{{Use American English|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = Rabbi | name = Moshe Sherer | image = File:Rabbi_Moshe_Sherer.jpeg | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1921|6|18}} | birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1998|5|17|1921|6|18}} | death_place = | occupation = {{hlist|Rabbi|Advocate}} | title = Co-Chairman of the Agudath Israel World Organization, Chairman of Agudath Israel of America | years_active = 1941–1998 | known_for = Advocacy for Orthodox Jewry, Establishing the Orthodox Jewish government affairs office in Washington, D.C. | spouse = | education = {{unbulleted list|Yeshiva Torah Vodaas|Yeshivas Ner Yisroel}} | awards = }} Rabbi '''Moshe Sherer''' (June 18, 1921 – May 17, 1998) was co-Chairman of the Agudath Israel World Organization from 1980,<ref name=MShererObit.NYT98/> and the Chairman of Agudath Israel of America from the 1960s, until his death in 1998.<ref>{{cite book|title=Daring to Dream|publisher=Agudath Israel of America|location=New York, NY|date=May 2003|pages=266–267}}</ref>
==Early life== Sherer was born in Brooklyn on June 8, 1921. His early education was at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, followed by studying at Baltimore, Maryland-based Yeshivas Ner Yisroel where his mentor was Rabbi Aharon Kotler.<ref name="MShererObit.NYT98" />
==Career== Sherer "joined Agudath Israel as its executive vice president in 1941, when it was a small group with few employees,"<ref name="MShererObit.NYT98">{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/19/nyregion/rabbi-moshe-sherer-76-who-contributed-to-rise-of-orthodoxy-s-right-wing-in-us.html |title=Rabbi Moshe Sherer, 76, Who Contributed to Rise of Orthodoxy's Right Wing in U.S. |author=Gustav Niebuhr |date=May 19, 1998}}</ref> and added the title of president in 1963. He oversaw the tilt whereby "Within Orthodoxy, there's a sense of being pulled to the right."<ref name="MShererSiyum.NYT97">{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/01/us/a-shift-to-rigorous-tradition-gains-influence-in-judaism.html |title=A Shift to Rigorous Tradition Gains Influence in Judaism |author=Gustav Niebuhr |date=May 1, 1997}}</ref>
===Advocacy=== He was an active presence in the United States capitol for better than half-a-century, advocating the interests and articulating the views of Orthodox Jewry.<ref name="Brit.E">{{cite web |website=Britannica.com |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rabbi-Moshe-Sherer |title=Rabbi Moshe Sherer}}</ref><ref>"aided the right wing of Orthodox Judaism by helping build the Agudath Israel of America organization from a small group into an influential force."</ref> In 1988 he created a full-time Orthodox Jewish government affairs office in Washington, D.C.<ref name="MShererObit.NYT98" /><ref>National Council of Young Israel was also an early mover in this area.</ref> His role has been described as ''shtadlan'' (government intercessor);<ref name="Shtadlan.JPost">{{cite news |author=Jonathan Rosenblum |date=May 22, 1998 |title=A 'Shtadlan' for our times |url=http://www.jewishmediaresources.com/37/a-shtadlan-for-our-times |newspaper=Jerusalem Post}}</ref> he testified before ''Congress'' and often led groups of ''intercessors'' to Washington, to meet with elected officials.<ref name="Sherer.HaModia">{{cite news |newspaper=Hamodia |url=https://hamodia.com/2016/02/27/agudath-israel-of-america-national-board-of-trustees-leadership-mission-to-washington-dc |title=Agudath Israel of America National Board of Trustees Leadership Mission to Washington, DC |date=February 27, 2016}}</ref>
Throughout his career rabbi Sherer strongly supported the State of Israel and advocated on its behalf. [http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2008/08/22/tangled-up-in-jews/ In 1975], after the infamous “Zionism is Racism” United Nations resolution, Sherer, then-president of Agudath Israel of America, wrote that “Though the resolution was supposedly aimed only at secular ‘Zionism’… the slander is an attack on the entire Jewish people.” Even if the hatred was aimed only at certain Jews, he continued, “we (Agudath Israel adherents) would feel precisely the same responsibility to come to the defense of our brethren. While we may have our own quarrel with secular Zionism, when Jews are libeled, their affiliation does not matter; our love for our brothers and sisters draws us to their side.” But what is more, he stressed, “the U. N. resolution is aimed at all Jews, for it assails the historical Jewish right to Eretz Yisrael. The Torah bestowed that right, and any attack on it is an attack on Judaism and the Jewish people.”
