Summer Shul Renamed for Kramer

By COLlive reporter

A special tribute to Milton (Yechiel Michel) Kramer was made at recent Annual Awards Dinner of the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE) at the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan.

Kramer, who passed away last year shortly before his 100th birthday, received a blessing for long, healthy years from the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe.

The short film on Kramer’s life highlighted his unyielding support of Lubavitch and passion for Jewish education, in particular the Ivy League Torah Study Program, which he would often visit during summer Shabbatons.

During the tribute, NCFJE chairman Rabbi Sholem B. Hecht announced that the Kramer family would be naming the Ivy League shul in Milton’s memory.

“Milton was always an incredible personality and such a driven individual,” said Rabbi Hecht. “With a minyan of such people you could conquer the world. To say that he’s missed is a terrible understatement. The world feels different without him.”

Milton’s grandfather, Moshe Eliezer Kramer, was the first president of Agudas Chasidei Chabad of the United States and Canada. His father, Chaim Shneur Zalman, was a staunch supporter of the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, and his uncle Yekusiel was instrumental in rescuing the previous Rebbe from Nazi-occupied Poland.

Milton Kramer was a close friend and confidante of Rabbi JJ Hecht, a past President of the NCFJE and a board member for over 50 years.

As reported on COLlive.com, also honored that evening were Rabbi Dr. Hank Scheinkopf, Ari and Batsheva Daskal, Yossi and Mica Soffer and FBI Assistant Director Agent William Sweeney.