Boruch Dayan Hoemes: R’ Moshe Zvi Reicher, 66, OBM

With great sadness we inform you of the untimely passing of Reb Moshe Zvi Reicher OBM a Bobover Chossid who passed away after an illness, he was 66 years old.

R’ Moshe Zvi was a highly respected and beloved member of the Bobov community, renowned international lawyer and professor of Law, tireless dedicated activist for Jewish causes across the globe and a proud father of Chabad shluchim working in the Rebbe’s mosdos in Australia and America.

Raised in Melbourne, Australia, his Yeshiva studies took him to the Rabbinical College of Australia and New Zealand (The Melbourne Yeshiva Gedola) and to Yeshivas Kol Torah, in Yerushalayim.

He was one of the leading international law and taxation experts in Australia trained at Monash University with advanced degrees from Melbourne University and Harvard Law School.

Professor Reicher was centrally responsible for the first legislation in Australia, and only the second in the world after New York, granting relatives of a deceased person a statutory right to object to the performance of an autopsy, and then to challenge the Coroner’s decision in the courts.

From 1995 to 2004, he was Representative to the United Nations of Agudath Israel World Organization, which has consultative status with the world body. In this capacity, he worked, at the legal and diplomatic levels, on promotion of international human rights, particularly freedom of religion. In particular, he was heavily involved in the protection and preservation of Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe; to protect Jewish schools there threatened with closure; and in a range of other areas. Among other accomplishments, he:

* Was the driving force behind an Executive Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, prohibiting construction on, or privatization of, cemeteries, including Jewish ones.

* Was instrumental in securing the reopening of a Yeshiva in Baku, Azerbaijan, after it had been closed by the governmental authorities.

* Spearheaded the campaign that resulted in the return to the Jewish community of a synagogue building in Kishinev, Moldova, which was expropriated by the communists, and later the Nazis.

* Made written and oral presentations to a government inquiry in England, which resulted in recommendations for amending coronial legislation to accommodate Jewish sensitivities in the area of post-mortem examinations.

* Was responsible for legislation protecting the right of shechita of birds.

* Led a team of lawyers who researched and publicized a solution, within the framework of the Australian Family Law Act, to the problem of agunos.

In recent years he was also Director of International Affairs of Agudath Israel World Organization, which is a constituent of the Claims Conference and the World Jewish Restitution Organization. In this capacity, he was heavily involved in Holocaust-era restitution, reparations and compensation, and the plethora of litigation arising therefrom, and was one of two principal co-authors of a major brief in the Swiss banks litigation. In this capacity he was also able to secure compensation and reparations for Torah institutions.

In recognition of his pioneering work on the legal dimension to the Holocaust, in January 2004, President Bush appointed Professor Reicher to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, which conducts the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, in Washington, DC, on which he served until 2008. He also served on the Museum’s Academic Committee and Committee on Conscience. Also in January 2004, the Mayor of Saratoga, Florida, presented him with the Key to the City. In April, 2004, the City of Bayonne, New Jersey, proclaimed April 18 to be “Professor Harry Reicher Day”, and the two Houses of the New Jersey State Legislature passed a Joint Resolution applauding his work.

In recognition of his work he was recently awarded the prestigious fellowship to research at the Shoah Center USC. He was at the tail end of completing a College Textbook on the Holocaust to be published by Oxford Press.

Professor Reicher was a gifted orator, speaking often in exquisite Yiddish and then switching to the Queen’s English in perfect harmony. He was a Torah Scholar, giving a weekly Shiur at Kahal Yeshuois Chaim in Flatbush in the teachings of Chassidus. With sparks of humor and a small dose of his sheer brilliance, he kept the people at the Shiur in total awe.

Professor Reicher was a walking Kiddush Hashem blending his Yirei Shemayim and his total dedication to Yiddishkeit with the secular world; a feat not easily accomplished. He was able to skillfully dance in both worlds with grace and in perfect step. Never forgetting where he came from and what he stands for. He never compromised his ideals, morals or faith. He was true to his convictions and a “Chusid” in every respect.

He was also a much loved and respected Professor, with one student commenting: “To be in his class was a treat.” He won the Adjunct Teaching Award at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a student voted award.

He was a humble spirit but had a generous heart, and was always available to those seeking his help. His dedication to Klal Yisroel in general, and to his community in particular, was his precious legacy. His sterling character and warm nature, his humility, sense of humor and his acts of kindness were his hallmark.

He is survived by his wife Mrs. Chanie Reicher of Boro Park and his children Mr. Chaim Reicher (Melbourne, Australia), Mrs. Elisheva Engel of (Melbourne, Australia), Mrs. Nechama Haskelevich (Philadelphia, PA), and Aharon Reicher (Boro Park, Brooklyn). He is also survived by his sister Mrs. Susie Engel (Jerusalem, Israel).

The Levaya will take place in front of Bobov 1362 49th St. Brooklyn, NY at 10:30am, followed by burial on Har Hazeisim in Eretz Yisroel.

Shiva locations:

Mrs. Chanie Reicher 174 Parkville Ave. Brooklyn, NY

Mrs. Susie Engel, Mr. Chaim Reicher, Mrs. Nechama Haskelevich will begin shiva at 174 Parkville Ave. Brookly, NY immediately following levaya until 4pm Monday and continue after buriel in Israel at 2 Derech Haalon, Moshav Beit Zayit (Just below Har Nof).

Mrs. Elisheva Engel 2 Vadlure Ave. in Melbourne, Australia.

Aharon Reicher will begin in Beit Zayit Yerushalayim and continue in Boro Park.

Condolences via email may be sent to RebMosheZvi@gmail.com

Boruch Dayan Haemes