Who Was Julius Stulman and What Did He Do For Chabad

The Inside Story of Chabad in America — From the Mindel Archives

Welcome to our weekly program, "The Inside Story," from the Mindel Archives. This week's program is a continuation of last week's. I would suggest that before we listen to this program, we should listen to last week's program.

Now I will first read over here a couple of paragraphs about what I wrote about Julius Stulman. We spoke last week about Julius Stulman — what was his background?

Julius Stulman, American born, was not only a brilliant and successful businessman and entrepreneur, but also a deep thinker and philosopher. He had a global view of world events, with an uncanny eye for solutions to a variety of issues in the political, social, and economic realms. He saw the big picture with its many details in a holistic framework, and came up with creative and innovative solutions to problems in numerous areas of human endeavor and across all social strata. Julius Stulman's vision for world perfection led him naturally to his connection with the Frierdiker Rebbe, Rabbi Hodakov, and to his efforts on behalf of Jews and Judaism.

And as we see in the letter, when the Frierdiker Rebbe was still in Europe in '39 he heard about Julius Stulman, and when he came in 1940, after he got off the boat, he saw him and said, "Ah, this is exactly what I thought about you when I was in Europe."

Now, this is a letter that the Frierdiker Rebbe wrote to Julius Stulman — the one that I mentioned last week — and this was written in Yiddish. The Frierdiker Rebbe signed this letter, and then he asked Rabbi Mindel to translate it into English, and he also signed this letter.

The Letter

By the grace of G-d, Adar 5704 — March 3rd, 1944.

My honored and esteemed friend, Mr. Julius Stulman, greeting and blessing:

Today, dear Mr. Stulman, is the last day of the fourth year since we met personally, the ninth of Adar — February 18, 1940 — when our essential feelings were for the first time locked together into a spiritual bond and soulful comprehension beyond words.

Already when still in Europe, I received correspondence from our dear good friend Mr. Cowen about you, Mr. Stulman, as impelled by a person whom divine providence has privileged with the inestimable gift to infuse a great eternal light into our people.

When I arrived in the USA on the ninth of Adar and met you, Mr. Stulman, for the first time, it became clear to me — to my heartfelt joy — that the feelings Mr. Cowen had correctly foretold me about you were accurate. I was supremely delighted to meet with you, with profound spiritual confidence that together we would bring eternal light to our people.

But an undertaking such as this requires preparation in order that it be truly successful. With G-d's help, during the past four years I made strenuous efforts in the way of preparation. With the help of G-d, my worthy son-in-law, Harav Menachem Mendel Schneerson, together with our dear friend Mr. Cowen, and my best friends Mr. Hodakov and Mr. Mindel, have created the proper foundation for the great spiritual work which you, Mr. Stulman, have been chosen by divine providence to carry out, with my participation in it.

With much happiness, hereby I invite you, dear Mr. Stulman, to join me on Thursday, the 28th of Adar — marked, in March 23rd — when, G-d willing, we will meet with my son-in-law, Harav Menachem Mendel Schneerson, our dear friend Mr. Cowen, and our associate Mr. Mindel, to confer on this important enterprise, with G-d's help.

With best regards and heartfelt wishes to you and your family, with esteem and blessing.

So this is the letter that the Frierdiker Rebbe wrote. Now I want to read you the minutes of the meeting. This letter was written on March 3rd; the meeting happened on March 23rd. Now, this is the minutes of the conference. The Frierdiker Rebbe asked Rabbi Mindel to write down the minutes word for word, and he wrote it down in Hebrew, and then he wrote this out in English, and it was approved by the Rebbe.

Minutes of the Conference

Thursday, the 28th of Adar, 5704 — March 23rd, 1944.

Present: the Frierdiker Rebbe; Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, executive director of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch; Rabbi Nissan Mindel, executive secretary; Mr. Alexander Cowen; and Mr. Julius Stulman.

Time: 7:00 p.m. to 9:32 p.m. — meaning two hours and thirty-two minutes.

The Frierdiker Rebbe opened the conference with a remark about the weather. It was raining outside, and he said that dryness is not conducive to vitality and growth; rain is welcome, but it should be one of the "rains of blessing."

The Frierdiker Rebbe went on: it is some four and a half years or more since he became acquainted with Mr. Alexander Cowen, through correspondence and personally. He knows also of his students, and we spoke in our previous programs about the classes that the Frierdiker Rebbe asked Rabbi Mindel to give — this was a very special program. If you go back, you can see it. Mr. Cowen was giving the class, and Mr. Stulman was one of the students.

It had always been his way, the Rebbe said — referring to himself — to see in what area of his work, and in what way, he could involve the people he comes into contact with, to work with him. Referring to the Sedra of the week, the Rebbe pointed out that when it came to constructing the Sanctuary, the Mishkan, in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, Hashem instructed Moshe Rabbeinu to call upon the people to participate with contributions, everyone according to the dictates of one's heart.

