Hebrew Free Loan Association of San Antonio: A Century of Mutual Support
May 1, 2023
This article was originally in the 2023 Passover print edition.
A global epidemic killed millions, cutting through society, and leaving behind an uncertain economy. A lengthy, distant war ended ambiguously. Mass immigration bred resentment, and intolerance was codified into law.
Antisemitism grew in a tide of bigotry. The year was 1924, and San Antonio Rabbi Shlome Solomon had seen it all before.
Born in Grodne, Russia in 1855, he emigrated after the pogroms of the 1880s.
For eighteen years Rabbi Solomon was the Rabbi of the old Agudas Achim Congregation and for eight years of the Rodfei Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation. Now, as America slammed the doors on immigration, the need for action resonated throughout San Antonio’s Jewry.
The Rabbi joined forces with Abraham Kamrass, a turn-of-the-century émigré, now a pillar of the business community, to aid fellow Jews marginalized out of the mainstream. In founding the Hebrew Free Loan Association of San Antonio, offering loans without interest, they created a lifeline for those in dire health or circumstances, or needing to earn a living in a new country.
“Unless the poor of our community are looked after, it will fall to pieces,” declared Rabbi Gershon Feigenbaum at the first public meeting. “But the ‘G’milus Chasodim’ is not a charitable affair,” continued the Rabbi, “it is simply for mutual protection.”
The need for such protection wasn’t unique to the 1920’s, but ever since, the community’s growth is backstopped by the Association.
In every generation, borrowers’ needs reflected their distinct times and unique circumstances, but something became apparent from the very beginning: Such kindness inspired a moral imperative in the successful to become the next link in the chain of support.
HFLA-SA Borrowers become lenders; lenders become leaders.
Join us as we celebrate a Century of Changing Lives and Building Community in 2024!
Learn more about Hebrew Free Loan Association – San Antonio at https://www.hfla-sa.org/.