AMIT Spring 2014 Magazine

IN THIS ISSUE: A M I T $ 1 0 M I L L I O N C A P I TA L C A M PA I G N T E L AV I V. T H E W H I T E C I T Y PLANNED GIVING DEVELOPMENT N EWS B U I L D I N G I S R A E L . O N E C H I L D AT A T I M E .

AMIT Orot Hesder Yeshiva at Kfar Batya Torah Studies and Service to Israel

s p r i n g 2 0 1 4 : : av i v 5 7 74 : : Vo l . L X X X V ! : : N o. 2

SPRNG14_cvr_p1_v2.indd 1

3/18/14 11:24 AM

chai society members $1,800 - $2,499

Anonymous, IL

Anonymous, Israel

Anonymous, MA

Anonymous, FL

Phyllis and Edward Berkowitz, NY

Anonymous, NY

Michael Cleeman, NY

Anonymous, PA

Selma and Sydney Daye, CA

Sarah and Maurice Aghion, MA

The Families of Rabbi Judah Feinerman, z”l and Carol Feinerman, z”l

Beth and Brad Alter, IL

Rita and Howard, z”l, Geller, IL

Judy and Ron Aronson, Israel

Darryle and Michael Gillman, IL

Yaela and Neil Baine, PA

Shira and Gadi Goldress, NY

Joan and Joel Betesh, PA

Shelly and Stanley Kroll, IL

Lois and Avi, z”l, Blumenfeld, NJ

Batya and Ezra Levin, NY

Rivkah and Shmuel Brandman, IL

Fradelle and Jeffrey Milrad, FL

Yardena and David Brickman, NY

Judy and Albert Milstein, IL

Jill and Jonathan Brickman, NY

Mindy and Ira Mitzner, TX

Elaine and Seymour Brief, FL

Penny and Claudio Pincus Foundation, Israel

Dr. Leila and Rabbi Joseph Bronner, CA

Huti and Jay Pomrenze, Israel

Esther Cardash, IL

Myrna and Charles Alpert, NY

Jennie and Avi Rothner, IL

Chava and Ephraim Casper, NJ

TWINCO, Inc., TX

Barbara and Melvyn Ciment, MD

Elaine and Saul Schreiber, Israel

Brett Cohen, FL

Shirley Weinstein, Israel

Wendy and Sanford Cohen, FL

Baila and Stanley Weiss, NY Linda and Stanley Weissbrot, IL Marguerite and Ronald Werrin, PA

$2,500 - $3,599

Seema and Sol Davis, TX Sonia Diamond, MD Debra and Marc Dubroff, NJ Jean Ehrenberg, NY Vera and Bernard Ehrlich, MD

Shawni and Jeff Astrof, CA

Danielle and Ronald Ellis, Israel

Roslyn Besdine, NY

Jill and Yoni Ellman, NY

Sonia and Joshua Greenspon, MD

Elissa Shay Ordan and Daniel Ordan, NY

Judith and Martin Grumet, NY

Brenda and Ed Parver, NY

Lillian and Elliot Hahn, FL

Robbie Pearlstein, MD

Deborah and Jonathan Hamburger, MD

Dana and Michael Petrover, FL

Laurie and Bernard Hasten, IL

Pia and Stuart Pollack, PA

Ellin and Samuel Heilman, NY

Susie and Sam Porgess, CA

Ayala and Joseph Helft, NY

Daniel B. Post, FL

Janet and Ken Hoffman, NJ

Karen Presser, MD

Shulamit and Joakim Isaacs, Israel

Daphna and Daniel Raskas, MD

Robin Isaacson, FL

Susan and Fred Raven, NY

Faigie and Neil Isler, NY Edith and Herman Itzkowitz, PA Elaine and Mervin Jacobs, FL Shira and Jonathan Jacobs, NY Debra Jakubovitz, CA Tirza and Sam Kahan, IL Marilyn and Edward Kaplan, FL Francine and Aaron Katz, FL Judy and Abraham Keehn, NY Ruth Kellerman, CA

Sylvia Ravetch, FL Shlomo Reutlinger, Israel Ronni and Elliott Robinson, IL Shulamit and Avi Rockoff, MA Judith and Rabbi Marvin Rosen, NJ Rachelle and Eyal Rosenthal, NY Marilyn and Larry Rubin, Israel Betty Atlas-Rumelt and Owen Rumelt, NY Michelle and Mark Saks, NY

Gloria and Sanford Kestenbaum, Israel

Nechama and Daniel Saks, NJ

Cheryl and Albert Khodari, CA

Shirley and Matthew Schein, Israel

Sue and Jordan Klein, IL

Rachel and Ian Scheinmann, PA

Heidi and Isaac Kohane, MA

Barbara and Irving Schnipper, MI

Monica Rasch and Menashe Kohn, PA

Julie and Jacob Schorr, MD

Rachel and Bryan Koplow, MA

Dassie and David Schreiber, NY

Tovah and Michael Koplow, MD

Keryn and David Schreiber, IL

Mila Kornwasser, CA

Deborah and Jake Schuchman, MD

Phyllis and Ted Kosloff, PA

Michelle and Dov Schwartz, NJ

Joyce and Bernard Kosowsky, MA

Judith Schwed-Lion and Philippe Schwed, Israel

Susan and Saul Koss, MD

Sarah P. Shane, Israel

Suri and David Kufeld, NY

Sara and Mitchell Shapiro, NY

Adrianne and Leon Brum, FL

Laura and David Eisenberg, MA

Capstone Equities, NY Carol Clapsaddle, Israel

Diana and Michael David Epstein Family Foundation, MD

Hedy and Morris Cohen, PA

Amy and Daniel Erlbaum, PA

Edy and Jacob Kupietzky, IL

Carole Shnier, CA

Renee and Harvey Doglen, Israel

Vicki and Gary Erlbaum, PA

Esther and Stanley Landsman, NY

Yaffi and Joseph Shmidman, Israel

Esther and Harvey Felsen, NY

Cara and Andrew Ernstein, KS

Rachel and Shawn Langer, NJ

Donna and Robert Simons, OH

Estelle Fink, Israel

Molly and Joel Felderman, NY

Cheryl and Lee Lasher, NJ

Harriett and Yaakov Sklar, FL

Reva and Mark Friedman, Israel

Jeanne and Alfred Finkelstein, FL

Vivian and Oscar Lasko, PA

Marilyn and Moish Stadtmauer, NY

Linda and Norman Garfield, PA

Emmi Fischl, Israel

Emma Leaf, NY

Frieda and Sam Fogel, NY

Barbara and Elliot Lebowitz, MA

Naomi and Gary Stein, NY

Eudice Greenfield, IL Grunberger/Cohen Family, MD

Gertrude and Gershon Fox, CA

Jill and Matthew Lefferman, CA

Carole and Didier Hannaux, France

Shani C. and Rabbi Samuel Frank, NY

Helen Leiderman, NY

Barbara and George Hanus, IL

Adina and Dovid Frankel, NY

Jennifer and Mordecai Lent, NY

Ellen and John Hellman, Israel

Sally and David Frenkel, NY

Gertrude Levine, z”l, NY

Donna and Robert Hoenig, NJ

Sandy and Myron Friedman, TX

Hayla and Stuart Levine, FL

Robin and Mark Hoenig, NJ

Sharon and Jeffrey Frieling, NY

Simcha and Michael Levine, NY

Susan Julius, CA

Iris and Bob Frisch, MA

Barbara and Tobias Levkovich, NY

Nancy and Lloyd Karp, NY

Debby and Steven Gage, NY

Susan and Barnet Liberman, Israel

Shirley Knox, FL

Susan Galiounghi, France

Aviva and Nathan Lichtenstein, IL

Riki and Mordecai Koenigsberg, NY

Malki and Gary Gartenberg, NY

Roslyn and Joel Linderman, CA

Orlee and Joey Turitz, MD

Debbi and Lee Krantzow, NJ

Barbara and Steve Geller, IL

Melvin Lubin, NJ

Judy and Mark Tykocinski, PA

Robyn and Craig Lewis, CA

Debbi and Marc Geller, IL

Annette and Marc Lumbroso, France

Claudine and Ira Unterman, CA

Elsa Macks, z”l, IL

Randi and Alan Gelman, Israel

Iris and Shalom Maidenbaum, NY

Rachel and David Vorchheimer, NY

Esther Miller, FL

Esther and Arnold Gerson, NY

Fegi Mauer, IL

Jenny and Max Weil, Israel

Vera and Robert Moreen, PA

Sharon and Seymour Gertz, IL

Naomi and Shlomo Mayer, NY

Barbara and Michael Weiss, NY

Miriam and Bernard Neuman, IL

Shulamit and Abraham Gittelson, FL

Sema Menora, IL

Mia and Herman Weiss, Israel

Frieda Praw Newman and Karl Newman, CA

Sarah and Josh Glatt, NY

Jenny Michael, NY

Audrey Whitman, z”l, and Paul Newman, PA

Bobbie and Jerry Nussbaum, IL

Michelle and Justin Goldberg, NY

Maxine Miller, Israel

Sharon and Joseph Wiesel, NY

Vicky and Sam Praw, CA

Cheryl Kari Golden, z”l, FL

Elana and Shami Minkove, NY

Lucy and Leon Winchel, NY

Carina and Henry Rascoff, CT

Naomi and Stanley Goldis, PA

Rhonda and Michael Mont, MD

Sharon and Bill Rothchild, NY

Laura and Joseph Goldman, MD

Miriam Muskin, OH

Carrie Zlotnick Woldenberg and Roberto Woldenberg, NY

Gale and Eric Rothner, IL

Yedida Goldman and Nadav Schwartz, PA

Caroline and Eric Namrow, MD

Laurie and Richard Wolff, NY

Doris Russo, NY

Shulamith and Allen Goldstein, NY

Barbara and Bob Neustadter, NY

Mona and Marc Yudkoff, PA

Sharon and Scott Seligsohn, PA

Susan and Steven Goldstein, NY

Rochelle and Erwin Nosenchuk, PA

Elizabeth Zeltser, NY

Larry Taylor, CA

Aviva and Justin Gordon, IL

Bernice and Oscar Novick, IL

Eva Zilz, NY

Lillian and Sherwyn Weiss, FL

Beth and Michael Gottesman, IL

Myrna and Monte Nussbaum, NY

Bibsi and David Zuckerbrot, Israel

Rachael and Jonathan Wernick, CA

Sara and Ronald Gottlieb, FL

Sarah and Paul, z”l, Okon, MA

Steve Zuller – Franklin Printing, NY

SPRING14_chai_p2_v2.indd 1

Lillian and Milton Steinberg, NY Helen Stoll, NY Naomi and Ira Sved, PA Hope and David Taragin, MD Sandra and Israel Teitelbaum, MD Arielle and Aton Teitelbaum, MD Deena and Jonathan Thurm, NJ Sheila and Louis Train, TX Sharon and Charles Trauring, MA

*As of March 3, 2014

$3,600 +

3/18/14 11:26 AM

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

spring2014

By Debbie Isaac

THIS PAST FALL, AT OUR ANNUAL DINNER in New York, we launched a major new capital campaign for the renovation of the mishpachtonim – the surrogate family apartments –at AMIT Frisch Beit Hayeled in Jerusalem and at the AMIT Kfar Blatt Youth Village in Petach Tikva. The concept of the mishpachton, in which a group of children or teenagers in foster care lives together with a young married couple in a family unit, was pioneered

by AMIT. What was then considered an innovative and visionary concept in child welfare is today a highly respected and imitated model. The youngsters in our care have been entrusted to AMIT because it is not possible for them to live at home with their own parents. At Beit Hayeled and Kfar Blatt, they are raised in a loving environment with strong Jewish values, educational opportunities and, most importantly, a sense that they have a place in this world. Our renovation campaign will ensure that they also have the comfortable physical surroundings that demonstrate to the children they are loved and that will bolster our efforts – and theirs – to become happy, productive citizens of Israel.

