All in the Family

When descendants of the Lehman brothers gathered recently to celebrate the publication of the family history “Lots of Lehmans” (Center for Jewish History), they did so at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, founded by descendant Robert Morgenthau, Manhattan’s celebrated district attorney.

The Lehman family’s experiences of Jewish observance and identity have ranged widely in their time in America. When Henry, Emanuel, and Mayer Lehman emigrated from Bavaria, Germany, in the mid-19th century, they were Orthodox Jews who surely celebrated Passover. Tonight, some descendants will observe Passover, and many will not.

During the time in between — through four generations — the Lehmans supported Jewish institutions, helped friends and strangers escape from the Nazis, founded the investment bank Lehman Brothers, and achieved success in government, business, and letters. Many cast aside their ritual observance in favor of assimilation. Some were raised Christian; one is an Episcopalian priest.

Today, they are proud of their Jewish heritage. “They live in the era that follows the creation of the state of Israel, which has created a much more positive attitude about Judaism,” the editor of “Lots of Lehmans,” Kenneth Libo, said. “You’ll find more of them at the Passover seder in 2007 than you certainly would in have in ’27 or ’47.”

A great-grandson of Mayer and a retired American ambassador to Denmark, John Loeb Jr., did not grow up attending seders. Tonight, he will be a guest at the seder of Stacey and Matthew Bronfman: Mr. Bronfman is his nephew.

“What interests me is the story of religious freedom in America, which is in a way a continuation of the story of the exodus from Egypt,” Mr. Loeb said.

He is riveted by a 1790 letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport from George Washington outlining the principals of religious freedom, which he discussed at a model seder last week at the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Park East Day School. He is helping the congregation, known as the Touro Synagogue, build a visitor’s center.

The district attorney will be having seder at his home tonight with his wife, children, and grandchildren. He remembers his first seder, given by his great uncle, Irving Lehman, his mother’s uncle, and the only son of Mayer who was observant. “I was about 6 or 7, and what I remember most about it was my reaction to white grape juice masquerading as wine. It was pretty exciting,” Mr. Morgenthau said. “What I really like about it is it’s a chance to get together.”

The granddaughter of Clara Lehman, June Bingham Birge, 87, said she once attended seder at her great uncle Irving’s and great aunt Sissie’s. “I didn’t really know what was going on,” Mrs. Birge said. “I was about 10. I heard that the youngest child had an important role, and much to my great annoyance, a boy who was two years younger got the role.”

“I was sorry they didn’t have mint jelly for the lamb,” she continued. “Otherwise it was fine. I found it very festive and unusual and exciting, having been given no religious upbringing whatever, which I regret to say, was true of a number of my cousins and myself. “

Mrs. Birge, who does occasionally enjoy chicken soup with matzoh balls from the Kosher Jewish delicatessen near her house in Riverdale, said she isn’t attending a seder because she wasn’t invited to one. On Sunday, she will attend Easter services with her husband at Edgehill Church.

“I consider myself a Judeo-Christian, because I married a Christian and we had to figure out something to do with the kiddos,” she said. “We knew more about Christianity — he’d gone to Groton, I’d gone to Rosemary Hall — so it was natural. But my children adored the Jewish grandparents, and were closer to them than the Christian ones, so they got it by osmosis.”

The first time she went to Temple Emanu-El was when she was 13, to attend her grandmother Babette’s funeral. “I thought it was just gorgeous, beautiful,” Mrs. Birge said.

Temple Emanu-El, where Joan Morgenthau Bright is a trustee, holds some of the treasures of Lehman family observance of Passover thanks to Irving Lehman, who served as president of the synagogue. In 1945 he donated more than 200 objects in his Judaica collection, including seder plates, egg cups, and goblets for Elijah dating from the 17th century. Most are on view at the synagogue’s Bernard Museum of Judaica.

agordon@nysun.com