Ursula Merkin (1919–2006) was a German-born American philanthropist.

Life and career

She was born in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, Germany to

Isaac Breuer Isaac Breuer ( he, יצחק ברויאר; 1883–1946) was a rabbi in the German Neo-Orthodoxy movement of his maternal grandfather Samson Raphael Hirsch, and was the first president of Poalei Agudat Yisrael. Biography Isaac Breuer was born in ...

, a noted German

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

, as Ursula (Sara) Breuer. In 1933, at the age of fourteen, she left Germany with her family for

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. She remained there with her father, to whom she was very close, until his death in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in 1946, at the age of 63. Shortly thereafter, she emigrated to the United States, where she found a teaching position at a Jewish girls' school in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Hermann Merkin Hermann Merkin (born 1907 in Leipzig, German Empire, Germany, died March 9, 1999 in New York City) was a German-born American businessman and philanthropist. Biography Merkin's father, Leib Merkin was a successful furrier in native Leipzig. In the ...

, 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 New York venue

Merkin Concert Hall Merkin 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 Music Center, a complex that includes the Lucy Moses School, a community arts school, and the Spec ...

and were involved in a variety of

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universit ...

functions as well as with other Jewish philanthropies. They were also deeply devoted to

Fifth Avenue Synagogue The Fifth Avenue Synagogue (קהלת עטרת צבי, Congregation Ateret Tsvi) is an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 5 62nd Street (Manhattan), East 62nd Street between Fifth Avenue (Manhattan), Fifth and Madison Avenue (M ...

, of which Hermann Merkin was the founding President. Ursula Breuer Merkin was a granddaughter of

Solomon Breuer Solomon (Shlomo Zalman) Breuer (27 June 1850 – 17 July 1926) was a Hungarian-born German rabbi, initially in Pápa, Hungary, and from the early 1890s in Frankfurt as a successor of his father-in-law Samson Raphael Hirsch. Life and work Solomon ...

, a great-granddaughter of

Samson Raphael Hirsch Samson Raphael Hirsch (; June 20, 1808 – December 31, 1888) was a German Orthodox rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the ''Torah im Derech Eretz'' school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism. Occasionally termed ''neo-Orthodoxy'', his ...

, a great-granddaughter of Eliezer Liepman Philip Prins, and mother of writer

Daphne Merkin Daphne Miriam Merkin (born in New York City) is an American literary critic, essayist and novelist. Merkin is a graduate of Barnard College and also attended Columbia University's graduate program in English literature. She began her career as ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

J. Ezra Merkin Jacob Ezra Merkin (born April 19, 1953) is an American investor, hedge fund manager and philanthropist. He had been a fund manager and capital raiser until 2008 when one of the funds in Gabriel Capital LP, his $5 billion group of hedge fund ...

. Her brothers were Jacob Breuer, and

Mordechai Breuer Mordechai Breuer ( he, מָרְדְּכַי בְּרוֹיֶאר; May 14, 1921 – February 24, 2007) was a German-born Israeli Orthodox rabbi. He was one of the world's leading experts on Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), and especially of the text of the A ...

. 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 The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

until her death in 2006. She was known by most as "Ullah."

Writing career

She also wrote a novel, ''Borrowed Lands'', which was published by Rubin Mass Ltd. in 2000 in a second revised edition.

Death

She died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

at the age of 86 after a bout with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

References

Paid Notice: Deaths MERKIN, HERMANN - New York Times, March 10, 1999YU Today
Yeshiva University, Orientation 2006, Volume 11 No. 1, p. 6
YBA On the Front, American Friends of Yeshivot Bnei Akiva
September 2006, p. 4 *

She Contained MultitudesThe Jewish Daily Forward
July 28, 2006 *Tim Boxer

15 Minutes, Issue 33, February 2002 *Masha Leon
The Power of the Pen
The Jewish Daily Forward, January 13, 2006

External links

* ttps://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D06E5DB1F3AF937A15754C0A9609C8B63 Paid Notice: Deaths MERKIN, URSULA - New York Times, July 24, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Merkin, Ursula 1919 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American novelists American people of Palestinian-Jewish descent Philanthropists from New York (state) Schoolteachers from New Jersey American women novelists Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Mandatory Palestine emigrants to the United States Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine German philanthropists German women philanthropists German women writers Jewish American writers Jewish American philanthropists Jewish women writers Writers from New York City 20th-century American women writers Novelists from New York (state) 20th-century American educators Educators from New York City 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American philanthropists Merkin family 20th-century women philanthropists