From pioneering the mishpachtonim many decades ago, we continue today to launch innovative curriculum and programs relevant to the many populations that compose our more than 28,000 AMIT students. At the AMIT Orot Shaul Hesder Yeshiva in Ra’anana, for example (see article, page 8), we are challenging the traditional hesder yeshiva model by adding Tanach, Jewish thought and western philosophy to the typical Talmud study and thereby attracting young men who wish to be both Jewish scholars as well as masters of the modern world. As Israel’s film industry has become more prominent we have increased our support of film studies at some of our high schools. Students in the AMIT Or Akiva and AMIT Kiryat Malachi film tracks have won national and international recognition for their short films as a result. Our Annual Night of Israeli Cinema (See page 36) proudly showcased one of our student productions together with an Israeli film of Academy Award caliber.

Of greatest significance, however, are the strides the AMIT Network has made in the areas of technology and innovative teaching modalities as they relate to the demands and realities of today’s world and the future global marketplace. While the highest standards of chesed, community service and our Jewish heritage continue to inform all that we do, the AMIT Network has made remarkable progress in utilizing technology and experiential learning in the education of our students. We have made a deliberate effort – no matter where our students live, no matter what the economic circumstances of their families – to raise the level of their AMIT education to the standard demanded by today’s fast-paced, hightech world. More and more of our schools are becoming completely computerized; additional teaching agreements are being coordinated with leading universities and colleges and some 80 percent of our students are finishing high school with a full bagrut diploma in such subjects at computer programming, the sciences and engineering.

Just recently, in cooperation with the Technion Israel Institute of Technology and YTEK, an organization that promotes technical education, computerized robotics labs were introduced at our high schools in Acco and Tzfat. At our science and technology high school for girls in Ra’anana, our 10th grade students requested a course of study in robotics, and now both older students and junior high girls in Ra’anana are enrolled in this special track. We have added high-tech classes at our high schools in Sderot and, as has been previously reported, our ulpana in Givat Shmuel was the first fully computerized school of its type in Israel.

AMIT was founded by women of vision determined to find solutions to current problems and to make this a better world for children living in what would become the State of Israel. We are honored to continue their legacy.

With best wishes to you and your family for a happy, healthy and kosher Passover. 

Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE :: 3

SPRING14_pres_p3_v3.indd 1

3/18/14 11:28 AM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

spring 2014 –aviv 5774 vol. LXXXVI no. 2

features

BUILDING ISRAEL. ONE CHILD AT A TIME.

8 :: AMIT OROT HESDER YESHIVA AT KFAR BATYA

Students study for two years in the yeshiva, after which they serve a minimum of 16 months in the IDF.

By Helga Abraham

12 :: TEL AVIV. THE WHITE CITY

The architectural history of Tel Aviv, the Bauhaus influence and the Jewish architects who fled Nazi Germany and designed the Ir Levanah.

By Robert E. Sutton

16 :: AMIT LAUNCHES $10 MILLION CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

Renovating AMIT Frisch Beit Hayeled and Kfar Blatt Youth Village.

IN THIS ISSUE: AMIT FUTU RE PHYSICIANS J E W S A N D C H A R L E STO N , S .C .

A M I T S C H O O L L I ST I N G DEVELOPMENT N EWS

B U I L D I N G I S R A E L . O N E C H I L D AT A T I M E .

KFAR BATYA

About The Cover

The new Film Studies Program at AMIT Atidim in Or Akiva

The entrance to AMIT Orot Hesder Yeshiva at Kfar Batya. s p r i n g 2 0 1 4 : : c h o r e f 5 7 7 3 : : Vo l . L X X X V N o. 2

AMIT NATIONAL COUNCIL OFFICES National Office 817 Broadway New York, NY 10003 1-800-989-AMIT (2648) 212-477-4720 Fax: 212-353-2312 email: info@amitchildren.org Baltimore/Boston/Washington DC 2800 Stone Cliff Drive, Unit #112 Baltimore, MD 21209 410-484-2223 410-370-9411 Call for Fax: 410-484-2223 email: robbiep@amitchildren.org Chicago 3856 B West Oakton Skokie, IL 60076 847-677-3800 847-372-8702 Fax: 847-982-0057 email: amitchicago@amitchildren.org

SPRNG14_toc_p4_v3.indd 2

Cleveland 23743 Greenlawn Avenue Beachwood, OH 44122 216-382-4441 email: amitcleveland@amitchildren.org Southeast Region 2700 N 29 Ave, Suite 203 Hollywood, FL 33020 954-922-5100 Fax: 954-922-5199 email: robini@amitchildren.org Los Angeles 1122 S. Robertson Blvd., #9 Los Angeles, CA 90035 310-859-4885 Fax: 310-859-4875 email: michalt@amitchildren.org

Philadelphia P.O. Box 342 Wynnewood, PA 19096 410-484-2223 410-370-9411 Call for Fax: 410-484-2223 email: robbiep@amitchildren.org AMIT UK Friends of AMIT Women UK 152/154 Coles Green Rd. London NW2 7HD Phone: 44-208-438-6353 AMIT FRANCE c/o: Mrs. Carole Hannaux20 Chemin des Brasseurs, 57500 Saint-Avold, France phone: +33-611-487-314 email: france@amitchildren.org

AMIT SWITZERLAND c/o: Adv. Jennifer Osborn Unter Altstadt 10 6301 Zug, Switzerland Phone: + 41-41-729-0808 email: switzerland@amitchildren.org AMIT Israel – Petach Tikvah 28 HaMaccabim Street Petach Tikva 49220 Phone: 03-912-3101 AMIT Israel – Jerusalem Hechal Shlomo Building 58 King George Street, 1st Floor, Jerusalem Phone: 02-673-8360 Fax: 02-673-8359

FIND AMIT ON

3/18/14 11:31 AM

DEPARTMENTS

22

2

:: Chai Society

6

:: Happy 90TH AMIT!

By Robert E. Sutton

20 :: Highlights 22

24

:: Planned Giving

By Robert E. Sutton

24 :: Dvar Torah

COLUMNS 3

:: President’s Message

7

:: Impressions

DEVELOPMENT NEWS 26 :: 2013 AMIT Annual Dinner 28 :: Long Island Gala 29 :: Leadership Mission to Israel

34

26

30 :: High Stakes and Rare Steaks 31

:: Meyers Dedication

31

:: Florida Luncheon

32

:: AMIT Israel Delegation Visits U.S.

34 :: The AFLI BOWL 34 :: AFLI Entrepreneurs 35

:: Philadelphia Annual Gala

36 :: An Evening of Israeli Cinema 36 :: AMIT On the Great White Way 37

37

:: Spanning AMIT world

Executive Vice President Andrew Goldsmith Vice President, Marketing and Communications Chana Shields Director of Communications Barbara Goldberg Editor in Chief/Creative Director Robert Ephraim Sutton Design Game6Media Editor Emerita Micheline Ratzersdorfer Signed articles do not necessarily represent the opinion of the organization. Reproduction of any material requires permission and attribution.

To view us online visit www.amitchildren.org AMIT Magazine (ISSN 1085-2891) is published quarterly; Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer by AMIT. AMIT National Office: 817 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10003.

1-800-989-AMIT, 212-477-4720, Fax 212-353-2312 email: info@amitchildren.org Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to AMIT: 817 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10003.

38 :: President’s Circle

AMIT enables Israel’s youth to realize their potential and strengthens Israeli society by educating and nurturing children from diverse backgrounds within a framework of academic excellence, religious values and Zionist ideals. Some 70 percent of AMIT students live in development towns or other “peripheral” areas of the country. AMIT approaches each child as an individual, maximizing his or her potential, and enabling our students to become vital, productive members of Israeli society. The AMIT schools promote religious tolerance, service to the state and the recognition that every child is blessed with unique talents and abilities. Founded in 1925, AMIT operates 108 schools, youth villages, surrogate family residences and other programs, constituting Israel’s only government-recognized network of religious Jewish education incorporating academic and technological studies.

SPRNG14_toc_p4_v3.indd 3

President Debbie Isaac

AMIT, founded in 1925, has a proud history of service to Israel and the Jewish people.

Our name, in English, stands for “AMericans for

Israel and Torah.” In Hebrew, AMIT is an acronym for “Irgun Mitnadvot l’ma’an Yisrael v’Torata” (Organization of Volunteers for Israel and Her Torah).

3/18/14 11:31 AM

GET READY TO CELEBRATE AMIT’S 90TH ANNIVERSARY! In 1925 Bessie Gotsfeld founded our organization, Mizrachi Women of America (which after 1982 became known as AMIT). From our humble beginnings helping a handful of Jewish children in Palestine, AMIT now operates 110 schools, youth villages, and surrogate family residences for over 28,000 boys and girls, young men and women. For almost 90 years, AMIT has enabled Israel’s youth to realize their potential and has strengthened Israeli society by educating and nurturing children from diverse backgrounds within a framework of academic excellence, religious values and Zionist ideals.

Help us kick-off our 90th Anniversary at the 2014 AMIT Annual Dinner. There will be guest speakers and honorees who have devoted their time and service to AMIT. The dinner will be a great opportunity to mix-and-mingle with fellow AMIT members, and discuss the successes of the AMIT Network with Dr. Amnon Eldar, director general of the AMIT Network, and his staff.

“This is an historic and significant milestone for AMIT. We participated in the building of the early State of Israel and throughout our 90 years, we have impacted the lives of Israeli students. Our graduates are productive citizens as a result of the innovative changes that have shaped Israel’s educational system.”

-Dr. Francine Stein, past national president AMIT and chair, 90th Anniversary Committee

AMIT Dor l’Dor Was your grandmother a member of AMIT (Mizrachi Women), did your mom host an AMIT event, was your aunt honored at an AMIT function? Are you the first in your family to be part of this great organization? No matter what your AMIT legacy, we invite you to celebrate your family with the 90th Anniversary Dor l’Dor (generation to generation) edition. Share your stories, memories, experiences about AMIT. Please email or mail us your AMIT history along with any photos and it will appear in our 90th Anniversary issue of AMIT Magazine and on the AMIT website.

Send to: AMIT Dor l’Dor, 817 Broadway, NY NY 10003 or email bobbys@amitchildren.org.

In the subject line write Dor l’Dor.

SPRNG14_AMIT_90_Anvrsry_p6_v6.indd 1

3/18/14 11:33 AM

IMPRESSIONS

in defense of the immeasurable outcome

By Andrew Goldsmith, Executive Vice President

ABOUT FIFTEEN YEARS AGO I WAS WORKING AS THE planning director at a large federation when a new term entered the not for profit vernacular – the measurable outcome. It was hailed as the messiah - metric. Community investment of charitable dollars would now be quantified with mathematical precision. Joint committees of lay leaders and professionals would be able to truly measure program performance and donors would “see” the impact of their gift. Patterns of achievement would become clear and organizations unable to prove results would fall by the wayside, freeing up precious charitable dollars for those projects with a proven ROI (return on investment).

When I took over as executive vice president of AMIT, I was pleased to see our own measurable outcome metric. The most important exams in an Israeli teen’s life is the Bagrut - a series of examinations that greatly determines one’s future. Doing well is the ticket to university, elite army units and, down the line, far better job opportunities. Not passing severely limits a teen’s options and, in many ways, cripples their future before they’ve even had the chance to spread their wings.

Seeing this societal problem, AMIT launched Tochnit Shmonim (Project 80). While the national Bagrut pass rate stands at 58 percent, schools in the AMIT network now average 80 percent. This program isn’t simple – each school has its own needs but the combination of enhanced curriculum, expanded teaching hours and individualized attention does wonders to equip students for this academic challenge. More so when you consider that AMIT’s 28,000 student population is far from homogenous. Many schools reflect a uniquely Jewish chulent of Sabras, Ethiopians, and Russian immigrants coming from all socio-economic backgrounds.

