GJ Tree » Israel Aharon (Harry) Fischel (1865-1948)

Personal data Israel Aharon (Harry) Fischel 

  • He was born on July 11, 1865 in Meretz, Russia.
  • Profession: Architect, Real Estate Mogul, Philantrophist.
  • (Fact 1) .
    Had 4 sons who died in their infancy, before his 4 daughters were born
  • (Fact 2) .
    Immigrated to the USA in 1885 at age 20
  • (Fact 3) .
    Described as born in July 19 1865, the 17th of Tammuz 5625 (no correlation!)
  • He died in the year 1948, he was 82 years old.
  • He is buried in Jerusalem, Israel.
  • A child of Nachman Fischel and Hannah

Household of Israel Aharon (Harry) Fischel

(1) He is married to Chaya Shayneh (Jane) Brass.

They got married on November 26, 1887 at American Star Hall, New York, New York, he was 22 years old.


Child(ren):

  1. Rebecca Fischel  ± 1891-???? 
  2. Sadie Gertrude Fischel  ± 1891-???? 
  3. Bertha Fischel  1896-± 1978 
  4. Rose Fischel  ± 1897-???? 

Event (Death of Spouse).


(2) He is married to Miriam Hyman.

They got married between 1935 and 1936, he was 69 years old.


Notes about Israel Aharon (Harry) Fischel

Well respected Jewish philantrophist.
In 1932 in New York, founded the Harry Fischel Foundation. He founded the Harry Fischel Institute in Jerusalem in 1933, headed by Chief Israel Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hacohen Kook.

In 1920 USA census (Jan 12 1920, Manhatten, New York), Harry Fischel (54) was survied as living with his wife Jane (54), daughter Bertha (24, single) and daughter Rose (23, Single).
Harry and Jane were born in Russia as well as their 4 parents. The daughters Bertha and Rose were born in New York. Harry Fischel is listed as Operator - Real Estate Em. and Jane is listed as having n
o occuption.

From Encyclopedia Judaica:

FISCHEL, HARRY (1865-1948), U.S. businessman and philanthropist. Fischel was born in Meretz, Russia, and emigrated in 1885 to the United States, settling in New York City. There he entered the constru
ction and real estate business and built up a sizable company employing largely Jewish builders, to whom he granted both Saturday and Sunday as paid days off at a time when the six-day week was universal in the trade. Fischel also soon became involved in Jewish communal affairs, concentrating on a number of institutions with which he remained associated in various capacities for the remainder of his life, particularly the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (after 1890), Beth Israel Hospital (after 1900), and the American Jewish Committee (after 1906). Shortly after the Balfour Declaration, he was active in the establishment of a number of development companies in Palestine. In 1932 he retired from business and devoted himself entirely to his philanthropic endeavors, which included the endowment of the Harry Fischel Fou
ndation for Research in Talmud in Palestine (1933), and large donations to Yeshiva University during the depression of the 1930s. His attempts to get the New York Sabbath laws to recognize Saturday as
the official Jewish day of rest are recorded in the biography of him by his son-in-law, Herbert Samuel Goldstein, Forty Years of Struggle for a Principle (1928). Fischel died in Jerusalem, where he spent the final year of his life. [Editorial Staff Encyclopaedia Judaica]

Some additional notes from his biography:
HF was strictly orthodox and dedicated his life to philanthrophic deeds aimed at strengthening conservative Judaism. He immigrated to the USA in 1885 at the age of 20, from his home town of Meretz, Ru
ssia. His immigration was partly because he wanted to avoid conscription to the Russian army for 5 years at the age of 21. He studied some Architecture at Meretz. After a big fire in Grodno in 1883, many houses had to be rebuilt and do to successful work there he earned the large sum of money required to travel to the United States. Arrived on ship Rhaetia on Dec 1885 to Castle Garden in the USA, with only 60 cents left. He met Jane Brass in May 1887. In a few years he rose to great financial success, whilst preserving his prinicple never to desecrate the Sabbath, even when it almost led him to starvation.

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Timeline Israel Aharon (Harry) Fischel

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Ancestors (and descendant) of Israel Aharon (Harry) Fischel

Aharon Fischel
Shraga
Hannah
± 1820-1902

Israel Aharon (Harry) Fischel
1865-1948

(1) 1887

Chaya Shayneh (Jane) Brass
± 1865-1935

Rebecca Fischel
± 1891-????
Sadie Gertrude Fischel
± 1891-????
Bertha Fischel
1896-± 1978
Rose Fischel
± 1897-????
(2) 1936

Miriam Hyman


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    Historical events

    Birthday July 11, 1865

    • The temperature on July 11, 1865 was about 15.4 °C. There was 9 mm of rain. The air pressure was 4 kgf/m2 and came mainly from the west-southwest. The airpressure was 76 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 89%. Source: KNMI
    • Koning Willem III (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1849 till 1890 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
    • In The Netherlands , there was from February 1, 1862 to February 10, 1866 the cabinet Thorbecke II, with Mr. J.R. Thorbecke (liberaal) as prime minister.
    • In the year 1865: Source: Wikipedia
      • The Netherlands had about 3.6 million citizens.
      • March 29 » American Civil War: Federal forces under Major General Philip Sheridan move to flank Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee as the Appomattox Campaign begins.
      • June 23 » American Civil War: At Fort Towson in the Oklahoma Territory, Confederate Brigadier General Stand Watie surrenders the last significant Confederate army.
      • August 12 » Joseph Lister, British surgeon and scientist, performs 1st antiseptic surgery.
      • November 18 » Mark Twain's short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is published in the New York Saturday Press.
      • December 2 » Alabama ratifies 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, followed by North Carolina then Georgia, and U.S. slaves were legally free within two weeks
      • December 18 » US Secretary of State William Seward proclaims the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting slavery throughout the USA.

    Day of marriage November 26, 1887

    • The temperature on November 26, 1887 was about 4.1 °C. The air pressure was 12 kgf/m2 and came mainly from the south-southwest. The airpressure was 76 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 98%. Source: KNMI
    • Koning Willem III (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1849 till 1890 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
    • In The Netherlands , there was from April 23, 1884 to April 21, 1888 the cabinet Heemskerk, with Mr. J. Heemskerk Azn. (conservatief) as prime minister.
    • In the year 1887: Source: Wikipedia
      • The Netherlands had about 4.5 million citizens.
      • April 10 » On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of the Catholic University of America.
      • June 8 » Herman Hollerith applies for US patent #395,781 for the 'Art of Compiling Statistics', which was his punched card calculator.
      • June 23 » The Rocky Mountains Park Act becomes law in Canada creating the nation's first national park, Banff National Park.
      • July 4 » The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, joins Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam, Karachi.
      • July 26 » Publication of the Unua Libro, founding the Esperanto movement.
      • November 11 » August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer and George Engel are executed as a result of the Haymarket affair.
    

    Same birth/death day

    Source: Wikipedia


    About the surname Fischel

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    Daniel D, "GJ Tree", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/gj-tree/R1423.php : accessed May 4, 2025), "Israel Aharon (Harry) Fischel (1865-1948)".