Isaac Balsam (1880–1945) started the first Chalav Yisrael

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history that ...

on the East Coast, and possibly in the United States.For some background on Isaac Balsam and the Balsam dairy farm, ''see'' Hamodia Magazine, March 4, 2009, p.3; ''see also'' ''All for the Boss'', Revised and Expanded Edition, by

Ruchoma Shain Ruchoma Shain (6 December 1914 – 16 March 2013) was an American-born rebbetzin, English teacher, and author. She is best known for her first book, ''All for the Boss'' (1984), a biography of her father, Yaakov Yosef Herman, which she wrote in h ...

(

Feldheim Feldheim may refer to: Places *Feldheim, part of Treuenbrietzen, Brandenburg, Germany People * Ervin Feldheim (1912–1944), Hungarian mathematician Organizations *Feldheim Publishers Feldheim Publishers (or Feldheim) is an American Orthodox Je ...

2001), p.p. 149-50, available a

Balsam was born in Mielec (Melitz),

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, and was a Melitzer

Chassid Ḥasīd ( he, חסיד, "pious", "saintly", "godly man"; plural "Hasidim") is a Jewish honorific, frequently used as a term of exceptional respect in the Talmudic and early medieval periods. It denotes a person who is scrupulous in his observ ...

. He emigrated to the United States in 1898, lived initially with his uncle, Meyer Emmer, and worked on Emmer's dairy farm for about five years. In 1903, Balsam established his own dairy farm in

Ozone Park, Queens Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens, New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, a popular spot for Thoroughbred racing and home to the Resorts Wor ...

. At its peak, the Balsam farm had 300 cows. Balsam also ran a plant that processed milk from other farms. That milk was not Chalav Yisrael, because it had not been supervised from the time of the milking. However, the bottles were clearly labeled, so that it was easy to distinguish between the milk that was Chalav Yisrael and that which was not. The Balsam dairy farm remained in business until 1963. The area in which the farm was located is currently known as Balsam Village. Balsam built a

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

on his farm, Congregation B’nei Jacob, for which he was the sole support, and gave generously to charitable causes.

Family

Balsam was the fourth of ten children. His parents were Jacob Balsam (1850?-1923?) and Bliema Necha Emmer (1860?-1932?). Balsam's three older siblings were Jacob's children from his first wife, Sarah Emmer, older sister of Bliema Necha, who was married to Jacob until her death (around 1878). Balsam married Sarah Eisig (1880–1945), his first cousin, in 1902. Among their children was

Paul Balsam Paul Balsam (July 19, 1905 – December 22, 1972) was a justice of the New York State Supreme Court from January 1, 1965, until his death in 1972. He was born, and lived throughout his life, in Ozone Park, Queens. After graduating from the Broo ...

(1905–1972), who served on the New York State Supreme Court from 1965-1972. Their other children were Maxwell (1903–1978), Morris (1907–1990), Rose (Isaacs) (1910–1999), Leon (1912–1995), and Nathan (1917–1996); in addition, one daughter died in infancy. They had twelve grandchildren, eleven of whom survived to adulthood. After his father's death, Balsam brought his mother to America, and she lived out her days on the Balsam farm. Balsam died in 1945, and his wife died seven months later; both were 65. Maxwell, Morris, and Nathan helped run the farm over the years, especially after their father's death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balsam, Isaac Farmers from New York (state) 1945 deaths 1880 births People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria People from Mielec Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States Dairy farming in the United States