Ten years following the program’s launch, the outcome is extraordinary. 10,000 students passed the Bagrut that would not have, 18,000 students did better than they would have and we can quantify the investment in terms of cost. Success - a proven program that’s a statistician’s dream.

But, despite metrics extraordinaire. I’ll argue that charitable giving can’t be solely scientific. Even the best metrics don’t begin to properly measure the impact of tzedakah and for all our shared work as supporters, volunteers or professionals of AMIT, there remains much we simply cannot quantify.

Part of the AMIT network is a surrogate family residence known simply as Frisch Beit Hayeled. Its 127 children range in age from five to twelve years old and are not able to live with their parents. In some cases, the children are true orphans. But far worse are the children who are unable to live at home because they are victims of the worst type of physical, mental or sexual abuse. Beit Hayeled is a safe haven. Children live under close supervision in apartments with surrogate parents, “brothers” and “sisters” in a successful effort to re-create a normal family structure.

Most telling was a brief conversation with Yosef, an adorable seven year old boy. He was sitting on his bed putting away his books in his “area.” Over many of the beds, the children decorate their area with pictures of family members or movie stars or superheroes. Over his bed there was nothing. So I asked him, in my broken Hebrew, whether he was new to Beit Hayeled. “I’ve been here two months,” he said. Then “Why,” I asked, “don’t you have any pictures over your bed?” He answered “Because no one loves me.”

Yosef will be loved and will also learn to love. But, try as I may, I can’t quantify to our 50,000 supporters what a picture over a bed means. I can’t measure a little boy’s trauma from being abused or quantify the endless love and affection it will take to help him heal. But I do know, with absolute certainty, the outcome will be truly wonderful.

Some things, like G-d’s love for his people, are meant to remain immeasurable.  Andrew Goldsmith can be reached at andrewg@amitchildren.org

Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE :: 7

SPRING14_impress_p7_v7.indd 1

3/18/14 11:34 AM

FEATURE

AMIT OROT HESDER Y

SPRING14_Yeshivat_p8_v4.indd 2

3/18/14 11:36 AM

R YESHIVA AT KFAR BATYA Combining Torah Studies and Service to Israel

A

t the AMIT Orot Shaul Hesder Yeshiva in Ra’anana, Rav Yuval Cherlow is teaching the morning Torah class to first year students. As he rounds up his

discussion of the prophet Amos, he raises questions related to ethics, Judaism and the modern era. “Is it possible to have a code of ethics for the Internet? How does Judaism deal with such issues? Can one draw up a code of ethics that balances Jewish halacha and the modern world of communications?”

The questions are complex and do not always have an easy answer, but they reflect the ethos that is helping to make AMIT Orot Shaul an attractive place of learning for young boys who wish to pursue both in-depth Torah studies and make a contribution to Israeli society.

“We are offering as wide an approach as possible and bringing in new discourses,” says Rav Cherlow, the 57-Year old joint rosh yeshiva who, in another capacity, is also an active member of the Tzohar association of religious Zionist rabbis dedicated to shaping the Jewish identity of the state. continued on page 10

By Helga Abraham SPRING14_Yeshivat_p8_v4.indd 3

3/18/14 11:36 AM

continued from page 9 This innovative approach of Torah study and service to the state is the result of major changes instituted in 2013 when the yeshiva moved from Petach Tikva to its new premises on the Kfar Batya campus in Ra’anana. “In order to solve the problem of low registration, we started a revolution,” explains Rav Cherlow, “based on three pillars: a change in staff and therefore a change in the character of the yeshiva, a change of location, and a new curriculum.” As part of the first change, the yeshiva appointed 47-year old Rav Tamir Granot to serve as co-Rosh Yeshiva. “We called this a shidduch. While I am more rational and focused on ethics and Jewish identity, Rav Granot is interested in strengthening the student’s relationship with God,” says Rav Cherlow. Together with the two other pillars – the move to a bigger campus with improved facilities and a new curriculum offering senior students the option of majoring in three different tracks, Gemara, Jewish philosophy or Torah studies – the revolution proved an immediate success. “We have 45 first-year students and 40 post-army

First year students learning Tanach students, which is double what we expected,” says Rav Cherlow.

Rav Cherlow moved with his family from Efrat to Kfar Batya to oversee the revolution while the AMIT organization provided the necessary financial and organizational support. “I have nothing but admiration for AMIT, its transparency, professionalism and planning abilities,” says Rav Cherlow

Rabbis and teachers conference

who proudly claims four generations of AMIT activism in his family. “My mother was active in AMIT all her life, I am involved, and my son-in-law works with AMIT and several grandchildren attend AMIT schools.”

For his part, Rav Granot travels five hours every day to and from his home in the Golan Heights to come and teach at the yeshiva. “AMIT Orot Shaul offered me the opportunity to develop a wider approach than the general rule in a yeshiva. Within my main goal of teaching Torah and helping students become better people, I have two additional aims: I want Torah study to be relevant to Israeli society and, secondly, I do not want to teach solely in an academic manner, I want to encourage a holistic approach that is in tune with each student’s individuality.”

Hesder yeshivot offer young men the chance to acquire an in-depth grounding in Torah during their formative years while also serving in the IDF. For the first two

10 :: Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE

SPRING14_Yeshivat_p8_v4.indd 4

3/18/14 11:36 AM

years of the program, students study in a yeshiva, after which they serve a minimum of 16 months in the army (since the majority go on to become officers and commanders, their service often extends to two and a half years).

They return to the yeshiva for another 18 months of Torah study. In 1991, the hesder yeshiva, as an institution, received the Israel Prize for the unique manner in which it combines the “book and the sword.” Recently criticism was voiced in the Knesset regarding the short length of service performed by hesder recruits in comparison to regular soldiers who serve 36 months, particularly in view of the time it takes – at least 10 months – to train combat soldiers. It’s a criticism which Rav Cherlow vehemently rejects. “On the contrary,” he says, “the army is very satisfied with hesder soldiers, 85% of whom serve in combat units, and their record both during military service and in the reserves is exemplary.”

hesder program because they wanted to pursue a high level of Torah study and “share in the burden” of defending the state. Matan, who studied at the AMIT Nachson Yeshiva High School in Mateh Yehuda, specifically chose AMIT Orot Shaul because of the variety of courses offered and its open approach. Second year student Itamar Naor came to AMIT Orot Shaul for the same reasons.

“I found a high level of studies here, a very supportive staff and an open approach.” Naor, however, will not return to the yeshiva after his military service since he has been accepted into the IDF’s prestigious air force pilot’s course which demands an impressive twelve year commitment! “I will be 32 then and far too old,” he says laughing.

His hevruta partner Tori London, from New Jersey, chose to study at AMIT Orot Shaul because he wanted to be “regular” Israeli. “I immediately felt integrated,” he says. “All the students took me in and treated me like a brother.”

First year students Matan Bloch and Yair Luria both chose to study in a

While most hesder yeshivot concentrate on strict Gemara study, AMIT Orot Shaul offers a broader curriculum to its postarmy students. Rav Itamar Eldar, who also travels from the Golan Heights to teach at the yeshiva, explains, “The hiddush or innovation is that a senior student can become a talmid chacham not just in Gemara, but also in Jewish philosophy or Torah studies. We call these specialization tracks “sha’arim” (gates) because each student can choose the gate that suits him.”

Studying in Beit Midrash

Rav Haim Vidal, a new member of staff who teaches Jewish philosophy, is pleased that almost a third of the senior group chose the Jewish philosophy track.

This year the students are studying Jewish philosophy of the Middle Ages, covering the Kuzari by Rav Yehuda Halevi, the Rambam, the Ramban and more. “The level is very high,” says Rav Vidal, “half a day every day is devoted to this track with secondary classes in Gemara and Torah studies.”

Ultimately, Rav Vidal hopes to introduce a weekly class in general philosophy beginning with Socrates to modern times.

Rav Avi Blidstein, who teaches Gemara at the yeshiva, says that despite the difficulties posed by Gemara study, 50 per cent of the senior students still chose Gemara as their specialization track. “Gemara is like studying a legal text in Latin. It is not just in a different language, it has a different logic, but once you understand the abstract concepts behind the words, then it becomes relevant.”

Twenty-one-year-old Yitzhak Shizgal is a senior student who has returned to the yeshiva after completing his IDF military service serving on a Dvora class coastguard ship off the coast of Gaza. He opted for the Gemara track and says that Torah study is easier for him now. “During the first two years, before army service, you are building yourself.

After the army, you approach things from a broader, more mature perspective and you have the feeling that you are helping to build society.”

For his part, Rav Granot is already envisioning new horizons for the yeshiva. “Since we are located close to Tel Aviv and Herzliya, my dream is to forge a meaningful dialogue with academic, artistic, and social institutions in these cities, creating joint programs that will benefit all of our young adults.”  Helga Abraham is a freelance journalist and translator based in Jerusalem. Before making Aliya to Israel, she worked as a radio producer for CBC in London and Toronto.

Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE :: 11

SPRING14_Yeshivat_p8_v4.indd 5

3/18/14 11:36 AM

TEL AVIV THE WHITE CITY

FEATURE

By Robert E. Sutton

12 :: Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE

SPRING14_White_City_p12_v4.indd 2

3/18/14 11:42 AM

Behind the facades and hidden in plain sight are the buildings that are the founding structures of Tel Aviv. These seemingly insignificant white houses, factories, hotels, and cinemas are part of one of the 20th century’s most important trends and esthetic styles: Bauhaus.

And, Tel Aviv has nearly 2,000 white Bauhaus buildings, the highest concentration anywhere in the world. continued on page 14

Dizengoff Square in the 1940s

SPRING14_White_City_p12_v4.indd 3

3/19/14 5:33 PM

continued from page 13 THE ORIGINS OF TEL AVIV el Aviv is the Hebrew title of the book Altneuland (“Old New Land”), in which Theodor Herzl outlined his Zionist vision. There is also a biblical component – the prophet Yechezkel [3:15] mentions a place in Babylonia called Tel Aviv. The name Tel Aviv is metaphorically very fitting. It embraces the idea of the renaissance of the ancient Jewish homeland - Tel an archaeological mound that reveals layers of ancient civilizations built one on top of the other and Aviv, Hebrew for “spring,” symbolizing renewal.

Tel Aviv’s origins go back to Ottoman Jaffa, a walled city in the midst of agricultural land in the early 19th century. Towards the end of the century, Jaffa developed into a commercial harbor, as well as the port for pilgrims to the Holy Land. A decree of 1856 allowed foreigners to acquire land, which led to the development of suburban areas. The first Jewish settlement north of Jaffa was Neve Zedek, founded in 1887-96. In 190809, a group of affluent merchants established Achuzat Bayit as a garden suburb, later named Tel Aviv.

The early architecture of Tel Aviv was mostly Eclecticism Neo-Classical and Neo-Romantic with some Middle Eastern elements, such as arches, rounded balconies and wrought

Former Ha’artez Builidng

T

iron railings. This type of design and construction existed in Tel Aviv until the end of the 1920s, when the Bauhaus (or “International”) movement in architecture became popular, first in Germany, then abroad. The Bauhaus had a profound influence upon subsequent developments in art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and typography.

In the early 1920’s Jewish architects and planners brought the Bauhaus ideals and methods of “New Architecture” from Europe to Palestine,

Soskin House

which had a lasting influence on the planning and design of Tel Aviv and many kibbutzim – “A new architecture for the new Israel, in a new land.”

Conversely, in the second half of the 1920s, upcoming architects from Palestine moved back to Europe in order to further their studies and learn the Bauhaus.

By 1933 many Jewish architects of the German Bauhaus school, which was closed down on the orders of the Nazi Party, fled to the British Mandate of Palestine. The residential and public buildings were designed by these architects, who took advantage of the absence of established architectural conventions to put the principles of modern architecture into practice.

The Bauhaus principles, with their emphasis on functionality and inexpensive building materials, were perceived as ideal in Tel Aviv.

