Inside AMIT - Fall 2019

September 2019 : Tishrei 5780

AMIT Grad & the Art of Instant Medical Diagnosis 3 Inspiring Reunions Bring Together 2,040 AMIT Alumni An AMIT Alumnus is Rapping the Truth Why YOUR Vote Matters in WZO Elections

SAVE THE DATE AMIT ’s

2019 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019 5:00 p.m.

Pier Sixty, New York City

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

BY AUDREY AXELROD TRACHTMAN

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he period surrounding Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is a time of reflection. We are challenged to look at our past with a critical eye and consider how we can change our lives for the better. At AMIT, this type of assessment occurs naturally throughout the year and has, since our inception, nearly 95 years ago. While our essential mandate has not changed — making sure that every child in our charge develops to her full potential — how we do it is constantly evolving.

AMIT was founded by Bessie Gotsfeld and some likeminded women in 1925. Successful fundraisers for Palestine, they had grown increasingly dissatisfied as women raised money, but men decided where to allocate funds. From the beginning, AMIT focused on creating a home for disadvantaged children being resettled in Israel. Once WWII ended, orphan children from the Holocaust became the priority. But it didn’t stop there. AMIT was also among the first organizations to bring Ethiopians to Israel. When Blu Greenberg visited Kfar Batya in 1955, Bessie, her old babysitter from Seattle, showed her around, specifically emphasizing the handmade curtains on the Ethiopian girls’ windows. The curtains had been made as part of a greater lesson on the importance of privacy. A seemingly small gesture, but a huge cultural shift. Today, we continue to recognize that sometimes the small gestures can be as important as large systemic change. Because we don’t only educate our students, we nurture them, inculcate values, identify strengths, and work with them to tackle weaknesses.

We have in no way diminished our passion for bettering the lives of those less fortunate. Today, we educate more than 25% of all Ethiopian high school students. Sometimes that means educating parents as well as children, sometimes it means providing social services or extra tutoring hours, and sometimes it means offering enrichment opportunities.

AMIT’s footprint today is the largest it has ever been as we’re educating more than 35,000 students with a $150 million budget. Even though our network has been the de facto educational leader for three years running, we are still not satisfied with doing things the way they’ve always been done. While others would be afraid of messing with success, we are in the midst of a full educational overhaul to change teachers' roles from providers of information to learning facilitators, and to reorient our physical spaces to encourage creativity and innovation. Our goal is to create an individualized plan for each student that considers personal responsibility as well as different learning modalities. We believe that these changes are as beneficial for Talmud and Bible study as they are for secular subjects. And we understand this change must be made while retaining the Jewish values and warmth for which AMIT schools are known.

Fourteen years ago, I became involved in AMIT because I really believed in the mission. I have stayed involved and become president, in large measure, because of the commitment I see in both our outstanding professional staff and our supporters. Over the years, I have been inspired by so many of the people I met at our programs and in our many AMIT communities. As AMIT’s new president, I look forward to meeting so many more of you throughout the country and hearing your thoughts. (I can be reached at audreyt@amitchildren.org or at the N.Y. office.) It may be obvious, but bears repeating — we could not do all this without you. For almost 95 years, you have supported and enabled us to become the educational powerhouse that we are today.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

My very best wishes for a Happy New Year filled with good learning, good works, family, and friends.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 03

President’s Message

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Executive VP’s Impressions

07 Lifesaving Medical Technology in a Cell Phone

10 I nspiring: The Common Theme at Three AMIT Reunions

14 Shalom’s Future Now Holds Limitless Possibilities

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World Zionist Congress Elections

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JERUSALEM: City of the Book

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Rapping the Truth

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Dvar Torah Br Dr. Gidon Rothstein

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AMIT highlights & successes

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Development news

Signed articles do not necessarily represent the opinion of the organization. Reproduction of any material requires permission and attribution.

President Audrey Axelrod Trachtman Executive Vice President Andrew Goldsmith Director General Dr. Amnon Eldar

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, Jewish values and Zionist ideals.

