Four major Jewish organizations of which former Senator Herbert H. Lehman was one of the founders, today issued statements mourning his death and emphasizing his services to the Jewish cause. Other Jewish organizations issued similar statements. The four organizations are: The Jewish Agency, United Jewish Appeal, American Jewish Committee and the Joint Distribution Committee.
Dr. Nahum Goldmann, president of the Jewish Agency, Moshe Sharett, chairman and Dr. Emanuel Neumann, chairman of the American section, said in a statement: “The executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel mourns the elder statesman of American Jewry. As one of the founders 35 years ago of the enlarged Jewish Agency for Palestine, Governor Lehman was a lover of Zion, a devoted friend of Israel, Many thousands of the Jews he helped save through his service as director-general of the UNRRA now live in the land of Israel to which he was so dedicated.”
The United Jewish Appeal statement said: “We express the deep sorrow felt by all the officers and associates of the United Jewish Appeal at the loss of a founder of the UJA and the most beloved figure in Jewish life in our time. A leading spirit in the formation of the United Jewish Appeal in 1939, Senator Lehman gave unstinted of his time and energies up to the last moments of his life in furthering the United Jewish Appeal’s mission of rescue and rehabilitation of uprooted and distressed Jews throughout the world and helping refugees to Israel and other free lands build new lives.”
Edward M. M. Warburg, JDC chairman, and Moses A. Leavitt, executive vice-chairman, declared: “The accomplishments of Herbert Lehman’s distinguished political career can in no way overshadow the brilliance of the leadership which he gave to the American Jewish community or the magnitude of his efforts on behalf of those in need, both at home and overseas. Herbert Lehman helped to found the Joint Distribution Committee; as its treasurer, beginning in 1916, he helped to give it a firm foundation. In the five decades since, decades which included two world wars, the Nazi catastrophe, and the birth of Israel, he devoted himself unsparingly to a life of service.”
A. M. Sonnabend, president of the American Jewish Committee, declared: “The death of Herbert H. Lehman leaves the American Jewish Committee, its officers and members in profound bereavement over the loss of one of its foremost leaders, guides and friends. This giant of social and international justice enriched the entire human family by his presence among us. His six decades of public service as statesman, international public servant, leader in Jewish philanthropy and in every worthy Jewish endeavor were shining testimonies to his profound commitment to the Biblical prophetic and humanistic ideals of Judaism and the American tradition.”
Messages of grief and condolence were issued also by Rabbi Joachim Prinz, president of the American Jewish Congress; Label A. Katz, national president of B’nai B’rith; Mrs. Siegfried Kramarsky, national president of Hadassah, the women’s Zionist organization of America; Lewis H. Weinstein, president of the National Community Relations Advisory Council; Lionel R. Bauman, president of the American Friends of the Hebrew University; Adolph Held, chairman of the Jewish Labor Committee; and other leaders of major Jewish organizations throughout the country.
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