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Marvin Hier | |
|---|---|
 Hier in 1981 | |
| Born | 1939 (age 85–86) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Rabbi |
| Children | 2 sons |
Marvin (Moshe Chaim) Hier (born 1939 inNew York City) is thedean and founder of theSimon Wiesenthal Center,[1] itsMuseum of Tolerance[2] and of Moriah, the center's film division. He has been aTrack II diplomacy contributor to the genesis of theAbraham Accords.[3]
Hier was born in 1939 inNew York City. His Jewish parents came fromPoland; his father worked as a lamp polisher after arriving in New York in 1917. Hier grew up on theLower East Side attending the Rabbi Shlomo Kluger Yeshiva on Houston Street for elementary school and theRabbi Jacob Joseph School for high-school and six years post-high school. Hier receivedsmicha in 1962 from RabbiMendel Kravitz,rosh yeshiva of the Rabbi Jacob Joseph School.
In the 1960s, Hier served as assistant rabbi and, in 1964, becameRabbi ofCongregation Schara Tzedeck inVancouver, British Columbia.[4] In 1977, following a visit to Holocaust sites in Europe, Hier came toLos Angeles to create theSimon Wiesenthal Center. Under his leadership, the center has become one of the foremost Jewishhuman rights agencies in the world, with a constituency of more than 400,000 families. The center maintains offices throughout theUnited States, and inCanada,Europe,Israel andArgentina.
Hier is the recipient of twoAcademy Awards—as co-producer and co-writer for the 1981 documentaryGenocide, about theHolocaust, and as co-producer of the 1997 documentaryThe Long Way Home, which offers new insights into the critical postWorld War II period between 1945 and 1948 and the suffering of the tens of thousands of refugees who survived the Holocaust.
In 1990, he wrote and co-produced the award-winningEchoes That Remain, a documentary on pre-World War IIEuropean Jewish life, and in 1994, Hier produced and co-wrote,Liberation, the first production ofMoriah Films. Under Hier's direction, the Wiesenthal Center has served as consultant toSteven Spielberg's epicSchindler's List, andABC Television's miniseries adaptation ofHerman Wouk's novel,War and Remembrance. He is the recipient of an honorary degree and, in 1993 was made a Chevalier in theOrdre National du Mérite byFrench PresidentFrançois Mitterrand.
Newsweek describes Hier as the following, "Hier is one phone call away from almost every world leader, journalist and Hollywood studio head. He is the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, theMuseum of Tolerance and Moriah Films."[5] In 2007 and 2008 Marvin Hier was named the most influential rabbi in America byNewsweek.[6]
Hier founded the Yeshiva University High Schools of Los Angeles and was the dean of the school until the 2006–2007 school year.
Hier helped to propagate the2006 Iranian sumptuary law hoax, declaring the fictitious law to be "absolutely true" when contacted by Canadian journalist Douglas Kelly to verify the story.[7]
PresidentGeorge W. Bush appointed Hier to serve on the honorary delegation to accompany him toJerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of theState of Israel in May 2008.[8]
In 2009, he criticized Vatican cardinalRenato Martino over his comment that theGaza Strip was a "big concentration camp". He later criticized the lifting of the excommunication of bishopRichard Williamson, a member of theSociety of Saint Pius X.[9]
In 2009Newsweek named him # 2 on its list of "50 Influential Rabbis."[10]
A $100 millionMuseum of Tolerance and Human Dignity, a project of the Simon Wiesenthal Center inLos Angeles run by Marvin Hier, is set to be built in Jerusalem, Israel.
In 2013,The Forward called Hier the "most overpaid" executive of a Jewish non-profit. Hier's family received nearly $1.3 million in 2012 from the Simon Wiesenthal Center.[11]
In 2017 Hier welcomed the King of BahrainHamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles together withRabbi Abraham Cooper paving the way for theAbraham Accords.[12]
He gave an invocation at the2017 inauguration of Donald Trump.[13] He has participated in fundraising events for Trump's 2020 reelection.[14]
He was "the first Orthodox rabbi ever to give a benediction at an American president's inauguration".[15] He citedPsalm 137: "By the rivers of Babylon ... We wept as we remembered Zion. If I forget thee, Oh Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.[15]"
In 2019 Marvin attended the Peace to Prosperity conference inBahrain. During the June 25–26 economic conference inManama, Hier praised the government of Bahrain saying, "If every Arab country were to be like Bahrain, the Messiah would arrive!"[16]
Hier resides inLos Angeles, California. He has two sons and eight grandchildren.
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