December 1875 / January 1876 to 1970
Jacob Raphaelson is related to the Felson family via the marriage of his daughter Virginia. She married Ben Felson. In 1958, Jake wrote an autobiography that describes his years in Europe, his immigration to America in 1892, and his life in the US. His autobiography is posted on the website of Margaret “Peggy” Mosinger Freedman.
In 1875 or 1876 Jacob Raphaelson was born in Yanova, a shtetl in Lithuania, which was then part of Russia. In his autobiography (Part 1), he describes the place and date of birth:
I was told that I was born in Yanova, Province of Kovno, State of Lithuania, country of Russia in the 20th day of Tavath. Tavath is a lunar month which is part of our December and January months. According to certain records and happenings in my life, I must have been born in December 1875 or January 1876 (autobiography, p. 2).
Raphaelson family members
Jake’s father went by the last name of Raphaelovich, though his family name was Melamed. His Father had changed his name as a child to avoid the being drafted into the Russian army by czar as were many Jewish children at that time. He worked in Russia and America as what Jake calls a “religious professional”. His mother, Chaeh, supported the family during the father’s absence by first teaching children to read Hebrew, and later by selling dry yeast.
There were five children in Jake’s immediate family; Jake was third oldest:
- Mendel, Jake’s older brother, was later called Harry Raphael
- Bessie, Jake’s sister, eventually married Ben, an artist, and they had a son, Izkeh.
- Jake married Ida Berman and had three children, Nettie, Selma, and Virginia.
- Tirza, later called Theresa, married Frank Bachrach, the son of a family friend Chayim Yudel. Frank started as a cigar maker and then went into the junk business.
- Chanah, latter called Annie, married Louis Frank, who was a scrap iron peddler.
Jake’s relatives on his mother’s side
Jake called his mother’s mother Bobe Chipa and his mother’s father Avrohom. They had four daughters and one son. Jake never knew the son, nor does he indicate the son’s name.
The girls were:
- Chaeh (Jake’s mother)
- Leah, married later in life to Yankel
- Yudes, who married and went to England
- Chana Yentel
Jake’s relatives on his father’s side—family name: Malamed
- Bobe Sifra, his father’s mother. Her nickname was Sifra Kudra
- Chiam Yudel
- Ressel, married Ettman
- Yosel, lived in Slabodka, near his parents. He was a tanner, was married and had a large family.
Jake’s Nuclear Family
Ida Berman, wife
Nettie Raphaelson, daughter who died at age 31 after catching fire in their home.
Selma Raphaelson, daughter who became a lawyer. She died at age 70.
Virginia Raphaelson Felson, daughter who married Ben Felson, they had five children: Steve, Richard, Nancy, Mark, Ed.
Jake’s in-laws
Ida’s family name was Berman. She had three sisters, Beckie. Jenny, and Sarah, and two brothers, Abe and Meyer. Beckie married Louis. Meyer married the daughter of a wealthy family. His wife had a wallpaper and crockery store.
