“He carried that experience not with bitterness but with purpose,” William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told JNS.
Abraham Foxman, a Holocaust survivor and national director of the Anti-Defamation League from 1987 until 2015, died on Sunday. He was 86 years old.
“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,” stated Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the ADL. “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.”
“In his storied career, Abe transformed ADL while confronting antisemitism and hate—from both left and right—opposing the global rise in antisemitism, holding world leaders accountable and working to ensure that Israel was Jewish, secure and democratic,’ Greenblatt stated. “Abe’s voice was heard, and listened to, by popes, presidents and prime ministers, a voice he used wherever Jews were at risk.”
“Abe Foxman spoke on the global stage with moral authority and clarity and was relentlessly dedicated to his pursuit of a world without hate,” he added. “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 words. From this foundational principle, he made education and anti-bias training a cornerstone of ADL’s work, just as ADL would stand in opposition to hateful rhetoric and violent bigotry, whatever its source.”