Abraham Foxman, the former national director of the Anti-Defamation League, passed away aged 86 on Sunday.
The funeral service is set to be held at Park Avenue synagogue in New York City on Tuesday and will be live-streamed.
The ADL mourned the passing of Foxman, who served as the organization's head from 1987 until 2015, after which he was succeeded by Jonathan Greenblatt and assumed an emeritus role.
“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,” Greenblatt said of his predecessor in a Sunday statement.
“Abe Foxman was an iconic Jewish leader who embraced the ideal of an America free from antisemitism and hate and who strongly believed that these scourges could be defeated if good people opposed it.”
Greenblatt said that Foxman had confronted antisemitism on both political wings worldwide and held world leaders to account, with popes, presidents, and prime ministers taking note of his words.
“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 a word,” said Greenblatt. “From this foundational principle, he made education and antibias training a cornerstone of ADL’s work just as ADL would stand in opposition to hateful rhetoric and violent bigotry, whatever its source.”
Foxman raised as Christian to hide Jewish identity
Foxman himself was a survivor of the Holocaust, entrusted to a Polish Catholic nursemaid, who baptized and raised him as a Christian to hide his Jewish identity.
He was reunited with his parents after World War II, but 14 members of his family did not survive.
Coming to the US in 1950, Foxman would go on to graduate from Yeshiva of Flatbush and earn a BA in political science from City College of New York.
The Jewish community leader was an avid writer, writing opinion pieces for The Jerusalem Post and several books, including Jews & Money: The Story of a Stereotype and Never Again? The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism.
ADL Board Chair Nicole Mutchnik said that Foxman helped “build the modern liberal era of America.
“He was recognized across the globe as a great leader and passionate advocate for tolerance, a voice of the generation rebuilding in the shadow of the Shoah, and a longtime advisor to American presidents and world leaders.
“To those of us who knew him, Abe was a warm friend, advisor, spirited antagonist, and hugger – all over lunch.”
As news of Foxman’s passing broke, Israeli leaders offered their condolences and eulogies. President Isaac Herzog said on X/Twitter that he would miss the counsel of Foxman, a “legendary leader of the Jewish people.”
“Coming into a world at war, the Holocaust shaped Abe’s character and defined his mission: Combating antisemitism and hypocrisy, calling out racism and bias, speaking up for the Jewish people and the Jewish democratic Israel. His story, of rising from the ashes, is our story, the story of our people,” said Herzog.
“Abe’s decades at the helm of the Anti-Defamation League positioned him as a prominent, distinguished force in the American Jewish community and a bridge between Israel and the Diaspora.”
Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan said that he had learned much from Foxman, describing him on X as both a friend and mentor.
Israel's Consul General in New York City, Ofir Akunis, eulogized Foxman as a "good friend, beloved Jew, proud Zionist, and a warm and kind-hearted person," in a post on X.