AMIT is an acronym for “Irgun Mitnadvot L’Ma’an Yisrael V’Torata” (organization of volunteers for Israel and her Torah) Visit us online at www.amitchildren.org

Vice President, Marketing & Communications Daniela Gontownik

AMIT Magazine (ISSN 1085-2891) is published biannually, fall and spring, by AMIT.

Director of Marketing & Communications Shelley Labiner

AMIT national office: 49 West 37th St., New York, NY 10018 212.477.4720

Design Michael Shirey Cover Art Yitzchok Moully

Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: AMIT 49 West 37th St., New York, NY 10018

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IMPRESSIONS

BY ANDREW GOLDSMITH

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oving homes is incredibly stressful – you’ve got to find a new place (on a budget), pack up, throw things out (painfully sometimes), design, redesign, move, and get settled again. Forced by a tripling of rent, after nearly 30 years in the same location, our AMIT national office did just that on an institutional scale. While we settle into our new space it forced us to think about a lot — long closed storage boxes revealed unique AMIT artifacts and photos (proudly to be displayed) and copious files (now digitized) recording painstaking debate on issues of huge importance (whether to form a network) and, well, minutiae (salad course for an annual dinner). All of it speaks volumes about our noble history and paints a picture of generations of very hard work, deep passion, to the very bones commitment of all those who live, breathe, and dream AMIT. The moment shouldn’t go unrecognized.

In classic Hebrew there are different words for community — edah, tzibur and kehillah — each with a different connotation. Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks points out that an edah (witness) is a community of the like-minded based on shared experience. A tzibur (to pile up) is a community in the minimalist sense formed by a group getting together for a moment; they may have nothing in common (and may never see each other again), but for a brief period need each other. A kehillah is different; while its members are different from one another, all join and remain with a specific goal, one that involves personal sacrifice. Its beauty is magnified because, if driven by noble purpose, it gathers together unique contributions of many individuals, giving each the ability to say “This is what I added” to something magnificent.

The greatness of AMIT is that we are a collective achievement, a kehillah. Each one of the files we opened revealed a supporter, donor, or partner

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adding their contribution to the common good.

This unique piece of themselves greatly varied; for some it was the sweat equity of leadership in a chapter or board, regular participation in events or waving the AMIT flag whenever the opportunity presented itself. It’s the ongoing financial support in the variety of our fundraising efforts whether President’s Circle, Chai Society, the Sema & Moshe Menora, z”l, Back to School campaign, or any of the many other campaigns that give us our fiscal lifeblood. For some it was a bequest that left a legacy. In all cases, it is the giving up of some small part of our self to be part of something bigger than all of us.

We’ve been astoundingly successful — we begin the new school year with nearly 36,000 students in our 107 schools and youth villages. In a huge accomplishment, we are recognized by the Ministry of Education as Israel’s number one network of schools and AMIT reached this goal while remaining committed to the one mantra that guides our strategy and decision-making — no child left behind, a policy that guides virtually every decision.

It’s why the 70% of our student body who face challenging circumstances get the opportunity to flourish and break the vicious cycle of poverty that would stymie their potential. It’s how our schools influence their respective community and, in turn, the nation of Israel. And it’s how we evolve to face new challenges, and that whatever comes our way, we will work together as a kehillah.

This year we’ll celebrate our 95th anniversary, and plans are underway for a celebratory Israel mission (May 14-19). If your children or grandchildren were making a simcha, you wouldn’t miss it, right?

So come celebrate with your AMIT kids; they’re waiting for you. And we’ll celebrate with a simcha that only a true kehillah can generate.

Shana Tovah U’metukah.

Lifesaving Medical Technology in a Cell Phone

BY GLORIA AVERBUCH

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rowing up, Ron Berant saw how long and hard his physician father worked. “Being a doctor was the last thing I wanted to do,” he concluded.

That all changed when he became a volunteer for Magen David Adom, Israel’s national ambulance and emergency medical organization. At age 17, he assisted in an emergency childbirth. “I remember coming out of the home holding the baby in my arms. I realized the impact you can have on someone’s life. It’s a very strong feeling to know that you can make such a difference.”

