Draft:Benny Fishoff
 | Review waiting, please be patient.
This may take 4 weeks or more, since drafts are reviewed in no specific order. There are 2,322 pending submissions waiting for review.
Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
Reviewer tools
|
Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
This draft has been resubmitted and is currently awaiting re-review. |  |
Yechiel Benzion “Benny” Fishoff (1922–September 20, 2021) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and Orthodox Jewish communal activist. He operated an import-export business after World War II and later worked in banking and other businesses. He served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Agudath Israel of America and later as chairman emeritus. He supported Jewish educational and charitable institutions in the United States and Israel.[1][2]
Early life and Holocaust survival
[edit]Fishoff was born in 1922 in Włocławek, Poland, and was raised in Łódź in a family associated with the Ger Hasidic court. As a young man, Fishoff met the fourth Gerrer Rebbe, Avraham Mordechai Alter, known as the Imrei Emes, and received a blessing from him.[3][1]
In 1939, as the Second World War began, Fishoff traveled to Vilna. He became separated from his family and joined Jewish refugees fleeing the German occupation. Through the efforts of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, he obtained a transit visa that allowed him to travel through the Soviet Union and eventually reach Shanghai.[4][1]
Fishoff traveled to Shanghai with students of Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin and the Mir Yeshiva. He remained in Shanghai during the war, where he lived among Jewish refugees and students of European Torah institutions.[4][2]
After the war, Fishoff learned that his parents and siblings had been killed during the Holocaust. He immigrated to the United States in 1947.[1][3]
Fishoff later co-authored From Lublin to Shanghai: The Miraculous Exile of Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin, a book about the wartime experiences of students and scholars associated with Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin.[1]
Business career
[edit]After immigrating to the United States, Fishoff established an import-export business. His business activities included electronics and trade with companies in Japan, Hong Kong, South America, and other overseas markets.[1][2]
Fishoff later became an executive at Metropolitan Bank in Manhattan and served as chairman of the bank.[1][5]
He later expanded his business activities into the long-term-care and health-care sectors.[6]
Agudath Israel of America
[edit]Fishoff served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Agudath Israel of America and later as chairman emeritus.[1][7]
His communal work included a relationship with Rabbi Moshe Sherer, the longtime president of Agudath Israel of America. Fishoff participated in negotiations and other communal matters.[2][7]
In 1988, Fishoff participated in a “shalom commission” that sought to resolve disputes within the Orthodox Jewish community. He was also involved in discussions involving Orthodox Jewish leaders and Israeli political figures. Sherer referred to him as a “Malach Hashalom” (“Angel of Peace”).[2]
In 2002, Agudath Israel honored Fishoff with the Rabbi Moshe Sherer Memorial Award.[8]
Ger Hasidism and communal activities
[edit]Fishoff was associated with the Ger Hasidic community throughout his life. His relationship with the movement included successive Gerrer rebbes, including the Imrei Emes, the Beis Yisrael, the Lev Simcha, and the Pnei Menachem.[1][2]
He supported Ger educational and communal institutions in the United States and Israel.[1][2]
Ichud Mosdos Gur
[edit]Fishoff supported institutions associated with Ichud Mosdos Gur. His charitable activities included support for Ger educational and communal institutions.[7][2]
Gerer Beis Medrash in Poland
[edit]The Fishoff family supported the restoration of the historic original Gerer Beis Medrash in Poland. Following the restoration, the building was rededicated in memory of Benny Fishoff.[9]
Mir Yeshiva
[edit]Fishoff had a longstanding relationship with the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem. The relationship had roots in his years in Shanghai, where he lived among students of the Mir Yeshiva who had escaped Europe.[4][1]
Philanthropy and charitable activities
