2025-12-16 05:57:PM <br/> Tags: #AmericanJewry #people #Harvard ![[image-201.png|307x461]] *Note: this is an AI enhancement of the original photo. The enhancement simply cleared up [the original](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Wertheim#/media/File:Maurice_Wertheim_1922.png).* # Maurice Wertheim (1886-1950) - Maurice Wertheim was a notable Jewish banker and communal leader in the early 20th century. #### Biography - Wertheim was born in New York City to a German-Jewish family. *German Jews were considered to be the most elite.* - Wertheim's father was the owner of United Cigar Manufacturers' Company, a well established tobacco empire. - Wertheim graduated from Harvard in 1906 and went to work at his father's company. - Wertheim was vice president and secretary of United Cigar until 1913. - In 1915, Wertheim went to work in investment banking. - Wertheim started his banking career at Hallgarten & Co., a pillar of Jewish banking firms of the era. - In 1927, Wertheim started his own firm, Wertheim & Co. - In 1935 Wertheim bought *The Nation*, a leftwing publication. Wertheim bought the paper to save it during a period of financial turbulence. - Wertheim sold *The Nation* in 1937 to Freda Kirchwey. - Kirchwey was a far left communist, anti-Nazi, anti-fascist, anti-Franco, feminist, civil rights activist, and pro-Israel. - Kirchwey was editor of *The Nation* from 1933-1955. #### Wertheim and Organized Jewry - In the 1910s-20s, Wertheim and is father Jacob Wertheim were involved in financially supporting the work of Eliezer Ben Yehuda. - Ben Yehuda is a father of modern Hebrew. he is the lexicographer of the first modern Hebrew dictionary and is credited with reviving the language. - Wertheim was joined by [[Jacob Schiff]], [[Felix Warburg]], [[Julius Rosenwald]], and [[Herbert Lehman]] in providing aid to Ben Yehuda. - In 1914 Wertheim was involved in the founding of the [[American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)]]. - The Jewish U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire [[Henry Morgenthau Sr.]] had requested $50,000 in emergency funding for the [[Yishuv]]. *The Yishuv was the collective Jewish community in Palestine prior to Israeli statehood.* - Wertheim was the son-in-law of Henry Morgenthau Sr., and brother-in-law to [[Henry Morgenthau Jr.]]. - The money was provided by [[Jacob Schiff]] and [[Louis Marshall]] in the form of physical gold. - The money was delivered by Wertheim to the [[World Zionist Organization]] representative in Palestine [[Arthur Ruppin]]. - Wertheim was a trustee of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York (FJPNY). - Wertheim served as chairman of the FJPNY's 1947 fundraising campaign. - The FJPNY was later reconstituted as the [[UJA-Federation of New York]]. - As an [[American Jewish Committee (AJC)]] delegate in the 1920s, Wertheim voted in favor of the 1928 AJC referendum on joining the [[Jewish Agency]] as a non-Zionist faction in a what was an overtly Zionist organization. *The Jewish Agency was the quasi governing body of pre-statehood Israel. Today, the Jewish Agency is a core Israeli national institution.* - Wertheim was the fifth president of the [[American Jewish Committee (AJC)]] from 1941-1943. - In this position, Wertheim joined the largest names of 1940s American organized Jewry in lobbying the FDR administration to adopt a hardline stance on Germany. - In December of 1942, Wertheim [joined](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/analysis-american-jewish-leaders-meeting-president-roosevelt#:~:text=This%20document%20records,was%20also%20present.) a group of Jewish leaders lobbying FDR to take action on behalf of the Jews of Europe: - Maurice Wertheim - [[American Jewish Committee (AJC)]] - [[Stephen S. Wise]] - [[American Jewish Congress]] - [[Adolph Held]] - [[Jewish Labor Committee (JLC)]] - [[Henry Monsky]] - [[B'nai B'rith]] - [[Israel Goldstein]] - Synagogue Council of America - Israel Rosenberg - [[Union of Orthodox Rabbis]] - [[Stephen S. Wise]] - [[World Jewish Congress]] - In his 1942 annual address to the AJC, Wertheim urged unity between all Jews, both Zionist and anti-Zionist. - Wertheim remined the committee itself had endorsed the [[Balfour Declaration]] under its founder [[Louis Marshall]]. #### References - Maurice Wertheim. _Wikipedia_. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Wertheim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Wertheim). - Wertheim's Give $100,000 to Harvard. _Jewish Telegraphic Agency_, October 24, 1923. [https://www.jta.org/archive/wertheims-give-100000-to-harvard](https://www.jta.org/archive/wertheims-give-100000-to-harvard). - “Wertheim, Maurice.” _Encyclopedia.com_. [https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/wertheim-maurice](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/wertheim-maurice). - Jewish Organizations Press FDR to Act. _Jewish Virtual Library_. [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/memo-from-jewish-leader-press-president-roosevelt-to-act](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/memo-from-jewish-leader-press-president-roosevelt-to-act). - Wertheim Outlines Duties of American Jewry at American Jewish Committee Meeting. _Jewish Telegraphic Agency_, January 26, 1942. [https://www.jta.org/archive/wertheim-outlines-duties-of-american-jewry-at-american-jewish-committee-meeting](https://www.jta.org/archive/wertheim-outlines-duties-of-american-jewry-at-american-jewish-committee-meeting). - 400 Jewish Leaders Attend the Non Zionist Conference on Palestine. _Jewish Telegraphic Agency_, October 22, 1928. [https://www.jta.org/archive/400-jewish-leaders-attend-the-non-zionist-conference-on-palestine](https://www.jta.org/archive/400-jewish-leaders-attend-the-non-zionist-conference-on-palestine). - Tuchman, Barbara W. “The Assimilationist Dilemma: Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story.” _Commentary_, May 1977. [https://www.commentary.org/articles/barbara-tuchman/the-assimilationist-dilemma-ambassador-morgenthaus-story/](https://www.commentary.org/articles/barbara-tuchman/the-assimilationist-dilemma-ambassador-morgenthaus-story/). *Covers support for Eliezer Ben Yehuda * - “Henry Morgenthau.” Israeled. [https://israeled.org/henry-morgenthau/](https://israeled.org/henry-morgenthau/). - Joy, Mark S. “Analysis: The American Jewish Leaders Meeting with President Roosevelt.” _EBSCO Research Starters_, 2021. [https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/analysis-american-jewish-leaders-meeting-president-roosevelt](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/analysis-american-jewish-leaders-meeting-president-roosevelt).