Aba Dunner
Encyclopedia
Rabbi Aba Dunner (13 November 1937 - 17 July 2011) was a social and religious activist, who represented and worked for the interests of European Jewry, first as the personal assistant to Rabbi Dr. Solomon Schonfeld
, then as Secretary to the British office of Agudat Israel
, and in his latter years as Executive Director of the Conference of European Rabbis
. Although born in pre-war Europe
, Aba spent the majority of his life in England, where he was active in both communal work and the business world.
), then part of Germany
, on 13 November, 1937. His father was Rabbi Josef Hirsch Dunner
, a scion of the distinguished Dunner family of Cologne, and from 1936 chief rabbi of East Prussia. His mother, Ida, was the daughter of Dr Wilhelm (Zev) Freyhan, a leading member of the Jewish community of Breslau, and one of the original founders of Agudat Israel
at the Kattowitz Conference of 1912. Ida's mother came from the illustrious Hackenbroch family of Frankfurt-am-Main; her great-grandfather was part of the original strictly orthodox group who split off from the main community and invited Rabbiner Samson Rafael Hirsch to lead a breakaway community.
; the Nazis were unable to transport him to concentration camp in Germany
, however, as the Poles would not allow the transfer of political prisoners through the Polish Corridor
. As the Nazi authorities considered their options, Ida got in contact with Solomon Schonfeld, and was able to obtain through him a rabbi’s visa
, enabling the small family to come to England
via Holland in December 1938. On arrival in London
, the Dunners settled briefly in Golders Green
. Before very long Josef was asked to become the rabbi of Westcliff, until 1940, when he was briefly interned as an enemy alien on the Isle of Man
. On his release, Josef was appointed as a rabbi to immigrant and evacuated Jews in Leicester
, where the family remained until 1947.
, north London, where Josef established and ran the Beth Jacob seminary for girls. He went on, in 1960, to replace Schonfeld as rabbi of the Adath Yisrael Synagogue, and as the presiding rabbi of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations
, the most senior religious position within the strictly orthodox community of the UK. Aba attended Yesodey Hatorah School, completing his high school education at the Gateshead Jewish Boarding School, where his classmates included Rabbi Avrohom Gurwicz
, Rabbi Matisyohu Salomon, and Rabbi Chaim Kaufman, all of whom went on to become leading figures in orthodox Jewish education in the UK and beyond. After leaving school, Aba learned in yeshiva
in Kapellen, Belgium
, and then in Luzern, Switzerland
, where studied under Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik, with whom he maintained contact throughout the remainder of his life.
in the East End of London
for several months. Having decided not to return to yeshiva, Aba began to try out a variety of jobs, including selling fabric and working at a butcher shop, to see what career he should choose. Although a brilliant salesman, no job in the commercial arena appealed to his instinctive desire to be involved in communal activism. So, in 1959 he was engaged by Rabbi Schonfeld to be his personal assistant. Within a matter of months Schonfeld dispatched him across Europe to explore the idea of creating an organization which would unite all the strictly orthodox communities of Europe. Schonfeld then sent Aba to the still nascent State of Israel, to see whether one could build small synagogues, to be referred to as community centres, in the many secular kibbutzim that existed there. To reach Israel, Aba drove from London to Naples
, Italy
, in a Land-Rover, and took a ship to Israel, landing in Haifa
just in time for the Independence Day celebrations of 1959.
, close to Aba's parents, and then in 1976 they moved to Golders Green
. During this time they had five children, Yitzchok (b.1961), Benzi (1962-2008), Hadassa (b.1963), Zev (b.1967), and Pini (b.1970).
