Judy Feld Carr. Photo: Mark Neiman/GPO.

Judy Feld Carr

Humanitarian

This musicologist is best known for having brought thousands of Jewish Syrians to safety through a secretive process of negotiation. She used funds from the Dr. Ronald Feld Fund for Jews in Arab Lands (established at Beth Tzedeck Synagogue, Toronto, in 1973), donated privately, both to negotiate ransoms for the release of Syrian Jews, from prisons inside Syria and for passports and visas, permitting them to leave, as well as smuggling others across borders and out of that country. The process took over 28 years, in complete secrecy to protect the lives of those in danger, as well as to protect the mission. In June 2012, Feld Carr was one of the first six recipients of The Presidential Award of Distinction of the State of Israel