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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/40656/full/40656/ex-jewish-agency-board-chair-dies/ <br /><br /> <b>Ex-Jewish Agency board chair dies</b> <br /> Wednesday, November 25, 2009 | by <br /><br /><p>Mendel Kaplan, a prominent South African Jewish leader and philanthropist, has died at 73.</p> <p>A champion of Jewish education and Russian aliyah to Israel, the billionaire magnate was board chairman of the Jewish Agency from 1987 to 1995.</p> <p>Kaplan also was chairman of Keren Hayesod’s World Board of Trustees from 1983 to 1987 and national chairman of the Israel United Appeal, South Africa, from 1978 to 1987.</p> <p>He established the Isaac and Jessie Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies and Research at the University of Cape Town and the South African Jewish Museum.</p> <p>“Few, if any, have done as much to build South African Jewry into the dynamic, vibrant community it is today,” said the chairman of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, Zev Krengel.</p> <p>Kaplan made his fortune in the South African steel industry, and had residences in Israel and South Africa, according to the Jerusalem Post. — <em>jta</em></p>

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