Baruch Tenembaum
Encyclopedia
Baruch Tenembaum was born in Argentina
at the Las Palmeras colony, a Santa Fe
provincial settlement for Jewish immigrants escaping from the Russia
n pogroms of 1880. The grandson and son of Jewish gauchos, he studied in Buenos Aires
and Rosario
. He is best known as an interfaith
activist, most recently with the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. According to the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO), Mr. Tenembaum was amongst the nominees to the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. World gambling operator - Ladbrokes, gave Baruch Tenembaum a 1/40 odds to win the prize, as oppose to 1/20 to the actual winner, US President Barack Obama. In a recent interview to Zenit News Agency
, http://www.zenit.org/article-28042?l=english he was asked about his nomination to the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, to what he replied: "Who I am?...just a descendant of slaves". Tenembaum characterized his life as being dedicated "to thank those human beings who saved lives, who risked themselves. [...] At the Wallenberg Foundation we work intensively to discover, among others, the exceptional deeds of those heroic human beings."
The Wallenberg Foundation aims to pay tribute to the "Saviors of the Holocaust," recognizing those who "risked their lives and freedom to save thousands of Jews from a certain death in hands of the Nazis during the Second World War," the site of the foundation explains
and literature, the Torah
, the Prophets and Mishnah
. In 1955, he was appointed Director of the Moises Ville Teacher's Seminar in the province of Santa Fe where he taught the Old Testament
and philosophy.
He was First General Director of the Argentine-Israeli Cultural Institute (ICAI). Important undertakings in the field of education were set in motion and announced from his office, including bar mitzvah tours and the founding of the Tarbut School, among others. He organised the first Latin-American Bible contest. He translated Spanish classics into Hebrew and 'Haskala' literature into Spanish
.
He launched the idea of establishing interfaith
monuments by promoting the creation of a fresco by the Argentine master painter Raúl Soldi
at the main church in Nazareth
, which was completed in 1968.
In 1965, he was a Latin American promoter of the first visit by a Pope to Jerusalem. Granted an award for his work by the Vatican
, he was invited to a ceremony at the Vatican City
and was received by Pope Paul VI
on January 13, 1965. At a separate public ceremony, Monsignor Antonio Caggiano, Cardinal
Primate
of Argentina, presented him with an Argentine Church award, granted for the very first time for a Jew Jew in Argentina.
Along with writer Jorge Luis Borges
, he founded la Casa Argentina en Jerusalem, with branches in Buenos Aires and Jerusalem. He was worked on interreligious initiatives with Rabbi Guillermo Schlesinger, Father Carlos Cuccetti, Pastor Sosa and Father Ernesto Segura, who was the first President of Argentine House in Israel.
Tenembaum's Jewish and humanist
education is a result of a deep devotion of his teacher and mentor, Rabbi Jacobo Fink, an orthodox
rabbi who initiated him in the Jewish knowledge and the Kabbalah
, and guided him all of his life. Even if they were far away (he was Great Rabbi in Rio de Janeiro
, Brazil, Haifa
, Israel, and Buenos Aires, Argentina) so close was their relationship that every Friday they had a conversation, which was never ever postponed until the last day of his life.
He was the co-author, together with Dr. Shalom Rosenberg, professor of philosophy
at the Hebrew University at Jerusalem, of the book 'Holy Places in the Holy Land'.
, a sinister character of great influence during the government of President Isabel Martínez de Perón
. Together with members of the military and police, the Triple A supposedly began the “disappearance
” of people in Argentina which, by the end of the military dictatorship in 1983, came to a total of 30,000 persons. The kidnappers allegedly accused him of “infecting the Catholic Church with the virus of Judaism” and “of spreading ideas of alleged coexistence so as to destroy Christian principles” through his inter-faith work, which they claimed, “leads to the destruction of the Creole republic”. Additionally, they accused him of being a part of the sinister “conspiracy” known as the Plan Andinia.
In a dramatic turn of events, his wife Perla volunteered as a hostage, and was also kidnapped herself. While he was in captivity Father Horacio Moreno spoke out for him, calling for his freedom from his pulpit
at Fatima Church and later holding a face-to-face meeting with the kidnappers who self-defined themselves as “concerned Catholics”. Finally, he was liberated. Since then Mr. Tenembaum resides in Uruguay from where he leads the international affairs of the Wallenberg Foundation.
