Ursula Merkin
Encyclopedia
Ursula Merkin was a German
-born, American
-Jewish philanthropist.
, Germany
to Isaac Breuer
, a noted German Rabbi
, as Ursula (Sara) Breuer. In 1933, at the age of fourteen, she left Germany
with her family for Palestine
, where she remained with her father, to whom she was very close, until his death in 1946, at the age of 63, in Jerusalem. Shortly thereafter, she emigrated to the United States
, where she found a teaching position at a Jewish girls' school in Paterson, New Jersey
.
, a German-Jewish businessman, who was twelve years her senior. They had six children and were married for almost fifty years until his death in 1999 at the age of 91. Ursula and Hermann Merkin
sponsored the well-known New York venue Merkin Concert Hall
and were involved in a variety of Yeshiva University
functions as well as with other Jewish philanthropies. They were also deeply devoted to Fifth Avenue Synagogue, of which Hermann Merkin
was the founding President.
Ursula Breuer Merkin was a granddaughter of Solomon Breuer
, a great-granddaughter of Samson Raphael Hirsch
, and mother of writer Daphne Merkin
and philanthropist
J. Ezra Merkin
. Her brothers were Jacob Breuer
, and Mordechai Breuer
. She was best known for her involvement with Reuth, an Israeli charity for the elderly. She maintained a strong tie to, and a great love for, the Holy Land
until her death in 2006. She was known by most as "Ullah."
She also wrote a novel, Borrowed Lands, which was published by Rubin Mass Ltd. in 2000 in a second revised edition.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-born, American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-Jewish philanthropist.
Biography
She was born in FrankfurtFrankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to Isaac Breuer
Isaac Breuer
Isaac Breuer was a rabbi in the German Neo-Orthodoxy movement of his maternal grandfather Samson Raphael Hirsch, and was the first president of Agudat Israel Workers.- Biography :...
, a noted German Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, as Ursula (Sara) Breuer. In 1933, at the age of fourteen, she left Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
with her family for Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, where she remained with her father, to whom she was very close, until his death in 1946, at the age of 63, in Jerusalem. Shortly thereafter, she emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where she found a teaching position at a Jewish girls' school in Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
.
Family & Charitable Causes
In 1950 she met and married Hermann MerkinHermann Merkin
Hermann Merkin was a Jewish-American businessman and philanthropist.-Biography:...
, a German-Jewish businessman, who was twelve years her senior. They had six children and were married for almost fifty years until his death in 1999 at the age of 91. Ursula and Hermann Merkin
Hermann Merkin
Hermann Merkin was a Jewish-American businessman and philanthropist.-Biography:...
sponsored the well-known New York venue Merkin Concert Hall
Merkin Concert Hall
Merkin Concert Hall is a 449-seat concert hall in Manhattan, New York City. The hall, named in honor of Hermann and Ursula Merkin, is part of the Kaufman Center, a complex that includes the Lucy Moses School, a community arts school, and the Special Music School , a New York City public school for...
and were involved in a variety of Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
functions as well as with other Jewish philanthropies. They were also deeply devoted to Fifth Avenue Synagogue, of which Hermann Merkin
Hermann Merkin
Hermann Merkin was a Jewish-American businessman and philanthropist.-Biography:...
was the founding President.
Ursula Breuer Merkin was a granddaughter of Solomon Breuer
Solomon Breuer
Shlomo Zalman Breuer was a Rabbi, initially in Pápa, Hungary and from the early 1890s in Frankfurt as a successor of his father-in-law Samson Raphael Hirsch....
, a great-granddaughter of Samson Raphael Hirsch
Samson Raphael Hirsch
Samson Raphael Hirsch was a German rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism...
, and mother of writer Daphne Merkin
Daphne Merkin
Daphne Miriam Merkin is a literary critic, essayist and novelist. Merkin is a graduate of Barnard College. She also attended Columbia University's graduate program in English literature....
and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
J. Ezra Merkin
J. Ezra Merkin
Jacob Ezra Merkin is a former money manager and financier. He was a close business associate of Bernard Madoff, and is alleged to have played a significant part in the Madoff fraud. He served as the Non-executive Chairman of GMAC until his resignation on January 9, 2009, at the insistence of the...
. Her brothers were Jacob Breuer
Jacob Breuer
Yaakov Bar-or was born as Jacob Breuer to Jenny and Isaac Breuer in 1915. He studied law in Germany and became a successful attorney. Later he moved to Israel and assumed the surname "Bar-Or". He dropped the name change later in life. In 2008 he died in Jerusalem at the age of 92.Breuer came to...
, and Mordechai Breuer
Mordechai Breuer (historian)
Mordechai Breuer was a German-Jewish Historian and writer.-Background and Family:Breuer was born to Isaac Breuer and his wife Jenny Breuer in 1917. He had four siblings: Yaakov; Ulla, Tzipora, and Simeon. The family originated in Frankfurt but left for Israel in 1936.-References:*German-Jewish...
. She was best known for her involvement with Reuth, an Israeli charity for the elderly. She maintained a strong tie to, and a great love for, the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
until her death in 2006. She was known by most as "Ullah."
She also wrote a novel, Borrowed Lands, which was published by Rubin Mass Ltd. in 2000 in a second revised edition.
See also
- Isaac BreuerIsaac BreuerIsaac Breuer was a rabbi in the German Neo-Orthodoxy movement of his maternal grandfather Samson Raphael Hirsch, and was the first president of Agudat Israel Workers.- Biography :...
- Mordechai BreuerMordechai BreuerMordechai Breuer was an Orthodox rabbi. He was one of the world's leading experts on Tanakh , and especially of the text of the Aleppo Codex....
- Daphne MerkinDaphne MerkinDaphne Miriam Merkin is a literary critic, essayist and novelist. Merkin is a graduate of Barnard College. She also attended Columbia University's graduate program in English literature....
- Hermann MerkinHermann MerkinHermann Merkin was a Jewish-American businessman and philanthropist.-Biography:...
- ReuthReuthReuth may refer to the following places in Germany:*Reuth, Rhineland-Palatinate, in the Vulkaneifel district, Rhineland-Palatinate*Reuth, Saxony, in the Vogtlandkreis district, Saxony*Reuth bei Erbendorf, in the district of Tirschenreuth, Bavaria...