Bernard Cherrick

Bernard Cherrick (1914–1988) was a British-Israeli rabbi and academic administrator. He served as the vice-president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He brought many Hollywood celebrities to fundraisers on campus. He was nicknamed "Mr. Hebrew University".

Bernard Cherrick
Born1914
Dublin, Ireland
Died22 December 1988
Jerusalem, Israel
Alma materLondon School of Economics
University of Manchester
OccupationAcademic administrator

Early life

Bernard Cherrick was born in 1914 in Dublin, Ireland.[1] He grew up in England,[1] where he was educated in a yeshiva.[2] He had a sister, Freda Sklan.[1]

Cherrick graduated from the London School of Economics.[1] He earned a master's degree from the University of Manchester in 1937.[3]

Career

In 1939, in the midst of World War II, Cherrick served as a rabbi in the British Expeditionary Force of the British Army.[1][2][4] He also served as the rabbi of the New Synagogue in Stamford Hill, North London.[1] He served as a director of the Jewish National Fund and the United Israel Appeal.[2]

The Frank Sinatra International Student Centre.

Cherrick made aliyah to join the public relations department of the Hebrew University of Israel in 1947.[1][2] Cherrick was in charge of fundraising for the university.[2] He was asked by Chaim Weizmann, the first president of Israel, to take a speaking tour in Australia, whereby 10% of his speaking fees would go to the university.[2] He made many similar fundraising trips in the next few decades.[2] As early as 1949, he welcomed a US$50,000 fund from philanthropist Louis M. Rabinowitz of Brooklyn, New York City to research synagogues in the Near East.[5]

Cherrick was appointed as the vice-president of the university in 1968.[1] After meeting Harvey Silbert, Cherrick, he convinced Frank Sinatra to donate to the university and endow the construction of the Frank Sinatra International Student Centre on campus.[2] He subsequently invited Hollywood celebrities like Billy Crystal, Gregory Peck, Barbra Streisand, to fundraisers on campus.[2] He became known as "Mr. Hebrew University",[6] until he retired in 1988.[1]

Death and legacy

Cherrick died on 22 December 1988 in Jerusalem, Israel.[1] He is the namesake of HJU's Cherrick Center for the Study of Zionism, the Yishuv and the State of Israel, directed by Hillel Cohen.[6] It organises the monthly Cherrick Forum meetings, also named in his honour.[6]

References
  1. "Bernard Cherrick, 74, Of Hebrew University". The New York Times. 23 December 1988. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  2. McKie, David; Toledano, Margalit (2013). Public Relations and Nation Building: Influencing Israel. New York: Routledge. pp. 88–89. ISBN 9780415698924. OCLC 776536645.
  3. The arguments for the unity of god in mediaeval Jewish philosophy. OCLC 642586497. Retrieved 17 August 2016 – via WorldCat.
  4. "1,709 Palestinian Jews Join Fighting Forces of Britain". The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle. Milwaukee: Newspapers.com. 26 April 1940. p. 10. Retrieved 17 August 2016. Rabbis Israel Brodie and Bernard Cherrick, recently appointed Jewish chaplains to the British expeditionary forces, have departed for France to take up their duties.
  5. "Louis M. Rabinowitz Sets Up Israel Synagogue Research Fund". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York: Newspapers.com. 10 July 1949. p. 7. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  6. "About Us". Cherrick Center for the Study of Zionism, the Yishuv and the State of Israel. Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
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