Many Jewish groups in the United States have been mourning the passing of Daniel Patrick Moynihan this past week. A former Democratic senator, ambassador and presidential adviser known for his scholarly intellect, Moynihan, 76, was a New York City shoe shine boy who became an iconoclastic scholar-politician and served four terms in the United States Senate. He died on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 at Washington Hospital Center where he was recovering from an infection after an emergency appendectomy March 11.
Over the course of his storied career in the public policy arena, the late Senator Moynihan was considered by many to be an unparalleled friend to the Jewish community and Israel, expressing shared values and interests ranging from U.S. foreign policy to equitable federal support for parochial education to the freedom fight for Soviet Jewry. He was controversial at times on other issues as well. In 1965, a report he wrote to President Lyndon B. Johnson created a major policy flap when it warned that the rising rate of out-of-wedlock births threatened the stability of black families.
As United States Ambassador to the United Nations and as a respected advisor to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, he became synonymous with the ultimately successful sixteen-year effort to repeal the abhorrent U.N. General Assembly resolution equating Zionism with racism and the ongoing struggle to have the United States acknowledge Jerusalem as the Eternal Capital
of Israel and the Jewish People.
Former Prime Minister Menachem Begin would fondly call the Senator, “a friend for all seasons, for all reasons.”
Harvey Blitz, president of the Orthodox Union, stated that “the Jewish community shares with all our fellow citizens the deep sense of sorrow and loss from the passing of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. His counsel, wisdom and humor will be sorely missed. May his family be comforted and may his memory and legacy be a blessing for us all.”
Jewish communal leaders are fond of repeating a story about Moynihan, who reportedly once received a $1,000 political contribution from a woman who added a note that said she would double the amount if Moynihan would drop his ongoing campaign against “Zionism Equals Racism.” Moynihan is said to have sent the check back with a note saying that “no one is going to dictate my conscience.”
Another favorite has the Senator calling the U.S. Postmaster General on behalf of a Jewish postal worker who had become religious and no longer felt he could work on Shabbat. He told the Postmaster General that no one should have to choose between their conscience and their profession and later repeated the effort on behalf of a number Seventh Day Adventists.
Moynihan was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday after private funeral services.
"Elizabeth Moynihan, her children and grandchildren are deeply moved by the outpouring of love and support received from so many friends and admirers in the Jewish community," Moynihan's former Chief of Staff Tony Bullock said in a statement to the press on Friday.
Over the course of his storied career in the public policy arena, the late Senator Moynihan was considered by many to be an unparalleled friend to the Jewish community and Israel, expressing shared values and interests ranging from U.S. foreign policy to equitable federal support for parochial education to the freedom fight for Soviet Jewry. He was controversial at times on other issues as well. In 1965, a report he wrote to President Lyndon B. Johnson created a major policy flap when it warned that the rising rate of out-of-wedlock births threatened the stability of black families.
As United States Ambassador to the United Nations and as a respected advisor to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, he became synonymous with the ultimately successful sixteen-year effort to repeal the abhorrent U.N. General Assembly resolution equating Zionism with racism and the ongoing struggle to have the United States acknowledge Jerusalem as the Eternal Capital
of Israel and the Jewish People.
Former Prime Minister Menachem Begin would fondly call the Senator, “a friend for all seasons, for all reasons.”
Harvey Blitz, president of the Orthodox Union, stated that “the Jewish community shares with all our fellow citizens the deep sense of sorrow and loss from the passing of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. His counsel, wisdom and humor will be sorely missed. May his family be comforted and may his memory and legacy be a blessing for us all.”
Jewish communal leaders are fond of repeating a story about Moynihan, who reportedly once received a $1,000 political contribution from a woman who added a note that said she would double the amount if Moynihan would drop his ongoing campaign against “Zionism Equals Racism.” Moynihan is said to have sent the check back with a note saying that “no one is going to dictate my conscience.”
Another favorite has the Senator calling the U.S. Postmaster General on behalf of a Jewish postal worker who had become religious and no longer felt he could work on Shabbat. He told the Postmaster General that no one should have to choose between their conscience and their profession and later repeated the effort on behalf of a number Seventh Day Adventists.
Moynihan was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday after private funeral services.
"Elizabeth Moynihan, her children and grandchildren are deeply moved by the outpouring of love and support received from so many friends and admirers in the Jewish community," Moynihan's former Chief of Staff Tony Bullock said in a statement to the press on Friday.