Two expressions are used in this connection: in one verse it says "they shall take an offering" (quote unquote), and in the following verse, "you shall take from them" (quote unquote). The connotation here is that two things are required: one is "the wallet" (quote unquote), the other is "the heart" (quote unquote). "They shall take" refers to giving from the wallet only, without being really touched by it; "from them" refers to giving from the heart, from one's real inner self.

"What I have now in mind," the Rebbe continued, "is the 'from them' factor. I am aware that as far as giving from the wallet is concerned, Mr. Stulman has been doing it for some time, having generously contributed to various worthy causes. But now I wish to suggest to Mr. Stulman a way in which he will be able to involve himself with all his heart and inner self. Of course, this does not mean that he should forgo, neglect, or even diminish the worthy causes he has been supporting; it means, however, that his essential task — the one in which he will be truly involved — would be what I wish to offer to him."

The Rebbe continued: "Our Sages say, 'More than the donor does for the poor man, the poor man does for the donor' (quote unquote). This applies not only in regard to material benefits, but also in the realm of spirit. The 'donor' is not exclusively one who gives material aid, but a benefactor who helps either materially or spiritually. Similarly, the 'poor man' is not necessarily one who is poor materially, but one who needs help either materially or spiritually, and is the recipient of such benefit."

"The method that my saintly father-in-law, the Rebbe, followed in his public activities was that when something had to be done, he began doing it, and later began to look for the financial means to continue and expand it. This is also the method that I have been following for the past two and a half years. Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch has been in operation, but in a minimal way, as a test pilot set up to determine directions, priorities, and the ways and means to put it in high gear. For this reason, no effort was made at fundraising, publicity campaigns, and other preliminaries that are customarily embarked upon. In a similar situation, I took upon myself the burden of raising the limited funding in this initial period. Now it has been determined that the test was, thank G-d, successful; that there is a wide field and challenge to increase and expand the work. The time has come to place the organization on its proper level, and this is what I wish to offer to our friend Mr. Stulman, for in this he will find spiritual stimulation and satisfaction."

"As for the details of the work that needs to be done," the Rebbe said, "it would be difficult for me to spell them out here, and I suggest that Mr. Mindel should present a brief outline."

And this is the point at which Mr. Mindel presented a brief review of the generally unsatisfactory state of Jewish education in America. He also cited statistical data showing how small the percentage is of Jewish children in America receiving any kind of Jewish education, much less a thorough Jewish education. Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch has conducted an exhaustive survey of Jewish education in the USA and in Canada, and is ready to do all it can to remedy the deficiencies.

He specified that there was an urgent need — and this is what Rabbi Mindel told the meeting:

Number one: establish educational facilities for girls, a field that has been almost completely overlooked or neglected in America — and next week we're going to speak about the girls' school, which is something that happened later, very important.

Number two: expand the release-time program, under which the state permits public schools to release Jewish and other children one hour earlier once a week, for the purpose of receiving religious instruction outside school premises, upon parental request.

Number three: publish suitable study and reading material in Hebrew and English for children.

Number four: expand the Oneg Shabbos program, under which groups of boys and girls meet every Shabbos afternoon under the supervision of youth leaders, for a stimulating, spiritual uplift in a Shabbos atmosphere.

Number five: provide guidance, literature, and training for teachers and youth leaders.

This is what Rabbi Mindel suggested.

Then the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, elaborated above, and emphasized that in the various departments of Merkos there are priority projects that demand prompt action. We are often confronted with urgent demands which Merkos is compelled to leave unsolved for lack of funds. By way of example, he singled out two particular areas: (a) additional hundreds of children could readily be enrolled in the release-time program, and (b) there is a great need for textbooks in Hebrew, Jewish history, and Jewish juvenile literature.

Then, after the Rebbe spoke, the Frierdiker Rebbe declared that for the present he would consider as high priority: (a) the establishment of ten additional educational facilities for girls — it was mentioned again, very important — and (b) expanding the release-time program to take in an additional ten thousand children, including the production of appropriate literature and texts for use in this program.

The Rebbe then proposed that a Stulman Foundation be established. He wanted it to function as part of Merkos, with Mr. Stulman as chairman of the board of trustees and Mr. Cowen as vice president, along with representatives of Merkos on the board, that the foundation be established under the auspices of Merkos, and that the foundation begin with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars.

Then he goes ahead — and then they mentioned how much money, which I will not read now, and I'm going to finish it off. Mr. Stulman responded that if it were dependent entirely on him, he would readily accept it immediately, but since he realizes that it entails considerable responsibility, he would like to have some time to think it over, whether he could see himself capable of taking this on.

The Rebbe remarked that it is certainly good to think it over, but he is confident it will be the kind of thinking that leads to immediate and concrete action. The Yiddish expression the Rebbe used is [unclear] — "if only people would use it