The Home of Old Israel was a Jewish assisted living facility located in New York City.
[1] A building was purchased at 204 Henry Street in July 1922 from Joseph and Goldie Rothman for $75,000, to be used for this purpose.
[3] In 1927 a second building was reportedly purchased from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, at the southeast corner of East Broadway and Scammel Street, for $82,000.
The procession between buildings was described as "one of the most picturesque parades that the east side has witnessed for many years."
[7] In the aftermath of the fire, a benefit was staged to raise money, with performances by George Jessel, Fannie Brice, Harry Richman and Lou Holtz, at the Mecca Temple.
[8] This became an annual event, later held in Madison Square Gardens and frequently attended by over 18,000 people.
In 1942, the event starred the King Sisters, Benny Goodman, Chico Marx, Ella Fitzgerald and Bill Robinson.
[11] In 1934, during the Great Depression, the directors of the Home of Old Israel decided to lower the minimum age to 60, to help accommodate those who had lost their jobs as a result.
As a representative of JASA, he writes that he was approached by Jack Singer, who had secured the land in Far Rockaway for Seagirt Village.
Singer had made a deal with D.C. 1199, the union at the Home of Old Israel, to provide security guards 24 hours a day for the new site.
"The agreement was part of the price for closing the home without incurring large severance costs.
In the 1940s and 1950s, the Home celebrated Brotherhood Week with an interfaith event, inviting Protestants and Roman Catholics for the day.
[17] The Museum of Natural History occasionally held art shows that featured work from the residents.
[18] In 1952, an exhibit was held at the Home in which ancient jewelry, glass, pottery, coins and other relics from Israel were put on display.
[20] In 1953 a double wedding was held, between Katie Goldstein and Charles Wanderman, and between Tillie Levine and Sol Rubinowitz.
[21] Other family celebrations were also held and several mayors and politicians attended events at the Home.
[32] In 1925, in a widely reported incident, a resident of the home, Fanny Weintraub, age 85, served as an extra in the movie "Salome of the Tenements."
"[33] In 1931, a resident, Samuel Rothstein (age 93) impulsively went for a swim in the East River with several youths and needed to be saved from drowning.