Joseph Szimhart | The Mighty Atom: the power of a small Jewish man @josephszimhart9431 | Uploaded December 2020 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
I first met The Mighty Atom when I was in grade school in the mid-1950s at a Farmers Market blocks from where I grew up in Pottstown, PA. He was in his sixties then at the time. While my parents shopped, I stood transfixed listening to the old man lecture the crowd about living a healthy life and pitching his liniment or tonic for joint and muscle pain. He was at one time early in the century one of the famous strongmen on the carnival and vaudeville circuits known for pulling several cars tied to his hair, breaking chains strapped around his chest by expansion through breath control, biting coins in half, etc. I saw him bend horseshoes and tear phone books in half.
He was born Yosselle Greenstein to a large and very poor Jewish family in Poland in 1893. Born prematurely, he was not expected to survive. His doctors told his mother that Yosselle at age 14 would likely die by age 18 due to an acute asthmatic condition. Greenstein ran away from home to join Volanko, a strongman wrestler with a Russian circus. Volanko convinced young Yosselle to follow a training regimen that would cure asthma. Greenstein at 5 feet 4 and a half inches as an adult not only overcame asthma, he became one of the famous strongman performers in America.
I talk about Greenstein’s approach to spirituality as a Jew among harsh anti-Semitic factions.
I reference a book, The Spiritual Journey of Joseph L. Greenstein, The Mighty Atom: World’s Strongest Man by Ed Spielman (1979). Spielman was the Emmy award winning creator of the television series “Kung Fu.”
I first met The Mighty Atom when I was in grade school in the mid-1950s at a Farmers Market blocks from where I grew up in Pottstown, PA. He was in his sixties then at the time. While my parents shopped, I stood transfixed listening to the old man lecture the crowd about living a healthy life and pitching his liniment or tonic for joint and muscle pain. He was at one time early in the century one of the famous strongmen on the carnival and vaudeville circuits known for pulling several cars tied to his hair, breaking chains strapped around his chest by expansion through breath control, biting coins in half, etc. I saw him bend horseshoes and tear phone books in half.
He was born Yosselle Greenstein to a large and very poor Jewish family in Poland in 1893. Born prematurely, he was not expected to survive. His doctors told his mother that Yosselle at age 14 would likely die by age 18 due to an acute asthmatic condition. Greenstein ran away from home to join Volanko, a strongman wrestler with a Russian circus. Volanko convinced young Yosselle to follow a training regimen that would cure asthma. Greenstein at 5 feet 4 and a half inches as an adult not only overcame asthma, he became one of the famous strongman performers in America.
I talk about Greenstein’s approach to spirituality as a Jew among harsh anti-Semitic factions.
I reference a book, The Spiritual Journey of Joseph L. Greenstein, The Mighty Atom: World’s Strongest Man by Ed Spielman (1979). Spielman was the Emmy award winning creator of the television series “Kung Fu.”