, an international strictly-orthodox Jewish lobbying organisation and political movement. In the ensuing decade he became involved in a variety of international Jewish initiatives, through his close contact with a whole range of influentual orthodox Jewish figures, including, in the UK, Harry Goodman, Simcha Bunim Unsdorfer, in Israel, Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz
and Rabbi Menachem Porush
, and in the United States
Rabbi Moshe Sherer
. His job entailed working as the “pointman” for the World Agudah Movement in Europe - if something needed to be done, he was the local contact to organise it. Aba also established close links with many of the leading rabbinic luminaries of the time, whom he consulted for advice, and whom he offered his services - men such as Rabbi Leib Gurwicz
, Rabbi Avrohom Babad, Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner
, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
, Rabbi Eliezer Menachem Schach, and Rabbi Yosef Kahaneman, the Ponovezh Rav. When Rabbi Aron Kotler, the distinguished and revered head of Beth Medrash Govoha
in Lakewood
, New Jersey
, was in London raising funds for Chinuch Atzmai
, Aba acted as his driver, and he performed the same service for senior rabbinic leader of the US, Rabbi Eliezer Silver
, President of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States
and Canada
.
, Norway
and Sweden
after World War II. The parents were by-and-large disenchanted with their religious origins, but the children were often curious to find more about their heritage. Aba and his wife, organised weekend retreats, in both England and Sweden, resulting in many of these children returning to the Jewish religious fold.
, a property mogul and philanthropist based in London, and in this role he was responsible for the allocation of large amounts of charity funds to numerous Jewish causes aross the world. He combined this with his work for Agudat Israel, until 1972, when he began working for Stern full time, both in his charitable endeavours, and in his commercial endeavours. During the 1980s Aba began to work in West Africa, exporting consumer goods and industrial machinery to countries such as Nigeria
, Gabon
and Togo
.
began a project called Operation Open Curtain and Aba, acting on their behalf in a voluntary capacity, travelled regularly to Russia, becoming involved in the appointment of rabbis such as Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt
in Moscow and Rabbi Yaakov Bleich
in Ukraine, as well as supporting the establishment of a yeshiva in Moscow at the behest of his childhood mentor Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik.
Aba's knowledge of European communities as well as his diplomatic and organisational skills eventually prompted the emeritus Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, Lord Immanuel Jakobovits
, to ask him to work full time for the Conference of European Rabbis
, of which he was President. In 1997 Aba became Director of Community Affairs for the CER, and in 2003 he took over from Rabbi Moshe Rose as Executive Director. The CER, which had been founded in 1956, had always been a small outfit which ran conferences for rabbis every couple of years in different European cities. Aba's vision gave it the impetus to grow and raised its political profile with national govenments across Europe and particularly within the organs of the EU. As a result of his leadership, the CER has now got an office in Brussels and is the sole Jewish religious representative body recognized by the EU.
Aba was also deeply involved in interfaith work, particularly to try and forge links between Jews and moderate Muslims. For this purpose he travelled to meet with Muslim religious leaders, including a high profile visit to Kazakhstan.
In the last years of his life Aba suffered, in quick succession, the loss of his wife, son, and both his parents. In addition to this he endured ill-health, often leading to near death experiences. Despite these setbacks he remained actively involved in Jewish affairs, travelling across the globe as an ambassador for orthodox Judaism and its adherents. In 2008 he remarried, and for the final 3 years of his life his wife Charlotte acted as his assistant in the many projects in which he was involved.
2011 Aba was admitted to a hospital in London after suffering from terrible discomfort over the festival period. He was quickly diagnosed with terminal cancer, and he died at the London Clinic with his family at his side on Sunday, 17 July 2011. The following day he was buried at the Adath Yisrael Cemetery, in Enfield, north London. A large number of tributes to him were issued by leading Jewish figures and organisations after his death. The World Jewish Congress
, the leading Jewish diaspora representative body, issued a statement which said: "[Aba Dunner] was one of the leading activists for the cause of Orthodox Judaism over the past decades and was widely respected across the Jewish world. He was at the heart of the building and strengthening Jewish institutions in Europe. Within the World Jewish Congress, Rabbi Dunner and the Conference of European Rabbis – which he led for many years – were actively engaged in addressing the concerns of Jews and Jewish communities and in strengthening dialogue with other faith communities. He was a dedicated fighter for achieving peace and freedom for all peoples, irrespective of their origin, religion or ethnic background."
