Background
Balsam was born in Mielec (Melitz), Poland, and was a Melitzer Chassid.
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Isaac Balsam
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Career
In 1903, Balsam established his own dairy farm in Ozone Park, Queens. At its peak, the Balsam farm had 300 cows. Balsam also ran a plant that processed milk from other farms.
That milk was not Chalav Yisrael, because it had not been supervised from the time of the milking.
However, the bottles were clearly labeled, so that it was easy to distinguish between the milk that was Chalav Yisrael and that which was not. The Balsam dairy farm remained in business until 1963.
The area in which the farm was located is currently known as Balsam Village. Balsam built a synagogue on his farm, Congregation B’nei Jacob, for which he was the sole support, and gave generously to charitable causes.
Balsam was the fourth of ten children.
Their other children were Maxwell (1903–1978), Morris (1907–1990), Rose (Isaacs) (1910–1999), Leon (1912–1995), and Nathan (1917–1996). In addition, one daughter died in infancy. They had twelve grandchildren, eleven of whom survived to adulthood.
After his father"s death, Balsam brought his mother to America, and she lived out her days on the Balsam farm.
Maxwell, Morris, and Nathan helped run the farm over the years, especially after their father"s death. Balsam"s great-great-great-grandsons Yehonatan and Malachi Yammer and his great-great-great-granddaughter Shira Yammer, born in Israel in 2009, 2010, and 2012, respectively, are great-grandchildren of the physicist and historian of science Max Jammer (1915-2010).
