Several Los Angeles–area rabbis have joined the family of Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-Jewish jurist who coined the term “genocide,” in urging Pennsylvania officials to review how the Lemkin name is being used by a U.S. nonprofit the family says turns his legacy against Israel.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, together with local rabbis Yitzchak Lasry and Tal Perez, signed letters asking Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.) and state officials to act. Their message: using the Lemkin name to accuse Israel of genocide misrepresents the history and moral purpose behind his life’s work.
“Raphael Lemkin’s name was meant to protect the Jewish people, not to be used against them,” said Joseph Lemkin, a New Jersey attorney, partner at Stark & Stark, and founder of the Jewish Bar Association of New Jersey. “When we see his legacy turned upside down, it feels personal, especially after Oct. 7.”
The letters follow a family complaint filed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 29 asking the state to review public uses and registrations of the Lemkin name by the organization. As one example, the family points to an “Active Genocide Alert” the group posted on Oct. 13, 2023, days after the Hamas attack, which the family says misstates Lemkin’s intent.
Lemkin said the response has been broad and local. “We’re hearing from survivors’ families, community members and rabbis here in Los Angeles,” he told the Jewish Journal. “It’s moving to see how many people want to keep the Lemkin name sacred, above politics.”
He added thanks to Rabbi Hier and the LA rabbinic community. “Rabbi Hier built a life’s work around Holocaust memory and fighting hate,” Lemkin said. “To have his voice, and the voices of other LA rabbis, stand with us matters a great deal.”
The organization at the center of the dispute denied the allegations.
Maimon Miller served as a Rabbi at the Edmond J. Safra Synagogue in Manhattan and at Aish San Diego. He is currently a transformational life coach and owner of an immigration law firm.
