jerusalem | Carl Alpert, who died on Israel’s 57th Independence Day, had a front-row seat to history in the making.
Alpert, who was 92, avidly reported what he saw and heard in Israel to publications throughout the Jewish world.
Born in Cambridge, Mass., Alpert began writing a syndicated column in 1937. Over the years the column was published in some 70 newspapers and magazines worldwide, including the Jewish Bulletin. He “retired” in March, only two months before his death.
A man small in physical stature, he was 10 feet tall when it came to telling the story of Israel and the Jewish people.
As a Zionist, he went the route of many American immigrants to Israel, via the Zionist youth movement. The product of a Hebrew day school, he did not really develop an interest in Zionism until he joined Young Judea in 1927. He began to read voraciously about Zionism and quickly became a Zionist activist. In 1940, he became national president of Young Judea. In that same year he married his wife, Nechama, whom he had met at Young Judea two years previously.
Alpert subsequently became involved with the Zionist Organization of America and edited its publication, The New Palestine. He later became director of the ZOA Education Department.
In 1949, the Alperts decided to settle in Israel. Jobs were scarce and Alpert was fortunate in having had enough sense not to take the plunge until he could be certain he could provide for his family. He sent letters to everyone he could think of, to no avail.
Finally, after dozens of fruitless applications, he struck gold at Haifa’s Technion, which was seeking to create a public relations and fund-raising department. Alpert made a good impression during the interview and landed the job.
Thus began a mutual love affair that lasted more than half a century.
The Alperts and their three children arrived in Haifa in the second half of 1952. After heading the fund-raising and public relations department at Technion for 14 years, Alpert was appointed executive vice chairman of Technion’s International Board of Governors.
After reaching retirement age, he continued his association with Technion, where an employees’ center was named in his honor two years ago.
In addition to his dedicated work for Technion, Alpert was also heavily involved with the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel and with the World Union of Jewish Journalists.
He was the recipient of numerous citations and awards for his work with the Technion, the city of Haifa and AACI, and his syndicated column was read throughout the English-speaking Jewish world.