Jacob’s life journey
Much of Jake’s autobiography is organized by place. He detailed eleven moves while he was in Russia and eighteen after arriving in the US. The moves, his reason for moving, and the dates, when given, are detailed in the following chart:
| Place | Reason for move | Dates |
| Yanova, Lithuania, Russia on Villiya River | Father’s work | 1875-1878 (left when Jake was 2 years old) |
| Yecatherindar, Russia Near Caucasus now Georgia in the Russia Federaton | Father’s work as a shochet (cattle killer) | 1878-1883 |
| Back to Yanova | Mother unhappy about the lack of orthodox Jewish religious atmosphere in Yecatherindar and returned home (without the father). Moved from house to house in Yanova | 1883- |
| Slabodka, a poor suburb of Kovno (Kaunas) | Jake’s father took him and his brother Mendel to Slabodka, which was where his father’s parents lived | |
| Vilno | Moved to Vilno, where his brother and he could attend yeshiva | Stay—1 year |
| Yanova | ||
| Slabodka | Jake attended Yeshiva here | |
| Poinivez | 1889 for a short time | |
| Volkomere | Jacob became a socialist | 1891 |
| Kovno (near Poland) | ||
| NYC, a stop of on his way to Fall River Massachusetts | Arrived in NY, intending to stay with his parents, now together again. Trip via Tilsit Germany, Hamburg, Rotterdam. Stayed for a few days with his uncle Meilach in NYC | 1892 |
| Fall River, Massachusetts, South of Boston | Joined his family: mother, father, sister Theresa, Bessie, and Mendel (Harry). Sister Anna still in Russia. Father had moved there for a job as a religious worker. Sent by the Hebrew Immigration Aid society | |
| Steubenville Ohio | Father got a job as a “religious professional”. Jake became a “pack peddler” selling to farmers | 1895-6 |
| Toledo Ohio | Father changed jobs again, Jake continued peddling | 1896 |
| East Tawas, Michigan, 240 miles north of Toledo | Jake took job as a storekeeper. Also still peddled in the area: Ausable, Oscoda, Alpeno, Michigan | |
| Toledo, Ohio | Jake began selling spectacles. Attended 8th grade. Partnered with a cattle buyer, worked as a butcher, delivered meat (via bicycle) | |
| Indiana: Fort Wayne, Bluffton, Muncie Lafayette | Bicycle peddling route, selling spectacles | |
| Chicago, Illinois | Attended optical school (Bessie, his sister lived there) | |
| Dubuque, Iowa | Few weeks | |
| Muscatine, Iowa | 1899 | |
| Back to Chicago | Received optical diploma | 1900 |
| Dixon, Illinois | Peddled spectacles | |
| Prophetstown, Illinois | Set up optical practice | |
| Newport, Ky | Married Ida | |
| Davenport, Iowa | Moved with Ida. Moved his optical practice Ida’s father did not want her to live in a non-Jewish community of Prophetstown, where Jake had his practice. Jake and Ida set up a candy store and glasses shop in their home in Davenport | 1903 |
| Newport Ky | Moved to be nearer to Ida’s family. Was an insurance agent. Eventually set up optical practice in their home. |
Jake’s Work as an Optician
Jacob Raphaelson worked many years, first as a seller of spectacles and later as a certified optician. He went from door to door through rural America to fit glasses, and eventually set up an optical practice in his home. He describes a discovery that he made in 1942 that was to be his passion for the rest of his life. He writes in his 1959 book (p. 59):
“Stretching your eyes with stronger plus glasses with stronger plus glasses does not mean the lengthening of your eyes. It means just the opposite. Plus glasses produce a counter pressure, both physically and psychologically, against the narrowing of the eyes and the cramping and contracting of the muscles inside the eyes. Plus glasses furnish a counter pressure again the forward lengthening of the eyes of children, which is caused by prolonged near-seeing.
“Stretching your eyes with stronger plus glasses makes them more roomy for the fluid circulation inside the eyes. It lessens the chances of blood congestion, which is often the cause of eye ailments and diseases. It lessens the chances of the fluids of the eyes clogging the tiny canals in our eyes. it gives the eyes more freedom for natural functioning.
“Near vision and minus glasses produce and inward pressure on our eyes. Plus glasses, on the contrary produce an outward pressure on the eyes. Stretching our eyes with stronger plus glasses is the only way by which we may give our eyes the natural rest posture, the same posture as a natural eye assumes in far-distant-seeing. It is the only way by which we can fully relax our eyes. It is the most practical way to save nerve energy at times when the saving of nerve energy is necessary as an aid against sickness and disease.”
Jake’s Legacy for the Today’s Eye Specialists and Those Interested in Myopia
Jake’s theories about myopia, while they never became part of mainstream thinking, have not died out. Three people involved in the prevention of myopia today give credit to Jacob Raphaelson. The first, Donald Rehm, has founded a society for the prevention of myopia, called the International Myopia Prevention Association, the second, Otis Brown, is an engineer who promotes preventive eye care, and the third is Steve Leung, an optician in China.
