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Abraham “Abe” Foxman, the former national director of the Anti-Defamation League who dedicated his 50-year career to promoting marginalized voices and combating antisemitism, died on Sunday.
Foxman, who was 86, helmed the Jewish advocacy organization from 1987 to 2015, making him “one of the world’s foremost voices against antisemitism and hate,” the ADL said in a press release.
Foxman was born in 1940 in modern-day Belarus. When his home country was seized by Nazi Germany just one year later, he was saved by a Polish Catholic nanny trusted with his care, the ADL said.
He was separated from his parents, but they eventually reunited at the end of World War II. He lost 14 family members during the Holocaust, according to the organization.
The nanny had sought to retain custody of Foxman. She lost the legal battle against Foxman’s parents, but refused to relent, and allegedly tried to kidnap him. It was then that his parents quietly fled to the US.
Foxman joined the ADL immediately after graduating from New York University’s School of Law in 1965. He served in various roles before he was eventually tapped as the national director in 1987.
While leading the charge, Foxman blew past all expectations — and helped establish the ADL as the anti-hate mainstay it is today. He never shied away from confronting antisemitism at its root, even when it was spouted by some of society’s most powerful figures.
He also famously, and controversially, expanded the ADL’s tenets beyond a sole focus on Jewish issues.
He established a research arm probing white supremacy and other forms of extremism, advocated for immigrants, sought to advance gay rights during the AIDs epidemic, and developed educational programs to teach young people about topics from the Holocaust to the lasting effects of bullying.
In 2000 — around the same time he raised a staggering $6 million during a single banquet at the Waldorf Astoria — Foxman’s heart suddenly stopped in his sleep, but he was quickly revived and underwent an emergency bypass surgery.
At the time, many speculated the brush with death would force Foxman into retirement. But he refused to let a short-lived scare dampen his spirit, and he remained at the helm of the ADL until 2015.
When he retired after a storied 50 years with the ADL, Foxman passed the torch to the org’s current CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, who, on Sunday, mourned the trailblazer’s death as a loss of a key “moral voice.”
“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 in a statement.
Nicole Munchnik, the ADL board chair, described Foxman as “a warm friend, advisor, spirited antagonist and hugger – all over lunch.”
Foxman is survived by his wife, Golda Bauman, their two children, and several grandchildren.
English (US)