Today, Dr. Ron Berant, now 45, is a pioneering attending physician at Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel, the only standalone comprehensive hospital of its kind in the country and in the Middle East exclusively for children, recognized as one of the leading pediatric institutions in the world. He is a graduate of AMIT Ginsburg Bar Ilan Gush Dan high school for boys, an honors fellowship graduate in pediatric emergency medicine, and a tutor and lecturer at Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University.

Berant sees an equal mission in caring for patients as well as teaching and mentoring others. In Israel, “The physician’s role is much more than just taking care of patients. You have to be a ‘jack of all trades’, a clinician plus an educator

and administrator,” he said. In fact, as he sat to be interviewed on his day off, he oversaw a computer repair, and then received a call asking if he could assist using his ultrasound expertise in a surgical procedure on a young patient. He agreed without hesitation.

The Art of Instant Diagnosis It is that special ultrasound technology that Berant has brought to Schneider and to Israel that makes him so sought after. The technology is called Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS). It refers to the use of trained medical professionals using

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diagnostic ultrasound wherever a patient is located. It is a non-invasive, fast, and accurate way to provide treatment at the point of care, whether at the bedside or elsewhere, without the need to rely on a radiology department. In 2014, Berant became the first Israeli graduate of the Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) Fellowship Training Program in POCUS at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Today, he is the lead physician in Israel in this technology.

“In the emergency room department, you don’t need to have the bottom-line diagnosis right away, but you need to know the next steps. Pointof-Care Ultrasound enables us to come to the correct next steps as quickly and as accurately as possible,” he explained.

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Life and death emergencies happen often at Schneider. In one that is typical, a sick child was rushed into the ER with her heart barely beating.

As doctors stood ready to infuse fluids to fight a suspected infection, Dr. Berant stepped in to view her heart via ultrasound. He quickly diagnosed cardiogenic shock, in this case suspected as infection-related; however, it was a viral infection, not bacterial. The cardiac intensive care unit was called in to treat her. The fluids the staff had stood ready to inject would have overwhelmed the child’s system, jeopardizing heart function with the additional volume. She likely would have died. “Because we were able to diagnose that child within three minutes and provide the most appropriate care, it probably saved her life,” said Berant.

Spreading the Word In addition to conducting lectures and workshops in POCUS, Berant spreads the word through Camp Ultrasound. The annual program, which he started in 2015, includes physician learners from all over Israel and instructors from the United Sates, Canada, and Europe. “Would you mind lending me your kids?” he asks parents during the Passover vacation. The children spend two days at Schneider, enjoying a play center and serving as models for the physicians doing ultrasound training. The camp culminates in events like a bowling party.

In the last five years, the use of POCUS has dramatically spread throughout all ERs in the country. It has entirely changed the medical landscape in both pediatric and adult medicine. “I’m happy to say I have had a small share in the way we take care of patients in Israel,” said Berant. In addition to ultrasound through mobile carts and laptop computers, Berant, who has a talent for exploring and understanding technology, has the latest: an ultrasound app on his mobile phone. He attaches a transducer to his phone, and remarkably can now conduct an ultrasound anywhere, anytime simply by reaching into his pocket.

AMIT Education Set the Standard Berant, a father of three and married to Orit, an MBA accountant, comes from a family of achievement and service. He cites as a mentor his father, Michael, a renowned cardiologist in Israel and at Schneider.

His mother, Ety Berant, is a PhD in psychology; his brother, Jonathan, also a graduate of AMIT Ginsburg Bar Ilan Gush Dan, is a PhD in computer science and linguistics and an award-winning researcher and lecturer at Tel Aviv University; and his sister, Daphna, is a physician in residency at Schneider.

In addition to the influence of his family, the roots of Ron Berant’s professional achievements emanate from his early education. “Going to AMIT Gush Dan was pretty obvious,” he said. He grew up in Ramat Ilan, 200 meters from where he could see the school right in front of him. It was the only high school

to which he aspired. At that time, the building was housed in Bar-Ilan University, where he was allowed to flex his intellectual muscle. This included permission as an 11th-grader to do a special project with a university biology professor in which Berant harvested cardiology cells to study the effect on the heart of a particular chemotherapy.

“AMIT really helped me with its spirit of open-mindedness. It trained all of us how to think. It wasn’t just about attaining a certain amount of knowledge; you came out being open to different trains of thought. School needs to give you tools. AMIT gave us the tools to find and fulfill our potential.”

