PAGE 2A HERITAGE FLORIDA JEWISH NEWS, OCTOBER 17, 2014
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JDC
Then-Israeli President Shlmon Peres, standing, greets
Ralph Goldman at a salute for the former American Jew-
ish Joint Distribution Committee leader's lOOth birthday
in 2014.
By Marcy Oster and
Ron Kampeas
JERUSALEM (JTA)--Ralph
Goldman, who as ayoung man
helped shepherd the State of
Israel into existence and later
devoted his professional life
to bringing humanitarian
re|iefto Jews across the globe,
has died at 100.
Goldman, who worked with
the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee since
1968--he served twice as its
chief executive and still held
the title of honorary executive
vice president--died Tuesday
in Jerusalem, where he had
lived for decades.
Active in arming and popu-
lating prestate Israel, he went
on to lead the effort to bring
American technical know-
how and educational tech-
niques to the fledgling state.
"Ralph was an iconic and
transformative figure who
embodied the notion that all
'Jews are responsible for one
another' throughout his long
and extraordinary life," said
JDC's CEO, Alan Gill.
Born on Sept. 1, 1914, in
the town of Lechovitz in what
is now Ukraine, Goldman at
11 immigrated with his fam-
ily to a Jewish suburb of Bos-
ton, where he attended the
local public schools during
the day and Hebrew school
five days a week in the late
afternoons. In 1934, gradu-
ating from Hebrew College,
he delivered the valedictory
speech in Hebrew.
As a young man, Goldman
was involved in local Zionist
endeavors. In 1937 he won a
contest sponsored by a student
Zionist organization for his
essay on Stalin's idea of creat-
ing a "homeland for the Jews"
in Siberia. He was awarded a
fellowship to spend a year in
British Mandate Palestine,
where he participated in the
establishment of Kibbutz
Hanita in the Galilee.
He later recalled two
months during the 1938 fel-
lowship spent in Jerusalem,
where he and some friends
sought out Zionist leaders
such as Berl Katznelson,
Moshe Sharett and Menachem
Ussishkin--barely known in
the outside world, but heroes
to the young Zionists.
"We simply said to them
please tell us what's hap-
pening, and they took us
seriously," Goldman said in
an undated interview posted
on YouTube.
Goldman returned to the
United States and went on to
earn a bachelor's degree from
Boston Universityanda master's
in social work from Harvard.
He served in the U.S. Army
from 1942 to 1945, first in
the United States, then in
England. At the conclusion
of World War II, he was sta-
tioned in Germany, where he
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was assigned to assist Jews
in Displaced Persons camps.
He was active in the New
York operation of prestate
Israel's army, the Haganah,
helping to buy and lease air-
planes and ships to transport
immigrants from Europe to
Palestine, and assisting in the
effort to recruit personnel for
the nascent force. Through
this work Goldman met and
befriended Teddy Kollek, who
would later become the long-
time mayor of Jerusalem.
Decades later, Goldman
still registered embarrass-
ment when he was reminded
of his purchase of the Presi-
dent Warfield, a one-time
ferry. Named for the shipping
magnate uncle of Wallis Simp-
son-the Baltimore socialite
and notorious admirer of
Hitler who had married King
Edward VIII--the boat was
fiat bottomed, unsuitable for
long sea voyages and barely
made it across the Atlantic to
Marseilles, where 5,000 Jew-
ish refugees awaited passage
to British Mandate Palestine.
His Haganah colleagues
were furious with Goldman
but, desperate to move, they
prepared the boat for launch,
with Goldman helping to
manage the passage across
the Mediterranean.
It was rechristened the
By Man H. Gill
(JTA)--Most Jews have
never heard of, let alone ever
met, Ralph I. Goldman.
But for countless numbers
of us throughout the world,
Ralph--a former chief execu-
tive of the American Jewish
Joint Distribution Committee
(JDC)-- played a role in our
freedom, our positive Jewish
identity, our dedication to the
neediest among us. He was
also instrumental in the State
of Israel's birth, its growth
and success, its cultural and
educational institutions, and
its strong social fabric.
Indeed, he was one of the
greatest advocates for the
Jewish people and Israel, their
constant companion in times
of need, and their warmest
compatriot in times of elation.
They just didn't know it.
Why?
Because this 100-year-old
man, who passed away in
Jerusalem on Oct. 7, 2014,
was more focused on our
well-being, on creating op-
portunities for us to embrace
our Jewish identity and on
Israel's bright future than on
bolstering his own reputation.
