Abraham Foxman, then-national director of the Anti-Defamation League, in 2009. Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90.
By MENACHEM WECKER
JNS
Abraham Foxman, a Holocaust survivor and national director of the Anti-Defamation League from 1987 until 2015, died on Sunday, May 10. He was 86 years old.
“America and the Jewish people have lost a moral voice, a passionate advocate for the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and a remarkable leader,” stated Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the ADL. “Abe Foxman was an iconic Jewish leader who embraced the ideal of an America free from anti-Semitism and hate and who strongly believed that these scourges could be defeated if good people opposed it.”
Held Leaders Accountable
“In his storied career, Abe transformed ADL while confronting anti- and hate—from both left and right—opposing the global rise in anti-Semitism, holding world leaders accountable and working to ensure that Israel was Jewish, secure and democratic,’ Greenblatt stated. “Abe’s voice was heard, and listened to, by popes, presidents and prime ministers, a voice he used wherever Jews were at risk.”
“Abe Foxman spoke on the global stage with moral authority and clarity and was relentlessly dedicated to his pursuit of a world without hate,” he added. “Abe understood the power of words. He often said that the Holocaust did not begin with bricks and mortar and gas chambers, but rather, it began with words. From this foundational principle, he made education and anti-bias training a cornerstone of ADL’s work, just as ADL would stand in opposition to hateful rhetoric and violent bigotry, whatever its source.”
William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told JNS that he had known Foxman for a quarter of a century.
“Deeply Personal”
“Throughout that time, he was extraordinarily generous as a mentor and adviser to me. He offered guidance and encouragement at many phases of my career, including during my time at the Conference of Presidents,” Daroff said. “Abe combined toughness and warmth in a way that few leaders can. He expected seriousness, spoke with moral clarity and pushed younger leaders to think bigger about our responsibility to the Jewish people.”
It stood out to Daroff that Foxman “never treated the fight against anti-Semitism as abstract or academic.”
“For him, it was deeply personal, rooted in his own life story as a Holocaust survivor,” he told JNS. “Yet he carried that experience not with bitterness but with purpose. Every conversation with Abe Foxman reinforced the idea that leadership requires courage, urgency and the willingness to speak out when others remain silent.”
Isaac Herzog, president of Israel, called Foxman a “legendary leader of the Jewish people, a champion of justice and equality and a longtime, dear friend of mine.”
“Coming into a world at war, the Holocaust shaped Abe’s character and defined his mission: combating anti-Semitism and hypocrisy, calling out racism and bias, speaking up for the Jewish people and the Jewish democratic Israel,” Herzog stated. “His story, of rising from the ashes, is our story, the story of our people.”
Foxman’s decades running the ADL “positioned him as a prominent, distinguished force in the American Jewish community and a bridge between Israel and the diaspora,” the Israeli president said. “He was a passionate Zionist, a humanist and an outspoken, wise friend.”
Gideon Sa’ar, Israeli foreign affairs minister, stated that Foxman was a “towering voice against anti-Semitism,” who “devoted his life to defending the Jewish people and strengthening the bond between Israel and Jewish communities worldwide.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) stated that Foxman was a “friend, courageous voice of reason,” who “dedicated his life to the fight against anti-Semitism, wherever or whenever it reared its ugly head.” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) stated that “Abe Foxman led the ADL for nearly 30 years and never stopped fighting anti-Semitism and hate.”
“What a profound loss,” wrote Deborah Lipstadt, former U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism and Dorot professor of modern Jewish history and Holocaust studies at Emory University. “Abe Foxman was a fighter for our people and for justice for all. He was my friend, someone to whom I could speak truth. He shall be missed greatly.”
The Jewish Federations of North America called Foxman a “towering voice against anti-Semitism and a lifelong champion of the Jewish people” with an “extraordinary legacy.”
“A Holocaust survivor who transformed personal tragedy into moral courage, Abe dedicated his life to defending Jewish communities, advancing human dignity and strengthening the bonds between people of all backgrounds,” the Federation said.
The American Jewish Committee called Foxman a “towering figure in the fight against anti-Semitism and hatred.”
“Abe brought moral clarity, courage and unwavering conviction to generations of advocacy and leadership,” the AJC said. “His voice helped shape the American Jewish experience and strengthened the global fight against bigotry in all its forms.”
Foxman was born in 1940 in what is now Belarus to Polish-Jewish parents His parents asked his Polish-Catholic nanny to hide him. She did, and she also baptized him Catholic. When his parents, who both survived the Holocaust, went to retrieve him after the war, the nanny refused to return him. After a legal battle he was eventually reunited with his parents, who were living in a displaced person’s camp.
Foxman seemed to hold no ill will towards the nanny. Whenever he conferred with one of the three popes who he had been invited to meet, he would ask them to pray for the nanny who had saved his life.
