13 Jan ABE EISNER, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF HASC CENTER/ CAMP HASC FORTY YEARS OF LEADERSHIP, LOVE, AND SIYATA D’SHMAYA
Avraham Chaim “Abe” Eisner, known simply as Abe, has spent almost 40 years, as part of the team, in shaping and nurturing one of the most vital institutions in the Jewish community: Camp HASC/HASC Center. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Abe’s life has been guided by family, faith, and a deep commitment to helping others. From volunteering tirelessly on the ground to chairing the board, he has poured his heart into creating a safe, nurturing, and joyous environment for children and adults with Autism and Down Syndrome.
Under the leadership of Mr. Shmeil Kahn, Camp HASC has grown from a modest summer program into a fully staffed, year-round lifeline, serving hundreds of families who rely on its services. But for Abe, the mission has always been personal: it’s about more than logistics or budgets—it’s about seeing every camper as a unique individual and giving each one the care, attention, and love they deserve. Through dedication, Siyata D’Shmaya, and the support of an incredible team, Abe Eisner has helped transform a community initiative into a beacon of hope, compassion, and inspiration for generations to come.
FAST FACTS
Name: Avraham Chaim Eisner, also known as Abraham Eisner. call me Abe.
Age: Baruch Hashem, I’m in my mid-70s.
Family: Baruch Hashem, my wife who is very supportive of my involvement, married children, married grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Grew up in: I was born and raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York ,then moved to Crown Heights, and in my late teens I moved to Boro Park. I have been in Boro Park ever since. After we got married, we lived on 8th Avenue in Boro Park, and about 35 years ago, we moved to 17 ave /47th Street Baruch Hashem.
Yeshivas growing up: When I lived in Brownsville, I attended several different yeshivas . Eventually, I ended up at Yeshiva Arugath Habosem in Williamsburg. In seventh grade, I transferred to Yeshivas Chasan Sofer on the Lower East Side, and I have been connected to it ever since. I attended through elementary school, high school, and beis medrash. I am still affiliated with Chsan Sofer/ Khal Shem M’Shmiel D’Mattersdorph, daven there Shabbos & Yom Tov and serve on the yeshiva board.
Official title at Camp HASC: Chairman of the Board of HASC Center. Camp HASC is part of HASC Center. HASC Center has a full board, and there is a sub-committee that oversees Camp HASC. That camp board consists of myself and four active board members from HASC Center.
Years working at HASC: I don’t “work” at HASC in the sense of being employed—it’s volunteer work. Working usually means getting paid. Board Members are not employees of HASC & don’t receive a salary. The Ribono Shel Olam, takes care of me.
Everyone in this world needs to connect to some form of tzedakah or organization. I’m not just talking about giving money. Giving money is important, but you also need to roll up your sleeves and help. I’m talking about physical involvement. Financial support is part of it, but you need to be actively involved. That’s how I got started with HASC.
Years involved with HASC: Almost 40 years.
When HASC was established: HASC was originally founded by Mr. and Mrs. Max & Blanche Kahn, Aleihem HaShalom, approximately 55 -60 years ago. After they passed away, their son Shmiel assumed the leadership of HASC Center which includes the day hab, other programs and Camp HASC, which came later.
Number of people currently working at HASC Center: Well over 1,000.
Number of people working at Camp HASC over the summer: Approximately 600–700.
Please tell Jewish Vues readers the story of how you became part of Camp HASC and the HASC Center.
Many years ago, when my wife and I had young children, we used to go with the family to bungalow colonies. On Sundays there was no day camp, so the question was always: what do you do with the kids?
My wife and I were close friends with Shmiel Kahn and his wife. One Sunday, Shmiel said to me, “Why don’t you come to Camp HASC? There are always concerts and activities. The kids will be happy.”
We tried it once, then twice—and the rest is history. Eventually, I was asked to join the board.
How did you meet Mr. Shmiel Kahn?
