Morris David Waldman (May 1, 1879 – September 7, 1963) was a Slovakian-born American rabbi and social worker.
Life
Waldman was born on May 1, 1879, in
Bártfa
Bardejov (; hu, Bártfa, german: Bartfeld, rue, Бардеёв, uk, Бардіїв) is a town in North-Eastern Slovakia. It is situated in the Šariš region on a floodplain terrace of the Topľa River, in the hills of the Beskyd Mountains. It ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, the son of Benjamin Waldman and Esther Schönfeld.
Waldman immigrated to America when he was four. He received a
Ph.B.
Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; la, Baccalaureus Philosophiae or ) is the title of an academic degree that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's ...
from
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
Graduate School of Semitics and Philosophy from 1898 to 1901. He served as rabbi of Temple Anshe Emeth in
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Industrial Removal Office. He briefly worked as assistant director of the civilian department of the
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, in 1917. In that year, the Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies of New York City was formed partially because of a survey he made of fourteen other cities that made their own federations. In 1919, he became a trustee of the Federation and treasurer of the Jewish Agricultural Society. He helped organize the Federation of Jewish Charities in Boston (for which he became an honorary trustee for life), reorganized the Brooklyn and Detroit federations, and virtually created Detroit's Jewish community from 1924 to 1928 by getting its federation involved in all the major Jewish philanthropic and educational alliances. He helped create the Bureau of Philanthropic Research in 1915, becoming its honorary secretary, and helped found the Committee for the Care of the Jewish Tuberculosis. He was a lecturer in social sciences for Columbia University from 1916 to 1918 and was a faculty member of the Graduate School of Jewish Social Work from 1928 to 1940. He became a member of the Council for the Jewish Agency for Palestine in 1929 and was a deputy member of its Administrative Committee.
Waldman directed the
Galveston Movement
The Galveston Movement, also known as the Galveston Plan, was a U.S. immigration assistance program operated by several Jewish organizations between 1907 and 1914. The program diverted Jewish immigrants, fleeing Russia and eastern Europe, away fr ...
from 1906 to 1908. He was managing director of the United Hebrew Charities of New York City from 1908 to 1917, vice-president of the New York State Conference of Charities and Corrections in 1912, president of the New York City Conference of Charities in 1915, and president of the National Conference of Jewish Charities in 1927. From 1921 to 1922, he organized relief for Central European Jewish communities and was European director of the Joint Distribution Committee's War Orphans Department and the Medico-Sanitary Department. He was executive secretary of the
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish org ...
from 1928 to 1945 and its executive vice-president from 1942 to 1945. He introduced a number of innovations in social work across the country, including the District Service Plan in Boston that focused on family units instead of individual family members, a planned parenthood clinic in Detroit, and Jewish education bureaus that were based on community control. He helped found the National Desertion Bureau, serving as its first chairman. He played a critical role in implementing a human rights provision in the
United Nations charter
The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the ...
. Initially opponent of Jewish nationalism, he was active in the non-Zionists section of the Jewish Agency for Palestine and represented the non-Zionist side in British-Zionist negotiations on
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
. However, he unsuccessfully attempted to bring the Zionists and non-Zionists to an agreement at the American Jewish Committee and he later favored the establishment of Israel. His autobiography, ''Not By Power'', came out in 1952. His book ''Sieg Heil'', which discussed Hitler's treatment of Jews, came out in 1963.
In 1901, Waldman married Rose Cypres. Their children were Lynn Pearlstein, Pearl Minkin, and Helen Eliezer.
Waldman died in the
Hospital for Joint Diseases
NYU Langone Health is an academic medical center located in New York City, New York, United States. The health system consists of NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Long Island School of Medicine, both part of New York University (NYU), and m ...