By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER<\/p>\n
This Shabbat marks the 100th anniversary of the October 31, 1926 death of renowned magician Harry Houdini.<\/p>\n
Born Erich Weisz in Budapest, Hungary, Houdini was the son of Cecilia and Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weisz.<\/p>\n
<\/noscript><\/a>Houdini moved to Appleton Wisconsin when his father (a Conservative-trained Rabbi) assumed the pulpit of the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation there.<\/p>\nIn 1887 \u2013 a time of greater Jewish unity \u2013 Houdini celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in an Orthodox shul, where his Conservative father and the Reform community cheered him on.<\/p>\nHoudini gained fame as an escape artist, escaping Baltimore\u2019s City Jail in 1905, the water torture chamber in 1915, and chains and a strait jacket (while suspended upside down from a crane!) in 1916.<\/p>\nHoudini was the founding president of the \u201cRabbis\u2019 Sons Theatrical Benevolent Association.\u201d Assisted by Vice President Al Jolson and Secretary Irving Berlin, these rabbis\u2019 sons raised money to assist the families of American soldiers fighting in World War I.<\/p>\nHarry was a good Jewish son. At the height of his success, he bought his mother a dress once worn by Queen Victoria.<\/p>\nHoudini\u2019s correspondence shows that \u2013 after his beloved mother\u2019s passing \u2013 he attended minyan every single day for the requisite 11 months to say Kaddish in her memory.<\/p>\nThere\u2019s no escaping it: his memory, too, is a blessing.<\/p>\nRabbi Joseph H. Prouser is the editor of \u201cMasorti: The New Journal of Conservative Judaism.\u201d The latest edition of Masorti published in the summer of 2026 and honors the American Sestercentennial. A subscription is $18 per annum. Print copies are available from Ben Yehuda Press and Amazon.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/noscript><\/a>
In 1887 \u2013 a time of greater Jewish unity \u2013 Houdini celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in an Orthodox shul, where his Conservative father and the Reform community cheered him on.<\/p>\n
Houdini gained fame as an escape artist, escaping Baltimore\u2019s City Jail in 1905, the water torture chamber in 1915, and chains and a strait jacket (while suspended upside down from a crane!) in 1916.<\/p>\n
Houdini was the founding president of the \u201cRabbis\u2019 Sons Theatrical Benevolent Association.\u201d Assisted by Vice President Al Jolson and Secretary Irving Berlin, these rabbis\u2019 sons raised money to assist the families of American soldiers fighting in World War I.<\/p>\n
Harry was a good Jewish son. At the height of his success, he bought his mother a dress once worn by Queen Victoria.<\/p>\n
Houdini\u2019s correspondence shows that \u2013 after his beloved mother\u2019s passing \u2013 he attended minyan every single day for the requisite 11 months to say Kaddish in her memory.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no escaping it: his memory, too, is a blessing.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Joseph H. Prouser is the editor of \u201cMasorti: The New Journal of Conservative Judaism.\u201d The latest edition of Masorti published in the summer of 2026 and honors the American Sestercentennial. A subscription is $18 per annum. Print copies are available from Ben Yehuda Press and Amazon.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/noscript><\/a>
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