'Conference of European Rabbis' website http://www.cer-online.org
Solomon Schonfeld
Rabbi Dr Solomon Schonfeld was a British rabbi who is heralded as one of the most remarkable, yet least known of the Holocaust heroes.Schonfeld studied at the yeshiva in Nitra, Slovakia...
, then as Secretary to the British office of Agudat Israel
Agudat Israel
Agudat Yisrael began as the original political party representing the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine...
, and in his latter years as Executive Director of the Conference of European Rabbis
Conference of European Rabbis
The Conference of European Rabbis is the primary Orthodox rabbinical alliance in Europe. It was founded in 1956 on the initiative of British Chief Rabbi Sir Israel Brodie, and its current executive director is Aba Dunner...
. Although born in pre-war Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Aba spent the majority of his life in England, where he was active in both communal work and the business world.
Early years
Aba Dunner was born in Koenigsberg (today known as KaliningradKaliningrad
Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea...
), then part of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, on 13 November, 1937. His father was Rabbi Josef Hirsch Dunner
Josef Hirsch Dunner
Rabbi Josef Hirsch Dunner , aka Harav Yosef Tzvi Halevi Dunner, was a distinguished hareidi rabbi from Germany, who spent most of his life in London, England. He served as Chief Rabbi of East Prussia before World War II, and as Rabbi of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations in London from 1960...
, a scion of the distinguished Dunner family of Cologne, and from 1936 chief rabbi of East Prussia. His mother, Ida, was the daughter of Dr Wilhelm (Zev) Freyhan, a leading member of the Jewish community of Breslau, and one of the original founders of Agudat Israel
Agudat Israel
Agudat Yisrael began as the original political party representing the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine...
at the Kattowitz Conference of 1912. Ida's mother came from the illustrious Hackenbroch family of Frankfurt-am-Main; her great-grandfather was part of the original strictly orthodox group who split off from the main community and invited Rabbiner Samson Rafael Hirsch to lead a breakaway community.
Arrival in England
As the officially recognised Jewish religious leader of East Prussia, Josef Dunner was arrested on KristallnachtKristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
; the Nazis were unable to transport him to concentration camp in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, however, as the Poles would not allow the transfer of political prisoners through the Polish Corridor
Polish Corridor
The Polish Corridor , also known as Danzig Corridor, Corridor to the Sea or Gdańsk Corridor, was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia , which provided the Second Republic of Poland with access to the Baltic Sea, thus dividing the bulk of Germany from the province of East...
. As the Nazi authorities considered their options, Ida got in contact with Solomon Schonfeld, and was able to obtain through him a rabbi’s visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
, enabling the small family to come to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
via Holland in December 1938. On arrival in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the Dunners settled briefly in Golders Green
Golders Green
Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in London, England. Although having some earlier history, it is essentially a 19th century suburban development situated about 5.3 miles north west of Charing Cross and centred on the crossroads of Golders Green Road and Finchley Road.In the...
. Before very long Josef was asked to become the rabbi of Westcliff, until 1940, when he was briefly interned as an enemy alien on the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
. On his release, Josef was appointed as a rabbi to immigrant and evacuated Jews in Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, where the family remained until 1947.
Stamford Hill
In 1947, Schonfeld arranged for the Dunners to move to Stamford HillStamford Hill
Stamford Hill is a place in the north of the London Borough of Hackney, England, near the border with Haringey. It is home to Europe's largest Hasidic Jewish and Adeni Jewish community.Stamford Hill is NNE of Charing Cross.-History:...
