CEO and chairman of Ford Motor
Co., to contribute a personal check
for $100,000.
Harmony & Dissonance continues:
“However, Rabin, who for years had
maintained the necessity of preemp-
tive strikes, for the time being lost his
Cabinet battle. Urged by President
Lyndon Johnson and by England as
well as by Foreign Minister Abba
Eban, Rabin had to restrain his insis-
tence on a surprise attack.”
On June 5, 1967, Israel, under
Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, had
no choice but to act first. The war
ended in six days with Israel over-
whelming its foes and in full control
of its destiny. In the process, it cap-
tured the Golan Heights from Syria,
the Sinai and the Gaza Strip from
Egypt and the West Bank and east
Jerusalem from Jordan.
In the lead-up to war, Fisher, rep-
resenting UJA but still the Detroiter,
joined Jewish Welfare Federation
President Hyman Safran in urging
Detroit Jews to give generously to
the emergency war appeal headed by
Paul Zuckerman. The result: a stun-
ning $5.7 million. Before leaving for
Israel a week after the war, Fisher
joined UJA Women’s Division nation-
al chair Esther Jones in express-
ing gratitude to appeal volunteers
assembled by Zuckerman.

Max Fisher with longtime friend and fellow
member of Detroit’s business elite Henry Ford II
in the 1980s

Fisher returned from Israel in
time to join Zuckerman and Eshkol
adviser Golda Meir, a Labor Zionist
at heart, when she spoke at services
at Temple Israel, underscoring the
importance of Detroit Jewry’s Israel
support — Labor Zionist or not.
“I loved Golda Meir,” Fisher said
in a digital interview in his archives.
“She was like two twin oaks on those
legs of hers. She represents strength
and power. And she fought for what
she believed in.”

continued on page 62

ter’s degree in social work and advo-
cates on behalf of vulnerable women
and children. She
serves on the boards
of the Corporation
for National and
Community Service
and the National
Center for Family
Philanthropy. Her
husband is real
Dr. Marjorie Fisher estate developer
Furman
Peter Cummings.
Dr. Marjorie
Fisher Furman is a vice chair of the
Fisher Foundation. She is co-chair
and co-founder of Friends of Near
Eastern Studies,
Department of Near
Eastern Studies,
at the University
of Michigan. She
holds a doctorate
in Egyptology from
U-M. Her husband
is Roy Furman, a
Mary Fisher
Wall Street financier
and a Broadway
producer.
Daughter Mary Fisher is former

chair of the Fisher Foundation. The
former assistant to President Gerald
Ford gained international stature at
the 1992 Republican Convention for
speaking out on behalf of the fight
against HIV/AIDS. She is well known in
the U.S. and Europe as an artist, nota-
bly in handmade papers and fiber art.
Her work training vulnerable women
in Zambia to become jewelry-making
artisans illustrates her commitment to
providing economic opportunity and a
sense of community for the less for-
tunate.
Among the 15 grandchildren,
Amanda Fisher, Caroline Cummings
Rafferty and David Fisher Sherman
serve as Fisher Foundation trust-
ees. David, his wife, Ellen, and
cousin Caroline co-chaired the Fisher
Foundation NextGen committee for
three years. Granddaughters Sylvia
Wolf and Alissandra Aronow and
great-grandson Andrew Sherman now
serve as Fisher Foundation NextGen
co-chairs.
Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher’s fam-
ily includes 13 great-grandchildren and
one great-great grandchild.•

— Interview by Robert Sklar

DETROIT
JEWISH
NEWS

On 75 Years
as the Glue Binding
Metro Detroit's
Jewish Community

meetyouatthewell.org

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jn

July 18 • 2017

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