I met Mr. Shmiel Kahn in Yeshiva Chasan Sofer. There is both a yeshiva and the kehilla, known as Kahal Shem M’Shmiel. Shmiel is the gabbai of the shul, and I am a member of the congregation. The Rav of the congregation is the Mattersdorfer Rav. Originally, it was Reb Shmuel Ehrenfeld, followed by Reb Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, ztz”l. Today, Baruch Hashem, it is Reb Dovid Aryeh Ehrenfeld, the third generation of Mattersdorfer Rabbanim Shmiel is still the gabbai, Baruch Hashem, and I try to stay on his good side—to get shishi once in a while.
Please walk Jewish Vues readers through
your experience at Camp HASC and HASC
Center over the last 40 years. How has it
grown, and what were some highlights?
Baruch Hashem, it has grown tremendously. Unfortunately, the need has also grown. There is a constant and increasing need for services for individuals with Autism and Down syndrome.
HASC is not a business, it’s a mission. Parents constantly reach out requesting services, and HASC Center evaluates each situation to determine what support we can provide, whether it’s day habilitation, residence or other programs.
When it comes to the camp, Camp HASC focuses primarily on lower-functioning campers. Higher-functioning individuals often attend other specialized camps. The need is enormous, and space is limited. Every year, there is a waiting list of families desperate for respite care.
We’ve expanded as much as possible and made significant capital improvements over the last decade. At any given time, there are about 300–350 campers in camp, and over the course of the summer, about 500 campers rotate through. Campers range from children to adults.
There are approximately 600–700 staff members, creating nearly a 2-to-1 staff- to-camper ratio. That includes counselors, kitchen/dining staff, and a full medical team. The medical center alone has about 35 professionals—doctors, nurses, and EMTs. Parents feel confident and secure knowing their children are in excellent hands.
Why do you think HASC has become such a major success? What is the secret?
The secret is hands on management & devoted staff.
The Kahn family—Shmiel and his wife Devorah, carry forward the mission established by Shmiel’s parents. Every camper matters.
Shmiel knows every single camper by name and understands each individual’s needs. When we walk through camp with visitors or elected officials, he knows the full story of every camper we pass. That level of personal care is unmatched.
The senior management, Reb Judah Mischel and Reb Avi Pollak, treat this as a 24/7 mission. We are in constant communication.
Every detail is discussed and executed thoughtfully. Baruch Hashem, with Siyata d’Shmaya, challenges are met and resolved. Clearly, there is Divine intervention guiding this mission.
What is your favorite part of the mission? What motivates you most?
Seeing the devotion of the staff.
Many counselors come straight from yeshiva or seminary and have never worked before. After a short orientation, they are caring one-on-one for campers around the clock, feeding them, dressing them, showering them. The dedication is unbelievable, and it motivates everyone involved to do more.
What is the most challenging part of the mission?
Covering the budget.
Camp HASC is known for making many shidduchim. Why do you think that happens? It takes a special type of person to work at Camp HASC. Boys and girls there share the same values, mentality, and sense of purpose.
Rabbi Yakov Bender from Darchei visits the camp every year and knows many of the staff families. I’ve personally seen him quietly encouraging conversations between staff members. When people share the same mission and background, connections naturally form. Baruch Hashem, we’re very proud of that.
How involved are you in organizing the “ A Time for Music” HASC concert?
The camp board and concert committee are very involved as a team. Some members work closely with the producer, others handle sponsorships and ticket sales.
I’m involved, but not as deeply as others. The board members include Avromi Schonfeld, Itche Toder , Dr. Sruli Ziskind, and Yanky Neuhoff. Together with Shmiel Kahn and Yehuda Meir Horowicz, we constantly review and improve the concert year after year.
Do you really work on the concert all year long?
Absolutely. A day or two after the concert, we already begin planning for the next year. Venues like NJPAC must be booked one to two years in advance. It’s a year-round process—planning, budgeting, reviewing, and improving.
How do you keep making the concert better every year despite so much competition?
Baruch Hashem, we work with an outstanding producer, Shloime Steinmetz from The Pivot Group. He and his team bring incredible creativity and fresh ideas every year.
