Humans of Hebrew College David Teplow

“My grandfather, Harry Austryn Savitz, was born in Poland in 1895, the oldest of five children, and studied in a yeshiva, like his father and grandfather, to become a rabbi. Jewish education was very important to him. He came to the United States as a teenager, did well in school (despite having to learn English) and went to Harvard College. He developed an interest in medicine and applied only to Harvard Medical School, because he was already accepted into rabbinical school, and felt that if he wasn’t accepted, he would become a rabbi. He was accepted (in the days when Harvard Medical had a quota for Jews) and enrolled, despite the objections of his father, who thought doctors were a step or two down from rabbis. To pay his way through both college and med school, he worked as a Hebrew teacher. He practiced in Brookline and Boston as an internist/family doctor and was renowned for his diagnostic abilities. That made him the doctor of choice for other doctors in Boston. He was involved in the founding of the Beth Israel Hospital and of Hebrew College – where he served as President from 1956-1959. These were expressions of his deep passion for medicine and Jewish education. He had two daughters – my mother Charlotte and my Aunt Muriel – and nine grandchildren. He died in 1994, on the 100th day of his 100th year.”

(David Teplow, whose family has been longtime leaders and supporters of  Hebrew College, stands with his grandfather’s portrait here at the college— the portrait was painted by Nathaniel Jacobson, the father of Zamir Chorale of Boston Artistic Director Josh Jacobson. David serves on the CEO Forum steering committee, and studies Jewish texts and ideas as a member of a longstanding weekly class.)