Arthur L. Finkle
The YMHA (Young
Men's Hebrew Association) was first organized in 1854 in Baltimore to provide help for Jewish immigrants.
A YWHA (Young Women's Hebrew Association) was established as an annex
to the YMHA in New York in 1888. This same New York YMHA and YWHA continues to operate together as the 92nd Street Y.
In
1917 these organizations were combined into a Jewish Welfare Board, and
were later renamed Jewish Community Centers (or JCCs), though some
retain the YWHA or YMHA designation.
Today there are more than 135 JCCs with more than 350 sites throughout
North America. Jewish Community Centers
together serve more than 1 million members and more than 1 million additional
users. JCCs are the largest provider of
Jewish early childhood services with more than 60,000 participants and the
largest system of day camps serving more than 100,000 participants.
The late Francis B. Lee, in his "History of Trenton,”
published in 1895, gives a brief account of the body which then had its
headquarters at 26 West State Street:
"For a year the Young Men's Hebrew Club has been in
existence, having a membership of about thirty. The club rooms are located at
26 East State Street, and are furnished with much taste. One of the
distinguished features of the club is the library and reading room, which with
the social features renders its membership particularly enjoyable. The
following are the officers and committee: President, Samuel Kahn;
Vice-President, Eph. Fuld ; Treasurer, Abe Seigel; Secretary, Jacob Berman;
Financial Secretary, David Mandel; Sergeant-at-Arms, Dan Block;
The first independent YWHA was set up in 1902. In 1907, The The State Gazette, published a
‘social’ the Gibb's Dancing Academy, Taylor Opera House Building. Those in
charge of this affair were: Solomon Wolberg, Herman Mallowitz and Benjamin
Fineberg.
.In 1917 these eary Jewish organizations
were developed an association called the Jewish Welfare Board which today is
known as the Jewish Community Center Association of North Ameirca,. While most affiliated organizations are known
as Jewish Community Centers, a few, especially in the metropolitan New York
area retain the YWHA or YMHA designation.
In Mercer county, a permanent institution, the The Young Men's
Hebrew Association began on December 5, 1909. At the home of William Haveson
(South Broad Street), officer of the association were voted:.
Joseph Stone, president;
David Josephson, vice-president;
Charles Gpinsky, secretary;
Joseph Bulitsky, treasurer; and
board of governors: William Haveson, Herman Haveson, and ''Barney
Lavine,.
The charter members are: Charles Gilinsky, Harry Levinson, Joseph
Stone, David Josephson, M. Appelstein, William Haveson, Barney Lavine, Joseph
Bulitsky, L. Fromkin, Herman Haveson, Samuel Swernofsky and Isaac Bulitsky. The
fee for charter members was $1.00 and dues, fifteen cents a week.
The next several meeting were spend in figuring out how to secure
money to open up. At the sixth meeting ,the committee paid a deposit on rooms
owned by Dr. William Julian on South Broad Street.
The committee provided furnishings and a fund for a library was
instituted. Harry Rosenberg was appointed librarian. The secret password was
"Amicus."
The officers of the Young Men's Hebrew Association had a way of
keeping discipline by imposing severe fines. At a meeting held on April 3rd,
the following disorderly youths forfeited their means for securing a seat in
the gallery at the Trent by donating ten cents each to the treasury: George
Freeman, Joseph Bulitsky, Isaac Bulitsky, Michael Applestein, Barney Lavine and
Harry Levinson.
It the Spring, the membership finding that its quarters were too
small, acquired the front part of the building.
The first baseball game recorded was the “Y” playing the Adelphi
Club. Players were Lavinson, catcher, Sutnick, pitcher; Applestein, first base;
Lavine, second base; Freeman, shortstop; J. Bulitsky, third base; Budson, left
field; Haveson, center field; and Glazier, substitute. The club also fielded a
basketball tam.
In 1915, Rabbi Samuel Thurman, Har Sinai, discussed the
desirability of merging several organizations into the new “Y.” In 1916, the
Audax Club (Herman Malkowitz), the Adelphi Club .(Philip. Vine), the Young
Judea Club (Mr. Jaffey) agreed to merge with the “Y.”