, north London, where Josef established and ran the Beth Jacob seminary for girls. He went on, in 1960, to replace Schonfeld as rabbi of the Adath Yisrael Synagogue, and as the presiding rabbi of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations
Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations
The Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations of England was founded in 1926 with the stated mission "to protect traditional Judaism". It acts as an umbrella organisation for the chareidi Jewish community in London and comprises over a hundred synagogues and educational institutions. It is responsible...
, the most senior religious position within the strictly orthodox community of the UK. Aba attended Yesodey Hatorah School, completing his high school education at the Gateshead Jewish Boarding School, where his classmates included Rabbi Avrohom Gurwicz
Avrohom Gurwicz
Avrohom Gurwicz is an English-born Orthodox rabbi and Talmudic scholar. Since 1983 he has been the rosh yeshivah of Gateshead Talmudical College, a yeshiva in Gateshead, England, where he gives the largest shiur in Europe with approximately 350 students attending.Rabbi Gurwicz is the second son of...
, Rabbi Matisyohu Salomon, and Rabbi Chaim Kaufman, all of whom went on to become leading figures in orthodox Jewish education in the UK and beyond. After leaving school, Aba learned in yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
in Kapellen, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and then in Luzern, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, where studied under Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik, with whom he maintained contact throughout the remainder of his life.
After Yeshiva
In 1957 a sudden stomach illness brought him home from yeshiva and confined him to the Jewish HospitalJewish Hospital
Jewish Hospital can refer to:*Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri*Jewish Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio*Long Island Jewish Hospital, Long Island, New York*Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec...
in the East End of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
for several months. Having decided not to return to yeshiva, Aba began to try out a variety of jobs, including selling fabric and working at a butcher shop, to see what career he should choose. Although a brilliant salesman, no job in the commercial arena appealed to his instinctive desire to be involved in communal activism. So, in 1959 he was engaged by Rabbi Schonfeld to be his personal assistant. Within a matter of months Schonfeld dispatched him across Europe to explore the idea of creating an organization which would unite all the strictly orthodox communities of Europe. Schonfeld then sent Aba to the still nascent State of Israel, to see whether one could build small synagogues, to be referred to as community centres, in the many secular kibbutzim that existed there. To reach Israel, Aba drove from London to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, in a Land-Rover, and took a ship to Israel, landing in Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
just in time for the Independence Day celebrations of 1959.
Marriage
In 1960 Aba married Miriam (1941-2006), daughter of Arthur "Adje" (Uri) Cohen (1910-2000) of Rotterdam. During the Nazi occupation of Holland, Arthur Cohen was a leading member of the Dutch Underground resistance movement, and after the war he was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Jewish community in Holland; as late as the mid-1970s, when already in his 60s, he established a school for strictly-orthodox boys and girls in Amsterdam, known as the "cheider". The young couple initially set up home in Stamford HillStamford Hill
Stamford Hill is a place in the north of the London Borough of Hackney, England, near the border with Haringey. It is home to Europe's largest Hasidic Jewish and Adeni Jewish community.Stamford Hill is NNE of Charing Cross.-History:...
, close to Aba's parents, and then in 1976 they moved to Golders Green
Golders Green
Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in London, England. Although having some earlier history, it is essentially a 19th century suburban development situated about 5.3 miles north west of Charing Cross and centred on the crossroads of Golders Green Road and Finchley Road.In the...
. During this time they had five children, Yitzchok (b.1961), Benzi (1962-2008), Hadassa (b.1963), Zev (b.1967), and Pini (b.1970).
Agudat Israel
In 1960 Aba began to work for the British division of Agudat IsraelAgudat Israel
Agudat Yisrael began as the original political party representing the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine...
, an international strictly-orthodox Jewish lobbying organisation and political movement. In the ensuing decade he became involved in a variety of international Jewish initiatives, through his close contact with a whole range of influentual orthodox Jewish figures, including, in the UK, Harry Goodman, Simcha Bunim Unsdorfer, in Israel, Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz
Shlomo Lorincz
Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz was a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Agudat Yisrael from 1951 until 1984, and a close confident of many gedolim.-Biography:...
and Rabbi Menachem Porush
Menachem Porush
Menachem Porush was an Israel politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Agudat Yisrael and its alliances between 1959 and 1975, and again from 1977 until 1994.-Biography:...
