Amélie Jakobovits, Baroness Jakobovits (née Munk, 31 May 1928 – 7 May 2010) was a British charity patron, and the wife of

Immanuel Jakobovits Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits (8 February 192131 October 1999) was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1967 to 1991. Prior to this, he had served as Chief Rabbi of Ireland and as rabbi of the Fift ...

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...

of the

United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth The United Synagogue (US) is a union of British Orthodox Jewish synagogues, representing the central Orthodox movement in Judaism. With 62 congregations (including 7 affiliates and 1 associate, ), comprising 40,000 members, it is the largest s ...

, and an important figure in Jewish life in the UK in her own right, who was known as the "Queen Mother" of the UK's Jewish community.

Early life

She was born Amélie Munk on 31 May 1928 in

Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, a ...

, Bavaria, Germany, the daughter of

Elie Munk Elie Munk (1900–1981), was a German-born French rabbi and rabbinic scholar, "a scion of a long and distinguished line of German rabbis and scholars". A number of other Jewish scholars have similar names. ''Eliyahu Munk'' translated numerous Jew ...

(1900–1981), a rabbi and rabbinic scholar, and his wife, Fanny Frumet Munk, née Goldberger (1906–1979). In 1936, they moved to Paris, and after the Nazi invasion, moved to Switzerland in 1940, and remained there until Paris was liberated.

Career

Unusually in Orthodox Jewish life, she mediated between her husband and

Menachem Mendel Schneerson Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Modern Hebrew: מנחם מענדל שניאורסון; old-fashioned spelling: מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן; April 5, 1902 OS – June 12, 1994; AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to man ...

, who was the

Lubavitcher Rebbe Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups ...

, leader of one of the largest Hassidic groups, on matters relating to Israel. Her husband was far more of a "dove", and Schneerson was quite "hawkish". This was made possible by a longstanding connection between them - she had even played football as a child with Schneerson in pre-war France. She led the first marches in support of the Soviet Jewry movement, supporting Jews being allowed to leave the Eastern Bloc for resettling in Israel. She did extensive charity work, including Yad Sarah, Emunah and Kisharon. After her husband died, she became known as the "Queen Mother" of the UK's Jewish community.

Personal life

She met her future husband

through a family friend, and Jakobovits proposed to her at the top of the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...

. They had two sons and four daughters. She was a cousin of the American writer on the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

Deborah Lipstadt Deborah Esther Lipstadt (born March 18, 1947) is an American historian, best known as author of the books ''Denying the Holocaust'' (1993), ''History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier'' (2005), ''The Eichmann Trial'' (2011), and ' ...

.Deborah Lipstad, ''Denial: Holocaust History on Trial'', p. 269

Later life

She died at the

Royal Free Hospital The Royal Free Hospital (also known simply as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at Barn ...

, London, of bronchopneumonia and heart failure, on 7 May 2010. Her death was mourned by a crowd of 5,000 on the Shirehall Estate in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

, London, where she had lived in her later years. She was buried next to her husband on the

Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...

, Israel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakobovits, Amélie 1928 births 2010 deaths Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom German emigrants to the United Kingdom People from Ansbach German expatriates in England British baronesses Spouses of life peers