[edit]Fishoff supported Jewish educational, religious, humanitarian, and communal institutions in the United States and Israel.[1][2]
His charitable activities included support for Yeshiva and Mesivta Ohr Yisroel in New York and other educational institutions. He also donated to the Kleinman Holocaust Education Center, a division of the Amud Aish Memorial Museum in Brooklyn.[1]
Fishoff advocated the creation of endowment funds for Jewish institutions. Accounts of his philanthropic activities describe endowments associated with Agudath Israel, Ger institutions, the Mir Yeshiva, and Beth Medrash Govoha.[2]
Fishoff Family Foundation
[edit]The Fishoff family established the Fishoff Family Foundation, a private foundation founded in 1981. Public tax records document grants by the foundation to charitable organizations in the United States and Israel.[10]
The foundation's publicly documented grants include support for Jewish educational, religious, and charitable organizations.[11]
Holocaust remembrance and education
[edit]Fishoff participated in events related to Holocaust remembrance and the experiences of Jewish refugees during the Second World War
In 2014, he participated in a ceremony honoring Japanese diplomats who assisted Jewish refugees during the Holocaust. He also spoke about his experiences as a refugee in Shanghai.[1]
In March 2015, Fishoff participated in the groundbreaking of the Kleinman Holocaust Education Center. He recited Kaddish at the ceremony and was identified as a donor to the center.[1]
Personal life
[edit]Fishoff married Marilyn (née Nieder) in 1949. They had five children.[3]
He lived for many years in Forest Hills, Queens[1]
Fishoff died on September 20, 2021.[1]
Music
[edit]Fishoff composed Jewish melodies associated with the Ger community. Some of his compositions continued to be sung within the community after his death.[1][5]
Books and legacy
[edit]Fishoff co-authored From Lublin to Shanghai: The Miraculous Exile of Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin, concerning the wartime experiences of students and scholars associated with Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin.[1]
In 2023, Yisroel Besser published B’Ahavah, Benny: Reb Yechiel Benzion Fishoff — A Story of Dignity, Generosity, Wisdom and Warmth, a biography of Fishoff published by Mesorah Publications.[3]
Fishoff's wartime experiences are also discussed in Vera Schwarcz's In the Crook of the Rock: Jewish Refuge in a World Gone Mad — The Chaya Leah Walkin Story, a historical study of Jewish refugees who escaped from Poland through Vilna, Japan, and Shanghai during the Holocaust.[4]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Saphirstein, Shabsie (September 28, 2021). "Benny Fishoff Z"l: Unassuming Forest Hills Philanthropist Was 'Ambassador for Torah Jewry'". Queens Jewish Link.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Besser, Yisroel (October 6, 2021). "Angel of Peace". Mishpacha. No. 880.
- 1 2 3 4 Besser, Yisroel (2023). B’Ahavah, Benny: Reb Yechiel Benzion Fishoff — A Story of Dignity, Generosity, Wisdom and Warmth. Mesorah Publications. ISBN 978-1-4226-3951-1.
- 1 2 3 4 Schwarcz, Vera (2018). In the Crook of the Rock: Jewish Refuge in a World Gone Mad — The Chaya Leah Walkin Story. Academic Studies Press. doi:10.1515/9781618117878. ISBN 978-1-61811-785-4.
- 1 2 "BDE: Reb Yechiel Benzion (Benny) Fishoff, z"l, Pillar of American Torah Jewry". Boro Park 24. September 20, 2021.
- ↑ "Public Health and Health Planning Council Exhibits" (PDF). New York State Department of Health. November 15, 2012.
- 1 2 3 "Petirah of Reb Yechiel Benzion ("Benny") Fishoff Z"L, Longtime Askan and Philanthropist" (PDF). Jewish Observer. Agudath Israel of America. October 2021.
- ↑ "Aguda Presents Avodas Hakodesh Awards". Dei’ah veDibur. 2002.
- ↑ "Historic Moment: Chanukas Habayis Held For The Original Gerer Beis Medrash In Poland Following Restoration". The Yeshiva World.
- ↑ "Fishoff Family Foundation". ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
- ↑ "Who does Fishoff Family Foundation fund?". Philanthropy.org.
- provide significant coverage: discuss the person in detail, not brief mentions or interviews lacking independent analysis;
- are reliable: from reputable outlets with editorial oversight;
- are independent: not connected to the person, such as interviews, press releases, the subject's own website, or sponsored content.
Please add references that meet all three of these criteria. If none exist, the subject is not yet suitable for Wikipedia.