United Hebrew Community of NY

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UNITED HEBREW COMMUNITY OF NEW YORK was founded in 1901 on East Broadway in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the cradle of American Jewry. The founder was Alter Benzion Shapiro, a leading banker and community leader from within the overpopulated tenement community. The original name of the organization was incorporated as the ADATH ISRAEL OF NEW YORK pronounced in Yiddish, "Adas Yisroel of New York", The name was officially changed some decades later to the UNITED HEBREW COMMUNITY OF NEW YORK, ADATH ISRAEL OF NEW YORK. Unlike all the "landsmenshaften" that flourished at the time, each serving the immigrants from only one or two European towns, the UNITED HEBREW COMMUNITY OF NEW YORK enrolled a cross section of the entire Jewish Community in New York. The primary purpose of the organization was to provide a free synagogue and proper burial for those who were refused membership in a small society because of ill health, age or meager finances. The UNITED HEBREW COMMUNITY OF NEW YORK purchased both 201 and 203 East Broadway at the turn of the 20th century. We established a Shul (synagogue) and office in the two adjoining buildings, which we still occupy. The organization immediately flourished as scores of disenfranchised immigrants lined up to join. By 1909 there were more than 9000 members eclipsing all other similar groups. The synagogue under the guidance of our Rabbi provided daily services to the community every day of the year. We fed and left our doors open to shelter scores of homeless. Our membership continued to grow as each new generation was born and died. In 1918, during the heart of the influenza epidemic, the organization interred in its cemetery grounds more than 100 people most every day. The majority were primarily young children from the crowded tenements. No family was charged for the cemetery or burial. Hundreds of volunteer members worked in the organization's Chevra Kadisha six days a week to provide the required dignity and service to heal the community. Our historic files, records and books indicate that on the worst day of the tragedy 186 burials were completed. During both World Wars the UNITED HEBREW COMMUNITY OF NEW YORK quietly supported the needs of its member families who were fortunate to have rescued relatives from Europe. Families who suffered during the Depression years were also assisted with donations and free loans. Everyone was given the opportunity to join and were only required to make a small deposit while extending their remaining obligations to be paid, interest free, over a period of years. Cemetery parcels were continuously purchased in most Jewish cemeteries to meet the ever growing needs of the membership. Until the end of 1969 most members were provided graves as a burial benefit. These families did not purchase graves directly from a cemetery or had burial rights from other groups or relatives. Since then, many thousands of individuals and families who have personal deeds from cemeteries, synagogues and benevolent societies have also enrolled. In1985 computer programs were designed to secure and upgrade the quality of the files, record keeping and the response time of the staff when a death occurs. Three of the most well know were Rabbi Gavriel Ze'ev Wolf (Velvel) Margolis z"l, Rabbi Kalman Avrohom Goldberg z"l, and his son, Rabbi Nochum Zvi Goldberg z"l: Rabbi Margolis, a prolific author of Jewish commentary was the City's greatest Torah scholar in his time. His funeral in 1935 was attended by more than 10, 000 people in front of our buildings stretching a quarter mile down the streets of the Lower East Side. Rabbi Kalman Avraham Goldberg was a contemporary of the leading prominent sages who arrived both before and after the Holocaust. His classes, Torah research, opinions and Beis Din (Jewish Court), were respected by the greatest Roshei Yeshivos in the country. Rabbi Nochum Zvi Goldberg, a contemporary of the recent Gedolei Hador, had a profound influence on the organization