Berant cites two AMIT faculty members in particular who contributed to his rich education. One was his counselor, Tzipi Spiegel, “who was attentive, and really listened and heard the students.”

The other was his Gemara teacher, Gideon Sapir, currently a law professor at Bar-Ilan University and a past candidate for the Israeli Supreme Court.

“He expanded our train of thought,” said Berant.

Finally, he said, AMIT taught him a critical skill: to fail and then to succeed. “I failed in physics, so when physics wasn’t right for me, they allowed me to succeed and excel in my interest. Now, I’m leading in that field.”

Like Father Like Son AMIT Gush Dan boasts three generations of Berant boys. In addition to Ron and Jonathan, Berant’s eldest son is currently a 9th-grader at the school. And like his father, he is preparing to become a volunteer for Magen David Adom. On the wall at AMIT are the yearbook pictures of all graduates. “That’s my picture on the wall, and that’s your uncle,” Berant told his son with a smile. “Remember that we are always watching you, so behave.”

For Dr. Ron Berant, a professional calling was born in youthful experience, punctuated by the birth of a baby he helped deliver. Of his medical career he stated, “It’s really worth all the time and effort you put into it. I’ve been blessed, and am thankful for what I do.”

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INSPIRING The Common Theme at Three AMIT Reunions

BY HELGA ABRAHAM

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n today’s social network-centered world, most people keep in touch with far-flung friends from high school and university via Facebook or Instagram, as in-person reunions happen less frequently. AMIT is working to reverse that trend by undertaking three largescale reunions of graduates around the country this summer and establishing alumni communities at several of its schools.

AMIT’s three inaugural alumni events in May and June drew a huge response and great excitement: 1,100 graduates of AMIT Ginsburg Bar Ilan Gush Dan gathered in Tel Aviv; 240 graduates of AMIT Kennedy Junior and Senior High School came together in Acco; and 700 alumni of AMIT’s Frisch Beit Hayeled reunited in Jerusalem, at the place they called home during the formative early years of their lives All three events underscored the unique impact of an AMIT education on Israel’s children from diverse socioeconomic and religious backgrounds—and demonstrated that AMIT graduates make up the fabric of Israeli society and contribute to the country in different ways. They are academics, security experts, doctors and psychologists, politicians, leaders in the army and at top yeshivot, musicians, comedians, entrepreneurs, and lawyers in prestigious firms.

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At the largest of the three reunions, 1,100 graduates of AMIT Ginsburg Bar Ilan Gush Dan high school for boys filled Tel Aviv University’s elegant Smolarz Auditorium to capacity, along with current 11th and 12th-grade students. Alumni greeted each other with laughs, hugs, and handshakes and the sense of camaraderie and excitement was palpable. Some 200 teachers past and present, past principals, and dignitaries who are affiliated with the school also attended. Many had not seen each other for three, even four decades, but few had difficulty identifying each other. If they did, a neck tag hanging from a colorful ribbon identified them not only by name but also by decade — red for the school’s first decade, purple for the second, yellow for the third, and orange for the fourth.

Ronen Jacobson, 48, who graduated in 1988 and went on to become a renowned psychologist with his own radio show, wore a red ribbon. He had come from Jerusalem to see old colleagues and former staff, citing his math teacher Sarah Grazutis as “amazing.” More than just a reunion, the alumni event celebrated the school’s 40th birthday, and many graduates nostalgically recalled the school’s beginnings, as it squatted in caravans on the campus of Bar-Ilan University.

“It was pretty chaotic,” recalled Yaron Kenigsberg, who graduated in 1983. “One class was in one

building, another in another, but we forged a good name for ourselves.” So much so that Kenigsberg’s son Roee has continued in the family tradition and will graduate from the school this year. “I love it,” he said enthusiastically. “There are 500 students but it feels like a family. I don’t much like studying but I arrive at the school with a smile.”

The evening’s program was funny, engaging, and meaningful, with graduates recalling inside jokes and pranks, watching footage from years back, and paying tribute to the fallen soldiers who were graduates of the school.

