Israel National News spoke to attendees at the funeral of Kurt Rothschild, the president of the World Mizrachi Movement, who passed away at the age of 101 on Sunday.
“Kurt Rothschild was a general. He wasn’t a civilian. He was the general of the nation of Israel and all the big donors were like his soldiers,” said Col. (Res.) Geva Rapp, Director of Panim El Panim.
“I worked with Kurt from my first day at Mizrachi, that’s almost 30 years,” said Solly Sacks, former Director-General of World Mizrachi. “He was a giant of Israel, he helped everybody. He didn’t have the word ‘no’ in his vocabulary. Anybody who approached him, whether he knew them or not, he wanted to help them. He was an outstanding Jewish personality. He really cared for the people of Israel, for the Land of Israel, for the Torah of Israel.”
Harvey Blitz, Chairman of World Mizrachi, told Israel National News, “Kurt was really a most unique person. He was President of World Mizrachi, but he loved all Jews and he helped all Jews. He worked incessantly, raising money for all kinds of causes and for people individually.”
“I first met him when he was already 80 and he was going in a way that was like somebody who was 30 years younger. It was the most beautiful thing to see. God blessed him with a long life, but I actually believe that by doing God’s work, he earned that life,” added Blitz.
“Kurt was a mentor for me,” said Zeev Schwartz, Executive Director of Torah Mitzion. “He’s a mentor of kindness, and I try to cherish every moment. During coronavirus, I asked him what is the message of life, and he said, ‘Ride the waves. Ride the waves.’ And that’s Kurt.”