It has been more than 50 years since I left New York City’s Lower East Side. But that immigrant neighborhood of crowded tenements, synagogues, kosher delis, and Yiddish theatershas never left me. The people and places I first encountered on its bustling streets did not just form a backdrop to my childhood; they shaped my view of the world and my place init. Every decision I’ve made, every project I’ve undertaken, can be traced back to those endearing characters on Cannon, Columbia, Grand, Delancey, Essex, and Henry streets.<<Continue reading Tablet excerpt ...>>
From a Lower East Side childhood to the helm of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, from leading a Vancouver synagogue to leading the hunt for Nazi war criminals, from the RJJ Yeshiva to King Hussein’s palace, from theWhite House to the Hollywood red carpet – Rabbi Hier is a Jewish-American success story.
Hier founded the Simon Wiesenthal Center and propelled its growth into one of the foremost Jewish human rights organizations in the world today. His work, on the front lines ofthe global war on anti-Semitism, has gained him access to the world’s most prominent politicians, religious leaders and movie stars, yet he remains unassuming about his success,faithful to Jewish tradition, authentic to the core.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center joined Cyrus R. Vance, Jr, District Attorney of New York County, on the steps of City Hall to add the Human Rights NGO’s...