Arieh Sharon, Dov Carmi, Zeev Rechter, Pinchas Hueth, Josef Neufeld, Genia Averbuch, Richard Kauffmann and Erich Mendelsohn are just some of the architects who contributed to the local abundance of Bauhaus architecture. Sharon was known for his cooperative workers’ dwellings in Tel Aviv, work on many of the country’s hospitals and the early architecture in

14 :: Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE

SPRING14_White_City_p12_v4.indd 4

3/18/14 11:42 AM

Kibbutz Gan Shmuel. In 1933, Rechter designed the Engel House, a large residential building that has become one of the symbols of Modernist architecture and the first building in Tel Aviv to be built on pillars (pilotis).

Averbuch is well known because in 1934, at the age of 25, she won the competition to design Dizengoff Square, one of the landmarks of Tel Aviv’s historic Bauhaus White City. And, Averbuch planned some of the most important youth villages, including our very own Kfar Batya (1945).

Though these Jewish Bauhaus architects didn’t build exclusively in Tel Aviv, it was Tel Aviv that gained the most from Bauhaus: In only about 12 years an astounding 1,500 Bauhaus styled structures were added to the town, mainly in the area known as the “White City.”

BAUHAUS – TEL AVIV ADAPTATIONS ith Tel Aviv situated on the shores of the Mediterranean the Bauhaus architecture had to be adapted to suit the hot and sunny climate.

Some of the designs unique to Tel Aviv Bauhaus are: • White and light colors that reflected the heat.

• Walls not only provided privacy but protected against the sun.

• Large areas of glass that let in the light, a key element of the Bauhaus style in Europe, were replaced with small recessed windows that limited the heat and glare.

• Long narrow balconies, each shaded by the balcony above it, allowed residents to catch the breeze blowing in from the sea to the west.

• Slanted roofs were replaced with flat ones, providing a common area where residents could socialize in the cool of the evening.

• Buildings were built on pillars to allow the wind to blow under and cool the apartments, as well as providing a play area for children.

Often flat and functional in other cities around the world, the simple, highly formalized Bauhaus style, free of decorations, is stunning in Tel Aviv

W

Rabinsky House

because of the sheer number of Bauhaus buildings and constant sunshine reflected on the white plaster surfaces that emphasize the “White City.”

Tel Aviv hasn’t often had the luxury of looking back and appreciating the greatness of her architecture, though its presence has been celebrated in song and in the popular culture - the piece “White City” (“Ir Levenah” in Hebrew)

by Naomi Shemer celebrates the beauty of Tel Aviv when its Bauhaus structures were still white from newness.

Over the years a kind of reactionary ‘anti-Bauhaus’ sentiment developed.

Saving and restoring many of the city’s wonderful old buildings is fraught with legal and economic constraints that often make conservation less than desirable for the building’s owners. One can only hope that the coming years will bring solutions that will enable the preservation of more of Tel Aviv’s Bauhaus architecture.

In 2003, the UN’s cultural and educational organization, UNESCO, declared the “White City” a World Heritage Site, based on the cultural value of such an amazing congregation of Bauhuas style buildings. UNESCO described the city as “a synthesis of outstanding significance of the various trends of the Modern Movement in architecture and town planning in the early part of the 20th century.” <

The story of how Tel Aviv came to be the capital of an architectural style so distinctly German is a fascinating one. The Bauhaus style of design and architecture (also known as the “International style”) was fathered and developed by Walter Gropius, a German artist and architect in between the two world wars. Highly modern and controversial, it was taught to eager young architects in a school established for the sole purpose of teaching Bauhaus, in the German city of Weimar, and later moved to Dessau.

For a few short years the Bauhaus style knew a period of prosperity and popularity and the school that taught it managed to attract big names such as Mies van der Rohe and Vassili Kandinsky to come and teach. It was able to train a generation of young architects on the principles of Bauhaus: simplicity and functionality, a general lack of ornamentation, a tendency towards asymmetry, and a way of thinking that considers not only the building, but the space in which it exists.

Robert E. Sutton is the Editor in Chief and Creative Director of AMIT Magazine.

Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE :: 15

SPRING14_White_City_p12_v4.indd 5

3/18/14 11:42 AM

FEATURE

AMIT LAUNCHES $10 MILLION CAPITAL CAMPAIGN TO RENOVATE AMIT FRISCH BEIT HAYELED AND KFAR BLATT YOUTH VILLAGE SPRING14_Kfar_p16_v7.indd 2

3/18/14 11:57 AM

F

or the past thirty years, AMIT Frisch Beit Hayeled and AMIT Kfar Blatt have reflected the very worst and best parts of Israel. Children come to Beit Hayeled escaping from the worst possible circumstances. They leave homes where beatings, sexual abuse, mental cruelty, alcoholism and neglect are a way of life. To stay is impossible, and children as young as five no longer have a place to call home or anyone to love and help them.

So we built them a home. A home where surrogate parents and a dedicated staff protect them, shelter them and nurture their souls. We teach them to love by loving them and give each and every child the life skills necessary, so that one day they will to become devoted and loving parents, providers and model citizens of Israel. At Frisch Beit Hayeled and Kfar Blatt, their loving surrogate parents provide all of their physical and emotional needs to help them heal and

SPRING14_Kfar_p16_v7.indd 3

experience the love and joys of a normal life. In fact, an outstanding 90 percent of graduates from Frisch Beit Hayeled and Kfar Blatt go on to live healthy and normal lives- lives saved by AMIT. But while our staffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s twenty four hour a day, seven day a week dedication to their young charges is limitless, the functions of our facilities and outdated infrastructure is no longer up to the job. Thirty years of wear and tear make an immediate renovation our top priority. Patchwork repairs arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough. We need to gut the apartments that house the children and surrogate parents. We need to upgrade plumbing, electrical and heating systems. Each child requires a new bed, desk and a personal closet to hang their clothes and store their few precious possessions. The kitchens and bathrooms need updating and, new dining and living rooms need to be constructed so that the children can share a continued on page 18

3/18/14 11:57 AM

continued from page 17 healthy family dynamic that many of us take for granted.

So we turn to our supporters - 50,000 strong across the Jewish world - and seek your help.

Like all things AMIT we have great partners, those who share our vision of providing for the children and teenagers of Israel. Israel’s Ministry of Education has committed 1.4 million NIS towards the renovation of Kfar Blatt, where over 500 teens live, go to school and dream about tomorrow.

Other major funders are coming on board to help match our collective effort.

So please join with us on whatever level you can. Major dedications are available and will be recognized in full view of the AMIT community. You’ll help inspire others to give and leave a lasting legacy of love to those most in need. And most importantly, you’ll be helping those who are the most needy have lives of meaning, purpose and beauty while strengthening the Jewish homeland. n

The ministry of education has committed 1.4 Million nis towards the renovation of Kfar Blatt.

Zipporah and Rabbi Arnold Marans of Cedarhurst, New York, and Trudy and Stanley Stern of Lawrence, New York, are chairing the AMIT Kfar Blatt and the AMIT Frisch Beit Hayeled Capital Campaign. Both couples have been longtime leaders of AMIT and are chairing the campaign because of their ceaseless commitment to the children of AMIT.

“Kfar Blatt and Frisch Beit Hayeled are homes and haven for children from severely troubled homes, where

not only are their physical, educational and emotional needs met, but where they receive unconditional love, warmth and encouragement on an individual basis. Frisch Beit Hayeled and Kfar Blatt, are in urgent need of major renovation and refurbishing. Please join us in accomplishing this mitzvah.”

- Zipporah and Rabbi Arnold Marans, chairs, AMIT Renovation Campaigns “At these two homes the children are infused with love, warmth, sense of family, and self-worth. It is there that the concepts of dreams and a future can become reality for these children. However, just as with any of our own homes, Kfar Blatt and Beit Hayeled are in great need of renovation. Please support this vital campaign so AMIT can continue to provide a home and a future for these beautiful children.”

-Trudy and Stanley Stern, chairs, AMIT Renovation Campaign

AMIT KFAR BLATT AND THE AMIT FRISCH BEIT HAYELED $10 MILLION CAPITAL CAMPAIGN Over the next four years, AMIT Frisch Beit Hayeled in Gilo, Jerusalem, and AMIT Kfar Blatt in Petach Tikva will be undergoing a major capital renovation including: • Complete redesign of interior space • Upgraded kitchen appliances • New floors • Bathrooms • Electrical and high-speed wiring

• State-of-the-art fire detection and sprinkler systems • New roof installation • Energy efficient windows and lighting • Beautifully designed and functional furniture

• HVAC

18 :: Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE

SPRING14_Kfar_p16_v7.indd 4

3/18/14 11:57 AM

Be part of the solution and please consider dedication opportunities for the AMIT Kfar Blatt and AMIT Frisch Beit Hayeled Capital Campaign.

For more information please contact Liz Klibanoff, Director of Financial Resource Development, 212-477-4737 or lizk@amitchildren.org AMIT Frisch Beit Hayeled in Jerusalem Dedication

Amount

One Floor

$ 1 Million

Family Apartment

$ 360,000

Parents’ Suite

$ 100,000

Kitchen

$ 100,000

Children’s Bedroom

$ 75,000

Living Room/Computer Room

$ 75,000

Dining Room

$ 50,000

Builder

$ 36,000

Founder

$ 25,000

Guardian

$ 18,000

Mezuzah

$ 10,000

New Living Room

Before

AMIT Kfar Blatt Youth Village in Petach Tikvah Dedication

Amount

Building Name

$ 1.5 Million

Family Apartment

$ 360,000

Parents’ Suite

$ 100,000

Kitchen

$ 100,000

Teen’s Bedroom

$ 75,000

Living Room/Computer Room

$ 75,000

Dining Room

$ 50,000

Builder

$ 36,000

Founder

$ 25,000

Guardian

$ 18,000

Mezuzah

$ 10,000

New Bathroom Before

All gifts will be gratefully acknowledged in the entranceway of these facilities in the full view of the AMIT community and featured prominently in AMIT Magazine.

New Bedroom Before

SPRING14_Kfar_p16_v7.indd 5

3/18/14 11:57 AM

HIGHLIGHTS AND SUCCESSES

By Cheryl Shaanan and Robert E. Sutton

B

ecause of your generous support, more than 28,000 students at 110 AMIT schools and programs are being educated and nurtured within a framework of academic excellence, traditional Jewish values and Zionist ideals. Here are a few ways your generous gifts made a difference. For more information visit www.amitchildren.org or call 212-477-4720.

TWO NEW HIGH-TECH CLASSES AT AMIT IN SDEROT

A gala evening was held recently at the Negev division of Amdocs/ Israel to launch two new high-tech classes at AMIT Sderot Gutwirth Junior and Senior High School. Amdocs is a provider of software and services for communications, media and entertainment industry service providers. The celebration was attended by students, parents, Amdocs/Israel associates, and members of the school’s faculty and administration. Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi and Director of the Municipal Education Department, Miriam Sheshi, were also in attendance.

At the event, students and their parents were introduced to the hightech program sponsored by Amdocs/Israel. The program is designed to expose students to the world of high-tech and give them the tools to succeed. It is taught by Amdocs/Israel volunteers and includes enrichment classes in the sciences and English. Amdocs also organizes meetings between the students and high-tech industry representatives throughout the country. The school and Amdocs work together closely to train students in this track to assume key positions in the military and high-tech industry. 

AMIT MODI’IN GIRLS SCORE IN TOP TEN PERCENT

AMIT Modi’in scored in the top ten percent in the national standardized tests. The Ministry of Education data published recently showed that the students scored in the top ten percent in science and the top nine percent in English nationally.

AMIT Modi’in was established two years ago and is a growing school (it will add a grade each year until it serves grades 7-12). The school stresses Jewish values and academic excellence, with special emphasis on the arts and sciences. 

