It’s Jerusalem 1947, the war is raging between the Arabs and the Jews. In the Mea She’arim quarter of the city there was no food. Someone had to go out while the bombs were falling and get supplies. Since 10 year old Isaac was known as a fast runner and unafraid of anything, his mother sent him to save his family and his village. He stood on line while people were getting killed on either side of him. At one point he was wounded, but he kept going until he brought the food back to save his people.
After the war, Isaac and his family emigrated to America and settled in Brooklyn. A tough place to raise a 5 foot tall rabbis son who goes to school with a yamulka on his head. Some of the meaner kids made fun of him and would knock his hat off. Isaac complained to his mother, but the bullying continued. Isaac passed by a gym one day and he decided to do something about his problem. He started training with weights and in a short time he made major progress. His natural body confirmation made him a perfect combination of speed, power and flexibility.
Back at school the bullies were still picking on him and finally one day Isaac had enough. He challenged the biggest one, a 6’5″ leader of these toughs. At 3 o’clock, in front of a crowd of kids, they met. The bully came forward and with lightening speed Isaac picked him up and slammed him to the ground. Needless to say, that was the end of Isaac’s problem at school.
By 1955, Isaac had won his first national featherweight championship. That was followed by a litany of other championships including in an Olympic Gold Medal in 1956. The story doesn’t end there. Isaac’s achievements may never be matched in the annals of weightlifting. In 1957, he broke the world record by pressing 258 lbs. in the Maccabiah games in Israel. His 1964 Olympic record of 336 lbs. in the clean and jerk, at a body weight of 130 lbs. made him pound for pound the strongest man in the world. Isaac is a member of both the Jewish Hall off Fame and the American Weightlifting Hall of Fame. In fact Isaac is so revered in his sport, that when a group of stamps were minted, Isaac was included along with Jesse Owens, Boris Becker and Arthur Ashe.
Isaac and I became friends in the late 60’s and we’ve continued that friendship for over 40 years. To this day, with all of his success, he lives a quiet life in downtown New York. Fortunately, he had great success in the mail order business with exercise equipment he invented. His future is secure and Isaac has never changed. He is still the unassuming, upbeat person he’s always been. It is a privilege to call him my friend.
Sy Bonem