Letters

Remembering Abe

I am enormously saddened by the news that Abe Foxman has died.

When I first became a professor at the College of Saint Elizabeth (now Saint Elizabeth University), I arranged to bring the students in my World Culture Studies course to the United Nations, and to have lunch and a presentation at the Anti-Defamation League headquarters, then located across the street from the U.N. This opportunity continued for many years, and my students gained great respect for and much insight into the role of the ADL in the United States in working for prejudice reduction.

I was enormously inspired by the work of the ADL under the leadership of Abe Foxman, and was invited to develop resources over many years for/with the ADL on curriculum and resources for teacher education, and later to offer workshops for teachers using the Echoes & Reflections multimedia curriculum. It was clear that Abe not only inspired and mentored me, but also others who came to work with/for him at the ADL and with whom I also came to collaborate over many years. When Abe came to Saint Elizabeth University to be our Kristallnacht Commemoration speaker on November 9, 2011, we felt honored that he had come; the Holocaust survivors who were there felt it very personally.

It was evident to all of us that his own experiences during the Holocaust had left Abe determined to devote his life to eradicating antisemitism and hate against all people so that “never again” would become a reality. Abe Foxman has left big footprints for us as a guide to follow. May his memory remain as a blessing….

Harriet Sepinwall
Professor Emerita, Saint Elizabeth University, Morristown