Yaakov Yosef Herman
A native of Slutsk, Belarus, he immigrated with his parents and younger sister to New York City at the age of 8 and was left on his own five years later after his family returned to Russia.
Following his marriage, Herman became known for feeding and lodging dozens of people in his home, including visiting European rabbis seeking kosher meals.
He displayed a staunch commitment to mitzvah observance at a time that many abandoned their faith, and urged promising young Jewish men to pursue advanced Torah study in the great yeshivas of Europe, including his son-in-law, Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg (1910–2012).
[3] Finding it difficult to earn a living in Russia and believing that it would be easier to do so in America, his father emigrated with his wife, son, and daughter Molly in 1888.
At work, he advanced from handy-boy to apprentice to professional worker, and four years later he was able to send money for his parents, sister, and newborn brother to join him.
[9][10] Dozens dined at the Herman table each week,[11] including men with social and emotional disabilities whom no one else wanted as guests.
[21] While Herman's scrupulous adherence to Jewish law sometimes frustrated his children, since their religious friends did not subscribe to the same high standards, they were nevertheless proud of their father's strength and commitment.
The judge dismissed the case, and Herman continued producing and selling wine at cost until the Prohibition law was repealed.
[27] This enabled him to deliver beginning and advanced shiurim (Torah lectures) to men[28] and teach religious subjects to Jewish boys in the synagogue after evening prayers.
[30] Witnessing the paucity of advanced Torah education in New York City in the 1930s and 1940s, Herman encouraged promising American Jewish youth to travel to the great yeshivas of Europe.
[31] Among the American boys he influenced were Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, Baruch Kaplan (founder of the Bais Yaakov movement in America),[32] Shachne Zohn (future rosh yeshiva in Torah Vodaas)[33] Shmuel Schecter, and Avigdor Miller.
[12] Herman also sent his son, Nochum Dovid, and his wife to Mir right after their marriage,[12][38] as well as his daughter Ruchoma and her new husband, Moshe Shain.
[42] Herman bought a key money apartment in the Zikhron Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem,[43] where he continued to invite dozens of guests to his Shabbat table.
[47] He opened a store selling mezuzahs, tefillin, and Torah scrolls in the Mea Shearim neighborhood,[48] and also headed a loan society and charity fund.