. After eight years in self-imposed exile, and following the fall of the military dictatorship
, he renewed his visits to Argentina.
Tenembaum was one of the founders of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.
Raoul Wallenberg
was the Swedish diplomat who was executed by the Italians in 1943 after saving the lives of thousands of Jews and other persecuted by the Nazis during World War II. The foundation honors Wallenberg's memory, and continues to hunt for him or his remains. The Wallenberg Foundation also honors other righteous gentiles who saved Jews during the Holocaust or shoah
.
In October 2003, United States Congress
man Tom Lantos
made a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives
to honor Tenembaum, and had a fuller tribute inserted into the Congressional Record
Wallenberg apparently was instrumental in saving Lantos from the Nazis. Tenembaum also received the Royal Order of the Polar Star from H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
. Tenembaum has had an audience with the Pope
. He frequently has letters to the editor published.
Baruch Tenembaum and Elsa Kononowicz are the parents of Shmuel Tenembaum, an Israel
i lawyer, Yoav Tenembaum, an historian and author, and Abigail Tenembaum, a strategy consultant. He also has six grandchildren.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
at the Las Palmeras colony, a Santa Fe
Santa Fe, Argentina
Santa Fe is the capital city of province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It sits in northeastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies opposite the city of Paraná, to which it is linked by the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel. The city is also connected by canal with the...
provincial settlement for Jewish immigrants escaping from the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n pogroms of 1880. The grandson and son of Jewish gauchos, he studied in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and Rosario
Rosario
Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
. He is best known as an interfaith
Interfaith
The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels...
activist, most recently with the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. According to the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO), Mr. Tenembaum was amongst the nominees to the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. World gambling operator - Ladbrokes, gave Baruch Tenembaum a 1/40 odds to win the prize, as oppose to 1/20 to the actual winner, US President Barack Obama. In a recent interview to Zenit News Agency
Zenit News Agency
ZENIT is a non-profit news agency that reports on the Catholic Church and issues important to it from the perspective of Church doctrine. ZENIT's motto is, "The world seen from Rome."...
, http://www.zenit.org/article-28042?l=english he was asked about his nomination to the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, to what he replied: "Who I am?...just a descendant of slaves". Tenembaum characterized his life as being dedicated "to thank those human beings who saved lives, who risked themselves. [...] At the Wallenberg Foundation we work intensively to discover, among others, the exceptional deeds of those heroic human beings."
The Wallenberg Foundation aims to pay tribute to the "Saviors of the Holocaust," recognizing those who "risked their lives and freedom to save thousands of Jews from a certain death in hands of the Nazis during the Second World War," the site of the foundation explains
Education and activism
In 1952, Tenembaum graduated from the Higher Institute of Judaic Religious Studies. As a teacher and a professor he taught Hebrew and Yiddish languageYiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
and literature, the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, the Prophets and Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
. In 1955, he was appointed Director of the Moises Ville Teacher's Seminar in the province of Santa Fe where he taught the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
and philosophy.
He was First General Director of the Argentine-Israeli Cultural Institute (ICAI). Important undertakings in the field of education were set in motion and announced from his office, including bar mitzvah tours and the founding of the Tarbut School, among others. He organised the first Latin-American Bible contest. He translated Spanish classics into Hebrew and 'Haskala' literature into Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
.
He launched the idea of establishing interfaith
Interfaith
The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels...
monuments by promoting the creation of a fresco by the Argentine master painter Raúl Soldi
Raúl Soldi
Raúl Soldi was an Argentine painter whose work treated various subjects, including landscapes, portraits, the theater and the circus, and nature. His theatrical figures are renowned for their melancholy appearance...
at the main church in Nazareth
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
, which was completed in 1968.
In 1965, he was a Latin American promoter of the first visit by a Pope to Jerusalem. Granted an award for his work by the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, he was invited to a ceremony at the Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
and was received by Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
on January 13, 1965. At a separate public ceremony, Monsignor Antonio Caggiano, Cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
Primate
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
of Argentina, presented him with an Argentine Church award, granted for the very first time for a Jew Jew in Argentina.
