2025-10-14 06:15:PM <br/> Tags: #AmericanJewry #Donor #EarlyZionism #people ![[image-150.png|349x405]] # Nathan Straus (1848-1931) - Nathan Straus was a prominent early American Jewish Zionist businessman and donor. - Straus was a co-owner of Macy's with his older brother Isidor Straus. Isidor was on the Titanic when is sank, he and his wife died. - Straus's family had been strong supporters of the Confederacy in the American Civil War. - Straus's family owned many slaves. - Straus became a devoted Zionist after his first trip to Palestine in 1904. - "Others may be better able than I to talk about Zionism, but none can feel it more deeply than I." - Straus around 1912 #### Organized Jewry - Straus was highly active in Jewish philanthropic and Zionist organizations. - Straus was treasurer of Reform Judaism rabbi [[Stephen S. Wise]]'s Free Synagogue in New York city around 1911. - Later in his life Straus moved towards Orthodox Judaism, evident in a speech he gave to the [[Orthodox Union]]. - Straus was involved in founding the [[American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)]] around 1916. - Straus worked with [[Louis Marshall]], [[Jacob Schiff]], and [[Henry Morgenthau Sr.]] to launch the JDC. - In 1912 Straus wrote to European Zionist leader [[Chaim Weizmann]], offering money for a higher learning center in Jerusalem. - Straus funded [[Hadassah]]'s first missions to Palestine in 1913. - Hadassah is the Women's Zionist Organization of America. - Straus helped to found the [[American Jewish Congress]] in 1917. - Straus was the chairman of the first American Jewish Congress in 1918. - Straus delivered one of the inaugural addresses to the first American Jewish Congress. - [[Julian Mack]] and [[Louis Marshall]] also gave addresses after Straus. - Straus became AJCongress president in 1922. ---- - Straus was a close associate of [[Louis Brandeis]] and [[Stephen S. Wise]]. - They worked closely in the 1910s and early 1920s at the [[Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)]]. - In 1916 Straus connected Brandeis with William Blackstone. - Blackstone was an early Christian Zionist who in 1891 created the "Blackstone Memorial," a petition to President Benjamin Harrison to bring the Jews back to Israel. - Brandeis used Blackstone in 1916 to create a "Blackstone Memorial 2," now petitioning the Christian President Woodrow Wilson to back the Zionist project in the form of the [[Balfour Declaration]]. - The Blackstone saga is among the earliest fusions of Christianity and Zionism in America. *In particular, Christian Zionism actively pushed by Jews for Jewish interests.* - In the 1920s Henry Ford wrote extensively on Jewish power and its negative effects. - In response, the burgeoning Jewish network - organized Jewry - launched a full attack on Ford. - Straus was involved in publicly attacking Ford over his antisemitism. - Ford later capitulated after a years long personal, professional, and legal battle with the [[American Jewish Committee (AJC)]] and the [[ADL]]. - [[Louis Marshall]], a lawyer and associate of Straus, got Ford to capitulate. Marshall wrote Ford's retraction and apology letter. - In 1925 Straus made a large donation to the [[United Israel Appeal]] (formerly United Palestine Appeal). - His donation was made in support of its chairman rabbi [[Stephen S. Wise]]. - Wise was forced to resign in disgrace after he delivered a shocking sermon with a somewhat positive disposition towards Jesus Christ. - In 1926 a [[Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)]] event was held in New York City to honor [[Ze'ev Jabotinsky]] who was visiting the United States. - Straus praised Jabotinsky: “For no other man in America would I have come to New York today...I love Jabotinsky and I believe that he who stands up for the right is right." - Straus was an honorary chairman of the [[United Israel Appeal]]. - For his 80th birthday in 1928, Straus gave $100,000 to the UIA. --- - Netanya, the sixth most populous city in Israel, is named after Nathan Straus. *Natan is the Hebrew version of Nathan* - Straus' brother was [[Oscar Straus]]. #### References - “Nathan Straus.” _Encyclopedia Britannica_. [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nathan-Straus](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nathan-Straus). - “Nathan Straus.” _Jewish Virtual Library_. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/nathan-straus. - “National Library of Israel: Nathan Straus (1848–1931).” National Library of Israel. https://www.nli.org.il/en/a-topic/987007271425105171. - De Sola Pool, David. _Nathan Straus._ _American Jewish Year Book_. BJPA, PDF. [https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/nath/Nathan%20Straus.pdf](https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/nath/Nathan%20Straus.pdf). - “Nathan Straus,” _Wikipedia_. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Straus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Straus) - American Jewish Congress. _Report of Proceedings of the American Jewish Congress, Philadelphia, December, 1918_. New York: American Jewish Congress, 1919, 12. [https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/amer/AMERICAN%20JEWISH%20CONGRESS%20PROCEEDINGS%20PHILADELPHIA%20PA%201918.pdf](https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/amer/AMERICAN%20JEWISH%20CONGRESS%20PROCEEDINGS%20PHILADELPHIA%20PA%201918.pdf) - “The philanthropic life of the merchant and humanitarian Nathan Straus,” Mark D. Cohn (Lehigh University thesis), May 30, 1993. https://preserve.lehigh.edu/lehigh-scholarship/graduate-publications-theses-dissertations/theses-dissertations/philanthropic - Saul Jay Singer, “Nathan Straus: Shtadlan Extraordinaire, Zionist, And The ‘American Pasteur’,” _The Jewish Press_, April 10, 2024, [https://jewishpress.com/sections/features/features-on-jewish-world/nathan-straus-shtadlan-extraordinaire-zionist-and-the-american-pasteur/2024/04/10/](https://jewishpress.com/sections/features/features-on-jewish-world/nathan-straus-shtadlan-extraordinaire-zionist-and-the-american-pasteur/2024/04/10/). - “Jabotinsky Is Honored at Order Sons of Zion Banquet in New York.” _Jewish Telegraphic Agency_, April 23, 1926. [https://www.jta.org/archive/jabotinsky-is-honored-at-order-sons-of-zion-banquet-in-new-york](https://www.jta.org/archive/jabotinsky-is-honored-at-order-sons-of-zion-banquet-in-new-york).