The Adelphi Club on an excursion to be held by that body:
Lavinson, catcher
Sutnick, pitcher; Applestein, first base; Lavine, second base;
Freeman, short stop; Bulitsky, third base; Budson, left field; Haveson, centre
field; and Glazier, substitute. The club was also active in basketball.
The second election of officers brought:
Herman Mallowitz, president
Samuel Swernofsky, vice-president
Louis Fromkin, secretary
William Haveson, treasurer
State Gazette, 1907; Harry Podmore,
1926
In the
New area, many retained the designation (or simply the term "Y"
like the 92nd Street Y still does today) into the 1990s.
Basketball:
The Jewish Melding with German Jews and the General Community
American Jews were quite aware of the cultural difference in the
new country. Initially baseball was the number one sport. Then basketball
became the great leveler. Indeed, Jewish basketball served as an expression of
Jewish ethnic identity, an important part of modern American Jewish culture and
vital to the growth and development of America’s basketball culture.
The Community Centers (YMHAS’s) accented basketball leagues. With
such early training, when Jews entered higher education on the late 1930’s and
1940’s, basketball was a Jewish game, at least on the East Coast.
The JCC experience was also one the barrier breakdown between the
German and Russian Jews.
Indeed, in 1938, the National Invitation Tournament championship
game focused of two super-stars as Temple, with All-American Mike (Meyer) Bloom
leading the way, defeated Colorado (All-Star and future Justice Byron ‘Whizzer’
White), 60-38 by playing “a brand of basketball that never has been surpassed
in Madison Square Garden.”
It certainly was not easy for a Jew to play in competitive sports.
Often razzed with religious epitaphs. One significant episode occurred in New
York City where the University of Wyoming played CCNY, on December 27, 1946.
Although the Wyoming later apologized in part, . CCNY Coach Nat Holman’s
archives revealed that the offending coach actually stated that, “those New
York Jews and Niggers are getting away with everything.” However, the press
focused on Shelton’s use of the word ‘Jew’ and no other correspondence or
report confirmed this account. See Sclar.
Before
the YMHA was built in 1917, baseball was the preferred sport. In the early
1900’s, there was a League in South Trenton consisting of the Union Athletic
Club, Station Tigers, Little Potatoes, Pittances, Fall St. Tigers and Young
Boys’ Hebrew Association. A decade later, a driving force, Max Bash, formed the
Hebrew Baseball League consisting of Aubrey Cay, Club, Elysians, Young Judea
and the YMHA.
Sol
Weinstein remembers playing a type of baseball game in which a ragged tennis
ball was bounced and the batter fisted the ball. See Sol Weinstein
Basketball
became such a big hit in the Trenton Jewish community that they played under
lights in the 1920’s.
Initially
involved with the Jewish Welfare Board, those active in casework were: Fanny Budson, Fanny Golden, Eva Haveson ,
Mamie Peitzman. Fanny Popkin of the Traveler’s Aid Society helped with
difficult location issues.
One of the greatest Jewish players in history, Meyer Bloom learned his skills in the YMHA basketball league. At a towering 6 ft., ,6 inches, Bloom was an All-America forward at Temple University, and led the Owls to the NIT (National Invitational Tournament) championship in 1938; it was the first-ever postseason tournament (the NCAA tournament began the following year). He then played professionally in the ABL (American Basketball League), becoming one of the league's best players and a two-time MVP. The American Basketball league contained the Trenton Tigers a professional team from 1946 to 1950. In the 1946/47 season, the team made it to the championship playoffs where they were to meet the Baltimore Bullets. Trenton was declared champion when Baltimore decided to quit the playoffs to play in the World Professional Basketball Tournament.
Some of the great Jewish
players for the Tigers were Norm Drucker played college basketball at City College of New York (CCNY) and later NBA referee fir 24-yearS; Jack "Dutch" Garfinkel (born June 13,
1918), Thomas Jefferson High
School in Brooklyn and then nearby St. John's University, and Ben Goldfaden who also made to the pros for a short time.
