BDE: R’ Menachem Daum, z”l

YS Gold 

We are saddened to inform you of the petirah of Reb Menachem Daum, z”l, a longtime Boro Park resident who brought out the beauty of Klal Yisroel through his films, even as he kept one eye looking back to the Churban that befell his family and his People. He was 77 years of age. 

The niftar was born in the Displaced Person’s camps following the war to his parents who were Holocaust survivors. He would dedicate himself over his life to commemorating the Churban of prewar European life through films and documentaries. 

In the 1990’s, he produced “A Life Apart: Hasidism in America,” which opened a window for the wider American public into chassidic life.” In 2004, he produced Hiding and Seeking: Faith and Tolerance After the Holocaust, documenting his journey to thank the righteous Polish family who hid his wife’s family in a bunker throughout the Holocaust. 

More recently, he produced the widely-viewed “Only with Joy,” a documentary on the life of Rav Meir Shapiro. “A part of me lives in prewar Europe,” Daum told Mishpacha at the time of the firm’s release. “The sparks are still in the air.”

For anyone who knew this gentle soul, Reb Menachem did always live with one foot back in prewar Europe as he strove to convey the beauty of Jewish life and themes. 

The niftar leaves behind a wife and children who are esteemed bnei Torah. 

The Levaya will take place at Yeshiva Yagdil Torah at 12:00 this afternoon. 

Yehi zichro baruch.