Dr. Isaac M. Rubinow, secretary of B’nai B’rith since 1929 and a leading American authority on social insurance, died last night at Montefiore Hospital after an illness of seven months. Dr. Rubinow was 61.
He is survived by his widow, the former Sophie Himowich, three children, Miss Laura Rubinow of New York, Raymond S. Rubinow of Swarthmore, Pa., Dr. Olga F. Rubinow of Chicago and three brothers.
A man of vast intellectual catholicity, he achieved success in many fields–medicine, social insurance, statistics, agriculture, sociology, economics and branches and sub-branches of each.
Coming to the United States from Russia in 1893 as a refugee from religious persecution, Dr. Rubinow soon became a leader in Jewish charities and a crusader against anti-Semitism and Nazism.
Dr. Rubinow was educated at Columbia University, and New York University Medical School. He practised medicine 1903. From 1919 to 1922, he was a director of the Hadassah American Zionist Medical unit in Palestine. In 1914, Columbia University gave him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
From 1897 to 1914 he served as correspondent for Russian newspapers and in 1907 received a medal from the Russian Minister of Finance for distinguished services to commerce and finance.
During the same period he was examiner to the United States Civil Service Commission, statistician and expert to various governmental divisions in Washington, D.C., including the Departments of Agriculture, and Commerce and Labor.
In 1923 Dr. Rubinow became director of the Jewish Welfare Society in Philadelphia. He was called by the United Jewish Appeal in 1929 to direct its affairs and after resigning that post, he was offered the secretaryship of B’nai B’rith.
He was a contributing editor to Survey, editor of the Jewish Social Service Quarterly, and author of many books on economic questions.
His credo on social insurance was expressed by Dr. Rubinow in 1934 when he told a conference:
“I would want to provide to all those who are not economically independent and who cannot continue at their normal occupation, a decent and reasonable service pension. There is no social justice in limiting the opportunity for such pension to the lucky few who have worked all their life for one large and prosperous and generous corporation”.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
