Debrest, Harold

From a very young age, Harold Debrest promised his grandfather he would be ordained as a rabbi. He was a member of a rabbinical family. His grandfather was a highly respected Talmudic scholar and his great-great grandfather was the well-known 17th century Rabbi Lipman Heller. However, at the age of 17, after much success at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Debrest failed to be ordained and instead began writing for newspapers - a passion that would influence his life for the next eighty years.

Harold Debrest (formerly Harold Willinsky) was born in Brest-Litovsk, Russia on November 25, 1883 to Joseph and Malka (Terayansky) Willinsky. As a young boy, he was very close to his grandfather who was a lasting inspiration to him to join the rabbinate. In 1892, the nine-year old Harold with his father and sister immigrated to the United States, settling in New York City. He entered the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) at 13 and flourished there. He was so successful that he was ready to be ordained at 17, but due to Jewish custom, a yearlong delay was imposed before his ordination.

It was during this interval that Debrest began to become disenchanted with the rabbinate. In his own words, he saw Judaism and all religions as ritual, "which is merely the shell of religion." Debrest made it his life's work to study all religions.

After leaving JTS, Debrest transferred to Hebrew Union College and after graduation began working at various jobs involving the Jewish community. He was the President of the Jewish Institute of St. Louis in 1903, became the Director of Social Work for the Educational Alliance of New York in 1905, was a founder of the International Jewish Congress in 1907, was an organizer and the first president of the Jewish Big Brother Association in 1908, and in 1910 he became the registrar of the Jewish School of Philosophy of New York.

However, throughout this period of Debrest's life, his interest in journalism grew. A lover of philosophy and literature, Debrest began writing for the Modern Review in St. Louis. Upon returning to New York in 1905, he began writing for the Hebrew Standard . Soon, his journalistic fever reached a pitch. In 1927, Debrest became a feature editor of the Jewish Tribune and in 1932 he became a feature editor of the Jewish Forum . During this time, Debrest also became a member of staff on the New York Post, and distributed his own news bulletin - Debrest's Special News Service . Circulated by subscription only, the weekly news report extensively covered the increasing hardships of Europe's Jews in the 1930s and the ominous rise of the fascist states.

It was while writing for the Tribune that Debrest wrote his weekly column "Remark-Ables" where he wrote about people and events that appeared out of the ordinary. He wrote under the pseudonym - Harold Debrest - taken literally "Harold from Brest" referencing his birthplace Brest-Litovsk. It is for his stories in "Remark-Ables" that Debrest is most remembered.

Debrest was also a published poet, his most famous poem being The White and Blue dedicated to President Harry Truman. Set to music The White and Blue was meant to be an addendum to the Israeli national anthem Hatikvah - an anthem for English speaking Jews. Debrest felt that Truman was essential in the international recognition of the State of Israel.

Debrest wrote for years on Jewish and secular issues. Even until his last years, he continued to write poetry while collating his volumes of work for publication. He died on November 4, 1982 at the age of 98.

From the guide to the Papers of Harold Debrest, undated, 1901-1982, (American Jewish Historical Society)