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Surrounded by his friends and two sisters, Anka and Lajka
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by Jack Zicklin, President of the New York Organization
The purpose of this article is to describe the various members who laid the foundation in forming the society in New York. These men deserve the highest credit for taking upon themselves the responsibility of helping the unfortunate in Gombin. That strong desire forced them together and in 1923, they established a relief fund in that city. The group consisted of: A. Marks; Sam Rafel; M. Jacklin; H. Solomon; Max Green; A. Carmel; Hirshel Caro and others.
Meetings were held often for that purpose at the home of Brother Stern and Brother Kraut. The success of those meetings was overwhelming, because money was raised for the poor in Gombin. At one of those meetings a question was raised as to the formation of a society in New York. This idea spread like wildfire among the few Gombiner landsleit in New York. At that time there were about 40 families from Gombin who immigrated to the United States. Thus, in October, 1923, a meeting was called at the Astoria Hall in New York.
At that meeting, the following were present: Sam Rafel; Max Green; Max Jacklin; Sam Kraut; A. Carmel; Sam Frankel; H. Levy; Jack Holtzman; Jack Stern; Hirshel Caro and a few others. That was the beginning of the Gombiner Young Men's in New York. A charter was formed and we were incorporated in the state of New York. The primary purpose of that organization was to help its people in Gombin. The important object was to get as many members who lived in New York at that time. A committee was sent to all Gombiner in New York in order to become members of that organization. That committee was very successful getting most of the members in.
In 1924, through the leadership of David Frankel and others, a plot at the Beth David Cemetery was bought. At the end of 1925, a stronger society was imminent with many members working hard towards the success of that organization. As the membership grew in numbers, the society became financially stronger, thus money was sent to Gombin in order to help the poor “landsleit” there. It would be impossible to enumerate all the men who contributed towards the success of our organization in New York. I will try to
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Surrounded by his friends and two sisters, Anka and Lajka |
describe just a few of the leaders who did so much for the benefit of our society.
The most important member was of course, Brother Sam Rafel. He was the Society. His greatest pleasure was to talk about Gombin, its people and in general about the welfare of our organization. I know that this book is contributing several articles on this great personality, but as President of the Gombiner Young Men's, I would not want to miss this opportunity in expressing my personal opinion and my feeling about our Sam. It was he who, many years ago, was responsible for the relief work in Gombin. Through his effort, money and clothing was sent there to help the unfortunate. He was instrumental in bringing to this country many refugees from Europe who otherwise would have perished with the others under the Hitler regime. He was the one who fought and succeeded in establishing a “Kase” in Israel and laboured vigorously toward the establishment of a permanent house in Israel. Thus, I feel happier that I had the opportunity to work with him since 1960 and see for myself a man who gave his time and energy towards the good and welfare of our organization.
Brother Max Jacklin was another energetic and honest member who contributed a great deal to the growth of our society. Under his leadership, he was instrumental in making our meetings interesting and lively. He was the driving power in making our organization the biggest in New York City.
Brother Max Green, one of the first organizers, was a sincere worker and donated his time towards the success of our organization. I was happy that I had the privilege of working with him for several years and noticed what an asset he was to our society.
Brother Louis Green held
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various important positions and served them well. As recording secretary and head of various committees, he worked diligently in every capacity.
Brother Isidore Puro was very active in the Newark branch of the Gombiner Young Men's and was an outstanding worker and head of various important committees.
Brother Harry Solomon was an outstanding member and he will be remembered for his great work and tireless effort to make our organization financially strong and independent. He was the first to answer the call for fund raising activities.
Brother David Plutzer was another member who excelled in fund raising matters. He was a very conscientious worker and also contributed a great deal to the success of our organization.
Brother Joe Stern held many important positions in our society and contributed a lot to the welfare of our organization. He excelled in straightening out matters thus keeping our organization harmoniously together.
Brother Teddy Kraut was our first secretary of the organization and held it for many years. He laid the groundwork for other secretaries who followed him to keep our books in order. Being a personal friend of mine, I know of his ability to fulfil a job with great success. I am sure that he would still be active in our organization if he lived in New York City.
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Brother Aaron Freisler, one of our first organizers, held many important positions in our society. His outstanding accomplishment was as chairman of the gate committee at Beth David Cemetery and through his tireless effort, the organization became financially stronger.
Brother Abe Carmel served our organization well. A man of small height and big deeds. He worked diligently in every capacity and contributed a great deal to the success of our organization.
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Brother Sam Greenzang held important positions in our society. He excelled in being secretary for several years. He was always ready and alert to do his share whenever he was called upon.
Brother Sam Marks was very active in our organization. He held many important positions and served well. Upon his retirement he left for Florida and that's when his activity stopped. I had the pleasure to work with him. His knowledge of the various rules was outstanding. He helped our organization a great deal.
Brother Dave Temple, another outstanding member, excelled in fund raising activities. Through his efforts, our society benefited financially a great deal.
Brother Sam Galvin was instrumental in enriching our treasury. He was always successful in any undertaking.
Brother Ralph Rafel was the orator of our organization. As head of several important committees, he managed to get things done in a quieter way.
Brother Sam Kraut was one of the first organizers of our organization. His house was always open for our members to meet. Hospitality was the key word in Sam Kraut's home.
Brother David Chitel was very active in many committees. His home was another example of hospitality.
Brother M. Shechter excelled financially. He always succeeded in enriching our treasury.
Brother Wolf Goldman will be remembered in giving a great deal of time for our house in Israel. He was the one who laid the cornerstone of our house in Israel.
Brother Chaim Opatowsky contributes a great deal to the enjoyment of our members. Refreshments are
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always taken care of by our well beloved Chaim. I still have the pleasure to work with him and enjoy his work.
Brother Hyman Glickman, our recording secretary for as many years as I can remember, is an outstanding member of our organization. With his humour, he heals the wounds of our organization. He is a soft spoken man with a clear mind and a great desire to keep the organization together. I'm happy to have the pleasure to work with his at present. My God give him strength and long life to carry on the work.
These members were and are to my mind a few of the outstanding men who made our organization a success.
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