a week of Nixon’s resignation, Woodward and
Bernstein began writing The Final Days, a chronicle of the last
15 months of Nixon’s presidency, culminating in the resignation
in August 1974. The book was heavily criticized for its use
of “backstairs gossip” and for alleged tastelessness. And some
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3 477