BREAKING NEWS

Jewish donor Marcos Katz dies at 89

JULY 29, 2016 03:54

Holocaust survivor and philanthropist Marcos Katz died Tuesday night at the age of 89. Katz was renowned for building bridges between Halacha (Jewish law) and modernity.

Katz was born in 1927 in Krakow, Poland, to a hassidic family.

In 1941, at age 14, he fled the Nazi occupation, seeking a safe haven in Mandatory Palestine.

In 1947, his family moved to Mexico, where he became a prominent industrialist and served as the principal of a Jewish school in Monterrey.

He met his wife, Adina, in Mexico, and they had four children. Though the couple remained there, throughout their lives they were dedicated to strengthening the relationship between the Diaspora and Israel, and they supported dozens of projects in the Jewish world and Israel.

Marcos and Adina founded the Katz Award in 1975, bestowing the honor upon individuals and enterprises engaged in the application of Halacha in modern life by their written works and practical endeavors.

Katz received honorary doctorates from New York University and Bar-Ilan University.

In 1985, the couple founded the Emuna Yeshiva in Mexico, which to this day continues to be a source of Modern Orthodox, Zionist education for children from the first to the twelfth grade.

Katz was laid to rest on Thursday at Har Hamenuhot Cemetery in Jerusalem.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.

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