Ronald Greenwald

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Ronald Greenwald
Born(1934-01-08)January 8, 1934
New York City, New York
DiedJanuary 20, 2016(2016-01-20) (aged 82)
Florida, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Negotiator and educator

Ronald Greenwald (January 8, 1934 – January 20, 2016) was an American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, who was a businessman and an educator.

Born in New York City, he made a career of spy trading, international hostage mediation, and other forms of high-stakes, high-intrigue diplomacy. He served as presidential liaison of President Richard Nixon to the Jewish community during the Nixon administration. He served as a community activist, chaired various civic boards, directed a high school and a summer camp, and was the chairman of Magenu.

Background and early life

Ronald Greenwald was born to European Jewish immigrant parents and raised on the

Boro Park in Brooklyn. In the early years of his marriage, he worked as a teacher of both Judaic and secular studies in Brooklyn yeshivas.[1]

Rabbi Greenwald became active in politics in 1962 (at the age of 28) lobbying on behalf of

Richard M. Nixon and the Nixon re-election campaign appointed Greenwald to work for the President's 1972 re-election in the Jewish community. In winning 35% of the Jewish vote in 1972, Nixon, like Rockefeller, did far better among Jewish voters than would be expected from a Republican in that era.[2]

During the Nixon administration, Rabbi Greenwald served as liaison between the administration and the Jewish community in a variety of ways. He obtained a $1 million grant to open a legal aid office in Brooklyn to assist the needy in the community of Williamsburg among other accomplishments.

During the

Watergate scandal, Rabbi Greenwald contacted various Democratic Jewish members of Congress, including Elizabeth Holtzman, Bella Abzug and Arlen Specter to try to convince them that impeaching the President would weaken the United States and, by extension, hurt Israel, which, in the wake of the Yom Kippur War needed the support of a strong United States. Although his entreaties did not work, as President Nixon was eventually forced to resign rather than face impeachment, he did earn a Presidential letter of thanks (see the letter at the bottom of this article).[3] He died in his sleep while on vacation in Florida, on January 20, 2016.[4]

Involvement in notable release efforts

Greenwald was involved in scores of release efforts for various prisoners from around the world.

Natan Sharansky

Rabbi Greenwald taking to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, with whom he worked closely in a series of hostage release efforts, including the Sharansky case

In perhaps his highest profile case, Rabbi Greenwald worked closely with Representative

Refusenik Natan Sharansky from Soviet prison in the late 1970s. He made more than 25 trips across the "Iron Curtain" to East Germany as part of that effort.[5] The Rockland Journal News reported that Rabbi Greenwald was the "man behind the talks" that freed Sharansky.[6]

Miron Markus

In conjunction with Representative Gilman, Rabbi Greenwald negotiated the rescue a 24-year-old Israeli citizen named Miron Markus in 1978 who was living in

Robert Thompson and U.S. student Alan van Norman.[5]

Raul Granados

Granados was kidnapped by leftist guerillas in November, 1979 while at a soccer game in Guatemala City. Rabbi Greenwald, working again with Representative Gilman, helped broker the exchange of Mr. Granados in exchange for a ransom payment of $4,000,000.[7]

Vladimir Raiz

Vladimir Raiz, a Soviet molecular biologist, had been denied permission to leave the former Soviet Union for 18 years before Greenwald entered the picture. According to Steve Lieberman in the Rockland Journal News, Greenwald secretly met with Raiz in Lithuania in 1989. Following negotiations with Soviet authorities, Raiz and his family were permitted to emigrate in 1990.[8]

Shabattai Kalmanovich

Greenwald was involved in the transfer of

Shabattai Kalmanovich from the USSR to Israel. However, in 1987 Kalmanovitch was arrested in Tel Aviv and charged with being a KGB
spy and sentenced to nine years in prison in 1987 for spying for the Soviet Union. He was released from prison after five years and returned to Russia. On November 2, 2009, Kalamovitch was assassinated in Moscow.

Lori Berenson

Rabbi Greenwald in Peru, working on the Berenson case

In 1994, political activist and New York native Lori Berenson was arrested, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment for treason by a Peruvian military tribunal. She was accused of belonging to a Marxist rebel group and plotting to overthrow the Peruvian government.[9] Because of the shady circumstances surrounding her trial and her harsh sentence, Amnesty International, in 2003, referred to Berenson as a "political prisoner."[10]

With the support of President Bill Clinton in 2000, Greenwald led a delegation of American negotiators to Peru to press the Peruvian government to free Berenson or, at least, to grant her a new trial in a civilian court.[11] The effort succeeded and Berenson was afforded a new trial in civilian court. At her subsequent trial, Berenson was convicted again and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

Jonathan Pollard

Greenwald was involved in many of the attempts to gain clemency for

CIA
), were also involved in the proposed transaction.

