The late Irving Moskowitz, Z”Tz”L, used his money for the good of the Jewish People. He was a giant. He made history and changes.
Moskowitz, who was among the most prominent financial backers of Jewish communities in eastern Jerusalem and across Judea and Samaria, passed away last Thursday at his home in Florida. He was 88 years old.
Rabbi Yaakov Shapira, Rosh Yeshiva of Merkaz HaRav, eulogized Moskowitz.
“He was pure life. We are crestfallen. Much can be said about the man and his work, ‘the man on the wall’ [guarding the city]; the ‘president of Jerusalem,’ as my father called him, now joins the many great people who worked to restore [Jerusalem] to its former greatness.”
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat also spoke at the funeral, remembering Moskowitz as a “pioneer” and “man of vision”.
“Today we lay to rest a pioneer… a man of vision who saw the rebuilding of Jerusalem as his purpose in life. Irving was one of the first to invest and to donate to the development of Jewish settlement in eastern Jerusalem, [something which] came from an understanding of and belief in its importance and a deep sense of public [service].” (Arutz 7)
Through The Moskowitz Foundation, founded in 1968 with his wife, Cherna, Moskowitz donated untold millions of dollars to buy homes and institutions for Jews in eastern Jerusalem’s primarily Arab neighborhoods via Ateret Cohanim and the Ir David Foundation.
“The hundreds of families of the Old City, the old Yemenite village of Shiloach, Ir David, Ma’aleh Hazeitim, Shimon Hatzaddik, Kidmat Zion, Abu Tor, Beit Orot and the future families of Ganei Yitzchak are all ‘his families and homes,’” Executive Director of Ateret Cohanim Daniel Lauria said on Sunday. (Jerusalem Post)
I didn’t know him personally, but I like many enjoyed and benefitted from his generosity