AMIT STUDENTS LEND A HELPING HAND IN SNOWY TZFAT

Israel’s snow storm of the century brought out the best in students of the AMIT Tzfat Evelyn Schreiber Junior and Senior Ulpana High School. While schools remained closed in Tzfat due to the inclement weather, AMIT students chose to leave their homes and take to the cold streets, to help the city’s needy. They were not discouraged by the freezing weather and went out to help those in need overcome the damage caused by the storm. 

MARITIME STUDIES AT AMIT HATZOR

AMIT Hatzor HaGlilit Junior and Senior High School students are learning to sail!

Every week students attend sailing courses in Tiberias. They learn the foundations of sailing and how to sail on different kinds of boats. Students practice single sailing and pair sailing and learn to function as a team on the course. These young AMIT sailors also study the theoretical side of sailing. The larger goal of these studies is leadership development and personal empowerment. Upon completing Kinneret. their studies towards the end of the year, students will sail across Lake Kinneret.

SPRING14_highlights_p18_v3.indd 2

3/18/14 12:04 PM

NAVIGATION DAY FOR AMIT DVIR BEIT SHEMESH STUDENTS

AMIT HIGH SCHOOL RANKS AMONG TOP TEN IN THE COMPUTER SCIENCE BAGRUT

AMIT Gwen Straus Junior and Senior High School for Boys and Yeshiva Track at Kfar Batya has ranked third nationally in the computer science Bagrut exams. AMIT Gwen Straus is the only religious school to make it into the top ten in the country. This is the sixth consecutive year at the top for AMIT Gwen Straus.

AMIT Gwen Straus Principal, Rabbi Eran Straus, said that credit goes to the faculty and especially the computer teacher, Esti Appelbaum, who does not give up on a single student. “ We educate for excellence,” said Rabbi Straus, “but computer studies are just part of our overall philosophy of excellence in education, helping others and contributing to the State of Israel. For us the added value of excellence in computer science is the fact that our students reach the elite technological units in the IDF and serve the country.” 

AMIT SDEROT STUDENTS SHOW SOLDIERS THEY CARE

AMIT Sderot Junior and Senior Yeshiva High School students have “adopted” IDF soldiers stationed in outposts around Sderot.

Students recently went to the Erez Outpost to bring snacks and soft drinks to the soldiers.

The students’ mothers baked cakes and burekas, and students bought bottled drinks with their own money to bring to the soldiers.

Rabbi Amit Orenbuch, Rosh Yeshiva, said students who have lived most of their lives under threat of Kassam rockets feel the need to thank the soldiers and support them in difficult times. Orenbuch added that acting on the feeling of mutual responsibility between citizens and soldiers in Sderot and its environs is a more significant lesson than students could learn in any classroom. 

SPRING14_highlights_p18_v3.indd 3

The student council at AMIT Dvir Junior and Senior High School in Beit Shemesh recently planned a competitive navigation day at Brittania Park for their fellow students. Britannia Park is located in the Judean lowland and has an abundance of landscape formations, plants, animals, archeological remains and recreation areas on its 40,000 dunams of forested hills. Student council members went to the park beforehand, mapped out navigation routes for each class, and led students on the day of the competition in the park.

AMIT Dvir principal Tzachi Levran thanked student council members for their work on this day for all the school’s students. “Today’s experience proved to us all that with joint effort we are able to do the impossible: climb higher and higher every time, even in everyday life.”

AMIT RENANIM OPENS ROBOTICS TRACK

Tenth grade students at AMIT Renanim Junior and Senior Science and Technology High School for Girls in Ra’anana asked their principal for a robotics track at school – and got it!

The students, who belong to a group that won a robotics competition last year, approached their principal, Orit Shamir, because they wanted to continue making progress in the field of robotics. The principal took up the challenge, and with the assistance of the AMIT Network and the Ra’anana Municipality, the track was established.

“We believe that making it possible for girls in state religious schools to realize their capabilities in the fields of science and technology is a national mission.

Students who excel in the sciences today later join academia and the science industry in Israel, thus contributing to their personal development and to the State of Israel,” said Shamir 

AMIT ASHDOD BET PLACES THIRD IN DISTRICT TRACK COMPETITION

The track team at AMIT Ashdod Bet recently won third place in the regional track competition for youth.

This accomplishment follows months of preparation and training. Rachel Harrison, a teacher at the school, volunteered to train team members during breaks and before and after the school day. “We are proud of the track team for proving that determination and resolve result in remarkable achievement - in any area,” said Boaz Chen Zion, principal of AMIT Ashdod Bet.

3/18/14 12:04 PM

By Robert E. Sutton

PLANNED GIVING

.‫ המורשת שלך‬.‫העתיד שלהם‬ Their future. Your legacy.

THANKS TO PLANNED GIVING…AMIT CAN!

One of the best parts of human nature is our capacity for empathy and our resulting willingness to help Jewish children we will never meet.

22 :: Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE

SPRING14_PlannedGiving_pg22_v5.indd 2

3/18/14 12:07 PM

T

he AMIT Legacy Society is our new program for

planned giving. Through this initiative you have the ability to shape the future of Israel and its most important asset – the children. You become a member when you make a planned gift a contribution that has a longlasting and exponential benefit for the children of AMIT. Planned gifts are game changers for AMIT. Your planned gifts will help create cutting-edge

educational programs, build new schools and facilities, establish scholarships, and launch major new initiatives.

Planned gifts are an excellent return for relatively little cost or

AMIT LEGACY SOCIETY Judy and Ronald Aronson Roslyn Besdine Elaine Brief Rosalyn and Dr. Herman Efron Esther and Joe Epstein Esther W. and Jack Goldman Bess P. Krivitsky Betty Narotsky Estelle Rubin Shirley Schnidman Cathy and Chaim Schuck Sondra and Myron Sokal Drs. Francine and Aaron Stein Gloria Zeisel Anonymous (37)

4Add your name to the AMIT Legacy Society

upfront investment.

It requires good planning for AMIT to successfully continue providing an exceptional learning environment that prepares students for all that lies ahead in their world. And with your good planning, you can help us continue this standard and mission for years to come.

Join other supporters who share your values and expectations by becoming a member of the AMIT Legacy Society. Legacy Society members understand just how important they are to

Dear Friends, For over 50 years I have devoted my life as a passionate donor, volunteer, and advocate to the Children of AMIT. My beloved mother was an AMIT woman before me, as was my dear mother-in-law. Both taught me the importance of education and nurturing the next generation in

the continued success of our organization.

fulfilling their, mine and your dreams.

The AMIT Legacy Society honors all planned giving donors for their support of our mission.

mother-in-law started, the work I have devoted

We would be honored to include you in our AMIT Legacy Society if you have:

know you feel the same way. It takes commit-

I want to be sure that the work my mother and my life to, will continue long after I’m gone. I ment to raise and educate a child. You and I

• Provided for AMIT Children in your will or trust.

have that commitment. That’s why I strong-

• Designated AMIT as the beneficiary of a qualified retirement plan, savings bond, bank account, or life insurance policy.

ly recommend you establish a will, bequest or

• Created a planned gift that returns fixed or flexible income to you or others.

Legacy Society.

planned gift and become a member of the AMIT - Sondra Sokol Chair, Planned Giving and Endowments

Gifts that ensure $10,000 or more towards the fulfillment of our mission will be acknowledged, in perpetuity, with a plaque on our Legacy Society Wall at the Kfar Batya campus in Israel.

SPRING14_PlannedGiving_pg22_v5.indd 3

For more information or to let us know that you have already included AMIT in your estate plans, please contact Robin Isaacson, National Director of Planned Giving, at 954-922-5100 or robini@amitchildren.org.

All inquiries will be kept strictly confidential and imply no obligation to make a gift.

3/18/14 12:07 PM

DVAR TORAH

W

hile there are several accounts of rabbinic Passover Seder gatherings, the most famous of these is the one recorded in our Haggadah: the Seder of Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar, the son of Azarya, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon. They were reclining at the Seder service in B’nei Brak, and had spent the whole night telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt, until their pupils came and said to them: ‘Our masters, it is time to recite the morning Shema!’

This account appears in the Haggadot of Geonim, such as R. Amram Gaon, and the Haggadot of Rishonim, including that of the Rambam (Hilchot Chametz u’Matza Nusach Haggadah), Tosafot, (Ketubot 105a, s.v. de-chashiv) and the Ritva.

Several questions arise when analyzing this account: Rabbi Akiva is one of the younger members of the rabbinic cohort present at the gathering, while Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua are elder members. Rabbi Elazar the son of Azarya is the Nasi (president of the high court and of the rabbinic community). Why does the Seder take place in Rabbi Akiva’s home in the town of B’nei Brak and not in a city where one of the more prominent members of the group resides? Most times, the student is expected to visit the teacher.

In addition why do these particular Tannaim sit together around the Seder table? Do they represent something unique or is this a random grouping of rabbinic figures?

Rabbi Akiva’s Seder Table: A lesson in Positive Psychology SPRING14_dvar_torah_p24_v3.indd 2

To answer these questions, we must first note that the Passover Haggadah is divided into two parts: the pre-meal section of the Haggadah, where we recite Maggid and consume ritual foodstuff, and the post-meal section of the Haggadah. The premeal section of the Haggadah focuses on the Jewish people’s servitude in, and eventual redemption from, Egypt. The postmeal section of the Haggadah focuses on the future redemption and destiny of our people and society.

The Talmud states (Pesachim 116b) that we bifurcate the recitation of Hallel accordingly. In the Maggid section of the Haggadah, we recite the first two psalms of Hallel. This is due to the fact that these psalms focus on the Egyptian saga. The third psalm and the remaining psalms of Hallel are recited in the post-meal section of the Haggadah - they focus on the Messianic era (Pesachim 118a).

This division prompts disagreement between two of the rabbinic participants at the Passover Seder we read about in our Haggadah, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon. Rabbi Tarfon contends (Pesachim 116b) that the concluding blessing for Maggid should focus solely on the theme expressed in Maggid and the pre-meal section of the Haggadah, namely the redemption from Egypt. His version of this blessing reads,

3/18/14 12:08 PM

By Rabbi Kenneth Brander “Blessed are you Lord our G-D Who has redeemed us and redeemed our fathers from Egypt.”

Rabbi Akiva disagrees. He refuses to allow this blessing to focus only on the redemption of the past. He insists that the blessing of Maggid also contain language that focuses on the future: ”likewise O Lord our G-D, G-D of our fathers, enable us to celebrate many other festivals and holy days which will come peacefully upon us; joyful in the rebuilding of Your city, and exalting in Your service… Blessed are thou our G-D who has redeemed Israel.” (ibid.)

Rabbi Akiva’s focus is fixed on the future redemption, even in the most difficult and trying of times. It is not coincidental that these rabbinic figures gather around Rabbi Akiva’s Seder table. They are individuals influenced by the weltanschauung (a particular philosophy or view of life) of Rabbi Akiva, someone who has the courage to be an optimist and to focus on the future even in the darkest of moments. Even when there is a bounty on his head by the Romans, even when he is martyred and the future of his people seems bleak, Rabbi Akiva knows that it is tenacity of spirit that guarantees the immortality of our people. They realize that it is Rabbi Akiva’s charismatic spirit that enables hope and paves the Jewish nation’s path towards the morning Kriyat Shema – a credo with G-D that is recited when there is clarity, when one can discern between the colors of covenantal tapestry, the blue and white fringes of the tallit (B’rachot 9b).

It is the ability to discuss redemption, during the Bar Kochba revolt, that enables students to live and thrive in the phenomenological framework of morning, a time at which the Jewish nation can be a people of destiny instead of a people of fate. It is in B’nei Brak the city of Rabbi Akiva, that such a Passover Seder must take place.

As we sit down to the Passover Seder, the Haggadah asks us to embrace the courage of Rabbi Akiva and for it to inspire our personal and communal experience. Like Rabbi Akiva we as individuals, families, and community members must not spend our time being paralyzed by the darkness in our personal lives or the challenges we face as a community. Rather we must engage in lifestyles that search for the morning star, dispelling darkness by adding light, insuring that we try to live lives engaged in personal redemption and connecting to communal organizations that insure the eternality of our people. 