Each year we ask ourselves how we’ll top the previous one, and somehow, with siyata d’Shmaya, it happens.
Can you share anything special about this year’s concert?
I can’t reveal the performers, but I can promise one thing: I’m not singing.
One exciting new initiative is a partnership with 24Six to discover new young talent. After a large competition, four finalists remain, and the winner will perform on the HASC stage. It’s a great way to engage the next generation.
The concert is completely sold out, weeks in advance.
Does HASC pay the entertainers who perform at the concert?
These performers come to camp during the summer and perform for the campers without pay, that’s a mitzvah. But they also need to earn a living, so yes, performers at the concert are paid.
Who was your favorite performer all time at the A time for music concerts?
Dedi. I loved the way he incorporated humor & heartfelt messages in his performances.
How is Camp HASC funded—government versus private donations?
It’s a mix. Parent tuition covers about 30– 35%. Concert proceeds are mainly used for capital improvements. Some funding comes from state programs like OPWDD. The rest must be raised through private donations and government grants.
What is the secret to being a successful
fundraiser?
A lot of siyata d’Shmaya.
We have an incredible fundraising team led by Reb Judah Mischel, along with Yehuda Meir Horowicz, Shmiel Kahn, and the board. I focus mainly on government grants—knocking on doors and navigating bureaucracy. We’re grateful for whatever support we receive.
You’ve managed to meet and invite many politicians to Camp HASC, and I’ve been there many times because you’ve invited me over the years. How do you build these relationships, and how do you work with both sides of the aisle? I know that you’re very committed to bipartisanship. What’s your secret? How do you make it work?
I honestly have no clue. If you were to ask me, “Teach me how to do it,” I wouldn’t know what to tell you. It goes back to what I said before: we have a good product. HASC is something everybody wants to be part of. When you knock on the door, my line is always, “HASC is bipartisan.” Children with autism or Down syndrome aren’t Democrats or Republicans. They’re heilige neshamos from the Ribono Shel Olam, and that’s a big part of my pitch.
Elected officials come, and you’ve seen it yourself—sitting at the head of the table are Democrats and Republicans. I don’t want to get into behind-the-scenes details sometimes, but in general, it’s always about bipartisanship. It takes a lot of work. Visiting an elected official once doesn’t automatically guarantee success. You have to engage them and keep talking to them.
And it doesn’t happen during the summer. Just like the concert, you start planning next year’s concert the day after this year’s ends. The day after we have the bipartisan breakfast in camp, I’m already working on next summer. Shmiel Kahn, Yehuda Meir Horowicz , Heshy Kahn, and I were in Washington two weeks ago, already working on next summer’s bipartisan lineup.
Are there specific politicians who are your go-to politicians?
I go to all of them, but I’ll give you a few whose hearts are in the right place when it comes to the camp. I’ll do it on the federal, state, and city levels and give them the necessary kavod.
This is not in alphabetical order. Senator Schumer has been a friend of HASC for the last 40 years. In the old days at Lincoln Center, he always came to the concert. He would get up and have his two minutes to say whatever he had to say. But he’s a perfect example of building a relationship, because over the last five or six years, he’s been very helpful in getting us funding for some important capital projects the camp needed. So I maintain that relationship.
Right now, we have an application in for additional funding to expand buildings at the camp. It’s in the process of being approved once the federal government approves it. His support is great, but then it becomes part of the federal budget, and the federal budget for fiscal year ’26 hasn’t been approved yet. So we’ll see what happens. That’s on the federal level.
We also have a relationship with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. She’s on certain committees, so you have to be friendly with her as well. She and her team help whenever they can.
While we have a good relationship with many congressmen, We are very grateful to Congressman Mike Lawler for his intervention to get The Bais Refuah approved on the federal level.
On the state level, we have a strong relationship with Governor Kathy Hochul. She visited Camp HASC this past summer and couldn’t believe what she saw. Of course, I did my job and requested funding for a specific project, and I’m waiting to hear back. I’m in touch with Jake Adler, and hopefully, it will happen.
