Mr. Nissim Behar, who played a very prominent part in the educational and humanitarian work of the Alliance Israelite Universelle and was the founder of the Alliance Schools in the Orient, has died here in his 83 rd. year. A native of Jerusalem, Mr.Behar was himself a pupil of the Alliance Normal School in Paris. He had studied also at the Yeshibah in Jerusalem and at the Camondo School in Constantinople. He came to the United States about 30 years ago, being sent there by the Alliance Israelite in connection with the Russian Jewish passport question in America, to which work he devoted the first five years of his residence in the country. Since 1905 he was dealing with the problems of Americanisation, immigration and various other Jewish questions. He was active in many organisations, and was the founder and Managing Director of the National Liberal Immigration League. He was also the originator of the idea of a Federation of the idea of a Federation of Jewish Organisations and of the Jewish Big Brother Associations.
On the occasion of his 80th. birthday in February 1928, Mr. Behar was given a testimonial dinner in New York, attended by over a hundred prominent American Jews, and on his 81st. birthday, in 1929, an anonymous donor announced his decision to give a sum of 100,000 dollars to the Alliance Israelite Universelle for the establishment of a fund in honour of Mr. Nissim Behar to be used for a boys’ and girls’ school in Palestine to bear his name.
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.