Rabbi Kenneth Brander is Yeshiva University Vice President for University and Community Life and David Mitzner Dean of the Center for the Jewish Future. He is Rabbi Emeritus of the Boca Raton Synagogue, and founding dean of the Weinbaum Yeshiva High School in Boca Raton.

Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE :: 25

SPRING14_dvar_torah_p24_v3.indd 3

3/18/14 12:08 PM

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

(l-r) Stacey and David Kanbar, Andrew Goldsmith

AMIT 2013 annual dinner at pier sixty in new york city.

T

he evening paid tribute to three outstanding AMIT couples, Ina and David Tropper, Chana and Daniel Shields, and Jill and Yoni Ellman. AMIT also honored a very special woman, Esther Semmelman zâ&#x20AC;?l. Their dedication to AMIT has been immeasurable.

We were inspired listening to the story of one of our students from AMIT Kfar Blatt, Yaffa Rotman The Minister of Education for the State of Israel, Rabbi Shai Piron, was the guest speaker.

MK Piron is the former principal of Yeshivat AMIT Kfar Ganim in Petach Tikva. Minister Piron spoke on the current educational environment in Israel and the great successes the AMIT Network has had over these many years.

The evening introduced the launch of a new capital campaign, the renovation of our two surrogate youth facilities, AMIT Frisch Beit Hayeled and AMIT Kfar Blatt. Chairing this new campaign are veteran AMIT leaders, Zipporah and Rabbi Arnold Marans and Trudy and Stanley Stern.

The 2013 Annual Dinner owes a debt of gratitude to its chairs, Stacey and David Kanbar, and co-chairs Caryn and Avi Golombeck, Robin and Shukie Grossman, Rona and Ira Kellman, and Jacques Semmleman. ď&#x20AC;ź

(l-r) Avi and Caryn Golombeck, Debbie Moed, Jill and Yoni Ellman

(l-r) Jacques Semmelman, Marcia Holzer, Chana and Daniel Shields

Ina and David Tropper and Family (l-r) George and Elana Ellman, Margery Friedman, Jill and Yoni Ellman

(l-r) Ira and Rona Kellman, David and Ina Tropper, Debbie Isaac Front row (l-r) Sarina, Ayelet, and Netanel Shields Back row (l-r) Yehudi, Ruth, Chana, and Daniel Shields

SPRING14_devnews_p26_v6.indd 2

3/18/14 12:14 PM

(l-r) Maytall Hetsroni, Yaffa Rotman, Debbie Isaac

(l-r) Robyn Price Stonehill, Suzanne Doft, Laurie Bryk (l-r) Amanda and Isaac Benishai, Joseph and Diana Straus

(l-r) Cara and Rob Greenberg, Rabbi Josh Lookstein, Judith and Matthew Goldsmith

(l-r) Amnon Eldar, Rabbi Shai Piron, Debbie Isaac

Michelle Jacobs and Ronnie Slochowsky

(l-r) Amnon Eldar, Stanley Wasserman, Rabbi Shai Piron, Ellen Wasserman, Russell Hendel

(l-r) Joyce Straus, Solomon and Sharon Merkin

(l-r) Hedda Rudoff, Ruth and Bob Riemer

Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE :: 27

SPRING14_devnews_p26_v6.indd 3

3/18/14 12:14 PM

DEVELOPMENT NEWS AMIT honors local leaders at the 2013 AMIT greater long island gala

Honoree Jennifer Lent (center) with her husband Mordy along with her parents Lynda and Ben Brafman and family

T

he 2013 AMIT Greater Long Island Gala took place on Tuesday evening, October 22, 2013, at The Sephardic Temple in Cedarhurst, New York. With the theme “New Horizons for Children,” the event paid tribute to a distinguished group of local residents for their service to AMIT, for their leadership in their communities, and for their dedication to the State of Israel. All proceeds benefited the AMIT network of 110 schools and programs throughout Israel.

Honorees Jay Kaplowitz and Eleanor Chiger

Regional honorees included Nechama Aryeh, a resident of Oceanside; Eleanor Chiger and Jay Kaplowitz of West Hempstead; Ariane Eisman of Plainview; Jennifer Lent, who resides in Lawrence; Lillian Levey of Long Beach; and Judy Pressner, also of Lawrence.

The Keter Shem Tov Award was presented to Shani Frank, a resident of Roslyn, for her lifelong dedication to and support of the children of AMIT. Marcelle Breitbart of Great Neck, an alumnus of the Midreshet AMIT class of 2013, presented the Dvar Torah.

The Long Island Gala is co-chaired by Debby Gage of Merrick; Risë and Harvey Kaufmann, Woodmere; Zipporah and Rabbi Arnold Marans, Cedarhurst; Esther and Donald Press, Long Beach; Betty Atlas and Owen Rumelt, West Hempstead; and Sami Schindelheim, Long Beach.

Bill Rothchild, assistant director of development for AMIT, received a special award to acknowledge his years of service to AMIT.  Ovadaya and Nechama Aryeh with their children

(l-r) Sami Schindelheim, Debbie Isaac, Esther Press, Bill Rothchild

(Seated center) Honoree Lillian Levey and family

Honoree Ariane Eisman and her husband Robert and family

(l-r) Arnold, Marcelle and Viviane Breibart

(l-r) Shelly Neumark, Ellen Scheinfeld, Lillian Levey, Linda Neuman

(center) Jerry Pressner and Honoree Judy Pressner and family

Honoree Shani Frank and her husband Rabbi Samuel and family

SPRING14_devnews_p26_v6.indd 4

Front row (l-r) Coby Casden, Ayelet Casden Back Row (l-r) Eric and Tamar Einstein, Bill Rothchild, Alex Casden, Sharon Rothchild, Allyson and Benson Casden 3/19/14 5:31 PM

Delegates from U.S. and France

(l-r) Malky Jacobs, Nataly Neuwirth, Adina Garbuz

2013 leadership mission to israel

T

his past December, AMIT delegates from Boston, Westchester, Manhattan, Queens, Riverdale, New Jersey, Israel and France attended the 2013 AMIT Leadership Mission to Israel. The delegation visited the AMIT Wasserman Junior and Senior High School in Beersheva, Ulpanat AMIT in Givat Shmuel, AMIT Kfar Blatt in Petach Tikva and AMIT Frisch Beit Hayeled in Jerusalem. At Kfar Blatt, leaders toured a recently renovated “model” surrogate apartment that is being funded by the Beit Hayeled and Kfar Blatt Capital Campaign (see pages 16-19 of this issue).

At the AMIT Fred Kahane Technological High School in Ashkelon, leaders worked side by side with students in the hairdressing and culinary tracks. One student commented, “It is because of AMIT that I am here learning a trade. I hope to work as a chef and one day, in a restaurant.” The Mayor of Ashkelon, Itamar Shimoni, discussed how AMIT “lights thousands of sparks” in its children all across Israel. According to Nataly Neuwirth of New Rochelle, “AMIT brings so much to its students; academic excellence, solid Jewish values, and hope for the future. I want everyone to understand AMIT’s importance in Israeli society.”

(l-r) Ruth Lewis, Selma Dyckman, Elaine Jacobs, Myra Mitzner, Michal Taviv-Margolese, Susan Galiounghi

Delegates spent time relaxing at the Beresheet Spa in Mitzpe Rimon.

Sumptuous dinners at both the Barkan Winery and at Spoons capped off the evenings. Delegates also got to witness the “blizzard of Jerusalem,” a once in a lifetime weather event. Even with the sheleg (snow), the mission was, according to Adina Straus, “warm, informative and full of heart.” She added, “I have met the AMIT students many times before and every time I come back and I hear their heartwarming stories, I feel great pride in being a member of AMIT.” 

(l-r) Debbie Moed, Adina Straus, Joyce Straus

(l-r)Sarah Aghion, Jone Dalezman, Ethlynne Brickman

Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE :: 29

SPRING14_devnews_p26_v6.indd 5

3/18/14 12:14 PM

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

(l-r) JJ Hornblass, Joe Gad, David Stonehill, Ray Chalme, Avi Shapira and Jeffrey Esses

high steaks and rare steaks

A

MIT’s Sixth Annual Guys Night Out took place at the Bowery Hotel in Manhattan. This year’s Texas Hold-em’ Poker Tournament was, co-chaired by David Stonehill and Jimmy Haber. Over 150 guests enjoyed a beautiful balmy night while puffing on hand-rolled Cuban style cigars, sampling a selection of scotches, and indulging in a carnivorous delight of various steaks and assorted meats. 

Adam Kaplan and Eric Landy

(l-r) Saul Burian, David Stonehill and Steven Tishman

David Scharf and Abraham Hidary

James Haddad and Eli Dweck

David Glass and Michael Serphos Danny Ellen and David Ashendorf

David Stonehill and Jimmy Haber Justin Liando and Leon Harary

30 :: Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE

SPRING14_devnews_p26_v6.indd 6

(l-r) Joe Gad, Charles Darwish, Josh Schupak, Jimmy Haber, Barry Kirshenbaum

3/18/14 12:14 PM

dedication of the joan s. meyers school wing at AMIT karmiel

O

n Thursday, December 12th, the Meyers family, together with AMIT leaders, gathered in Karmiel, Israel, for the dedication of the Joan S. Meyers Wing at AMIT Karmiel Junior and Senior High School. For many years, Joan Meyers, z”l, was a devoted member and leader of AMIT. She also was a founding member and leader of her local day school and shul in New Rochelle. Joan was well known and loved throughout the community.

With this important dedication, Joan’s legacy of chesed and commitment to Israel will live on through the children of AMIT. The Mayor of Karmiel, Rotem Yanay, spoke of how AMIT is the center of the community in Karmiel. This dedication will help provide the students of Karmiel, a town located in the north of Israel in the Beit Hakerem Valley, the outstanding academic opportunities they would otherwise not have.

(l-r) Bill Meyers, Sara Meyers Sadinoff, Leon Meyers, Rabbi Yuval Elimelech, Dr. Amnon Eldar

(l-r) Rabbi Yuval Elimelech Dr. Amnon Eldar, Leon Meyers

“My mother, Joan always cheered for the underdog in life. Our gift ensures that the children of AMIT Karmiel have the opportunity to succeed in life.”

Sara Meyers Sadinoff  Aharon Carish and Leon Meyers

gala in the southeast

T

his past December, the AMIT Southeast Region held its annual Gala Luncheon at Beth Torah in Aventura, FL. Judge Norman and Joan Ciment and Norman Levine, CPA, were honored for their long time commitment to AMIT and for their generosity as donors.

(l-r) Alan Veingrad, Norman and Joan Ciment, Norman Levine

The keynote speaker was Alan Veingrad. Alan is a former NFL Dallas Cowboy and Super Bowl winner who pursued his passion to become a religious Jew. The event concluded with the official Southeast Region launch of the Beit Hayeled and Kfar Blatt Renovation Campaign. 

(l-r) Harold Wilensky, Leon Brum, Seema Wilensky

Luncheon Attendees

Luncheon Attendees

SPRING14_devnews_p26_v6.indd 7

3/18/14 12:14 PM

DEVELOPMENT NEWS AMIT israel delegation visits the united states

R

ecently, Dr. Amnon Eldar, director general of the AMIT Network, had a chance to tour the U.S. and meet with many donors and members of AMIT. Accompanying Dr. Eldar was Lior Omesi, AMIT senior deputy director for finance and information systems, Alon Naftali, AMIT deputy director of operations, and Judith Schwed-Lion, AMIT’s vice president for international development.