Unfortunately for Pollard, the effort broke down when Yossi Ben Aharon, assistant to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir insisted on Israel negotiating directly with the Russians rather than through an intermediary such as Greenwald. The Israeli negotiating effort never gained traction, and Pollard remained in prison until 2015.

Greenwald's and others' efforts to convince U.S. President Bill Clinton to commute Pollard's sentence were hampered in large part by a letter written to Clinton by Donald Rumsfeld and signed by seven former Secretaries of Defense, urging the President not to pardon Pollard. (See letter on right.)

Alfred Zehe

In 1983, Dr. Alfred Zehe, an East German scientist attending a conference in Massachusetts, was arrested for conspiracy to violate U.S. espionage laws for allegedly handing secret "sonar plan" documents to East German operatives in Mexico. East German lawyer and spy trader Wolfgang Vogel was put in charge of the effort to free Zehe. He brought in Alan Dershowitz to oversee the legalities of the effort and Greenwald to act as a person liaison between him and Zehe.

Greenwald visited Zehe several times in prison. During this time, he learned that Zehe was being threatened with being brought to trial under espionage charges that carried the threat of many decades in prison while being cajoled to turn over to the CIA whatever information he had that might be helpful to that agency. Greenwald conveyed messages to Zehe from his family urging him to do whatever it took to allow himself to be released as soon as possible. Eventually, Zehe pleaded guilty and conducted a full debriefing in exchange for the promise of a light sentence. He was released as part an exchange of agents in June 1985.

Speaking career

Rabbi Greenwald was a featured speaker at many conventions and gatherings throughout his career. Recently, he spoke at the Agudath Israel of America Convention.[12] He also spoke at the Aish Partners Conference.

Media coverage

CIA, Mossad and KGB.[14]

Muammar al-Gaddafi

On February 3, 1986, the

ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings credited Greenwald with playing a role in the negotiations for the release of Sharansky and featured a video clip of Rabbi Greenwald expressing optimism that Sharansky would be released.[15]

His high-placed connections and adventures involving delicate international diplomacy have led to speculation (albeit groundless) about nefarious connections to legal and illegal organizations around the world. As of May 2006, no fewer than 20 websites (mostly

anti-Semitic
sites) have alleged that Rabbi Greenwald has or had mafia connections.

On March 9, 1990, a Rockland Journal News headline called Greenwald a "master of international negotiation" and credited him with playing prominent roles in the freeing of Sharansky, Marcus, Granados and several others.[8]

The USA Today also credited Greenwald for arranging the release of Sharansky and commented that his dealings with famed international mediators such as Wolfgang Vogel during various negotiations resembled a "spy novel."[16]

Television interviews regarding the New Square Pardon Affair

Following the pardon by President

U.S. Senate in 2000 with some expectation that some consideration be given to pardoning the members of the New Square community. However, he steadfastly maintained that there had been no quid pro quo
or agreement to exchange votes for a pardon.

Lithuanian Torah Scrolls Incident

Ronald Greenwald meeting with the President of Lithuania, Algirdas Brazouskas
Rabbi Greenwald and others participating in the "funeral" of destroyed Torah scrolls in Lithuania

In September 1997, during a visit of scores of rabbis and other Orthodox Jews to Lithuania to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the death of the great Vilna Gaon (Rabbi Eliyahu Kramer of Vilnius),[17] Rabbi Greenwald personally successfully negotiated with the Lithuanian government to allow the burial of several desecrated Torah scrolls.

The scrolls were among hundreds of Torah scrolls that had been disgraced by the

Nazis and/or the Lithuanians during World War II. With the negotiated help of the government, Greenwald and others located over three hundred scrolls, including some that were being held in the basement of a church. They were able to salvage most of the scrolls for further use. The scrolls that could not be salvaged were buried in an elaborate ceremony attended by visiting Orthodox Jews from around the World and Lithuanian officials.[18]

The day prior to the "funeral," Rabbi Greenwald was invited to (and did) address the Lithuanian Parliament.

