Irving Bunim

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Irving Bunim
Born
Irving M. Bunim

June 02, 1901
Holocaust
Signature

Irving M. Bunim was a businessman, philanthropist, and a lay leader of

Holocaust rescue.[2][3][4] He has been referred to as "perhaps the most impactful lay leader in American Jewish history".[5]

Biography

Bunim was born in 1901[6] in Valozhyn, in the Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Belarus),[7] then the major Torah centre of Europe and the home of the first Yeshiva, Etz Chaim. Bunim was a Yeshiva student while young. When Bunim was nine years old, his family moved to the United States. There, Bunim attended high school, after which he started working. His brother-in-law hired him to work in his textile factory. When his brother-in-law moved to Palestine, Bunim bought the company.

Together with other American Orthodox leaders, Bunim was active in the

Mir Yeshiva students and teachers could escape to Curaçao
.

The hardest aspect of rescue work was negotiating with the Nazis themselves. This series of negotiations was called the Musy Negotiations named after

president of Switzerland and his son Benoît Nicolas. The negotiations with Musy were held by Yitzchak and Recha Sternbuch in Switzerland.[8] In these negotiations, the Vaad agreed to pay Nazis ransom to free Jews from Nazi concentration camps
. After some dealings the Vaad agreed to pay $5 million for 300,000 Jews or $250,000 each month for 20 months to free 15,000 Jews. These negotiations failed, though some thousand Jews, out of the 300,000 Jews promised to be freed, were saved from a certain death. After the war the Vaad kept working to supply the survivors with food and other relief supplies.

Bunim also supported and was vice-president of

Torah Vodaath.[9]
He traveled to distant places to raise funds. He also encouraged people to open schools, helped prevent communities from closing schools, and encouraged teachers and principals.

Bunim was also involved with

Shema Yisrael
prayer.

Bunim was a philanthropist who gave loans and helped people in need. His main goal was spreading the word of the Torah to all Jews. He was a popular guest speaker at the functions of many Orthodox Jewish organizations and institutions. He was a raconteur, filled with anecdotes and parables, a skill reflected in his three-volume commentary on Pirkei Avot, Ethics from Sinai.[10]

Death

Bunim died December 10, 1980[1] at his home in New York City, and was buried in the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem.[10]

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein pronounced his death in December 1980 an "aveilus d'rabim", a loss for the community as a whole.[11]

Young Israel

He was an early day lay leader in the Young Israel movement.[7]

Among other lasting accomplishments, Bunim was known for his Perek-on-the-Lawn teachings of Pirkei Avos.

Israel

He was quoted as saying ""Where we had ammunition, the Arabs didn't dare to attack," and he hosted pre-1948 fund-raising meetings in support.[9]

To answer how could he host in his own home Rabbi Elchonan Wasserman, leader of

Zev Jabotinsky
the next, he said: "I love truth: one is a true Torah scholar and the other a true Zionist."

Family

The parents of Mr. Yitzchak Meir (Irving) Bunim were Rav Moshe and Esther Mina Buminowitz (Bunim). Irving and his two brothers

RJJ", the Rabbi Jacob Joseph religious school,[14] which he later served as president.[15]

Irving's daughter, Chana Rubin Ausubel, wrote about her father's life and teachings,[9][16] as did her brother Amos.

Irving's son, Rabbi Amos Bunim, who on many projects was the right-hand man to his father, passed away Saturday, May 7, 2011.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Mr. Irving M. Bunim zt"l, On His 31st Yahrtzeit, Today, 4 Teves". matzav.com. December 30, 2011.
  2. ISBN 9781583305232
    . Retrieved June 11, 2011.
  3. ISBN 9781583308752
    . Retrieved June 11, 2011.
  4. ISBN 9780881256420
    . Retrieved June 11, 2011.
  5. Mizrachi World Movement
  6. ^ "Irving Bunim oral history collection".
  7. ^ a b "Irving Bunim Dead at 79". jta.org. December 18, 1980.
  8. ISBN 978-0-89906-460-4
    .
  9. ^ a b c Chana Rubin Ausubel (December 26, 2012). "Irving Bunim, Torah activist". The Jewish Press.
  10. ^
    ISBN 9780873064736
    . Retrieved June 11, 2011.
  11. Mizrachi World Movement
  12. ^ one named Joseph
  13. ^ "Dr. Joseph J. Bunim, Obituary". The New York Times. July 9, 1964.
  14. ^ "Irving Bunim: Tefillin". December 10, 2010. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  15. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  16. ^ "The daughter of Irving Bunim, a prominent twentieth-century Orthodox Jewish leader, Chana shares stories of her family's involvement in the Vaad Hatzolah." "The daughter of Irving Bunim ..."
  17. ^ Rabbi Yair Hoffman (May 15, 2011). "Reb Amos Bunim Zatzal - A Tribute".
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