Special visitors from the AMIT Network included AMIT 12th grade student, Yaffa Rotman and Maytall Hetsroni, mentor to surrogate parents at Kfar Blatt. The delegation traveled to Miami Beach, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston 

florida

Two events highlighted the delegation’s tour of the Sunshine State: a visit to the home of Helene and Abbey Berkowitz where they viewed a short Chanukah play presented by children from the community; and the second event was an AMIT Council meeting held at the home of Dr. Paul and Judy Goldberg

chicago

The tour continued to Chicago and the Midwest Council of AMIT Annual Dinner. Judith Schwed-Lion was the guest speaker and Yaffa Rotman accepted an award on behalf of the children of AMIT.

32 :: Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE

SPRING14_devnews_p26_v6.indd 8

3/18/14 12:14 PM

new england

Frederique Smits graciously opened her home to over 30 AMIT supporters, both the devoted and newly inspired. We were introduced to the new Kfar Blatt and Frisch Beit Hayeled Capital Campaign by Andrew Goldsmith, the newly installed executive vice president of AMIT, and Judith Schwed-Lion.

california

Traveling to the West Coast, the delegation was treated to three different events. First came a BBQ hosted by Joy and Michael Volk.

The highlights of that evening were presentations by Debbie Isaac, President of AMIT, and AMIT 12th grader Yaffa Rotman.

The next day saw the AMIT group from Israel enjoying brunch at the Pico Café. Supporters listened as Dr. Eldar discussed the Kfar Blatt/Frisch Beit Hayeled Capital Campaign and the matching 1.4 million NIS that have been committed by the Ministry of Education to this important project.

AMIT hosted a special evening at The Cask- LA’s premier destination for all kosher wines and spirits. The Young Israel of North Beverly Hills welcomed AMIT’s special guests from Israel. Yaffa Hetsroni told her story and explained how AMIT had transformed her life and nurtured her dreams. The event also featured the original artwork of Gina Gittler. Thank you to event chairs: Naomi Gittler & Janice Kaufler

SPRING14_devnews_p26_v6.indd 9

3/18/14 12:14 PM

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

(l-r) Chloe Epstein, Adam Moisa, Victoria Krane, Alex Taub, Tamar Rosenthal

Alex Luxenberg

Ayelet Schabes

afli entrepreneurs

This past February AFLI held its Premier Entrepreneurial Event, headed by Education Committee Chair Ayelet Schabes. The event, expertly moderated by AFLI Co-Founder Alex Luxenberg, consisted of an impressive panel of speakers: Chloe Epstein - Co-Creator of Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit Co. Victoria Krane - President of The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute Adam Moisa - Co-Founder of three tech start-ups, including Cloudifyd Tamar Rosenthal - Co-Founder of Dapple, natural cleaning products Alex Taub - Co-Founder of ad-tech startup Modern MAST (l-r) Michelle Fischer, Tal Daleyot, Keren Daleyot

The Winning Team: The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

The evening’s attendees were inspired by the stories and advice that the panel had to offer and we are looking forward to making this an annual event. 

are you ready for some football?

On a cold day in early November, the AMIT Future Leaders Initiative bundled up for the 3rd Annual AFLI Bowl. AFLI members’ hard work, together with generous donations from Coffee Bean, Successories, ParaDocs, Tempo Industries and many others, helped make this the most successful tournament to date. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers came away with the win, defeating 11 other strong teams. 

(l-r) Elizabeth Markovitch, Michelle Berman, Rebecca Greenspan, Alexandra Thurm, Rafi Haramati

The Bagelsbergs vs.

JSR Capital Many members of last year’s Midreshet AMIT class volunteering

34 :: Spring 2014 :: AMIT MAGAZINE

SPRING14_devnews_p26_v6.indd 10

3/18/14 12:14 PM

Phyllis Kosloff, Rachel Scheinmann

the philly annual gala This past November the Philadelphia Council/Shira Chapter celebrated its Annual Gala at the Hilton in Bala Cynwyd. Joan and Joel Betesh and Rachel and Ian Scheinmann were honored for their hard work and commitment to AMIT.

Steven Bacharach, Joel Betesh

Rachel spoke passionately of her trip to Israel and her experience visiting Frisch Beit Hayeled. Joan spoke about compassion, values, excellence and the impact AMIT has on Israeli society.

More than 150 guests attended, including Debbie Moed, vice president, financial resource development and Andrew Goldsmith, AMIT executive vice president and the eveningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s keynote speaker. ď&#x20AC;ź

Rochelle Nosenchuk, Rita Lourie Galena, Ruthie Krieger, Gail Cantor

Rebbetzin Adina Shmidman, Amy Erlbaum, Eve Kovsky Rachel Scheinmann, Debbie Moed, Joan Betesh Rebecca, Sarah, Liora and Benny Scheinmann

Ian Scheinmann, Rachel Scheinmann

Shelly Melman, Mindy Benjamini, Sara Bleier

SPRING14_devnews_p26_v6.indd 11

Mira Korn, Ronni Troodler, Chava Resnick-Paris, Lori Salkin, Jasmine Nof, Julie Zohar, Dana Kupfer

Jack Ludmir, Blima Ludmir, Ian Scheinmann, Rachel Scheinmann, Judy Tykocinski, Mark Tykocinski

3/18/14 12:14 PM

Dorothy and Robert Lewis

DEVELOPMENT NEWS an evening of israeli cinema with AMIT This past February, AMIT supporters gathered at Tribeca Cinemas for a special sneak preview of the critically acclaimed Israeli film Bethlehem. Bethlehem presents an unparalleled glimpse into the dark and fascinating world of human intelligence as it tells the story of the complex relationship between an Israeli Secret Service officer and his teenage Palestinian informant.

Susan and Miles Berger

Prior to the feature presentation the audience enjoyed a screening of In the Name of God, a feature created by students in the film program at AMIT Atidim High School in Or Akiva.

Roughly 450 students participate in this film track, which teaches the various aspects of filmmaking, including writing, filming, casting and editing.

The evening’s co-chairs, Ilana and Mitchell Kahn and Audrey and Chaim Trachtman, together with an able committee, organized a wonderful and memorable event 

Gabby Fridman and Samantha Francis

(l-r) David Kanbar, Ilana and Mitchell Kahn

(l-r) Eric Goldstein, Debbie Isaac and Andrew Goldsmith

the great white way!

Sheldon and Anne Golombeck

Zelda and Solomon Berger

On Sunday, January 12th, a group of AMIT donors, young and old, had a unique, real New York experience. Arriving at a NYC Broadway rehearsal hall, they were entertained by two actors from the Broadway show, Pippin. Through a dialogue of questions and answers these two actors took everyone on a journey, describing the audition process for Pippin, and offering a behind the scenes look at the show. As a special treat, the Tony award-winning actress, Tovah Feldshuh, joined us. Tovah was presented with AMIT’s First Women of Distinction Award. She spoke of her close connection to AMIT and the time she received a Mother-in-Israel Award.

Tovah gave an insider’s view of what it is to be a veteran actress on Broadway and then the group took their seats and enjoyed Pippin. 

(l-r) Andrew Goldsmith, Debbie Isaac, Tovah Feldshuh, Anne Golombeck

Nancy and Benjamin Sporn Suzanne and Norman Javitt

:: AMIT :: AMIT 36 :: Spring Fall 2013 2014 MAGAZINE MAGAZINE

SPRING14_devnews_p26_v6.indd 12

3/18/14 12:14 PM

spanning AMIT world Baltimore - AMIT Sarah Ribakow/Tikvah Chapter celebrated L’Dor V’Dor from Generation to Generation, at a gala brunch at the B’nai Jacob Shaarei Zion Synagogue in Baltimore.

Sarah Ribakow/Tikvah Chapter honored 113 longtime volunteers who were instrumental in the development of AMIT in Baltimore.  (l-r) Sonia Greenspon, Isabel Levinson

Boynton Beach - The AMIT Southeast Region is so proud to announce the establishment of a new chapter in Boynton Beach, Florida. The initial planning meeting for the Yocheved Chapter was held in the home of Jay Kaplowitz and Eleanor Chiger–Kaplowitz.

In addition to the hosts, AMIT leaders Miriam Neuman and Diana Schiowitz will be lending a hand. This new chapter will draw in snowbirds and snowflakes from all over the country as well as full time residents of Florida, including many NewGen members.  Jay Kaplowitz, Eleanor Chiger-Kaplowitz, Miriam Neuman

Washington, DC – The Birah Chapter of Greater Washington, DC hosted its annual event at the home of Orlee and Joey Turitz. Elana Stein spoke beautifully about the successes of AMIT. Chinese food from David Chu’s, a lively poker game, and socializing with friends were the successful ingredients of the evening.  (l-r) Elana Stein, Dahlia Topolosky

Philadelphia - The Philadelphia Council/Shira Chapter Generations-in-Israel event was hosted at the home of Sara and Josh Bleir in Bala Cynwyd, PA. The event honored the memory of Risa Goldman, z”l, and Risa’s mother, Sophie Ebert, z”l. Risa’s daughters, Miryam Goldman Adler and Yedida Goldman, gave heartfelt presentations. Judith Schwed-Lion, AMIT’s vice president for international development, brought the evening to a close with poignant memories of AMIT’s Eshet Chayil, Bessie Gotsfeld, z”l.  (l-r) Rachel Scheinmann, Kayla Bleier, Sara Bleier, Sharon Joshowitz, Brenda Frank

Washington, DC - On a blustery Motzei Shabbat evening in January, the Potomac Chapter of Greater Washington, DC, hosted their first Meet & Greet AMIT! Tovah Koplow and Ellen Werner-Shaller led the way with their passion for AMIT. Tovah spoke eloquently and emotionally about the great work we do in Israel. The evening was a success for Potomac. We are looking forward to a great 2014. Tovah Koplow and Jen Schwartz

SPRING14_devnews_p26_v6.indd 13

3/18/14 12:14 PM

$100,000+

Debbie and David Isaac, NY Ellen, z”l, and Meyer Koplow, NY Matanel Foundation, Luxembourg Barbara and Jules Nordlicht, NY Dahlia Kalter Nordlicht and Mark Nordlicht, NY Robyn Price Stonehill and David Stonehill, NY Ellen and Stanley Wasserman, NY

$75,000 - $99,999 Laurie and Eli Bryk, NY

$50,000 - $74,999

ING

A TIME • AT

M I T • B UI LD

A

ISRA E

L

NE CHI LD •O

An Invitation To Join Me In

President’s Circle As a parent and a long time devoted AMIT donor, I know how important a good education is to the development of children.

Many of the 25,000 students at AMIT in Israel do not have the advantages that our own children enjoy and which we may easily take for granted.

President’s Circle gifts provide the foundation upon which our network of schools is built. These annual gifts are sustaining funds that we rely on to support our excellent programs. In order to guarantee the continuation of programs which nurture Israel’s children and instill within them strong values and academic excellence, we rely on our members whose annual donation ensure Israel’s future by providing these opportunities.

All successful endeavors require a strong foundation. Please join me. The circle will not be complete without you.

Co-Chairs: Brenda Kalter and Deena Shiff For further information regarding President’s Circle, please contact Robin Rothbort at 212-477-4725, 1-800-989-AMIT (2647), or email robinr@amitchildren.org.

