Jacques Torczyner (July 8, 1914–March 7, 2013) was a leader in the American and international

Zionist movement Zionism is an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the Jewish people, pursued through the colonization of Palestine, a region roughly co ...

. He was born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, in 1914 and emigrated to the United States in 1940, escaping Belgium after the Nazi invasion. He became a member of the

Zionist Organization of America The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA; ) is an American nonprofit pro-Israel organization. Founded in 1897, as the Federation of American Zionists, it was the first official Zionist organization in the United States. Early in the 20th century ...

(ZOA). He joined 18 Jewish leaders at a special meeting in July 1945 called by

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...

organizing the Friends of the Haganah to organize support for the Jewish defense forces in Palestine. He was active in the campaign for the creation of the Jewish State led by

Abba Hillel Silver Abba Hillel Silver (January 28, 1893 – November 28, 1963) was an American Rabbi and Zionist leader. He was a key figure in the mobilization of American support for the founding of the State of Israel. Biography Born Abraham Silver in ...

and took on additional responsibility when Silver became the president of ZOA. After the founding of the State of Israel, he was a member of the Rifkind Committee and various special committees of the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

charged with evaluating the future of the Zionist movement. Torczyner was President of the ZOA for five consecutive terms. Torczyner lectured around the world and wrote articles on issues faced by the State of Israel and World Jewry. He was the nephew of

Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai (; born 13 November 1886 – 17 October 1973) was a Bible scholar, author, and linguist instrumental in the revival of the Hebrew language as a modern, spoken language. Tur-Sinai was the first president of the Academy of th ...

. His papers are archived at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem. Torczyner died on March 7, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torczyner, Jacques 1914 births 2013 deaths Jews who emigrated to escape Nazism Belgian emigrants to the United States Belgian Jews Politicians from Antwerp Belgian Zionists Zionist Organization of America members