Abraham (Aba) Moshe Dunner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aba_Dunner

Rabbi Aba (Avrohom Moshe) Dunner (13 November 1937 – 17 July 2011) was a social and religious activist, who represented and worked for the interests of European Jewry, first as the personal assistant to Rabbi Dr. Solomon Schonfeld, then as Secretary to the British office of Agudat Israel, and in his latter years as Executive Director of the Conference of European Rabbis. Although born in pre-war Europe, Aba spent the majority of his life in England, where he was active in both communal work and the business world.

Aba Dunner was born in Koenigsberg (today known as Kaliningrad), then part of Germany, on 13 November 1937. His father was Rabbi Josef Hirsch Dunner, a scion of the distinguished Dunner family of Cologne, and from 1936 chief rabbi of East Prussia. His mother, Ida, was the daughter of Dr Wilhelm (Zev) Freyhan, a leading member of the Jewish community of Breslau, and one of the original founders of Agudat Israel at the Kattowitz Conference of 1912. Ida's mother came from the illustrious Hackenbroch family of Frankfurt-am-Main; her great-grandfather was part of the original strictly orthodox group who split off from the main community and invited Rabbiner Samson Rafael Hirsch to lead a breakaway community.

In 1960 Aba married Miriam (1941–2006), daughter of Arthur "Adje" (Uri) Cohen (1910–2000) of Rotterdam. During the Nazi occupation of Holland, Arthur Cohen was a leading member of the Dutch Underground resistance movement, and after the war he was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Jewish community in Holland; as late as the mid-1970s, when already in his 60s, he established a school for strictly-orthodox boys and girls in Amsterdam, known as the "cheider". The young couple initially set up home in Stamford Hill, close to Aba's parents, and then in 1976 they moved to Golders Green. During this time they had five children, Yitzchok (born 1961), Benzi (1962–2008), Hadassa (born 1963), Zev (born 1967), and Pini (born 1970).

Immediately following Passover 2011 Aba was admitted to a hospital in London after suffering from terrible discomfort over the festival period. He was quickly diagnosed with terminal cancer, and he died at the London Clinic with his family at his side on Sunday, 17 July 2011. The following day he was buried at the Adath Yisrael Cemetery, in Enfield, north London.[4] A large number of tributes to him were issued by leading Jewish figures and organisations after his death. The World Jewish Congress, the leading Jewish diaspora representative body, issued a statement which said: "[Aba Dunner] was one of the leading activists for the cause of Orthodox Judaism over the past decades and was widely respected across the Jewish world. He was at the heart of the building and strengthening Jewish institutions in Europe. Within the World Jewish Congress, Rabbi Dunner and the Conference of European Rabbis – which he led for many years – were actively engaged in addressing the concerns of Jews and Jewish communities and in strengthening dialogue with other faith communities. He was a dedicated fighter for achieving peace and freedom for all peoples, irrespective of their origin, religion or ethnic background."

References

^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/religion-obituaries/8714...

^ http://www.interfaithdialog.org/reading-room-main2menu-27/119-jewis...

^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-550868/Car-smash-kills-Gods...

^ http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/51990/man-who-revived-european-jewry

^ http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/10450/rabbi_aba_dunner_d...

http://www.abadunner.com/

http://www.cer-online.org/