A Brief History of the Jewish Settlement of Carmel

Carmel, New Jersey, began its life as Beaver Dam in the early 1800’s. Its first settlers were Jonathan Bowen, a ships’ chandler, and his wife, Roseanna, of Bridgeton. After the Bowen family, William H. Miller of Philadelphia came to Carmel with a number of Pennsylvania Dutch families to farm. They subsequently returned to Pennsylvania. It was not until 1882 that Carrel again became populated, this time by seventeen Jews escaping persecution and pogroms in Russia. They were encouraged by Michael Heilprin a philanthropist, to settle in this spot, which they called  “Carmel” for Har [Mount] Carmel in Palestine.                                                   i

The authentic history of Carmel as a Jewish settlement was first set forth in 1889, or 5650 in the Jewish calendar, by Moses Klein, who wrote and published his work in Philadelphia, Midgal Zophim [The Watch Tower], subtitled The Jewish Problem and Agriculture as its Solution. At that time, Baron de Hirsch, a Parisian philanthropist, was disposed to loan five thousand dollars to the immigrants of Carmel [286 inhabitants at that time] if there was a need. Klein reported to the trustees of the Baron de Hirsch Fund of the Jewish farmers in Carmel that the five thousand dollars which the baron was interested in advancing [at interest] could be profitably used by the settlers, and he hoped that the money would not be returned to the baron in Paris.

The funds were received and distributed by the Reverend Dr. Sabato Morais for mortgages for land purchase and for building thirty-six houses at eight hundred dollars each. The produce of the land could be used to pay the interest. Klein hinted of the need for about four hundred dollars for eight or ten horses, which sum might be provided by some other individual philanthropist or organization. His report stated that Carmel had at that time an area of eight hundred forty-eight acres, of which three hundred were cultivated. There were two teachers and a number of artisans, a school, a post office, a synagogue, and a library, but no physician. The coming generation, wrote Klein, was being assimilated to the native language, customs, and! attitude of mind with astonishing rapidity.

At the turn of the century, Carmel had eighty-nine families and a population of four hundred seventy-one. Farming was important, but it is doubtful if they could have lived without the factories [clothing and cigars] to supplement their meager income. There was a certain self-sufficiency, but no prosperity by any means.

Religion, education, cultural activities, and athletics, too, were important elements in the life of the colony. Louis Mounier, a French artist, held the position of Director of Educational Work & Promoter of Americanism and Sociability. He was the architect of Beth Hillel synagogue and Columbia Hall, where he organized, art and music classes, entertainment, and lectures, and continued the library. He also sponsored nature study classes and organized garden contests. He later wrote in his posthumously published autobiography, “Wrile teaching… I learned more than I taught”.

Some family names which might be familiar even now to residents of Cumberland County are: Aaron, April, Barnett, Barofsky, Benjamin, Bloom, Blumberg, Bachman, Brohinsky, Chazen, Cherkasky, Cohen, Cotler, Dempsey, Ettinger,/ Gabriel, Gelb, Gitomer, Herder, Horuvitz, Kazan, Kobrich, Kohn, Kotlarsky, Kretchmer, Kunis, Levenson, Lobel, Miller, Moscovitz, Morvay, Narovlan ky, Pollock, Portnoy, Rascoff, Rassas, Resnick, Richter, Rosen, Rosenberg, Rovnef, Rubin, Saperstei, Schlosberg, Shapiro, Sobelman, J Thomas, Vaniver, Rascoff, Weisfeld, Weisman, and Weiss.

On the celebration of the 75^th Anniversary of Carmel’s Beth Hillel synagogue, an anonymous Carmelite wrote, “The life of the village, just as the life of a person, has three phases. There are dreams, then come the realities, and, lastly, the period of serenity and memories”.  After almost one hundred years of many wonderful memories for Carmelites and former Carmelites, the village has reached its last phase.