56 | OCTOBER 24 • 2019 

Soul
of blessed memory

Congressman Elijah 
Cummings Dies at 68

JOSEFIN DOLSTEN JTA
R

ep. Elijah Cummings, 
a longtime Baltimore 
congressman who 
worked to build ties between 
the African-American and 
Jewish communities in 
his district, died 
Thursday, Oct. 17, 
2019, in his home 
city. He was 68.
A spokeswom-
an, Trudy Perkins, 
said in a statement 
that he died of 
“complications 
concerning long-
standing health challenges.
”
As the head of the House 
Committee on Oversight 
and Reform, Cummings 
was a leading figure in 
the impeachment inquiry 
against President Donald 
Trump. He used his role to 
investigate the president, and 
Trump at one point sued 
Cummings over attempts 
to obtain information on 
Trump’
s business dealings.
The African American 
lawmaker had represented 
his district — the home for 
more than 30,000 Jews — in 
Congress since 1996. Many 
of his Jewish constituents 
had favorable views of him, 
and he was known for work-
ing to bridge ties between 
the African American and 
Jewish communities.
Jewish leaders praised him 
earlier this year after Trump 
took to Twitter to deride 
Cummings’
 district as “a 
disgusting, rat and rodent 
infested mess.
” Many critics 
of the president said the 
comment had racist under-
tones.
The Jewish community 
“has been able to count on 

Rep. Cummings time and 
again for assistance and 
leadership,
” Howard Libit, 
executive director of the 
Baltimore Jewish Council, 
told Haaretz following 
Trump’
s comments.
Cummings 
founded the Elijah 
Cummings Youth 
Leadership Program 
in Israel, which is 
now in its 20th year. 
As part of the pro-
gram’
s prestigious 
fellowship, African 
American teens from his 
district spend two years 
taking leadership seminars 
and learning about the local 
Jewish community, includ-
ing by studying black-Jewish 
relations and the Holocaust.
The program also includes 
a nearly monthlong trip to 
Israel, where the teens stay at 
Yemin Orde, a youth village 
near Haifa. They work with 
Israeli teens from diverse 
backgrounds, volunteer and 
tour the country.
“I want to send a message 
that we cannot as African 
Americans progress without 
coalitions, and our great-
est coalition partner has 
been the Jewish people in 
America,
” he recently told 
WBAL-TV in an interview 
about the 20th anniversary 
of his program.
More than 200 people 
have participated in the fel-
lowship and many said the 
program was life-changing. 
Among the alumni are CNN 
anchor Victor Blackwell, 
who said the experience 
“recast me” in a tweet after 
Cummings’
 death was 
announced. 

LEONARD 
FARBER, 101, of 
West Bloomfield, 
died Oct. 12, 2019.
He was born Aug. 
18, 1918, to Sadie 
Belle and Samuel Farber before 
WWI ended. His family lived in 
Windsor. His father died at 38 
when Leonard was 7 years old 
and he was raised by his mother 
and sister Florence, whom he 
adored. 
The family got by until the 
Great Depression caused his 
mother’
s small hat store to fail. 
When he was 15 and destitute, 
they moved to Detroit to live with 
relatives. Leonard worked at a CF 
Smith Grocery, where he could 
eat as much fruit as he wanted 
while he was at work. 
He learned the value of hard 
work and frugality. He wanted to 
quit school to work more but his 
mother insisted he stay in school, 
which served him well in life. He 
was always good with numbers, 
learned bookkeeping and studied 
accounting. 
When WWII began, he was 
working as a bookkeeper. He 
soon realized that he was going 
to end up in the Army, so he pre-
pared to enlist. He was needed to 
train his war-time replacement. It 
was then when the most beautiful 
girl walked into his office and his 
life, Dolores. 
On their first date, they walked 
a mile to save a penny on the 
streetcar. He was ordered to 
report to the Army in California. 
He told her that they were going 
to get married and move to 
California. He went to Officers 
School, was commissioned a sec-
ond lieutenant and was shipped 
to the Philippines. 
Just before landing, the Army 
decided it needed three attorneys 
for different organizational tasks. 
Of the 200 second lieutenants, 
there were only two attorneys 
so they turned to the man with 
accounting, Leonard. He was 
tasked with organizing the 
new Department of Recovered 
Personnel. He did this so well 
that he received a Special 

Commendation from the com-
manding general. 
After the war, he returned 
to Dolores in Detroit to start a 
family. There he continued his 
accounting studies and became 
a CPA.
Lynne was the first child, 
then came Stuart, Mark and 
Terri. Leonard worked hard and 
because of his skill was asked 
to become president of a home 
building company. In 1960, the 
economy was headed into a seri-
ous recession but because of his 
organizational and accounting 
skills, Leonard kept the company 
alive. In subsequent years, he 
shepherded the company through 
two more recessions, thus earn-
ing the respect of his employees 
(many of whom stayed for 30 
years), contractors, competitors 
and even government officials. 
Leonard started snow ski-
ing at 50. Everyone thought he 
was nuts. It took him five years 
to learn to get off a chair lift 
without falling. Skiing became 
such a joy to him that he and 
Dolores bought a second home 
in Snowmass, Colo. He loved to 
have his children and grandchil-
dren come west in the winters 
to ski. He and Dolores also had 
a condominium in Boca Raton. 
When asked when he would go 
to Florida in the winter instead 
of Colorado, he said “When I get 
old.
” They sold the condomini-
um without ever seeing it. They 
never felt old enough. 
Leonard drove until he was 98. 
His driver’
s license was reissued, 
through the mail, until he would 
have been 103. 
Leonard lived for his family 
and his community. He did 
everything he could to improve 
the lives of his family. He never 
stopped dispensing advice on 
how to improve their lives. “Let 
me explain,
” or “There is some-
thing I want to cover with you” 
were two of his favorite expres-
sions. 
Leonard was always working 
for his community. He was a 
lifelong member of B’
nai B’
rith. 
He received the David Ben-

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