The first picture from 1934 shows Irving Lehman and his wife, Sissie, hosting Albert and Elsa Einstein at the Lehman’s estate in Port Chester (Westchester County) in 1934 — not long after the legendary physicist renounced his citizenship and effectively fled from Nazi Germany. The other pictures with Lehman and Einstein were also taken at Port Chester during the 1934 visit. The two men were friends, and shared a common interest in many issues, including the plight of European Jewish people during the Holocaust.
Indeed, in addition to being one of the great jurists of his era, the lion’s share of Judge Lehman’s time off the bench was devoted to Jewish communal and philanthropic activities. Here he made an indelible mark, becoming one of the foremost leaders of American Jews. He was active in the 1920’s helping the American Jewish Committee combat Henry Ford’s anti-Semitic propaganda. From 1929 to 1938, he was President of Congregation Emanu El, one of the most important Reform synagogues in the nation. He was a founder of the National Jewish Welfare Board and served on its board from 1917 to 1940. During World War I, he was a member of the Jewish Welfare Board’s Executive Committee and Chairman of the Committee on Religious Activity, which distributed prayer books for use among Jewish soldiers. As President from 1921 to 1940, he developed the plan for the Jewish Welfare Board to become the national coordinator of Jewish community center work.
