Nadene Goldfoot
Yeshiva scholar, synagogue president, and banker, Sender Jarmulowsky is
“living proof that in America one can be a rich businessman but also be a
pious Jew,” wrote the Morgan Zhurnal, a Yiddish newspaper, on June 4, 1912.
Sender Jarmulowsky was born in 1841 in Grajewo, Russia, now a part of
Poland. At age three, he was orphaned and raised by the Rabbi of Werblow.
Considered a prodigy, Jarmulowsky was sent to the Volozhin Yeshiva, an elite
Talmudic academy, and emerged with rabbinical ordination. Though penniless,
he married Rebecca Markels, the daughter of a wealthy Polish merchant.
This was common in Lithuania at the time. It was no doubt anticipated that he
would become a brilliant scholar while his wife supported him in studies.
Jarmulowsky, however, had other plans. In 1868 he moved his family to
Hamburg, Germany. Anticipating mass Jewish migration from Eastern Europe,
he bought steamship tickets in Europe in bloc at a low price. He then sold them
to German and East European Jews who hoped to head to America. The price
he charged was less than that charged by the steamship companies. Those
companies were not happy that Jarmulowsky was providing these immigrants
Five years later, at the age of thirty-two, Jarmulowsky and his growing family
set sail for New York. There he opened a second office at 54 Canal Street,
an immigrant “bank” that provided a place for loans, deposits as well as the
continuing sale of ship’s ticket. He made his wife a full partner, an unusual
practice at the time.
The bank was a huge success from the day it opened. Yiddish and Russian
speaking tellers facilitated banking transactions for the newly arriving
immigrants. The bank was open all day on Sunday, a day when every other
bank was closed. This allowed Sabbath-observant Jews to take care of their
financial needs on the weekend. Jarmulowsky also continued to sell ship
tickets at the bank – an important service for immigrants who were often saving their money specifically to bring relatives over from Europe and whose relatives could then pick up the tickets in Europe. The bank was reputed to
serve more than 60,000 depositors and survived bank runs in 1886, 1890,
1893, and 1901, always paying 100 cents on the dollar. Jewish immigrants
would run to get their money out on Friday and return sheepishly to 54 Canal
on Monday to redeposit their money in the bank.
Though a prosperous businessman, Jarmulowsky did not turn his back on
religion. In 1887, he and other prominent businessmen in the community
came together to create the Eldridge Street Synagogue. This was the first
time that America’s Eastern European Jewish immigrants built a synagogue
from the ground up. With his wealth, Yeshiva background, and sterling
reputation for both honesty and piety, Jarmulowsky was a natural choice to
serve as the synagogue’s first president. He would help nurture traditional
Jewish values on American soil.
Soon after his term as President at the Eldridge Street Synagogue ended,
Jarmulowsky and his family moved uptown to East 93rd Street. At the time he
had at least six children: four boys, Albert, Meyer, Louis, and Henry; and two
daughters, Amelie and Blume. He became a founding member of one of the
first Orthodox Synagogues built uptown: Zichron Ephraim, now known as the
Park East Synagogue. He was also a founder of the Union of Orthodox Jewish
Congregations of America (1898), and gave generously of his time and
money to Beth El Hospital (now Beth Israel), Lebanon Hospital (now Bronx
Lebanon), and many other Jewish charities.
In 1912, Jarmulowsky opened a new bank building at the 54 Canal Street site.
The New York Architectural Digest described the building as a “shrine to
American capitalism,” and its distinguished Beaux Arts façade featured a
rooftop Greek tempietto which also served to hide the building’s water tower.
It competed with the nearby Forward Newspaper Building for the title of
“Tallest Building on the Lower East Side.” Jarmulowsky died less than a month
after the building opened.
In 1914, there was a run on the bank as investors sought funds to send to
relatives back in Eastern Europe on the eve of a World War. Unfortunately,
the bank was forced to close its doors.”
Today, the building that once housed Jarmulowsky’s bank is sheathed in
scaffolding. A boutique hotel is scheduled to open in the not too distant future
. Fortunately, though, the façade has been landmarked. The decorative
banding that bears the name “S. Jarmulowsky” will remain.
As the banks fell, this bank was in the hands also of Meyer and Louis
Jarmulowsky.
in 1815 Grajewo became part of the Russian Congress
Poland. In 1831 victorious battles of the November
Uprising took place near Grajewo. In the second half of
the 19th century, trade and handicrafts developed. After
the massacres of Polish protesters committed by the
Russians in Warsaw in 1861, Polish demonstrations and
clashes with Russian soldiers took place in Grajewo.
Due to the participation of the population in the January
Uprising against Tsarist Russia, the town lost its municipal
rights in 1870. With the establishment of a rail link
between the then-German-controlled city of Ełk and the
then-Russian-controlled city of Białystok, the town's
development was accelerated.
A Jewish community existed in Grajewo from the late
18th century. As a result of the discriminatory Russian
regulations (Pale of Settlement), at times, Jews formed a
majority of the town population. In 1808, 197 Jews lived in
the town, 39% of the total population. In 1827 they made
up a majority, with 57% of the population. In 1857 the
percentage rose to 76% and in 1897 over 4,000 Jews
lived in the town. During World War I the town was
occupied by Germany. During the war a large part of the
town was destroyed.
Resource:
Edited 1/17/2023 8:30 pm
https://www.eldridgestreet.org/history/sender-jarmulowsky-a-synagogue-founders-story
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