FOR THE AGES
Max M. Fisher, 1908-2005
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Inves
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A Sagacious Mentor
"illax Fisher was the pre-eminent leader of
Detroit's Jewish community and one of the
most prestigious and politically influential
American Jews of the 20th century. His loss
to us borders on the irreparable.
"Over the last 25 years, I was lucky
enough to have a close relationship with
Max. He was a good friend, a sagacious
mentor and an amazing visionary. I remem-
ber flying with him in his plane to Israel
and listening to his wonderful stories about
his childhood in Salem, Ohio, about his first
gift to the Allied Jewish Campaign— $5.
"I was witness to the impressive respect
and esteem he was held in by the Israeli
leadership. I remember an afternoon in his
suite at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem
when two different Israeli cabinet ministers
appealed to Max, an American, not an
Israeli, to use his influence on their behalf
with the then-sitting pr inze minister.
"Max's leadership and prestige alone
made the restructuring of the Jewish
Agency for Israel possible.
"Max was the first great American leader
to recognize the importance ofJewish educa-
tion. In 1967 in Boston, as president of the
Council for Jewish Federations during the
young Lurks' call for opening the country's
day schools and Jewish identi t y program-
ming to Federation finding, Max had the
vision and the courage to welcome them.
"In 1990, I was a junior member of a
group that Max laughingly used to call the
Best
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no-name committee.'
Our charge was to
bring Russian emigres
directly to the United
States — from
Moscow to New York
— rather than
through Vienna and
BILL BERMAN
Rome. That we were
able to accomplish
this was due solely to
Max's sagacity; his knowledge of the issues
and his ability to convince the State
Department that it was in the best interest
of the United States to make this change.
"Washington has always held Max in
high esteem: One day in the early 1990s,
he was sitting in Dennis Ross' office in the
State Department and the soon-to-be-
Secretary of State, Lawrence Eagleberger;
came by He went directly to Max's chair;
knelt down, kissed Max's hand, and joked,
1 know where the power is in this town.'
"Max used that power to make a differ-
ence in all of our lives. He will have a
lasting influence on all of us who had the
good fortune to know him. It's hard to
imagine Detroit or indeed the internation-
al Jewish community without Max's steady
hand, common sense, vision and courage.
"We will never see his like again."
Mandell L. "Bill" Berman is a Southfield
philanthropist, Jewish communal and
Detroit civic leader guiding force behind
Jewish education and past president of the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
notables
"Max Fisher was a wonder fill friend; an outstanding leader
in many areas. We worked together on many mutual causes
over the years, and it was always a pleasure to work with
him.
"He brought his characteristic wisdom, passion and perse-
verance to everything he did. I will miss him greatly"
11cli
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— Bill Davidson, Bloomfield Hills industrialist and philanthropist
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