Abraham Foxman's Legacy Fighting Hate

 Yesterday, we lost a giant in the Jewish world with the passing of Abraham Foxman. For decades, Abe Foxman stood on the front lines fighting antisemitism and defending the Jewish people with strength, dignity, and moral clarity. He did not simply speak about hate, but confronted it directly, tirelessly, and without fear.

His passing feels especially personal because today I received an email from a bar mitzvah parent who shared the painful reality her son faced at school: “Last Friday at school another student shouted ‘Jew’ and ‘gas chamber’ at my son at recess. Later in the day the student blocked his locker and there was an actual physical confrontation.”

Those words should stop every one of us in our tracks.

Foxman understood that antisemitism was never just history. It was present, dangerous, and always waiting to resurface if good people stayed silent. He spent his life making sure Jewish children could grow up proudly and safely as Jews.

I first learned about Foxman’s work during the summer of 1996 when I interned with my mentor Dick Lobenthal at the Michigan ADL office. Lobenthal devoted his life to fighting hate and extremism here in Michigan, often quietly and without recognition. That internship shaped so much of how I understand Jewish advocacy, antisemitism, and the responsibility to speak up. Through Lobenthal's work, I came to appreciate the enormous impact Foxman and the Anti-Defamation League had on protecting the Jewish community and defending democratic values. While Lobenthal didn't always see eye to eye with Foxman, the men had a mutual appreciation for each other.

Years later, I had the privilege of serving as a Glass Fellow with the ADL and attending the organization’s centennial celebration in Detroit, where I had the chance to meet Abe Foxman in person. I also met him at the ADL National Conference in Washington, D.C. Meeting someone whose voice had carried such moral authority for decades was incredibly meaningful.

One of the most powerful stories connected to Abe Foxman took place in 1945 in the Great Synagogue of Vilna on Simchat Torah. Five-year-old Abe had survived the Holocaust after being hidden by a Catholic nanny and raised as a Christian child during the war. After being reunited with his parents, he was brought to the synagogue, where a young Jewish soldier in the Soviet Army, Rabbi Leo Goldman, noticed there were almost no Jewish children left.

Rabbi Goldman, then only 19 years old, lifted young Abe onto his shoulders and danced with him through the synagogue crying out, “This is my Torah scroll.” In that moment, he saw not just a surviving child, but the future of the Jewish people.

Sixty-five years later, Rabbi Leo Goldman, who would eventually become a rabbi in Detroit, and Abe Foxman were reunited. It remains one of the most moving symbols of Jewish survival and continuity I have ever heard.

That child on the shoulders of a young soldier grew up to become one of the strongest defenders of the Jewish people in modern history.

May the memory of Abe Foxman be for a blessing. May we honor him not only with words, but by standing up to antisemitism whenever and wherever it appears.