new york | In the late 1970s a Brooklyn rabbi who had recently established a small publishing firm was asked by a friend if he would be willing to meet a prominent Manhattan businessman who was interested in learning Torah.
Rabbi Nosson Scherman agreed to the request, and a few days later Laurence Tisch called to arrange the study sessions. For 12 years Scherman and Tisch, chief executive officer of Loews Corp., met in Tisch’s office for an hour of textual discussion.
“I was impressed by his openness. That we had such different religious convictions didn’t make any difference to him,” the rabbi, a member of the haredi community, said this week. Tisch was affiliated with the Reform movement.
Tisch died Nov. 15 in New York University Medical Center after a 15-month battle with cancer. He was 80.
His funeral Nov. 17 at Central Synagogue in Manhattan drew a capacity crowd of mourners that filled the main sanctuary and a meeting room on a lower hall where the service was broadcast. He was remembered as a self-made billionaire and philanthropist, a family man and Jewish communal leader, an avid player of tennis and bridge.
Tisch and his brother, Preston Robert, built up the Loews Corp. into a conglomerate of hotels and movie theaters, oil tankers and watch manufacturers, served as chief executive officer of CBS Inc., saving the corporation from a hostile takeover but earning criticism for making drastic cost-cutting measures.
The Brooklyn native attended New York University, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and Harvard Law School. He served in World War II in the Office of Strategic Services.
“My father lived a storied life, he achieved true happiness,” said his son Andrew. “He never viewed life as a competitive sport. Tennis yes, life no.”
Along with his wife of 55 years, Wilma “Billie” Tisch, son Andrew and brother Preston Robert, Tisch is survived by sons James, Daniel and Thomas, and 15 grandchildren.