During the same visit, Greenwald intervened with the Prime Minister to prevent the desecration of the Jewish cemetery in Vilnius. The Lithuanian government was going to raze the cemetery and erect a shopping mall on the site. Rabbi Greenwald contacted the Prime Minister's office and promised the Prime Minister that saving the cemetery would bring him great blessing. As Greenwald had previously interceded on Lithuania's behalf as it sought to enter NATO, his words carried strong influence with the Prime Minister and his request was heeded.[19]

Yitti Leibel Help Line tribute

Cover page of the Yitti Liebel Helpline 2009 Luncheon Journal
Journal ad honoring Rabbi Greenwald

On November 15, 2009, The

Chessed
organization." The journal credited him with saving Jews from eastern Europe and Africa and proclaimed that "thousands of people owe more than they can ever repay to one hero- Ronnie!"

Mishpacha Magazine feature

Mishpacha Magazine, an Orthodox Jewish weekly magazine featured Greenwald for its cover story on May 13, 2009.[20]
The magazine referred to Greenwald as a "legend among lifesavers" and the inside contained a 12-page feature article detailing Greenwald's exploits on behalf of people in distress around the globe over the course of many decades.

Other activities

Bophuthatswana

Rabbi Greenwald had a variety of unusual ties to South Africa in the Apartheid era. He was the diplomatic representative of the African Bantustan of Bophuthatswana in the United States, when that "homeland" lacked international recognition.[14]

Schools and camps

When not engaged in high-stakes international diplomacy, Greenwald operated Camp Sternberg, a summer camp in the Catskill Mountains, which he founded in 1964[21] and ran Monsey Academy for Girls, a private high school in Rockland County, New York, of which he was the founder.[22]

Involvement with charitable organizations

Greenwald served as chairman of the board of the Women's League in Rockland County (which creates and oversees adult group homes in that county) and of the Borough Park, Brooklyn branch of the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services (JBFCS). He also served on the Board of Governors of the Orthodox Union, and as acting chairman of Magenu.[23]

Rabbi Greenwald and the Prince of Italy

Rabbi Greenwald with Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoia

Greenwald worked with Prince

Victor Emmanuel III's cooperation (albeit limited) with Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in their campaign of aggressive war and genocide against the Jews. He further reiterated his prior condemnation of those actions and expressed optimism regarding the present and future of Italian-Jewish relations.[24]

Other positions

Greenwald served as Chairman of the Board of the Women's League, once led by Rebetzin Perlow, the wife of Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, the Novominsker Rebbe.[25] Rabbi Greenwald has also held positions as:

References

Letter from U.S. President Richard Nixon to Greenwald. Click on the image for the story behind the letter.
  1. ^ Zman Magazine October 2015 issue, page 344
  2. ^ Zman Magazine October 2015 issue, page 308-309
  3. ^ Zman Magazine October 2015 issue, page 310-311
  4. ^ "Rabbi Ronald Greenwald, Former Nixon Jewish Community Liaison, Dies at 82". 21 January 2016.
  5. ^ a b New York Post article from June 16, 1978
  6. ^ Rockland Journal News, February 11, 1986, front page (banner headline)
  7. ^ New York Post article from January 21, 1980
  8. ^ a b Rockland Journal News article from March 9, 1990
  9. ^ The Wall Street Journal Online – Citizen of the World
  10. ^ Amnesty International Archived 2007-03-17 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ The Jewish Week, March 10, 2000
  12. YouTube
  13. ^ Jewish News, Jewish Newspapers - Forward.com
  14. ^ a b Washington Post November 18, 1986, Page E19
  15. ^ USSR / Shcharansky ABC News broadcast from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive
  16. ^ USA Today, February 12, 1986, Page 2A
  17. ^ "Back to the Future," Jewish Seintinel, October 10–16, 1997, Page 17
  18. ^ "Burial of Holocaust Torah Remnants in Vilna," Jewish Press, October 3, 1997
  19. ^ Mishpacha Magazine for December 17, 2014, page 53
  20. ^ http://www.mishpacha.com/backissuesLarge/1/258/ [dead link]
  21. ^ "About Campus". Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  22. ^ Neve Yerushalayim Jewish Educational Network
  23. ^ Contact and Feedback
  24. ^ Jewish Tribune, January 19–25, 2007, pages 3,39
  25. ^ Yated Ne'eman Page 144 from December 5, 2014

External links

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