Of the hundreds of times you have rushed through the revolving doors of the 245 Lexington building on your way to class, you may have cast but a fleeting glance at a picture of a smiling older man, adorning the left entrance wall of the building. Or perhaps you may have seen the name Beren or Wilf on the plaques attached to Yeshiva University campus buildings, or selected the Beren to Wilf campus option as you book the 8:15 shuttle from your iPhone.
Ever wonder who Beren and Wilf actually were?
The Washington Heights campus of Yeshiva University is named for the Wilf family. Natives of Hillside, New Jersey and the owners of the NFL Minnesota Vikings team, the Wilf family is an illustrious one.
The pillars of the family, Joseph and Elizabeth Wilf, were Holocaust survivors. Joseph was raised in Jaroslaw, Poland, and later deported with his family to a Siberian labor camp after the onset of World War II. The entire family survived the war except for Joseph’s sister, Bella.
In 1946 after the war, the Wilf family wanted to return to their home in Jaroslaw, but after an onset of pogroms in Poland that prevented their return to their hometown, they escaped to the American controlled territory of Germany. There Joseph met his wife, Elizabeth, and the two married. They immigrated to the United States in 1950, settling in New Jersey.
Joseph and his brother Harry later founded the real estate development business Garden Homes, Inc., achieving much success. Today, the family-run company is under the leadership of Mark, Leonard, Zygmunt and Orin Wilf, and is one of the largest builders of commercial and residential real estate in the country.
The Wilf family has always been involved in many philanthropic endeavors, primarily funding the Jewish community. They support a variety of Holocaust-related institutions and took part as the founders of the American society for Yad Vashem. They also support a variety of Jewish social and educational institutions such as the Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Israel Bonds, and the United Jewish Appeal.
Joseph Wilf formally dedicated the university’s uptown campus as the Wilf Campus on November 16, 2004 at an annual board of trustees reception surrounded by his family members.
The Beren campus received its name on December 14, 2003 by Robert M. Beren, in honor of his late uncle, Israel Henry Beren, at the university’s 79th annual Chanukah dinner. Israel Henry Beren, of Marietta, Ohio, was a man who identified with Yeshiva University’s philosophy of Torah U’madda through his charitable work and appreciation for academic excellence.
The Beren family’s history in the United States began in the early 1900’s in Wichita, Kansas, where the family owned an oil company. The company, called the Okmar Oil Company, survived the Depression and was owned by Adolf, Harry, and Israel Henry Beren following the Second World War. By the 1960’s Adolf’s sons, Robert and Sheldon Beren, founded an outgrowth of the company, known as the Beren Corporation.
The Beren family has retained Israel Henry Beren’s charitable nature until today. Through their family philanthropic foundation, they have donated funds to numerous other educational and recreational institutions such as the University of Kansas Campus Hillel, Camp Ramah, Harvard College, the Mid Kansas Jewish Federation and the Jewish National Fund.
Now, Beren and Wilf are no longer mere names to gloss over without a second thought. It is an honor to have such legendary and charitable individuals serve as the faces behind our campus names.