At both the state and city levels, we have excellent relationships with Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, Councilman Simcha Felder, Assemblyman Kalman Yeger & Paula Kaye There was also Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, and upstate Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther who have retired. There are so many others-I could keep going. We host a bipartisan breakfast at camp every summer, and many of them make the trip up to Sullivan County to attend and show their support.
Chuck Schumer when much of the Jewish world today strongly disagrees with their politics?
I don’t get into politics. I’m not into politics, and I don’t discuss politics with any elected official. I don’t necessarily agree or disagree with their positions.
I know one thing: HASC is bipartisan. It’s not political. It has nothing to do with politics. If I feel there’s an elected official who can be helpful, I’ll be knocking on their the door.
I’ve discussed this with Daas Torah as well, and they all tell me, “If you can get somebody to help HASC, which is very holy and very needy, just do it.”
How did you become close friends to the
Chief Rabbi of Russia, Rabbi Berel Lazar?
It’s a very good question. It’s a long story, but I’ll give you the short version. It’s a true story.
As we all know, at Camp HASC we close registration early. As you and I are sitting here talking at the end of December, we’re probably already full for next summer. The staff has been hired—it’s amazing, okay?
All of a sudden, in May, I get an email from my good friend Ralph Herzka and his son David Herzka about getting a kid from Moscow into camp, in May. So of course, I called Reb Judah Mischel and R’ Avi Pollak, and they practically slammed the phone down on me. “Are you kidding me?”
As I’m going through the email, I notice that there are other people copied on the chain. One is Rabbi Chaim Bruck, who has since become a close friend of mine, he’s the shliach in Montana, and another is Rabbi Berel Lazar.
The next thing I know, I get a phone call from Rabbi Berel Lazar. He introduces himself. I knew of him, but I had never met him before. He tells me that one of his key shluchim in Moscow is making a wedding that summer and they have a teenage child who isn’t easy to take care of. The wedding, I believe, was in Eretz Yisrael, and they couldn’t take the child along. They needed to get him into Camp HASC.
I explained the situation and said we’d see what we could do. I got back on the phone with Reb Judah and R’ Avi Pollak, and they said they’d see what they could do.
Then I did something that was funny, but it worked. I went online and found a picture of Rabbi Berel Lazar talking to Putin. I sent that picture to Judah Mischel and Avi Pollak and said, “Do you know what they’re talking about? Lazar is reaching out to Putin to call Camp HASC to get his kid in.” And the rest is history. (Laughs)
That summer, Rabbi Lazar was in the mountains, so I invited him to camp. When he saw what goes on at Camp HASC, well, that’s what happens to everybody. You don’t have to invite them again. They get hooked. He was very moved in meeting over 40 campers from Chabad shluchim & families worldwide.
Rabbi Lazar has been to a couple of concerts as well. He’s not always here, but he loves that too. I’ve maintained a great relationship with him. As a matter of fact, he’s made a couple of family weddings, and he invited me. I stayed in touch with him, and I went.
The first wedding I attended was actually in Moscow. A year after I got to know him, I went to Moscow, and Judah Mischel joined me from Eretz Yisrael. I was in and out in 24 hours—flew in, stayed for the wedding, and the next morning flew right back out.
It’s amazing what Chabad, under his leadership, is doing in Russia. He has a few hundred shluchim working for him. He runs a major operation. It’s a real Kiddush Hashem what’s going on there.
That’s how I met Rabbi Lazar.
I’ve noticed at both Camp HASC and Chai
Lifeline events that you share a special
relationship with Rabbi Simcha Scholar.
It’s inspiring to see two leaders in major
roles across these organizations maintain
such a close bond. Can you share a bit
more about that?
I think organizations in general should work more closely with one another. It enhances what we do and helps everyone involved. I met Rabbi Scholar many years ago when someone reached out to me about an issue they were having with getting permits in Albany. Baruch Hashem, I had the right relationships and was able to set up a meeting and get it resolved. That’s when I met Rabbi Scholar, and we hit it off. We’ve been in touch ever since.
