Judith Feld Carr, CM (born 1938) is a Canadian musicologist and human rights activist known for secretly bringing to freedom thousands of Jews out of Syria over a period of 28 years.
Feld Carr used funds from the Dr. Ronald Feld Fund for Jews in Arab Lands (established at Beth Tzedec Congregation, Toronto in 1973), donated privately, both to negotiate ransom for the release of Syrian Jews, from prisons inside Syria and for passports and visas, permitting them to leave, as well as smuggling others across borders and out of that country.
[4]Her work focused on creating cells with Syrians temporarily abroad (who almost invariably had to leave family members behind as sureties for their return), those who had escaped, and Syrians inside the country, including Jews, Christians, and Muslims, to develop a reliable and secure information network.
In addition, she provided money to assist families of those imprisoned and she was able to smuggle out of that country many rare Jewish religious articles, including the famous Damascus Codex, known as a "Keter" (Crown), which had been written in the 12th century in Italy, found its way to Castile, Constantinople, and eventually Damascus, where it had been kept in secret for some 500 years.
The Award was created by President Shimon Peres earlier that year, in order to "recognize outstanding contribution to the Jewish People and the State of Israel".