Philip Reinish

@ Yiddish Book Center

Yiddish Book Center (Emily B.)

Description

Philip Reinish, a former union organizer, was interviewed by Jessica Parker on March 13, 2013 in Boca Raton, Florida. Philip grew up in a working class community in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn. In his interview, he speaks of attending Hebrew school as a boy and davening the Saturday morning service for children. Though he later came to identify as a non-believer, Philip says that his Jewish identity has determined his entire path in life. As a teenager attending Brooklyn Tech, Philip speaks of being unhappy in school and leaving at the age of sixteen to join the civil service where, he says, he began to see the world through new eyes. Following a short enlistment in the Navy, Philip went to work for various labor unions and organizing committees. He recalls these years as a time of extraordinary personal development in which he found several important mentors who encouraged him in his goals of becoming a union organizer. A member of the Communist Party for twenty years, Philip credits his Jewishness for his liberal politics. In addition, he discusses how his travels around the world introduced him to different cultures and opened his mind to their shared humanity. To learn more about the Wexler Oral History Project, visit: http://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/tell-your-story To cite this interview: Philip Reinish Oral History Interview, interviewed by Jessica Parker, Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project, Boca Raton, Florida, March 13, 2013. Video recording, https://archive.org/details/PhilipReinish13march2013YiddishBookCenter ( [date accessed] )

Type:

Video

Format:

Motion Pictures

Rights:

Rights status not evaluated.Contact host institution for more information.

View Original At:

https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/oral-histories/interviews/woh-fi-0000386