, and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Rabbi Moshe Sherer
Moshe Sherer
Rabbi Moshe Sherer was co-Chairman of the Agudath Israel World Organization from 1980, and the Chairman of Agudath Israel of America from the 1960s, until his death in 1998....
. His job entailed working as the “pointman” for the World Agudah Movement in Europe - if something needed to be done, he was the local contact to organise it. Aba also established close links with many of the leading rabbinic luminaries of the time, whom he consulted for advice, and whom he offered his services - men such as Rabbi Leib Gurwicz
Leib Gurwicz
Aryeh Ze'ev Gurwicz was an influential Orthodox rabbi and Talmudic scholar. He was the son-in-law of Rabbi Elyah Lopian and best known as Rosh Yeshiva of the Gateshead Yeshiva in Gateshead, England, where he taught for over 30 years.He studied at various yeshivas in Lithuania and Poland before...
, Rabbi Avrohom Babad, Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner
Yitzchok Hutner
Yitzchok Hutner was an Orthodox rabbi and American rosh yeshiva.-Early years:Yitchok Hutner was born in Warsaw, Poland, to a family with both Ger Hasidic and non-Hasidic Lithuanian Jewish roots. As a child he received private instruction in Torah and Talmud...
, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
Moshe Feinstein
Moshe Feinstein was a Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi, scholar and posek , who was world-renowned for his expertise in Halakha and was regarded by many as the de facto supreme halakhic authority for Orthodox Jewry of North America during his lifetime...
, Rabbi Eliezer Menachem Schach, and Rabbi Yosef Kahaneman, the Ponovezh Rav. When Rabbi Aron Kotler, the distinguished and revered head of Beth Medrash Govoha
Beth Medrash Govoha
Beth Medrash Govoha is a Haredi yeshiva located in Lakewood Township, New Jersey. It is commonly known as BMG, or Lakewood Yeshiva....
in Lakewood
Lakewood CDP, New Jersey
Lakewood is a census-designated place in Lakewood Township, Ocean County, New Jersey. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 36,065.-Geography:Lakewood is located at ....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, was in London raising funds for Chinuch Atzmai
Chinuch Atzmai
Chinuch Atzmai was founded in 1953 by the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah to serve as an alternate school system for Orthodox children in Israel. It was initially led by Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin....
, Aba acted as his driver, and he performed the same service for senior rabbinic leader of the US, Rabbi Eliezer Silver
Eliezer Silver
Rabbi Eliezer Silver was the President of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the U.S. and Canada and among American Jewry's foremost religious leaders...
, President of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Outreach in Scandinavia
During the 1960s Aba became a pioneer of the Kiruv, or Jewish Outreach, movement that gathered pace in the following decade, when he established an organisation to teach Judaism to the children of the many Holocaust survivors who had settled in DenmarkDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
after World War II. The parents were by-and-large disenchanted with their religious origins, but the children were often curious to find more about their heritage. Aba and his wife, organised weekend retreats, in both England and Sweden, resulting in many of these children returning to the Jewish religious fold.
In the business world
In 1970 Aba became the executive director of the charitable foundation that had recently been set up by William SternWilliam Stern (businessman)
William George Stern is a businessman most notable as the owner of the British Stern Group of companies. When it collapsed in 1973, Stern became Britain's biggest bankrupt with debts of £118 million...
, a property mogul and philanthropist based in London, and in this role he was responsible for the allocation of large amounts of charity funds to numerous Jewish causes aross the world. He combined this with his work for Agudat Israel, until 1972, when he began working for Stern full time, both in his charitable endeavours, and in his commercial endeavours. During the 1980s Aba began to work in West Africa, exporting consumer goods and industrial machinery to countries such as Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
and Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
.
