Schenk, Faye L.

views updated

SCHENK, FAYE L.

SCHENK, FAYE L. (1909–1981), U.S. Zionist leader. Faye Schenk was born in Des Moines, Iowa, daughter of Rabbi H.H. Zeichik, a noted talmudic scholar. In 1933 she married Rabbi Max Schenk, later spiritual leader of Congregation Shaare Zedek in Brooklyn, n.y. From 1939 to 1949 the Schenks lived in Sydney, Australia, where Faye Schenk was a leader in the Women's International Zionist Organization. Settling in New York in 1949, she became active in *Hadassah, and after serving in numerous leadership capacities became national president in 1968. Mrs. Schenk remained national president of Hadassah until 1972 and in 1973 was elected president of the American Zionist Federation. She became a member of the Executive of the World Zionist Organization in 1977 and settled permanently in Israel. After serving for six months as chairman of the *Keren Hayesod, after the death of Ezra Shapiro, in 1978 she was appointed head of the organization department of the wzo.

[Gladys Rosen]

More From encyclopedia.com