He comes to Camp HASC, and I go to Camp Simcha. He comes to the concert, and I go to the dinner. As a matter of fact, years ago, when we started discussing the idea of building a medical center—like the one you’ve seen at Camp HASC—we were invited to Camp Simcha to see their medical center. We wanted to learn the pros and cons, what to do and what not to do, and we even ended up using the same builder they used.
We’re not competition. There’s really no competition in general, but in this case specifically, we serve different populations. We work with children with Down syndrome and autism, while he, unfortunately, works with children who are sick with cancer. It’s a different setup. He runs separate sessions for boys and girls, while our setup, as you’ve seen, is different.
We became very friendly and found that having a strong friendship and working relationship was extremely helpful. I strongly suggest that other organizations do the same.
Can you give us an update on what’s going on at the new building on McDonald Avenue and Avenue M in Brooklyn?
Absolutely. I’m Yirtzeh Hashem, that’s going to be the HASC Center’s new campus, as well as the Blanche Kahn / Rambam Medical Center’s new campus. The street level will house the medical center, and the rest of the building will be for day programs and administrative staff. We bought that property a couple of years ago, and there was a lot of bureaucracy we had to go through for upzoning in order to get more square footage. We kept running into certain issues, but Baruch Hashem, it’s really moving along nicely. We’re hoping to be in there, Im Yirtzeh Hashem, after this summer.
I’m looking forward to doing a major ribbon-cutting ceremony, inviting elected officials, it ties back to what we discussed earlier; they love attending these events. It’ll be right before the election in November. It’s a very expensive project, but at the end of the day, it will be a state of the art facility beneficial for the individuals we serve year-round.
Where do you see Camp HASC/HASC
Center twenty years from now?
I’d like to see a future where there’s no longer a need for Camp HASC, and it could be converted into a regular camp for yeshiva boys or girls. Im Yirtzeh Hashem, all the kids will become healthy.
We lost a good friend a couple of years ago— the Mashgiach, Rav Matisyahu Solomon— who was very close to Camp HASC. Every year, he would come up to the mountains for two weeks right after Tisha B’Av. On his first Friday of Shabbos Nachamu, he and the rebbetzin would come to camp, and he continued visiting every year. He loved being at camp, spending time with each camper— the mashgiach with the boys and the rebbetzin with the girls. Even when he wasn’t well, he still came to give the staff Chizuk.
He gave us a havtacha: “Moshiach is around the corner. His first stop will be here at Camp HASC. Please tell him I’m a good friend.” Whether or not Moshiach comes soon, I’m not exactly sure how it will all work out, but when Moshiach arrives, there won’t be a need for HASC as we know it today. We’ll have to figure out what HASC will stand for as a regular yeshiva. That’s our hope.
In the meantime, we need to find a way to increase the camp’s capacity. We have additional property adjacent to the camp, and we’d like to double its size—not as a preference, but out of necessity, because there’s a huge waiting list of families and campers. Securing funding for that expansion is a major goal. There’s a big need to double the size of the camp.
To close the interview, on behalf of Klal Yisrael, I want to thank you for everything you do! You are truly an inspiration to us all. Is there anything we didn’t discuss that you would like to mention?
I want to express my deep gratitude to Shmiel Khan and his family. I want to thank the entire board of the HASC Center, especially the board members of Camp HASC, as well as Reb Judah Mischel, R’ Avi Pollak, and, beyond that, the entire staff.
I’ll leave you with one thought. Many years ago, we were looking to hire a PR and marketing company. I don’t remember their name, but they were ready to take the job. I said, “No, no, no. You can’t take the job. You have to come to camp. You have to spend a day here. You have to live it. You have to see it for yourself.”
Tomorrow morning, send us a report with your thoughts and recommendations.” By Monday afternoon, we got an email, but it had absolutely nothing to do with what we asked for. Instead, he wrote an article titled, “Who Needs Yale and Harvard When You Have Camp HASC?”
He completely forgot about the campers. He couldn’t believe that, through the staff, you can take individuals and turn them into future leaders of Klal Yisrael.