Revival of Eastern European Jewry
In the late 1980s and early 1990s Aba began his involvement with the Jewish ommunities of Eastern Europe. Agudat IsraelAgudat Israel
Agudat Yisrael began as the original political party representing the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine...
began a project called Operation Open Curtain and Aba, acting on their behalf in a voluntary capacity, travelled regularly to Russia, becoming involved in the appointment of rabbis such as Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt
Pinchas Goldschmidt
Pinchas Goldschmidt is the Chief Rabbi of Moscow, Russia since 1993Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt is the spiritual leader of the Moscow Choral Synagogue, the head of the rabbinnical court of the CIS, and is an officer of the Russian Jewish Congress .Goldschmidt represents the Russian Jewish community...
in Moscow and Rabbi Yaakov Bleich
Yaakov Bleich
Yaakov Dov Bleich is an American-born rabbi and member of the Karlin-Stoliner Chassidic group. He has been widely recognized as Chief Rabbi of Kiev and all of Ukraine since 1990....
in Ukraine, as well as supporting the establishment of a yeshiva in Moscow at the behest of his childhood mentor Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik.
Aba's knowledge of European communities as well as his diplomatic and organisational skills eventually prompted the emeritus Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, Lord Immanuel Jakobovits
Immanuel Jakobovits
Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits, Kt was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1967 to 1991. His successor is the present Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks.-Biography:...
, to ask him to work full time for the Conference of European Rabbis
Conference of European Rabbis
The Conference of European Rabbis is the primary Orthodox rabbinical alliance in Europe. It was founded in 1956 on the initiative of British Chief Rabbi Sir Israel Brodie, and its current executive director is Aba Dunner...
, of which he was President. In 1997 Aba became Director of Community Affairs for the CER, and in 2003 he took over from Rabbi Moshe Rose as Executive Director. The CER, which had been founded in 1956, had always been a small outfit which ran conferences for rabbis every couple of years in different European cities. Aba's vision gave it the impetus to grow and raised its political profile with national govenments across Europe and particularly within the organs of the EU. As a result of his leadership, the CER has now got an office in Brussels and is the sole Jewish religious representative body recognized by the EU.
Aba was also deeply involved in interfaith work, particularly to try and forge links between Jews and moderate Muslims. For this purpose he travelled to meet with Muslim religious leaders, including a high profile visit to Kazakhstan.
In the last years of his life Aba suffered, in quick succession, the loss of his wife, son, and both his parents. In addition to this he endured ill-health, often leading to near death experiences. Despite these setbacks he remained actively involved in Jewish affairs, travelling across the globe as an ambassador for orthodox Judaism and its adherents. In 2008 he remarried, and for the final 3 years of his life his wife Charlotte acted as his assistant in the many projects in which he was involved.
Death
Immediately following PassoverPassover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
2011 Aba was admitted to a hospital in London after suffering from terrible discomfort over the festival period. He was quickly diagnosed with terminal cancer, and he died at the London Clinic with his family at his side on Sunday, 17 July 2011. The following day he was buried at the Adath Yisrael Cemetery, in Enfield, north London. A large number of tributes to him were issued by leading Jewish figures and organisations after his death. The World Jewish Congress
World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations...
, the leading Jewish diaspora representative body, issued a statement which said: "[Aba Dunner] was one of the leading activists for the cause of Orthodox Judaism over the past decades and was widely respected across the Jewish world. He was at the heart of the building and strengthening Jewish institutions in Europe. Within the World Jewish Congress, Rabbi Dunner and the Conference of European Rabbis – which he led for many years – were actively engaged in addressing the concerns of Jews and Jewish communities and in strengthening dialogue with other faith communities. He was a dedicated fighter for achieving peace and freedom for all peoples, irrespective of their origin, religion or ethnic background."
External Links
Aba Dunner Memorial Website http://www.abadunner.com'Conference of European Rabbis' website http://www.cer-online.org