Jake Joseph Farber, whose unstinting support and dedication to a wide range of Jewish and Israeli causes earned him — along with his wife, Janet — the sobriquet “Tzedaka Heroes,” died March 24. He was 94.
Jake Farber was born Dec. 19, 1924, in Los Angeles, into a poor Orthodox family and raised in Boyle Heights. His father died when the boy was 8, and his mother worked as a seamstress to support Jake and his younger sister.
Later, as a successful businessman, Farber would recall “I know what it means not to have anything. So I was hoping for the day that I would be able to help someone else.”
During World War II, he was drafted into the U.S. Army a few days after his graduation from Roosevelt High School. Upon his discharge, he enrolled at USC under the GI Bill and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
He married Janet Alpert in 1950 and soon started working in her father’s scrap metal business, Alpert & Alpert Iron and Metal.
Together with his brother-in-law, Raymond Alpert, Farber grew the company to become one of the premier metal and recycling businesses in the nation.
As his wealth and position in the community grew, Farber dedicated himself to a large number of Jewish causes, always in partnership with Janet.
The couple was an active and generous supporter of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Camp Ramah, American Jewish University, Adat Ari El Synagogue, Jewish Home for the Aging, Builders of Jewish Education, de Toledo High School, AIPAC and the Pico-Union Project, among others.
In addition to its concern for domestic organizations, the Farbers were ardent supporters of Israel and Israeli causes and traveled to the Jewish state more than 50 times.
In 1948, as the birth of the Jewish state was nearing reality, the couple went from door to door in their neighborhood to raise funds for the emerging nation’s support. “If I saw a mezuzah on the front door, we knocked on it,” Janet Farber recalled.
Among the Israeli projects that benefited from the Farbers’ involvement was the Yemin Orde Youth Village for at-risk young people, and at its 2017 banquet, the Farbers were lauded for their nearly 70 years of sharing a passion for Israel.
“Their generosity, leadership and dedication have helped to build a strong and cohesive community in Los Angeles and a secure State of Israel for today and generations to come,” the scroll read.
On another occasion, at the 2013 gala of the Los Angeles Bureau of Jewish Education, the Farbers were the honorees and were praised for embodying the Jewish concept of “le-dor-va-dor” — for all generations — through their deep ties to the Jewish community and Israel.”
The Farbers passed on their values to their three children. Son Howard is a member of the de Toledo High School community; daughter Rochelle Cohen currently serves on the board of the Federation; and daughter Nadine Lavender is active in Koreh L.A., a children’s literacy program.
In addition to his wife and children, he is survived by eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Grandson Max Farber, observed, “My grandparents exemplify what it is to take an active role in one’s education, that is, to seek out education, rather than let it find me.”
Services for Jake Joseph Farber were held at the Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to any of the causes and organizations which he supported.
