Remembering Abe Lebewohl, Founder of the Famed 2nd Avenue Deli

Mar 5, 2019, 8:03 AM

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Exactly 23 years ago, Abe Lebewohl was murdered while making a deposit for his 2^nd Avenue Deli. Till this day, the case has not been solved and the murderer has not been found.

I think of Mr. Lebewohl frequently, especially when I revisit my haunts in the East Village where Mr. Lebewohl built his internationally renowned eatery. The 2^nd Avenue Deli was founded just seven years after Mr. Lebewohl was liberated from Auschwitz.

The 2^nd Avenue Deli was located in the Yiddish Theatre district during the twilight of the twilight years of that famed institution.

I never knew Mr. Lebewohl personally, but I practically lived in the 2^nd Avenue Deli. For seven years, from the late 70’s to the early 80’s, I lived just five short city blocks away. 2^nd Avenue Deli was two blocks west of Alphabet City (the former northern section of the Lower East Side) and anchored in the East Village (which was also considered the Lower East Side at one time). The area during the period I lived there was full of drug addicts, high crime and young and burned out Bohemians. Yet, his establishment thrived and thrived very well.

Mr. Lebewohl’s essence could be found everywhere in the Deli. If I bumped into him, which I am sure I did frequently, I would not know who he was.

All New Yorkers knew about him and respected him greatly. He was a man of integrity. Even Orthodox Jews ate at his establishment, which was highly unusual, because the 2^nd Avenue Deli was open on Shabbat, and religious Jews avoided such establishments. However, if Mr. Lebewohl said his deli was kosher, who were we to question him? He carried a good name, and everyone trusted him.

His waiters were not obnoxious like at other kosher eateries and dairy restaurants that during those times were quickly vanishing from the Lower East Side scene. They weren’t friendly either. They just acted in a heimish manner, almost as if you wanted to pull up a chair and ask them to join in the heated family discourse.

The night before my son was scheduled to be born, my family went to our “go to” restaurant and dined at our usual deli spot, the Molly Picon room. Where else would we dine for Mazal and good luck? The waiter that July night was our usual server. The stars were aligned for a healthy birth and a good life for my son.

One other evening during that same period, I was dining at the 2^nd Avenue Deli and ordered my favorite dish, Romanian Steak. That evening, the portion was not as large as the usual humongous dishes. I really did not mind since I could never finish a whole dish of any meal I ordered. As I paid for the meal, I expressed to my usual server, that I was not complaining (I really was not, I disdain complainers) but was surprised the portion was not as large.

Five minutes later, the server bought a plateful of corned beef, with a kind and genuine message, “Abe said no one should leave hungry.” I knew the intentions were sincere, but I was so embarrassed. A man who survived starvation at a death camp nearly forty years before that meal, was concerned about a customer’s relatively insignificant hunger.

Mr. Lebewohl was also concerned about his community. He was dedicated to his old neighborhood synagogue. I used to love walking Alphabet Land and the East Village on Sunday mornings, searching for buildings that used to be synagogues. One would have to move the heavy vines to discover the Hebrew letters.

His family was immensely worried about Mr. Lebewohl making deposits. He never deviated from his routine and boarded the van at the same time. His response to his family was, as his daughter reported, “He used to say if somebody wanted the money, he would just give it to them.” That response was so typical of Mr. Lebewohl. He would offer the money to a robber, not out of fear of his life, he already experienced that Kingdom of Darkness, but because the thief probably needed the money.

The 2nd Avenue Deli closed in 2006 and resurrected itself years later in Midtown and the Upper East Side. I kept on frequenting the old, original establishment when I worked in the City until 2005. After his death, I contributed to a fund established in his memory.

Two weeks ago, I dined again in the East Village, as I usually do during my frequent trips to New York. I always walk to the area where Mr. Lebewohl’s restaurant used to stand and looked down towards the sidewalk. His Walk of Fame Stars in tribute to the actors of the Yiddish Theatre still dot the sidewalk. All the actors’ names have since faded away. That is okay, because only one name should now be engraved permanently in all those stars, Abraham Lebewohl.

May his memory and his life continue to carry a blessing.

About the Author

Saul Chapnick was raised in an Orthodox home with deep familial Hasidic roots. Educated in yeshiva and later earning a Master of Social Work degree from Yeshiva University's Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Saul has continued throughout his life to embrace Jewish learning in many settings—from studying at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion to maintaining a weekly chavruta for ongoing Torah study. His lifelong journey has given him a deep appreciation for richness of Jewish tradition across the spectrum of Jewish life. For more than thirty-five years, Saul has devoted himself to the study of Jewish history, with a particular focus on Jewish life in interwar Eastern Europe. Inspired by the mitzvah of Zachor (to remember), he has explored both the extraordinary vibrancy of the Jewish world that was destroyed in the Shoah and the enduring questions of Jewish memory, continuity, and identity. Through extensive travel, archival research, and conversations with survivors, scholars, communal leaders, and public figures, he has sought to understand not only what was lost, but also what those vanished communities continue to teach us today. His writing explores the intersection of Jewish history, personal memory, Israel, and contemporary Jewish life, seeking to connect the voices of the past with the challenges of the present. A gifted storyteller and engaging speaker, Saul has lectured throughout the United States and abroad on Jewish history, Yiddish language and culture, modern Poland, Israel, and post-Holocaust Jewish identity. His presentations blend scholarship with personal experience, inviting audiences to explore the enduring relevance of Jewish history to contemporary Jewish life. He has also prepared adult participants of the March of the Living by providing historical and cultural context that deepens their understanding of both Poland's Jewish past and its emerging Jewish present. Saul is the author of a widely read weekly Substack newsletter and a contributor to The Times of Israel, where he reflects on Jewish life, history, Israel, memory, and current events. His essays weave together personal experience, historical research, and contemporary issues, encouraging readers to reflect on the challenges and opportunities facing the Jewish people today. For the past thirteen years, Saul has served as the Substitute Chaplain through the Greater Miami Jewish Federation Chaplaincy Program at Miami Jewish Health. During rabbinic transitions, he has served as the community's interim spiritual leader, leading Shabbat and holiday services, reading Torah, delivering Divrei Torah, teaching adult education classes and study groups, and providing pastoral care to residents and their families. Professionally, Saul brings more than two decades of executive leadership in healthcare and human services. He specialized in turning around distressed assisted living and memory care communities by rebuilding staff morale, restoring occupancy, improving quality of care, ensuring regulatory compliance, and returning organizations to financial stability. Today, he draws upon that experience as an expert witness in legal matters involving senior care, assisted living, and long-term care communities. Whether teaching Torah, leading prayer, writing, or speaking, Saul believes that Judaism is best experienced through learning, storytelling, meaningful relationships, and a deep respect for every individual's Jewish journey. At the same time, Chapnick has witnessed a limited reawakening of Jewish life in his family’s ancestral homeland of Poland. He has spoken at numerous venues on the contemporary relevance of Yiddish and Yiddish culture, the significance of the 19th- and 20th-century Jewish world to modern life, and the shaping of post-Holocaust Jewish identity. He also prepares adult participants of the March of the Living to engage meaningfully with modern-day Jewish Poland. Chapnick shares his insights and reflections in weekly blogs on https://saulchapnick.substack.com, where readers are welcome to subscribe.