A
winner at every level of competition during his basketball career, Bloom was a
three-time all-state performer at Trenton High School in New Jersey, leading
his team to a 41-game winning streak and three consecutive state titles
(1932-34). He then played college ball at Temple University and became one of
the best players in the country. In 1936 as a sophomore, he made an immediate
impact in his varsity debut. Early in the season, he scored a last-second
basket to propel the Owls to a 44-43 win over Georgetown, and finished with a
game-high 23 points (New York Times, December 19, 1935).
Described
as one of the best centers in recent history by New York writers, Bloom led
Temple to a 34-31 upset over the defending national champions, NYU (New York
University). Bloom, who scored nine points in the game, was praised as, "a
standout in all departments of play." (New York Times, February 9, 1936).
That season, he helped lead Temple to an overall record of 18-6, and they were
considered among the nation's best. The following year, with Temple's 17-6
record Bloom helped them remain among the nation's elite teams.
In
1938, Bloom had an outstanding season and was named Madison Square Garden first
team All-America, NEA second team, and Converse third team All-America. That
year, he led the Temple team to a 23-2 record and into the first-ever National
Invitational Tournament.
After
graduating from Temple, Bloom played professionally in the American Basketball
League, one of the top professional leagues at the time. A proficient scorer,
he began his career in 1938 with the Philadelphia Sphas (the nickname stood for
the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association), one of the greatest professional
teams in the first half of the twentieth century. Bloom then moved to the
Washington Brewers in 1939.
In
1940, Bloom joined his third professional team in three seasons as he played
for the Baltimore Clippers. In 1941 he hopped to the Trenton Tigers, where he
remained for the next four seasons and developed into one of the league’s best
players. In 1941-42, Bloom was among the league leaders in points (136 for a
6.8 average, seventh in the league) but Trenton missed the playoffs.
Bloom
was so good that he scored 25% of Trenton's points that season. Still, the
Tigers finished with an overall record of 15-11 and missed the playoffs. In
1944-45, he was again league MVP.
The
next season, Bloom moved to the Baltimore Bullets, a new franchise in the ABL.
He was again in the top ten in scoring and helped the Bullets defeat
Philadelphia in the playoff to win the championship.
In
1946-47, Bloom remained among the league leaders, finishing second in scoring.
The Bullets won the Southern Division (the ABL expanding to ten teams that
year) with a league-best 31-3 record.
In
1947, Bloom was a member of the Bullets when the team was 'called up' from the
ABL to the Basketball Association of America (forerunner of the NBA). The BAA
began in 1946, but four teams had folded after the first season and the league
needed additional competition. Bloom, who had a deadly set-shot and a nose for
defense, became a crowd favorite at a time when the NBA needed stars. Midway
through the season, he was sent to the Boston Celtics. In 1948-49, Bloom played
for the Minneapolis Lakers (a team that jumped from the NBL to the NBA that
year) and then joined the Stags late in that season
With
the moving of the Jewish population to the western part of Trenton, the Jewish
Community Center (as the “Y”) was later known, built a wonderful facility on
Lower Ferry road in 1955.
World
famous architect, Architect Kahn designed the bath houses. It was listed in
the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
It is
neither in Trenton, New Jersey, nor is it a bath house, but the so-called "Trenton Bath House" commands
attention from architectural historians around the world. Designed as part of a
larger plan (never executed) for the Jewish Community Center of the Delaware Valley, the "bath house" opened in 1955 and served as the
entrance and changing area for patrons of an outdoor swimming pool.
From a
design perspective, the bath house actually appears as a simple cruciform -- four square concrete block rooms or areas, surrounding an open atrium. Each of the rooms is topped by a simple, wooden
rectangular pyramid. At
the corner of each room there is a large, open rectangular column that supports
the roof. However, closer inspection reveals that in addition to the pure
design elegance, Kahn also clarified his thinking about the utilitarian
purposes of the various spaces, and it was in this building that he first
articulated his notion of spaces serving and spaces served.
Kahn
often spoke of this project as a turning point in his design philosophy,
"From this came a generative force which is recognizable in every building
which I have done since."
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