In 1997 he also coordinated advertising<ref>under the name ''Am Echad'': {{cite news |publisher=JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) |url=https://www.jta.org/1997/12/31/lifestyle/orthodox-ad-campaign-nixes-pluralism-promotes-education |title=Orthodox ad campaign nixes pluralism, promotes education |quote=Am Echad is an independent organization and reflects the views of many Orthodox factions, not just Agudah’s, Shafran said. |author=Suzanne Allender |date=December 31, 1997}}</ref> both in Israel and within the United States "to explain what Orthodox Judaism was about" and strengthen "Orthodoxy's increasingly influential right wing."<ref name="MShererAdv.NYT97">{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/07/us/orthodox-jewish-group-plans-a-2-million-advertising-drive.html |title=Orthodox Jewish Group Plans a $2 Million Advertising Drive |author=Gustav Niebuhr |date=December 7, 1997}}</ref> That same year Sherer renewed advocacy regarding "Who is a Jew" (''Mee Hu Yehudi'')<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-02-17-mn-29683-story.html |title=U.S. Jews Lobby Netanyahu as Rift Looms Over Conversions |quote=Under strict Jewish law, only the children of Jewish mothers are considered Jewish. Others must undergo conversion. |date=February 17, 1997}}</ref> and retaining a "One People, One Conversion" standard.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jan-13-mn-7830-story.html |title=Israel Is Urged to Keep Orthodox Control |author=Rebecca Trounson |date=January 13, 1998}}</ref>
==Biography== Matzav.com headlined "''10 years in the making''"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://matzav.com/10-years-in-the-making-rabbi-sherer |title=10 Years in the Making: "Rabbi Sherer" |author=Dovid Bernstein |date=November 24, 2009}}</ref> for the 2009-published biography titled ''Rabbi Sherer: The Paramount Torah Spokesman of Our Era'' by Yonoson Rosenblum.<ref>{{cite book |year=2009 |title=Rabbi Sherer: The Paramount Torah Spokesman of Our Era |author=Yonoson Rosenblum |publisher=Artscroll |isbn=978-1-4226-09446}}</ref> The review by Yeshiva World<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Yeshiva World |url=https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/general/42546/a-document-for-history-rabbi-sherer-the-paramount-torah-spokesman-of-our-era.html |title=A Document for History: Rabbi Sherer, The Paramount Torah Spokesman Of Our Era |author=Chaskel Bennett |date=November 25, 2009}}</ref> includes Sherer saying that his 1938 encounter with Elchonon Wasserman was "a turning point in my life."
==Personal life and death== His brother Harry was a prominent Reform rabbi who converted Sammy Davis Jr. to Judaism.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/harry-sherer-obituary?id=8109274 | title=Rabbi Harry Sherer Obituary (1915 - 2017) Los Angeles Times | website=Legacy.com }}</ref> Their mother's name was Basya.<ref name=BrokBottle.Touched2>{{cite book |page=2 |isbn=1-57819-996-4 |title=Touched by a Story(2) |author=Rabbi Yechiel Sperio|year=2004 }}</ref>
Sherer died of leukemia<ref name=Brit.E/> on Sunday afternoon, May 17, 1998. He was survived by his wife,<ref>died 2017: {{cite news |newspaper=Hamodia |url=https://hamodia.com/2017/04/27/mrs-devorah-sherer-ah-widow-of-rabbi-moshe-zl |title=Mrs. Devorah Sherer, A"H, Widow of Rabbi Moshe, Z"l |author=Reuvain Borchardt |date=April 27, 2017}}</ref> two married daughters, son Rabbi Shimshon Sherer, Daughter Elky Goldschmidt as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.<ref name=MShererObit.NYT98/>
Among those public officials who eulogized Sherer were:<ref name="Shtadlan.JPost" /> * Governor George Pataki * Mayor Rudy Giuliani * Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
At Agudah's dinner that evening, Vice-President Al Gore said, just hours after his death: "Many in the Orthodox community say, 'How far we have come.' They should say, 'How far he brought us!'"<ref name="Shtadlan.JPost" />
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.jta.org/1984/03/22/archive/report-to-be-released-in-april-says-u-s-jewish-organizations-were-faulty-in-efforts-to-save-the-vic JTA: Report to Be Released in April Says U.S. Jewish Organizations Were Faulty in Efforts to Save the Victims - Rabbi Sherer served on the Holocaust Commission]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherer, Moshe}} Category:1921 births Category:1998 deaths Category:Agudat Yisrael Category:American Haredi rabbis Category:American lobbyists Category:Leaders of Jewish organizations in the United States Category:20th-century American rabbis