Naftali Taubenfeld
Naftali Taubenfeld was born on January 24, 1928, in Radymno, Poland, to Shmuel and Sabina Taubenfeld. He was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home along with his brother, Ike, and sister, Rose. In 1939, warned that the Nazis were about to enter their town, the family walked over the border to Russia. They lived there until 1941, when the Soviet government sent transported them to a Siberian labor camp for refusing to renounce their religion. For the next four years, the Taubenfeld shared cramped barracks with several families, suffering through freezing winters and nearly starving to death.
Following the war, Naftali and his family stayed at the Hallein Displaced Persons (DP) camp near Salzberg, Austria, before emigrating to the United States in 1949, where they settled on the Lower East Side. In 1951, Naftali married Beatrice Weiner, and, in 1954, they moved to Caldwell, New Jersey. They became very active in Congregation Agudath Israel, Conservative Shul, where Naftali served as gabbai for 65 years and was a leader of the community.
Upon arriving in the United States, Naftali hustled to make a living, selling fruit from a Midtown Manhattan pushcart so that he could help support his family. He eventually built his own wholesale fruit business. While Naftali’s education was halted because of the Holocaust, he was well-read and knowledgeable about world history. An ardent Zionist, he had been a follower of Zev Jabotinsky in Europe, and maintained a deep love of Israel his entire life. As his family came to the United States, many of his cousins went to Israel and he maintained a close relationship with them throughout their lives. He was also grateful to America and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) for taking in and supporting his family as refugees.
Naftali, who was known as “Nat,” and Beatrice, known as “Bea,” had five children, 12 grandchildren (and their spouses) and 10 great grandchildren including Michael Weinberg, the father of Heschel student David Weinberg. He passed away on September 29, 2019.
