Passages

Rashi Fein was instrumental in the development of U.S. health policy, beginning with the Truman administration. He served as a senior staff member in the Kennedy administration’s Council of Economic Advisors. He was considered by many to be one of the fathers of Medicare, according to the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action.

Ralph Goldman, former chief executive of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

Ralph Goldman played a role in our freedom, our positive Jewish identity and our dedication to the neediest among us. He was also instrumental in the State of Israel’s birth, its growth and success, its cultural and educational institutions and its strong social fabric. He was born in Ukraine in 1914, was an early builder of the State of Israel – a brave and deliberate Jewish leader who cracked open communist Europe to revive Jewish life in places where the Soviets strived to eradicate it. He worked to strengthen ancient Jewish communities in places from Morocco to Mumbai. He was the living embodiment of the Talmudic precept that “all Jews are responsible for one another.” He was a trusted friend and advisor to Israeli leaders including David BenGurion, Shimon Peres and Teddy Kollek.

Marvin Mandel, Maryland’s only Jewish governor dies at 95

JTA — Marvin Mandel, the only Jewish governor of Maryland died Aug. 30.

Mandel, a Democrat who led the East Coast state from 1969 until 1977, died in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. The cause of death was not provided.

His gubernatorial record was a mixed one: While Mandel earned kudos for policy victories, a fraud conviction in 1977 for helping facilitate business dealings for friends who owned a racetrack forced him to leave office. Although an appeals court overturned the conviction in 1979, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit reinstated the conviction later that year and Mandel served 19 months in a federal prison, according to the Washington Post.

Mandel’s governorship was also known for his messy divorce, involving a $400,000 settlement, from his wife Barbara (known as “Bootsie”), whom he left for his girlfriend in 1973. Mandel later married the girlfriend, Jeanne Dorsey; she died in 2001.

Mandel grew up in a lower-middle-class, Jewish section of Baltimore, the son of a garment cutter and a housewife. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army in Maryland and in Texas, according to the Post, then earned a law degree before serving in Maryland’s House of Delegates for 17 years.

According to the Post, Mandel “never emphasized his Jewish identity,” but attended High Holy Days services and as a state legislator once volunteered to complete a minyan, or prayer quorum, for the memorial service for a colleague’s father.

When Mandel first became governor, replacing Vice President-elect Spiro Agnew in a special vote of the state Legislature, JTA described him as “a leader of the Baltimore Jewish community” who “is very active in the Associated Jewish Charities, the Israel Bond campaign, synagogue groups, the Menorah Lodge of B’nai B’rith, and other Jewish organizations.”

In a 1972 appearance at the National Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs convention, Mandel said that it is “up to us to work as individuals and as a community to carve out a community identity as Americans, as Jews, as American Jews.”

Sam Simon,

‘The Simpsons’ co-creator

Sam Simon created “The Simpsons,” one of the most successful shows in television history. Simon only spent four years writing for “The Simpsons” but many of the early writers credit him with shaping the show’s sensibility. The terms of  his exit made him a wealthy man for the rest of  his life, and he spent much of his later years focused on giving away his fortune.

Yehuda Avner, speechwriter for four Israeli prime ministers

Yehuda Avner wrote a memoir about his government service called  “The Prime Ministers.” As the speechwriter and advisor to Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin and Menachem Begin, Avner was present at many of the most historical and private moments of the State of Israel and its leaders.

Bernice Tannenbaum, longtime Hadassah and Zionist leader

Bernice Tannenbaum, former national president of Hadassah, the Woman’s  Zionist Organization of America, earned the group’s highest honor for her legacy of contributions.

Elio Toaff, chief rabbi of Rome for 51 years

Elio Toaff served from 1951-2002 and is considered an important figure in the history of Italy and European Jewry. During WWII, already a rabbi, he fought Nazi fascism with the Italian partisans and witnessed the crimes committed by the Nazis in the Sant’Anna di Stazzema massacre. “We have lost a giant,” said Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.