Along with writer Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
, he founded la Casa Argentina en Jerusalem, with branches in Buenos Aires and Jerusalem. He was worked on interreligious initiatives with Rabbi Guillermo Schlesinger, Father Carlos Cuccetti, Pastor Sosa and Father Ernesto Segura, who was the first President of Argentine House in Israel.
Tenembaum's Jewish and humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
education is a result of a deep devotion of his teacher and mentor, Rabbi Jacobo Fink, an orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
rabbi who initiated him in the Jewish knowledge and the Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
, and guided him all of his life. Even if they were far away (he was Great Rabbi in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, Brazil, Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
, Israel, and Buenos Aires, Argentina) so close was their relationship that every Friday they had a conversation, which was never ever postponed until the last day of his life.
He was the co-author, together with Dr. Shalom Rosenberg, professor of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at the Hebrew University at Jerusalem, of the book 'Holy Places in the Holy Land'.
Kidnapping
On January 31, 1976, Baruch Tenembaum was kidnapped by rightwing extremists belonging to the Triple A (Argentine Anti-subversive Alliance) a clandestine state terrorist organisation founded under the aegis of José López RegaJosé López Rega
José López Rega was Argentina's Minister of Social Welfare during the Peronist government started in 1973 by Juan Perón and continued after Perón's death in 1974 by his third wife and vice-president, Isabel Martínez de Perón , until the coup d'etat of 1976 that initiated the so-called National...
, a sinister character of great influence during the government of President Isabel Martínez de Perón
Isabel Martínez de Perón
María Estela Martínez Cartas de Perón , better known as Isabel Martínez de Perón or Isabel Perón, is a former President of Argentina. She was also the third wife of another former President, Juan Perón...
. Together with members of the military and police, the Triple A supposedly began the “disappearance
Disappearance
Disappearance may refer to:* Forced disappearance, when an organization forces a person to vanish from public view* Unexplained disappearances, the disappearance of objects, animals or people without apparent reason or cause...
” of people in Argentina which, by the end of the military dictatorship in 1983, came to a total of 30,000 persons. The kidnappers allegedly accused him of “infecting the Catholic Church with the virus of Judaism” and “of spreading ideas of alleged coexistence so as to destroy Christian principles” through his inter-faith work, which they claimed, “leads to the destruction of the Creole republic”. Additionally, they accused him of being a part of the sinister “conspiracy” known as the Plan Andinia.
In a dramatic turn of events, his wife Perla volunteered as a hostage, and was also kidnapped herself. While he was in captivity Father Horacio Moreno spoke out for him, calling for his freedom from his pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
at Fatima Church and later holding a face-to-face meeting with the kidnappers who self-defined themselves as “concerned Catholics”. Finally, he was liberated. Since then Mr. Tenembaum resides in Uruguay from where he leads the international affairs of the Wallenberg Foundation.
Recent events and activism
Tenembaum continued his work on humanitarian causes searching for gentiles who helped Jews during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After eight years in self-imposed exile, and following the fall of the military dictatorship
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
, he renewed his visits to Argentina.
Tenembaum was one of the founders of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.
Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
was the Swedish diplomat who was executed by the Italians in 1943 after saving the lives of thousands of Jews and other persecuted by the Nazis during World War II. The foundation honors Wallenberg's memory, and continues to hunt for him or his remains. The Wallenberg Foundation also honors other righteous gentiles who saved Jews during the Holocaust or shoah
Shoah
Shoah may refer to:*The Holocaust*Shoah , documentary directed by Claude Lanzmann * A Shoah Foundation...
.
In October 2003, United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
man Tom Lantos
Tom Lantos
Thomas Peter "Tom" Lantos was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 until his death, representing the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and a portion of southwest San Francisco...
made a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
to honor Tenembaum, and had a fuller tribute inserted into the Congressional Record
Congressional Record
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published by the United States Government Printing Office, and is issued daily when the United States Congress is in session. Indexes are issued approximately every two weeks...
Wallenberg apparently was instrumental in saving Lantos from the Nazis. Tenembaum also received the Royal Order of the Polar Star from H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Tenembaum has had an audience with the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
. He frequently has letters to the editor published.
Baruch Tenembaum and Elsa Kononowicz are the parents of Shmuel Tenembaum, an Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i lawyer, Yoav Tenembaum, an historian and author, and Abigail Tenembaum, a strategy consultant. He also has six grandchildren.