MEN'S HEBREW ASSOCIATION
Not Yet a Year Old But Has Brilliant Prospects for the Future.
NOW NUMBERS FIFTY MEMBERS AND IS STILL GROWING
Following is the fourteenth in a series of articles on the history of Altoona societies:
Altoona has several societies for the uplifting of its young men but none has proved more successful than the Young Men's Hebrew association, formerly the Har Zion club, which has rooms in the Shannon building, on Eleventh avenue between Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets. This association is not yet a year old, but it has excellent quarters and has a brilliant prospect for the future.
The gentlemen responsible for the organization of the club are Simon Silverman, Philip Wayne, H. D. Snitzer and Isadore Levine. The organization was perfected on May 1, 1911, at a meeting in the Pastime theatre, across the street from the present home of the society. There were twenty-five young men at this meeting, and the following officers were chosen: Philip Wayne, president; Morris Sitnek, vice president; Nathan Charnas, secretary, and Simon Silverman, treasurer.
Within two months the association had its present home, on the third floor of the Shannon building, which it has occupied since. The rooms have been fitted out for social enjoyment and physical development, and in the quarters is one of the best-equipped gymnasiums in the city. The floor is fitted out in a manner that is decidedly attractive and is one of the cosiest club homes in Altoona
The club has grown greatly since its inception and now numbers fifty members. It has in its membership the majority of the young Hebrew men of the city and has been found to fill a long-felt want.
The association was founded to develop the physical, mental and spiritual condition of the Jewish young men and its home has been fitted out to look after all of these features. It has been greatly successful in its mission so far and will always, no doubt, be a great power for good in the community. The financial condition of the club is excellent and the members, ever since the beginning, have shown great interest in the work.
Recently there has been a movement among the members of the club to affiliate the organization with the state association of Young Men's Hebrew clubs. This movement is well under way and it is altogether probable that the affiliation will come to pass. The state association is strong and exerts considerable influence. At its meetings the problem facing the Jewish people of the present day are discussed and much has been done by it toward the solution of some of these difficulties. The local association hopes, after joining with the state club, to be improved even more as it will then be part of one of the most influential organizations of its kind in the state.
The Young Men's Hebrew association has a name that indicates it is a club for young men, and it really is an association of youths. It has some experienced blood in it, but is genuinely a society of, by and for the young men. The club is full of enthusiasm of youth and cannot help but grow. It takes the same place among the young Jewish men of the community as the P. R. R. Y. M. C. A. does among the young Protestants and the Lyceum does among the young Catholics of Altoona.
The club has never yet lost a charter member by death and the men who joined it in the beginning are still closely affiliated with it. The same president that was elected at the initial meeting is now president, while the same treasurer also holds office at the present time.
Following is a roster of the gentlemen now in office: Philip Wayne, president; Jacob Silverman, vice president; Samuel Grossman, secretary; Simon Silverman, treasurer.
The Hebrew residents of the Mountain City are exceptionally well organized and have several clubs, but none of the associations has proved more popular than the organization of the young men. From the very first it has received the staunch support of the leading Hebrews of the city and has won for itself a high place in the public regard. That it is destined for a brilliant future stands to reason. There will always be a field for its work and this field will grow with the city. It is one of the local associations that, from present indications, will be living long after some of the others have passed into history and perhaps oblivion. It has been organized only a short time, but has much for an association so young and it is hoped that this prosperity will follow it throughout its career.
Altoona Tribune, Altoona, Pa., Wednesday, November 15, 1911, page 4