Leonard J. Fein (July 1, 1934 – August 14, 2014), also known as Leibel Fein, was an American activist, writer, and teacher specializing in

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

social themes.

Academic career

After studying at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the be ...

, Fein later received his PhD from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. Fein taught

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

in the 1960s. He was then also the Deputy Director of the MIT/

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher l ...

Joint Center for Urban Studies. He joined the

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pr ...

faculty in 1970 as a Professor of Politics and Social Policy and the Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies.

Jewish community leader

He founded the National Jewish Coalition for Literacy and was co-founder and for 12 years editor of ''

Moment Magazine ''Moment'' is an independent magazine which focuses on the life of the American Jewish community. It is not tied to any particular Jewish movement or ideology. The publication features investigative stories and cultural criticism, highlighting th ...

''. He was characterized by Daniel Sokatch of the

New Israel Fund The New Israel Fund (NIF) is a United States-based non-profit NGO established in 1979. It describes its objective as social justice and equality for all Israelis. The New Israel Fund says it has provided $300 million to over 900 Israeli civil so ...

as "the father of our Jewish social justice movement."Daniel Sokatch
"Leonard 'Leibel' Fein"
2014-08-15, New Israel Fund. Accessed 2014-08-15. Fein is the founder of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, a Jewish hunger-relief organization started in 1985. Fein helped establish

Americans for Peace Now Americans for Peace Now (APN) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States whose stated aim is to help achieve a comprehensive political resolution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Founded in 1981 as the sister organization to ...

Author

He was the author of four books and the editor of two, and he wrote extensively for newspapers, magazines, and journals. From 1990, he wrote a syndicated weekly opinion column for ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ...

'' newspaper. Fein's books include ''Where Are We? The Inner Life of America’s Jews'' and ''Israel: Politics and People''. He was a contributor to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

'', ''

Commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

'', '' Commonweal'', ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper th ...

'', ''

Dissent Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...

'', and the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''.

Family

His father was a professor of Jewish history. He was the brother of Rashi Fein, Litt. D., Ph.D., a famed

health economist Health economics is a branch of economics concerned with issues related to efficiency, effectiveness, value and behavior in the production and consumption of health and healthcare. Health economics is important in determining how to improv ...

termed "a father of Medicare" and Professor of Economics of Medicine, Emeritus, in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools ...

. He was married twice and had three daughters, Rachel, Nomi, and Jessie.

Death

Fein died at the age of 80.

Awards

Ameinu Dreamers and Builders Award
November 2009. * Honorary doctorate from the

Hebrew Union College Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, 1991 * National Foundation for Jewish Culture award for achievement in Jewish scholarship, 1994. * Jewish Council on Public Affairs, Chernin Award for lifetime contributions to social justice, 1999. * University of Chicago Alumni Award for "creative leadership in public service that has benefited society and reflected credit on the University", 2000.

References

External links

Leonard Fein Papers
at the

American Jewish Historical Society The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) was founded in 1892 with the mission to foster awareness and appreciation of American Jewish history and to serve as a national scholarly resource for research through the collection, preservation an ...

at the

Center for Jewish History The Center for Jewish History is a partnership of five Jewish history, scholarship, and art organizations in New York City: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute New York, Yeshiva University Museu ...

Behavior: Two Voices: A Dialogue on Dissension
''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'', January 31, 1969. Fein and educator Rhody McCoy are interviewed on the relationships between ethnic communities. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fein, Leonard American magazine editors Writers from Brooklyn Jewish American community activists Jewish American academics University of Chicago alumni Michigan State University alumni MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences faculty Brandeis University faculty 1934 births 2014 deaths