Donald Rehm has the following to say about Jake:
September 18, 2004
I believe I have all of his books in my library. His daughter visited me once in Ligonier, PA some years ago. I have forgotten her name but she was a lawyer. I picked her up at the airport and she stayed here one night. He was an inspiration to all of us. Today, with the Internet as a tool, I believe that we will soon see some radical changes in the way young children are treated. I am in the process of preparing a lengthy petition to the FDA, asking that a warning be required whenever minus lenses are prescribed. That warning will state that minus lenses cause myopia.
Donald Rehm
President
International Myopia Prevention Assn.
www.preventmyopia.org
www.myopia.org
Otis Brown writes about his meeting Jake and his efforts to prevent his own nearsightedness:
September 14, 2004
Subject: Recognition for Jacob Raphaelson and his daughter Virginia Raphaelson Felson on the celebration of her 90th birthday.
In 1957 I was in deep despair about “nearsightedness” since I had been told repeatedly that “it is impossible to prevent nearsightedness”. Since the MDs of considerable expertise were making that statement — I tended to believe it. I am an engineer of considerable curiosity. For that reason I had a number of questions about the subject and was interested in the “better answer”.
I continued this work as a “hobby”, and eventually discovered a statement that “submariners” developed nearsightedness proportional to the time that they spent in submarines. That made perfect sense to me. Dr. William Ludlam had published the statement, and on my written request for information identified Jacob Raphaelson as the “zealot” for prevention with the plus.
As part of my “curiosity”, I wondered what the perception of an OD would be about this subject. I was in Columbus, Ohio for Christmas, and I talked my father into going down to Cincinnati to visit Jacob. I arrived about 1 pm, and had about a three hour conversation with Jacob. He gave me his two books and several booklets.
I began to realize that the only way my “nearsightedness” could have been prevented would be if Jacob had been my father. The intensity of commitment for “prevention” is on that level.
I also realized (from “The Printer’s Son) that the public would always “prevent prevention”, in that they always expect an instant “quick-fix” — and that “attitude” would make preventive work by an OD virtually impossible. This situation has not changed in the last 100 years — and shows little possibility of changing in the next 100 years. Or am I just a pessimist.
I realize that it would take TOTAL dedication to your own “blood relatives” if true-prevention were to be accomplished. My sister’s children were all under 5 years old. I wondered if they could be induced to “take control” and use the plus strongly and therefore effectively. They are now over 35 and have maintained there clear distant vision through graduate school. From the massive records on the subject I know the “down” rate is -1/2 diopter per year. Thus they “avoided” about -5 diopters of myopia — by their own intelligence, and motivation.
About Jake and his “dream”.
I always admire a man who stands on his own two feet and fights for what he believes is right. It is clear that Jake faced an “impossible situation”, and there was nothing he could do about it. But I learned a great deal about his perception and his knowledge on the subject.
I therefore assumed the responsibility that Jacob had chosen for himself. Jake described his work as a “spectacle hobby”, and for me it has become a matter of published papers and a book titled, “How to Avoid Nearsightedness”.
I think it was 1967-1968 that I met Jake. It is obvious that he is in my thoughts to a considerable extent. At times I think I am “defeated”, perhaps most of the time — but I believe that someone must continue the “fight”. We all say “someone” should do something. That always means that nothing gets done.
Maybe in the future we can “wake up” and begin using the “preventive” method advocated by Jacob Raphaelson with great force, and therefore with great success.
Jacob Raphaelson was a “dreamer”, and I have honestly followed his lead. That is indeed a “living tribute” for a man who is 100 years ahead of his time.
