Just like the philanthropist who breaks through the walls and builds Jerusalem, Adelson was a key pillar in the huge campaign to ensure the existence of the Jewish people and to plant Jewish identity among the younger generation.
A unique person
Photography:
Moshe Shai
Sheldon and Miriam Adelson
Photography:
Yossi Zeliger
Sheldon and Miriam Adelson at a discovery conference
Photography:
Joshua Joseph
I have always told Sheldon Adelson that when it comes to the Jewish people he is without a doubt the Moshe Montefiore of our generation.
Yes, just as the philanthropist breaks through the walls and builds Jerusalem, so Sheldon Adelson was a central pillar in the huge campaign to ensure the existence of the Jewish people and to plant the Jewish identity among the younger generation.
He made it an active worldview mainly in education, and especially in education for Jewish identity throughout the Jewish world.
The last time we saw each other was at a particularly moving ceremony held at Zoom a few weeks ago, where we commemorated the Jewish Agency Mission School named after Sheldon and Miriam Adelson.
This is thanks to their enormous contribution to the mission of Israel's missionaries on campuses around the world - a critical arena of action and struggle in a period of boycotts and condemnations against the State of Israel and Zionism.
Early in the morning we sat on our campus in Kiryat Moriah in Jerusalem and talked in zoom with Sheldon and Miri, who seemed relaxed and happy when they met me and my predecessor Natan Sharansky, who serves as the institute's chairman.
In great pain: Sheldon Adelson 2021-1933
From the vision that demands recognition of the centrality of the State of Israel in the entire Jewish people, Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam Tavdal have become the main engine pushing huge projects such as Taglit, Israel Fellows on Campuses Around the World, the Israel Diaspora Jews, institutions of higher learning, yeshivas, summer camps and community centers and of course Yad Vashem, all of which have created a vast infrastructure that will be remembered for generations and influence the connection between hundreds of thousands of young Jews and the State of Israel.
Our long years of acquaintance summoned me to a deep personal connection with a unique man, who was one of the leaders of the Jewish people.
He always stood out for his kind attitude, modesty and accessibility to everyone.
We did not always see things eye to eye and we also knew how to be Bar-Plugata, but we were full partners in the deep commitment to the Jewish people and its nation-state - Israel.
My sincere condolences to Dr. Miriam Adelson, the love of his life and his partner in life and in the way of public action, the one whose compass for his blessed and extensive work is to stand by those whose fate has not improved. My condolences to his children, grandchildren, friends and loved ones. May his memory be blessed.
The author is the chairman of the Jewish Agency and former chairman of the opposition