Henry Monsky

[4] A leader in local communal affairs, he was a founder of Omaha's Community Chest in 1922, continuously sat on its board, and served as its first vice-president and later as its president.

His strong support for B'nai B'rith came from the organization not adhering to any political or religious dogma and welcoming all Jews.

He was against the growing factionalism among American Jews to the point of refusing to identify with any one Jewish denomination, becoming a member of Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox congregations.

In 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt appointed him a member of the National Voluntary Participation Committee of the Office of Civilian Defense.

[6] A lifelong Zionist, Monsky successfully enlisted non-Zionist support in protests against the White Paper of 1939, Cyprus internment camps, and restrictions on Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine.

On December 8, 1942, he led a delegation of Jewish organization representatives to the White House and President Roosevelt to bring attention to the plight of European Jews and to request firm action against the Nazis.

He fell in love with Daisy when he was young and planned to marry her, only for social and religious prejudices from both families to put a stop to the wedding.

[9] Over 2,000 people attended a special memorial service for him at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, including Bernard Baruch, Henry Morgenthau Jr., B'nai B'rith Veterans Committee chairman Col. Elliott Niles of Boston, New York Supreme Court Justice Meier Steinbrink, Women's Supreme Council of B'nai B'rith president Mrs. A. Orlow, Dropsie College president Abraham A. Neuman, former Municipal Court Justice Myron Sulzberger, B'nai B'rith national vice-president Frank Goldman, Metropolitan Council of B'nai B'rith Samuel Markle, and American Jewish Committee president Joseph M. Proskauer.

His body was then sent to Omaha,[10] where over 3,000 people attended his funeral at Temple Israel, many of them overflowed to the basement or standing outside.