Best,
Otis Brown
Steve Leung’s Comments about Jake
September 14, 2004
Dear Judy Felson Duchan,
Thanks to Dr. Raphaelson’s insight a hundred years ago, I am inspired to carrying a mission to protect my own children vision as well as the public. Please express my sincere greeting to Virginia Raphaelson Felson of her birthday celebration.
Best,
Steve Leung
Optometrist
HKSAR, China
I’ve just been looking over some books by Jacob Raphaelson, published in the 50s and 60s, published by the “Research Foundation for the Prevention of Myopia, Inc.” which, unfortunately, died with Raphaelson in the 60s. He presents an incontrovertible case against minus lenses and for plus lenses for myopes. Most of his advice is for children, for preventing myopia. He argues that if you just wear +1.00 reading glasses (available at any drugstore) for all prolonged near work, you won’t go myopic.
Rollo’s article on myopia prevention: http://members.aol.com/myopiaprev/ttabs1.htm
| THE TRUTH ABOUT SEEING: GUARDING YOUR CHILD’S VISION By Vera F. Rollo, Ph.D., Stirling Colgate, Ph.D., and Otis Brown An early, successful prevention of myopia was accomplished by Dr. Jacob Raphaelson. This result, occurring in 1904, had rather ironic consequence for him. A mother mentioned to him that her son had difficulty in seeing in school. The doctor made an appointment to fit the boy with glasses. Raphaelson found that the boy’s vision was poor, worse than 20/40. The mother promised to pay the doctor when her husband, a printer, returned in about six weeks. So Dr. Raphaelson provided positive lenses, rather than the conventional negative lenses, and agreed to wait for payment. The boy used these lenses and in under six weeks his vision was tested and found to be excellent. His nearsighted eyes had been returned to 20/20. But when the father appeared, he refused to believe that the doctor had affected a cure, because the boy’s eyes were fine! The mother returned the glasses to Dr. Raphaelson. The point should not be lost that had Dr. Raphaelson fitted the boy with negative lenses, the boy would have immediately seen clearly at a distance. Both the boy and the mother would have been immediately happy and Dr. Raphaelson would have been paid for the prescription of glasses that provided this solution. As the years passed, Raphaelson would have been paid again and again for increasingly stronger negative lenses. This argument, that only an instant solution can be provided, and that recovery cannot be achieved with a plus lens, surfaces in various forms to this day. |
A story “The printer’s son” told to Otis Brown by Jake and subsequently published on Steve Leung’s website: http://www.chinamyopia.org/jacobenglish.htm
Finally, I found mention of a lost relative on the web — Harry Raphael’s grandaughter:
Jacob Raphaelson in 1910 Census, m. Ida children Nettie, Selma, Virginia, living in Newport City, Kentucky, was brother to my grandfather Harry Raphael(son). I would like to find out more about Jacob and the family history, as it will provide information on the whole family. Harry lived in California after 1910. Please e-mail me if you know we have a connection. From Judy Flowers at http://genforum.genealogy.com/raphael/messages/36.html
Jacob Raphaelson’s Writings
Raphaelson, Jacob (1937). School myopia. Cincinnati Ohio: J. Raphaelson.
Raphaelson, Jacob. A preventive and remedy for school-myopia. An optical discovery based on 55 years of individual and independent optical research. Cincinnati: Research Foundation for Prevention of Myopia: (1958).
Raphaelson, Jacob. (1959) Stretch your eyes; an optical discovery based on fifty-eight years of optical research. [1st ed.] Cincinnati, Research Foundation for Prevention of Myopia.
Raphaelson, Jacob. (1961) Spectacle hobby; a story with a purpose. Cincinnati: Research Foundation for Prevention of Myopia.
Raphaelson, Jacob. (nd). The autobiography of a lamed-vov-nik. Unpublished ms.
Jake’s autobiography Part 1 The old Country
Jake’s autobiography Part 2 America
Lest I forget: Virginia Raphaelson Felson’s recollections of her father
The Felson Family 