SPRING14_pres_circle_p38-39_v3.indd 2

Joan and Shael Bellows, IL Hadassah and Marvin Bienenfeld, NY Suzanne and Jacob Doft, NY Eric Herschmann, NJ Ellen and Emanuel Kronitz, Israel Leon and Gloria, Edward, Sari and Howard Miller, NY Ingeborg Petranker, z”l, CA Harriet and Heshe Seif, NJ Adina Straus, NY Joyce and Daniel Straus, NJ Zahava and Moshael Straus, NJ Bethia Straus-Quintas and Paul Quintas, ILL

$36,000 - $49,999 Anonymous, Israel Ike, Molly and Steven Elias Foundation, NY Michele and Ben Jacobs, NY Naomi Foundation, NY

$25,000 - $35,999 Anonymous, NY Thelma, z”l, and Harvey Berger, MA Mozes Borger, Israel Sherry and Neil Cohen, NY Michael Foley, NY Mitzi Golden, NY Mildred and Alvin Hellerstein, NY Brenda and Albert Kalter, NY Stacey and David Kanbar, NY Millie and Lawrence Magid, NY Debbie and Samuel Moed, NJ Micheline and Marc Ratzersdorfer, Israel Shari and Jacob M. Safra, NY Shirley and Morris, z”l, Trachten, FL

$18,000 - $24,999 Nicole Schreiber Agus and Raanan Agus, NY Sara Beren, z”l OH Blackman Foundation, CA Jewel and Ted Edelman, NY Pnina and Jacob Graff, CA Amy and Jimmy Haber, NY Russell Jay Hendel, MD Sarah Liron and Sheldon Kahn, CA Amy and Todd Kesselman, NY Gitta and Richard Koppel, Israel Sharon and Solomon Merkin, NJ Adrianne and Avi Shapira, NY Marilyn and Herbert Smilowitz, NJ Carrie and Ilan Stern, NY Trudy and Stanley Stern, NY

3/18/14 12:15 PM

Lotte and Ludwig Bravman, NY Marion Crespi, NY Jone and Allen Dalezman, MA Selma and Jacob Dyckman, NY Chaiki and Ziel Feldman, NJ Lilly and Alfred Friedman, NY Andrea and Larry Gill, CA Leelah and Joseph Gitler, Israel Miriam and Felix Glaubach, NY Harwit Charitable Trust, CA Laura and Jonathan Heller, NY Norma and Emanuel Holzer, NY Suzanne and Norman Javitt, NY Livia Kahn-Tandler, Switzerland Kirkland & Ellis LLP, NY

Sylvia and Leon Korngold, NY Ruth and Daniel Krasner, NY Esther and Motti Kremer, NY Ria and Tim Levart, NJ Mindy and Seymour Liebman, NY Aliza and Steven Major, NY Zipporah and Arnold Marans, NY Etella and Haim Marcovici, NY Marilyn and Leon Moed, NY Joan, z”l, and Leon Meyers, NY Nataly and Steve Neuwirth, NY Regina Peterseil, NY Lauren and Mitchell Presser, NY Jerald Ptashkin, CA Barbara and Joel Rascoff, NY

Joyce and Stanley Raskas, NY Jan and Sheldon Schechter, NY Charlotte Schneierson, NY Rita and Eugene Schwalb, FL Erica and Rob Schwartz, NY Deanne and Leonard Shapiro, NY Judy and Isaac Sherman, NY Ronnie and William Slochowsky, NY Sondra and Myron Sokal, NY Francine and Aaron Stein, NJ Jody and Ari Storch, NY Gil Taieb, France Audrey and Chaim Trachtman, NY Ina and David Tropper, NY Paula Yudenfriend and Arlin Green, PA

Anonymous, Israel Anonymous, Israel Anonymous, FL Anonymous, France Anonymous, MA Anonymous, NY Anonymous, NY Anonymous, Switzerland Asher Foundation, NY Leah and Jonathan Adler, NJ Ann and Hy Arbesfeld, NY Rachel and Martin Balsam, NY Yael Balsam, NY Lee and Louis Benjamin, NY Tamar and Ethan Benovitz, Israel Bea Berger, NJ Lisa and Joseph Bernstein, NY Vivian and Stanley Bernstein, NY Dahlia and Arthur Bilger, CA Laurie Bilger and Eli Epstein, NY Devorah and Melvyn Bleiberg, NY Sari and Stuart Braunstein, NY Adele and Jules Brody, NY Tamar and Hillel Bryk, NY Carol and Arnold Caviar, KS Margaret and Chaim Charytan, NY Beth Chiger, NY The Philip Citron Charitable Trust, MA Trina and Paul Cleeman, NY Sara Clemons, TN Florence Cohen, z”l, NY Shevi and Milton Cohen, NY Diane and Howard Cole, NY Melvin C. Cutler Foundation, MA Peggy and Philip Danishefsky, NJ Elaine and Lewis Dubroff, NY Hattie and Arthur Dubroff, NJ Susan Ederson, NY Linda and Barry Eichler, PA & NY Sherry and Aaron Eidelman, NY Judith and Allen Fagin, NY Vivian and Bernard Falk, NY Evelyn and Larry Farbstein, NY Ruth and Gene Fax, MA Iris and Stephen Feldman, NY Sheila and Kenneth Fields, NJ Shari and Jeff Fishman, CA Gwen Buttnick Francis, NJ Gabriella and David Fridman, NY Sura and Burt Fried, NY

Rena and Michael Friedman, IL Marisa and Andrew Gadlin, NY Shifra and Perry Garber, NY Abigail and Ari Glass, NY Ilana and Stuart Goldberg, NJ Paulette and Max Goldberg, NY Phyllis and Gerald Golden, FL Esther and Jack Goldman, NY Judith and Matthew Goldsmith, NJ Zelda and Sheldon Goldsmith, NY Anne and Sheldon Golombeck, NY Louis Gordon, TX Judith and Gabriel Gross, France Sharon and Melvin Gross, NY Gloria Grossman, NY Phyllis Hammer, MA Nicole and Jacques Hanau, France Felicia Hanfling, NY Debbie and Robert Hartman, IL Debbie and Eddie Herbst, CA David and Barbara B. Hirschhorn Foundation, MD Aviva and Fred, z”l, Hoschander, NY Peggy and Robert Insel, NY Elaine and Robert Jacobs, NY Barbara and Manfred Joseph, NY Connie and Alan Kadish, NJ Chavie Kahn and Heshy Kofman, NY Ilana and Mitchell Kahn, NY Robin and Simon Kahn, Israel Danna and Gilad Kalter, NY Ruth and Jerome Kamerman, NY Miriam and Shopsy Kanarek, NY Ruth and William Kantrowitz, NY Harriet and Joel Kaplan, NY Karen Kaplan, IL Marisa and Daniel Katz, NY Gloria and Harvey Kaylie, NY Rona and Ira Kellman, NY Rochelle Stern Kevelson, NY Diane and Barry Kirschenbaum, FL Susan Alter Klaperman, NY The Klibanoff Family, NJ Jane Klitsner, Israel Mindy and Jonathan Kolatch and The Kolatch Family Foundation, NJ Laurie and Robert Koppel, NY Evelyn and Lawrence Kraut, NJ Rochelle and Seymour, z”l, Kraut, MA Dorothy Kreiselman, NY Bertha, z”l, and Henry Kressel, NY

Donna and Jeffrey Lawrence, MD Sara and Moishe Leifer, NY Diane and David Lent, NY Ellyn and Alan Lerner, NJ Kari and Joshua Levine, NY Sylvia and Norman Levine, FL Dorothy and Robert Lewis, NY Ruth and Robert Lewis, NY Audrey and Haskel Lookstein, NY Naomi and Carl Lopkin, MA Rita Lourie-Galena, PA & NY Marie-Nicole and Georges Lumbroso, France Randie and Arthur Luxenberg, NY Meira and Solomon Max, NY Benay and Ira Meisels, NY Caroline and Marcelo Messer, NY Lois and Jonathan Mills, IL Myra Mitzner, NY Galina and Mark Moerdler and Family, NY Gloria and Burton Nusbacher, NY Reva and Martin Oliner, NY Jacob Pelta, CA Bea and Irwin, z”l, Peyser, NY Hedy and Paul Peyser, MD Suzy and Paul Peyser, NY Vicki and Jerry Platt, NY Esther and Donald Press, NY Tzippi and Ira Press, NJ Judy and Jerry Pressner, NY Robin and Jules Reich, NY Evelyn Reichenthal, TX Sheila and Sidney Rimmer, NY Shelley Rindner, NY Fritzie and Sheldon, z”l, Robinson, IL Sandra and Evan Roklen, CA Vivian and Solomon Rosen, FL Miriam and Howard Rosenblum, NJ Maks Rothstein, NY Leah and Arnold Rotter, CA Marcia Ruderman, MA Michele and Barry Rubin, NY Herbert Rudnick, NY Hedda Rudoff, NY Shirley and Milton Sabin, FL Debbie and Naty Saidoff, CA Ellen Scheinfeld, NY Iris Schneider, NY Esther and William Schulder, NJ Debbie and Daniel Schwartz, NY Miriam Seltzer, NY

Esther, z”l, and Jacques Semmelman, NJ Renee and Elliot Schreiber, NY Sharon and Rony Shapiro, MA Chana and Daniel Shields, NJ Deena and Adam Shiff, NY Nechi Shudofsky, NY Mollie Siegel, NJ Sharon and Morris Silver, CA Karen and Roy Simon, NY Ruth Simon, NY Lorraine and Mordy Sohn, NY Sara and Gabriel Solomon, MD Mahla and Hilton Soniker, NY Melanie and Matthew Sosland, NJ Sheryle and Theodore Spar, FL Karen Staschower, CA Shirley and Bruce Stein, TX Deborah Stern-Blumenthal and Michael Blumenthal, NJ Richard Stone, NY Ethel and Lester Sutker, IL Lilly Tempelsman, NY Sandra and Max Thurm, NY Eva and Evan Torczyner, NY Bertie and Fred Tryfus, NY Judith and Morris Tuchman, NY Audrey and Max Wagner, NY Joseph Walder, IL Paula and Leslie Walter, NY Anne and Mark Wasserman, NY Suzanne and Stuart Weilgus, NY Judy and Morry Weiss/Sapirstein-StoneWeiss Foundation, OH Marion and William Weiss, NJ Linda and Steven Weissman, NY Roselyn and Walter Weitzner, NY Diane and Michael Werner, NY Marguerite and Ronald Werrin, PA Joyce and Jeremy Wertheimer, MA Booky and Jerome Wildes, NY Phyllis Wind, NY Florence Wolf, NY Stella and Samy Ymar, MD Hilde and Benjamin, z”l, Zauderer, NY Esther and Dov Zeidman, NY Zeldin Family, France Tamar and Benjamin Zeltser, NY Helene and Gerald Zisholtz, NY Corinne and Neil Zola, NY

$5,000 - $9,999

SPRING14_pres_circle_p38-39_v3.indd 3

*As of March 3, 2014

Anonymous, Israel Anonymous, NY Anonymous, MA Trudy and Ted, z”l, Abramson, FL Randi Schatz Allerhand and Joseph S. Allerhand, NY Joseph Anmuth, CA Jonathan Art, NY Lolly and Harris Bak, NY Zelda and Solomon Berger, NY Daisy Berman, NY Anne Bernstein, CA Evelyn and Isaac Blachor, NY Beth and Reuben Blumenthal, NY Ethlynne and Stephen Brickman, MA

president’s circle of honor

$10,000 - $17,999

3/18/14 12:15 PM

& !

W NE TING I C EX

GIVE THE GIFT OF PRAYER NEW SIDDURIM FOR SCHOOL, SYNAGOGUE AND HOME

THE KOREN

Nusaĥ Sepharadim (Edot HaMizraĥ)

CHILDREN'S SIDDUR ✔ Captivating illustrations ✔ Thought-provoking educational components ✔ Instructional navigation icons ✔ Educational resource and conventional siddur in one ✔ Supplementary Companion for parents and educators

Nusaĥ Ashkenaz

Nusaĥ Sepharadim (Edot HaMizraĥ)

THE KOREN

ANI TEFILLA WEEKDAY SIDDUR For the inquiring high-school student and thoughtful adult ✔ Innovative and inspiring commentary ✔ Unique layout for creating personal connection ✔ Narratives & questions for reflection ✔ Frequently Asked Questions on Jewish prayer ✔ Practical guides on enhancing one’s kavana Translation by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks | Commentary by Rabbi Jay Goldmintz, Ed.D.

Nusaĥ Ashkenaz

KOREN PUBLISHERS JERUSALEM

WWW.KORENPUB.COM

40_AMIT_SPRING14_r1.indd 1

Available online and at your local Jewish bookstore.

3/19/14 9:17 AM