Kesher Israel and Chisuk Emuna Congregations are thrilled to present 2025 National Jewish Book Award winner Howard Langer discussing his award-winning book, The Last Dekrepitzer.

When: Sunday, May 18, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. Where: Kesher Israel Congregation, Harrisburg, Pa. Cost: Program is free. Books will be available for sale. RSVP: Kesher Israel office, 717-238-0763

Harrisburg’s Kesher Israel and Chisuk Emuna Congregations are proud to present Howard Langer, winner of the 2025 National Jewish Book Award, Miller Family Book Club Award. Mr. Langer will make an in-person presentation, then will sign books following his talk. Mr. Langer will be in conversation with local author, Joel Burcat.

The fiddler busking in the Columbus Circle subway in 1965 is the last Dekrepitzer Rebbe, sole survivor of his Hasidic sect following the Holocaust. The Last Dekrepitzer follows Shmuel Meir Lichtbencher, who was raised to be a rebbe in Poland. He is smuggled by Black GIs to Mississippi who are impressed with his unique style of playing the fiddle. He lives among the poor Blacks and Black musicians in Mississippi. He marries Lula Curtin, and later flees a Klan attack to Manhattan. Playing street music with Reverend Gary Davis, he searches for his followers playing his mournful Hasidic melodies on his fiddle in street corners and in the subways. He seeks G-d, solace, and his people among the poor, Jewish, and Black people of New York.

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