235 East Broadway - The Lower East Side - An end of an era The former offices of Agudath Harabonim and Ezras Torah

36 hours before crews arrived to gut and remove the contents of this iconic building on the Lower East Side, I received the key and permission to remove the remaining contents/books in the 4 floor building that housed the offices of these great institutions in the last century. What I found was a modern day Cairo Geniza, with files upon files, ephemera, books etc, all pieces of the puzzle known as American Jewry, filling what arguably served as the control room of Orthodox Jewry in the United States.

A team of workers, several van loads of books later followed by several van-loads of Geniza, the following morning at 8:30 am, the demolition team arrived and I tactfully decided that I would be better off outside the building when the walls came down. Unfortunately, much of the files were not retrieved in time. The files have been raided though over the last decades when the building stood vacant and any of the correspondence and documents that had monetary value were looted and now turn up regularly for sale at numerous different auctions and dealers.

The Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada (UOR), often called by its Hebrew name, Agudath Harabonim or Agudas Harrabonim ("union of rabbis"), was established in 1901 in the United States and is the oldest organization of Orthodox rabbis in the United States. Among the well-known leaders from the Agudath Harabonim's past are Rabbis Eliezer Silver and Moshe Feinstein. In recent years, the organization has been under the direction of Rabbi Tzvi Meir Ginsberg.

The Ezras Torah Fund was founded in 1915 by members of the Agudas HaRabbanim and the Vaad HaRabbanim of New York. The founding leadership of Ezras Torah was composed of Rabbi Israel Rosenberg, Rabbi Dr. Philip Klein (aka Hillel HaKohen) and Rabbi Yaakov Eskolsky. Rabbi Rosenberg was president until his passing in 1956. Rabbi Klein was treasurer until his passing in 1926. Rabbi Eskolsky was secretary until 1928. The personality who would be most prominently associated with Ezras Torah was Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin. He served as the director of Ezras Torah from the summer of 1925 until his passing in 1973.

This is why you will never find a bookseller with a drug problem, you can get all the highs you need and get your adrenaline pumping with a book-hunt and the aroma of old books.

I will note that I would not put the blame on any specific person or institution for the unfortunate end result. Much of the files were looted by various people over the last decades and after the passing of the last head of the organization, the building's fate was determined by a large board of members, and as is often with such scenarios, it appears that the responsibility did not fall under any specific person and thus it was not taken care of in an organized fashion.

A video of me walking through 235 E Broadway

Many thanks to Rabbi Shlomo Ginsberg and R. Yossel Hoizman for their herculean efforts and assistance in salvaging and preserving what was possible. It should be noted that the Bet Din records were removed earlier and are safe in another location.

 I have yet to unload the van-loads brought in from 235 E Broadway, but took a quick glance at a random ledger and a few random checkbook stubs and was fascinated by the remarkable information within:

The recipients of the funds span all the stripes of the Orthodox Jewish world. Oganizations and rabbinical figures that would never share a meal, appear side by side on pages after pages of records of moneys received, all via the hands of R. Henkin under the auspices of Ezras Torah. I hope in coming days to be able to get a better assessment to be able to convey the nature, diversity, influence and implications of the activities of the Philanthropy and Activism of World Jewry that these records show, but for now, here is a random selection of highlights I noticed.

You can see in the accompanying pictures records of the following recipients of moneys in a ca 1949 check-stub book, the handwriting is generally that of R. Henkin:

Rebbe Eliezer Zusia Portugal of Skulen (1898-1982) receiving money to save children from forced conversions in Romania, sent via the Kopyshnitz Rebbe, at 132 Henry St and requested by Altshtater of Lakewood, NJ
Kollel of Brisk in Eretz Yisrael, for R. Yitzchak Zeev Soloveitchik
Yeshivat Harav Kook and the Diskin Orphanage Home
R. Avraham Baruch Braver requested by the Tzadik of Satmar (sic) R. Yoel Teitelbaum
R. Moshe Shutser of Stanislav
R. David Achowitz of Petah Tikva via R. Yitzchak Hutner
R. Israel Friedman of Husiatyn
Moneys for an ill granddaughter of R. David Wessley of Pressburg
Shlomo Samet of Ujhel who was confined in Ellis Island via Julius Steinfeld
R. Shlomo Zalman Horowitz (Potik Rav) for the Vizhnitzer Family in Israel
Rachel Friedman, an ill righteous refugee requested by Rabbi Ahron Kotler
R. Yitzchak Friedman of Bohush
for Rabbi Shlomo Auerbach and (his mother) Rebbetzin Auerbach
R. Meshulam Feish Levi (Tosh Rebbe?)
and from a 1962 Ledger:
Bene Akiva followed on the next line by R. Ahron Kotler and Moshe Abba Kamyan
Solomon Telushkin, who served as accountant for Ezras Torah (and the Lubavitcher Rebbe), received $250 as payment for his services (Noted author Joseph Telushkin is his son)
Yeshivat Porat Yosef is listed - but apparently received no money, followed by Mir Yeshiva
Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Blau towards publication of his book

and from a 1968 Ledger of Expenditures of Ezras Torah:
R. Matzliah Mazuz of Tunis receiving money for the wedding of his son, R. Meir Mazuz
Chief Rabbis Unterman and Nissim receiving regular payments of $300 each to distribute in Eretz Yisrael
R. Chaim Kanievsky and his father the Steipler receiving regular stipends
R. Michel Feinstein receiving money
R. Yisroel Belsky receiving $200, he was aged 30 at the time
Rebbetzin Kotler receiving a stipend after her husband's passing

Update 5/17/19:
I am excited to report that all the archival material that I was able to retrieve from 235 E Broadway has been acquired by the Mendel Gottesman Library at Yeshiva University.

Many thanks to the librarian Zvi Erenyi and the archivist Shuli Berger for their tireless efforts to get this done and for their efforts in general for the preservation of the Jewish Book.