Binyomin Wilhelm

Binyomin Wilhelm (1886–1972) was a founder of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas.

Biography Born in Lodz, Poland, Binyomin was the oldest son of a Radoshitzer chassidic family.

His mother died when he was eight years old, and he left Europe by himself in 1907 based on correspondence with a friend who preceded him to America.

He first peddled from a pushcart, until he had made enough money to rent a store. Within less than two years he had his own houseware business; the business still exists.

Binyomin married Bluma Weberman.

Torah Vodaath He moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where he and his friend, Louis (Leibish) Dershowitz, wanted to open a yeshiva for boys. At that time, the few yeshivas that existed in the United States — Rabbi Jacob Joseph School, Etz Chaim Yeshiva, Yeshiva Rabbi Solomon Kluger — were all on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Wilhelm envisioned a yeshiva that taught secular studies in the afternoons. This innovative program was one of the first Jewish outreach programs created.

Belsky, Hershkowitz, Gewirtz branches The Wilhelm family went on to become known as leaders on the Jewish communal scene in communities across the country and beyond.

Their daughter Chana married Rabbi Berel Belsky and in 1970 moved from Williamsburg to Kensington.; their son Yisroel Belsky, years later, became a rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath.

The Wilhelms' daughter Lea married Yona Zev Hershkowitz. Claire married Bernie Gewirtz.