Long before he spent nearly three decades as the executive director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abe Foxman spent three summers as a staff member at Herzl Camp. The three summers from 1962 to 1964 left such an impact on staff, ozorim, and campers that, last month, several of them got together to dedicate the program director’s office to Foxman.
A group of people who were at camp at that time quickly raised $14,000 in Foxman’s honor.
The plaque on the outside of the building reads: “In Memory of Abe Foxman, Beloved Program Director, 1962–1964. His time at Herzl left a lasting impact on fellow staff and campers, and he went on to lead and inspire others through his deep commitment to the Jewish people and the future of Jewish life. May his memory be for a blessing.”
“There is a Jewish expression called Tikkun Olam, repair the world,” said Jimmy Smith, who was a counselor at that time. “I think that he personified that concept as he devoted his entire life to trying to combat antisemitism and repair the world.”
Jerry Waldman, whose parents were instrumental in Herzl Camp’s early years, called Foxman one of the three most famous Herzl alumni, after Waldman’s cabinmate “Bobby” Dylan, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Friedman.
Foxman’s story was told regularly at the camp. Waldman said that Foxman openly talked about growing up in Europe during the Holocaust. His parents left him in the care of a non-Jewish nanny in order to escape the Nazis. She raised Foxman as a son, but when the war ended and his parents survived, they came back for him; the caretaker didn’t want to let him go. Foxman’s parents sued to get him back, and won. They moved to New York soon after.
“Every time I heard it gave me chills,” Waldman said. “It still does.”
Andy Halper, who was a camper during Foxman’s time at camp, remembers Foxman regaling campers with stories of his work fighting for Civil Rights in the South in the early 1960s.
“He told us about dogs barking at people’s legs. He talked about fire hoses knocking over African-American people,” Halper said. “He told it in a way that we all felt it, because it was so heartfelt.
“Abe said, ‘I’m going to teach you all a song. I don’t know if you’ll ever sing it again, but this is what we sang down in Mississippi.’ And Abe started to sing “We Shall Overcome,’ and he had all of the camp singing.”
Ron Zamansky, who was Halper’s ozo (counselor in training) in 1963, said that – though he didn’t name Herzl – Foxman mentioned the importance of working at a Jewish summer camp in the Midwest in his autobiography. Foxman’s New York Times obituary mentions he met his wife, Golda, at a “Zionist summer camp in Wisconsin.”
“I think it’s very important to know that while his career was so dedicated, there was something that affected his career coming out of Herzl that he wrote about,” Zamansky said.
Brooke Diamond, Herzl’s director of advancement, said that Foxman came from Brooklyn to Webster, Wis., because Herzl’s director at the time was a New Yorker who recruited Foxman to join him at camp.
“Abe is a true embodiment of our mission to raise the next generation of proud Jewish leaders who love Israel,” Diamond said. “It was a great thing for him, camp, and his memory to do this, and to teach staff what he did for the community.”