 JANUARY 21 • 2021 | 39

 His daughter remembers him as a fierce supporter of Jews and Israel.

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Hero of Israel’s Founding Dies at 96

A

aron Friedman, a 
founding hero of 
the State of Israel, 
died Jan. 6, 2021, at the age 
of 96 in the Los Angeles area, 
where he lived 
for many years. 
Friedman helped 
to smuggle Jewish 
refugees from 
Europe to Palestine 
during the British 
mandate when 
immigration was 
banned. He was a 
lifelong friend of 
David Ben-Gurion, 
the founder and 
first prime minister 
of Israel, and served as one of 
his personal bodyguards.
His daughter, Shari Lesnick, 
a West Bloomfield resident, 
described him as having a “big 
personality. He was the life of 
the party. When he walked 
into a room, it was as if the 
sea parted.” 
Friedman was born in Jaffa, 
Israel, the son of Russian 
immigrants to what was 
then Palestine and grew up 
in what he described as a 
“shantytown” near the sea. 
Ben-Gurion lived nearby, 
and Friedman met him as a 
child. Friedman was a talented 
swimmer and soon became 
well known as a lifeguard on 
the Tel Aviv beach, where 
he met Golda Meir, Yitzhak 
Shamir, Ariel Sharon and 
other future Israeli leaders. 
Friedman said in an inter-
view some years ago that his 
concern about the Jewish 
people was instilled by the 

massacre of Jewish resi-
dents of Hebron in 1929. He 
demonstrated his courage and 
commitment when he was 
only 16, lying about his age 
so that he could 
join the Jewish 
Settlement Police 
who protected 
Jewish settlements 
against Arabs.
In 1946, Yaakov 
Dori, chief 
of staff of the 
Haganah, appoint-
ed Friedman to 
be one of Ben-
Gurion’s person-
al bodyguards. 
Friedman attributed his 
appointment to his relation-
ship with Ben-Gurion and his 
connections with Jewish mili-
tias, some of which he said 
threatened Ben-Gurion. As 
one of the youngest members 
of the Haganah, he served 
with Moshe Dayan and was 
near him when the military 
leader was injured, resulting 
in the loss of one eye.
From 1946 to 1947, he was 
sent by Jewish leaders to coor-
dinate the smuggling of Jewish 
European refugees, especially 
scientists, who were living 
in displaced persons camps 
on Cyprus. Britain and the 
United Nations had clamped 
down on immigration to 
Palestine. Friedman met his 
future wife, Esther Shawmut, 
an American volunteer in 
the Haganah, who was on a 
ship near Palestine, when she 
jumped overboard to avoid 
capture by the British. She 

wasn’t a strong swimmer and 
was fortunate that Friedman, 
the former lifeguard, was 
nearby and rescued her. They 
married four years later.
Lesnick said her father was 
most proud of his service as 
a bodyguard to Ben-Gurion 
and for “being an integral part 
of the smuggling operation. 
He coordinated several runs 
from Marseille.
” She says that 
he spoke more often about his 
life before the Israeli War of 
Independence and was dis-
couraged by what he viewed as 
“political squabbles” afterward.
In 1954, Ben-Gurion asked 
him to go to the United States 
to develop “an atmosphere 
of love and support for the 
State of Israel. Lay the seeds, 
lay the foundation.” Friedman 
then moved to the U.S. and 
eventually became youth 
director for the USY (United 
Synagogue Youth) for the 
Pacific Southwest Region. He 
was responsible for dramatic 
increases in the participation 
of Jewish youth in USY. “He 
inspired so many Jewish men 
and women to become Jewish 
leaders — to become rabbis, 
to make aliyah, to become 
emissaries for Israel. His 
passion was creating Jewish 
leaders,” says Lesnick.
Lesnick remembers when 
Ben-Gurion was being honored 
in Los Angeles in the 1960s. As 
soon as Ben-Gurion spotted 
her father at the large gathering 
in a hotel, he immediately came 
up and said “Mendela, Mendela 
(a childhood name) Friedman” 
and they spoke for an hour. 

Friedman admired that Ben-
Gurion was committed to 
all Jews, regardless of their 
religious affiliation or political 
views. 
In the 1970s, he received an 
offer from the Israeli Ministry 
of Education to work with 
Ethiopian Jews, and the family 
moved to Israel. However, 
Lesnick says, “it wasn’t a good 
fit” and they returned to the 
U.S. Her father maintained 
a connection to the Israeli 
government by participating 
in the Los Angeles Israeli 
Consulate Speakers Bureau. 
Lesnick says that her son 
Maxx Lesnick spent time in 
Israel at Tel Aviv University. 
She says of her son Ben that 
his “grandfather gave him the 
courage to speak his mind.” 
Both grandsons are attorneys.
Friedman was honored 
for “protecting the Jewish 
homeland and people” during 
Israel’s 50th anniversary cel-
ebration and was recognized 
in 2015. 
Aaron Friedman was the 
husband of the late Esther 
Shawmut Friedman and is 
survived by his daughter and 
son-in-law, Shari and Howard 
Lesnick; grandsons Maxx 
Lesnick and Ben (Amanda 
Farber) Lesnick; and many 
loving nieces and nephews. 
Contributions may be 
made to Chabad of Tarzana, 
California, www.chabadoft-
hevalley.com or to a charity 
of one’s choice. Interment was 
at Eden Memorial, Mission 
Hills, Calif. Arrangements by 
Chevra Kadisha. 

COURTESY OF SHARI LESNICK

Aaron Friedman c. 1940 

