Executive VP’s Impressions

Impressions

BY ANDREW GOLDSMITH

Landing in Israel always brings with it some level of excitement — after all, is there any other destination where everyone applauds when the plane lands? After two and a half years of perpetual closure, a palpable communal outburst of joy was followed by shared smiles even during the deplaning bedlam.

She’s open again and not a moment too soon. The talk of damage to the Diaspora/Israel relationship is a real thing. Reasons aside, Israel’s closure was kind of like calling your mother to ask whether you can bring over the kids for a Shabbat meal, and being told “no.” The reasoning might be valid but there’s still a sting.

The good news is the sting doesn’t last long. They did miss us and genuinely feel bad about the closure. The traditional “Ma Nishma” (always a sincere inquiry) is now accompanied by hugs and warm invitations too numerous even if there were double the time.

I was eager to see firsthand — really to witness — how AMIT did during COVID. Of course we’ve been in close contact, read reports galore, burnt out two IPADs from over-Zooming, but nothing — absolutely nothing — takes the place of walking the halls of our schools, meeting the students and staff, and having a thousand conversations. It’s the difference between FaceTiming your grandchildren and holding them on your lap — similar but in no way the same.

Throughout this issue of the magazine and in our Annual Report (amitchildren.org/2021report), you’ll see many examples that add up to a singular conclusion — we’ve come through this storm well. Battered at times, certainly, but well. We faced unbelievable adversity with courage and creativity and teamwork par excellence. “No child left behind” became a war cry and anything less intolerable.

It’s not a simple mission and frankly incredibly impractical. Over the last few months I’ve had a running and at times vehement dispute with a supporter who makes the argument that one of our programs, while highly successful in transforming lives, simply doesn’t have the capability to grow in numbers in the traditional way. It’s absolutely true — some our programs won’t grow and will never ever be economical. Budgets are always a balance between what you want and what you can afford. The argument that we should focus only on programs that can help the most (and jettison the rest) never quite leaves my mind.

That is until I saw something quite wonderful. I was visiting the Gloria & Henry I. Zeisel and Family Junior College and accidentally happened upon their “wall of graduates.” Each alumnus has a picture, an update and quote — kind of like a living yearbook. Scanning the faces, I recognized Yaffa Rothman — so would many of you. For two years, Yaffa served as our AMIT student ambassador. She toured the country on our behalf, meeting hundreds of supporters and winning our hearts. As a teenager, she came to us when everyone else had given up on her and Kfar Blatt became her home. While in our care, her father was killed in a terrorist attack and her tough life became much tougher. But our staff never gave up on her and in turn she never gave up on herself. Yaffa graduated the junior college in 2016 and now attends the prestigious IDC Herziliya. She plans to utilize her talents to become a diplomat in the Israel foreign ministry and every indicator leads us to believe that Yaffa has what it takes to get there.

Budget? Yeah, right. Impractical? Certainly. But still absolutely the right thing to do. AMIT will find a way because we have to. We at AMIT would never knowingly give up on a single child, no matter what they need or how many are in need. And I know you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Chag Kasher V’Samaech — to you, your loved ones, and all of our AMIT children.

Andrew Goldsmith

AMIT Executive Vice President