Kurt Rothschild, who passed last week at age 101, was one of the sharpest, most indefatigable, and loyal soldiers the Jewish People was blessed with over the past century. Hundreds of Jewish communal and Torah-educational institutions around the world benefitted from his leadership and philanthropic activism.
Kurt was a diminutive and ultra-modest man, but a giant in stature; beloved and broadly respected like few other men in today's Jewish world – no exaggeration! He was a model of respect for all Jews and towards all Jews, the deepest believer in Klal Yisrael – the unity of the Jewish People.
Born in Germany in 1920, his parents sent him in 1937 to England, and in 1940 he was banished by the British to Canada (along with thousands of other German refugees), where he was interned (in New Brunswick) for 18 months behind barbed wire. After studying electrical engineering in Ontario (where he had to repeat several courses because he wouldn't write exams on Shabbat), Kurt began a business career marked by scrupulous honesty alongside energetic leadership of the Religious Zionist (Mizrachi) community, first in Montreal and then in Toronto.
He intensely believed in the importance of being centrally involved, as an Orthodox Jew, in general community frameworks and institutions. This led him to lifelong activity in the United Jewish Appeal-Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto, Canadian Zionist Federation, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Jewish National Fund, Jewish Agency for Israel, World Zionist Organization, and more.
He was instrumental in helping Jewish day schools across Canada access Jewish community funding sources. He also was very helpful to Jewish educational initiatives in former Soviet Union countries.
For more than 50 years, he was a central philanthropic pillar of several key Religious Zionist institutions in Israel like Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Yeshivat Hakotel (and many other hesder and Bnei Akiva yeshivas), the Jerusalem College of Technology (Machon Lev), and Bar-Ilan University.
He and his wife of more than 70 years, Edith (may she be well), made aliyah in 2012. Kurt began to devote a great deal of attention to young communities in Israel's periphery, including towns established in the Negev where many of the Israelis displaced from Gush Katif by the Gaza withdrawal have sought to rebuild their lives anew.
Until corona hit two years ago, well into his very late nineties, Kurt showed up every day at his World Mizrachi office in Jerusalem to make and field hundreds of phone calls. He was accessible to every individual and institutional leader across the ideological spectrum, including secular and haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) institutions. In this regard, he was completely color blind.
When Kurt believed in a project, be it help for farmers, handicapped children, or construction of a new synagogue, he got it done pronto, personally. He was the consummate man of action, always eager and excited to help, and he would see each project through to completion.
He could raise $100,000 in a matter of hours, simultaneously, for any number of diverse projects by calling a dozen friends. And when Kurt called, his credibility and sincerity were the definitive seal of quality. No-one could doubt the worthiness of the project, and few could deny him a positive response.
Kurt was in direct contact with Israel's leaders. He regularly faxed them his views on issues of the day, and they almost-always respond to him – from the late Shimon Peres to Binyamin Netanyahu and everybody in between. Those letters mostly focused on the importance of settlement throughout the land of Israel and the dangers of undue concessions to the Palestinians.
He also wrote frequently on the importance of Jewish unity, which to Kurt meant meaningful and respectful dialogue but also adherence to principled standards in matters like conversion and IDF service.
In short, nothing distracted this petite but titan of a man from his laser-like focus: to ensure Jewish continuity through Jewish education and through strengthening the State of Israel. Kurt would often repeat his profound belief that Israel was nothing less than a nes min haShamayim, a Divine miracle, and he would reminisce about dancing with joy in the streets of Canada upon Israel's establishment in May 1948.
I had the privilege of davening (praying) alongside Kurt on Yom Kippur at Yeshivat Hakotel in Jerusalem's Old City, almost every year for the past 25 years. I will forever cherish the long and meaningful conversations I had with this righteous man on the holiest night of the year. To me, Kurt Rothschild always will be the ultimate exemplar of selfless Jewish commitment, Zionist steadfastness, and national unity.
David M. Weinberg is a senior fellow at Misgav: The Institute for Zionist Strategy & National Security, and Habithonistim: Israel's Defense and Security Forum. He also is Israel office director of Canada's Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). He has held a series of public positions, including senior advisor to deputy prime minister Natan Sharansky and coordinator of the Global Forum Against Anti-Semitism in the Prime Minister's Office. The views expressed here are his own. His diplomatic, defense, political, and Jewish world columns over the past 26 years are archived at www.davidmweinberg.com
