39 Facts About Ronald Greenwald

Ronald Greenwald was an American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, who was a businessman and an educator.

Ronald Greenwald served as presidential liaison of President Richard Nixon to the Jewish community during the Nixon administration.

Ronald Greenwald served as a community activist, chaired various civic boards, directed a high school and a summer camp, and was the chairman of Magenu.

Ronald Greenwald was born to European Jewish immigrant parents and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan before his family relocated to Brownsville.

Ronald Greenwald studied at Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland after high school.

Rabbi Greenwald became active in politics in 1962 lobbying on behalf of Torah Umesorah to promote the creation and success of Jewish day schools in the United States.

At the request of Jewish activist George Klein, Rabbi Greenwald became involved in the gubernatorial campaign of Nelson A Rockefeller and helped Rockefeller win an unprecedented share of the Jewish vote for a Republican at the time.

Ronald Greenwald obtained a $1 million grant to open a legal aid office in Brooklyn to assist the needy in the community of Williamsburg among other accomplishments.

Ronald Greenwald died in his sleep while on vacation in Florida, on January 20,2016.

Ronald Greenwald was involved in scores of release efforts for various prisoners from around the world.

In perhaps his highest profile case, Rabbi Ronald Greenwald worked closely with Representative Benjamin Gilman and East German lawyer Wolfgang Vogel to secure the release of Soviet dissident and Refusenik Natan Sharansky from Soviet prison in the late 1970s.

Ronald Greenwald made more than 25 trips across the "Iron Curtain" to East Germany as part of that effort.

The Rockland Journal News reported that Rabbi Ronald Greenwald was the "man behind the talks" that freed Sharansky.

In conjunction with Representative Gilman, Rabbi Ronald Greenwald negotiated the rescue a 24-year-old Israeli citizen named Miron Markus in 1978 who was living in Zimbabwe.

Rabbi Ronald Greenwald, working again with Representative Gilman, helped broker the exchange of Mr Granados in exchange for a ransom payment of $4,000,000.

Vladimir Raiz, a Soviet molecular biologist, had been denied permission to leave the former Soviet Union for 18 years before Ronald Greenwald entered the picture.

Ronald Greenwald was involved in the transfer of Shabattai Kalmanovich from the USSR to Israel.

Ronald Greenwald was released from prison after five years and returned to Russia.

Ronald Greenwald was accused of belonging to a Marxist rebel group and plotting to overthrow the Peruvian government.

Ronald Greenwald was involved in many of the attempts to gain clemency for Jonathan Pollard by convincing the then serving President of the United States to pardon Pollard or to commute his sentence.

Ronald Greenwald brought in Alan Dershowitz to oversee the legalities of the effort and Greenwald to act as a person liaison between him and Zehe.

Ronald Greenwald conveyed messages to Zehe from his family urging him to do whatever it took to allow himself to be released as soon as possible.

Ronald Greenwald was released as part an exchange of agents in June 1985.

Rabbi Ronald Greenwald was a featured speaker at many conventions and gatherings throughout his career.

Jack Anderson, in the December 3,1988, edition of the Washington Post, reported that Rabbi Ronald Greenwald was working on an effort to persuade US authorities to release convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, who had been condemned to life imprisonment.

On February 3,1986, the ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings credited Ronald Greenwald with playing a role in the negotiations for the release of Sharansky and featured a video clip of Rabbi Ronald Greenwald expressing optimism that Sharansky would be released.

The fact that Ronald Greenwald had ties to the New Square community, was a former business associate of Marc Rich, another person pardoned by Clinton at the end of his term and had been questioned by the FBI during its investigation into the pardons, made his opinions regarding the incident highly sought after by media outlets.

Ronald Greenwald appeared on The O'Reilly Factor on October 10,2002, when he was cross examined by host Bill O'Reilly for several minutes regarding the affair.

In both interviews, Ronald Greenwald conceded that the New Square community probably voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton in her race against Rick Lazio for US Senate in 2000 with some expectation that some consideration be given to pardoning the members of the New Square community.

The day prior to the "funeral," Rabbi Ronald Greenwald was invited to address the Lithuanian Parliament.

Rabbi Ronald Greenwald contacted the Prime Minister's office and promised the Prime Minister that saving the cemetery would bring him great blessing.

On November 15,2009, The Yitti Liebel Help Line honored Ronald Greenwald by dedicating the event and the journal as a tribute to him.

Rabbi Ronald Greenwald had a variety of unusual ties to South Africa in the Apartheid era.

Ronald Greenwald was the diplomatic representative of the African Bantustan of Bophuthatswana in the United States, when that "homeland" lacked international recognition.

Ronald Greenwald served as chairman of the board of the Women's League in Rockland County and of the Borough Park, Brooklyn branch of the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services.

Ronald Greenwald served on the Board of Governors of the Orthodox Union, and as acting chairman of Magenu.

Ronald Greenwald worked with Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Italy in a variety of capacities.

Ronald Greenwald further reiterated his prior condemnation of those actions and expressed optimism regarding the present and future of Italian-Jewish relations.

Ronald Greenwald served as Chairman of the Board of the Women's League, once led by Rebetzin Perlow, the wife of Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, the Novominsker Rebbe.