Charles Fraiman, 74-year-old Jewish junk dealer who lived alone in a rickety wooden house in Hatboro, Pa., bequeathed his entire fortune amounting to more than $250,000 to the Yeshiva University, here, it was announced today by Dr. Samuel Belkin, president of the university. Mr. Fraiman died of heart failure on February 10 in a Philadelphia hospital. He left no survivors.
Mr. Fraiman came to the United States in 1906 from a village near Lublin, and worked in a tailor shop. Later he became a house-to-house peddler, buying old clothes, before he went into the junk business. Although not a religious man, he was a lover of the Bible. When his health began to fail last year, he drew up his will, leaving his money to the Yeshiva University as a place where young men would study the Bible.
Mr. Fraiman was an enigma to all who knew him. He did not care for material comforts like a soft bed, or good heating, or fancy clothing. His home was a shamble. His clothes were little better than rags. A wood-burning stove provided the only source of heat during the cold winter months. In recent years, he rarely left his property, which was filled with junk, and spent most of his time reading the Bible and listening to news broadcasts.
His bequest came as a surprise to the Yeshiva University officials, He had visited the seminary at the university some 20 years ago. This year, the university will establish a memorial to him at its Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, a training center for traditional studies.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