And his life's work and
ongoing legacy are reasons to
pause, and celebrate, even as
we mourn his passing.
Ralph was an early builder
of the State of Israei--a brave
and deliberate Jewish leader
who cracked open communist
Europe to revive Jewish life
in places where the Soviets
strived so very hard to eradi-
cate it.
He also worked with a full
heart to strengthen ancient
Jewish communities in places
from Morocco to Mumbai.
Ralph was the living embodi-
ment of the Talmudic precept
that "all Jews are responsible
for one another."
Exodus, and its standoff out-
side Haifa became a symbol
of Jewish resistance to Brit-
ain's refusal to allow in Jews.
Goldman became a close
confidant and adviser to
Israel's first prime minister,
David Ben-Gurion, and in
1951 was in charge of the
prime minister's initial visit
to the U.S. as head of state. He
spent several years after that
coordinating a U.S. program
that delivered technical know-
how to emerging countries; a
1951 announcement in New
York said he was heading up
the search for "skilled work-
ers" to train Israelis.
He later served as executive
director of the American-
Israel Cultural Foundation
and the Israel Education
Fund, an arm of the United
Jewish Appeal that helped
establish and improve high
schools in Israel.
Goldman joined the JDC
in 1968 when he became the
associate director of its Israel
operation, establishing its
department for the care of the
elderly and introducing in-
novations in early childhood
care. He would serve as the
chief executive of JDC from
1976 until 1985, and again
from 1986 until 1988.
Goldman was a driving
force in JDC's low-profile
Ralph Goldman assisting
Ben-Gurion with his coat.
He was a trusted adviser
and friend to Israeli lead-
ers, including David Ben-
Gurion, Shimon Peres and
Teddy Kollek. He encouraged,
trained and guided hundreds
of Jewish leaders who have
taken leading roles in their
communities from America
to Ukraine to Hungary.
Ralph also was a mentor
to many young Jewish in-
novators. He took delight in
forming strong bonds with the
distinguished cohort of Ralph
I. Goldman Fellows--people
working in Jewish communi-
ties around the globe to better
lives and influence our collec-
tive Jewish future. And I was
personally privileged to have
Ralph as a mentor for the last
two decades.
He was a father, a husband,
a grandparent, a dear friend
and in his iconic bowtie the
consummate gentleman.
We live in a world to-
day where giants of Ralph's
stature are few and very far
between. He possessed a quiet
determination that put action
and deed before rhetoric and
people ahead of propaganda.
activities behind the Iron
Curtain, and in the 1970s and
1980s brought JDC programs
back into the open in commu-
nist countries. He led sensitive
negotiations with Soviet lead-
ers, navigating JDC's return
to what would become the
former Soviet Union almost
immediately after its collapse.
Asked in 2012 how he pulled
off such negotiations without
the benefit of diplomatic
training or accreditation,
Goldman said, "I was repre-
senting the Jewish People. I
couldn't afford to fail."
Limmud FSU, together
with the Jewish community of
Belarus, last month celebrated
his 100th birthday as part of
the opening gala celebrations
at the beginning of a Limmud
FSUconference heldinVitebsk.
Goldman was honored at
JDC's centennial celebration
in Jerusalem in May.
His son, David Ben-Rafael,
a senior Israeli diplomat,
was killed in the March 1992
bombing of the Israeli Em-
bassy in Argentina.
Goldman is survived by his
daughters, Judith Baumgold
of Jerusalem and Naomi
Goldman of New York; a
daughter-in-law, Elisa Ben-
Rafael of Jerusalem; and six
grandchildren, as well as
great-grandchildren.
JDC
Israeli Prime Minister David
Nowhere can that been
seen more poignantly than
in a legendary photograph of
Ralph and Ben-Gurion that
for decades has delighted all
who see it. It shows Ralph,
a close adviser to the first
Israeli prime minister,
humbly helping him into
his jacket before attending
a meeting in New York in
the 1950s.
Today that gesture seems
foreign and perhaps even a
little old-fashioned, but it
was Ralph to the core. He
was always there behind the
scenes, pushing forward to
ensure the best interests of a
people and a state that were
central to his being.
So as we celebrate Simchat
Torah, I urge us all to take
a moment to remember the
man who provided joy and
encouragement to so many,
even if they never knew his
name. We are his legacy, an
everlasting monument to his
boundless devotion.
Thank you, Ralph.
Alan H. Gill is CEO of the
American Jewish Joint Distri-
bution Committee.
M I KE
CLELLAND