Among former staff attending the event was 53-year-old Gideon (Gidi) Sapir, a brilliant law professor who taught Talmud at Gush Dan in the early 1990s. “I consider my term there as one of the highlights of my life,” he said. “It was a privilege to touch the souls of brilliant young kids.” One such student was Roee Klein, the heroic IDF commander who died during the 2006 Lebanon War after jumping on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers. “Even at a young age, Klein was impressive,” recalled Sapir. “He was tough but very spiritual at the same time.”

Two very different alumni, Lior Ben Yair, who studied electronics and graduated in 1995, and Rav Oren Eliahu, who also studied electronics but went on to become a rabbi, both cited their teachers as excellent role models and remembered history teacher Tzipi Spiegel in particular.

“She was the teacher,” recalled Ben Yair. “I didn’t like history, but I loved her class and I even remember her birthday!” Rav Eliahu, for his part, credited Spiegel for encouraging him to succeed not only in his studies but also in life.

As Randi Gelman, chairperson of AMIT’s Israel amutah who cites four generations of AMIT involvement in her family, looked round the hall, she exclaimed: “This has been a dream. It’s the first event of its kind that we have held, and the turnout was amazing.”

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A few days later, in Acco, AMIT Kennedy Junior and Senior High School — which recently won the national educational excellence award — held its own alumni event on the school’s premises, attended by 240 graduates from across the country. Students baked cookies for the guests and student ambassadors led guided tours of the school.

“The graduates were amazed by what they saw,” said Principal Eti Zabary. “We have state-of-the art labs and a high-tech hub where courses are given by start-up companies. It simply is no longer the same school.” After touring the school and mingling, graduates and students joined together in a “kululam” sing-along program, which had the entire school rehearse and perform a song by renowned Israeli singer Shlomo Artzi.

The final graduate event of the summer took place in Jerusalem at AMIT Frisch Beit Hayeled (“home of the child”), a unique surrogate family residence and school for disadvantaged children aged 5-15. (The current student body there is aged 8-15.) At Beit Hayeled, the children live in groups of 12 in apartments with a family unit called a “mishpachton” headed by young couples that act as surrogate parents to the children. Most of these children come from disadvantaged or dysfunctional homes, and they often learn what it means to be part of a warm, caring family at

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Beit Hayeled, where social workers, therapists, counselors, national service girls, and seminary girls from Midreshet AMIT all offer them support and attention. Currently the school caters to 52 resident and 27 external children; the latter also enjoy their own apartments and surrogate parents at Beit Hayeled but return, at night, to sleep in their own homes.

Niva Ament, head of the school’s therapeutic staff, said that the whole of Beit Hayeled is in fact therapeutic: “We have a huge therapeutic staff, which means that the children here receive much more personal attention than in foster care.” This approach has been quite successful, as evidenced by the 700 graduates of Beit Hayeled who turned up for the reunion, many with their spouses and children in tow. Many described how they would not have achieved what they have in life without the loving care and support that they got from Beit Hayeled.

Among the first to arrive was Ofer Dahan, 48, who came from a broken home and was one of the first boarders at the school. “We were looked after very well,” he said. “It was like a family.” As we talked, former Principal Motti Asraf came over to greet Dahan. “He was at my wedding,” Dahan noted with a smile. Soon Dahan was joined by two former co-boarders Orly Ohana and Yaffa Knafo,

L-R: Dr. Amnon Eldar, Sondra Sokal, Nitzchiya Eldar, Dana Elyashiv, Dubi Kalir, and Randi Gelman.

basis of AMIT’s educational philosophy, which is to give each child the specific attention he or she needs,” said Amnon.

both of whom came from large families: Orly from a family of 15 and Yaffa from a family of 11. The two women, now married with children, recalled how Beit Hayeled took them in when their parents could no longer cope and gave them an education and a home. “We learned what it means to be a ‘family’ and to respect one another, no matter how different we were,” said Yaffa.

As the guests mingled in the school’s lobby and reception hall, others felt compelled to visit the apartments they grew up in. Michal Boadana, a mother of four and already a grandmother, was almost in tears as she stood in the apartment where she lived from age 5 until 12. “Beit Hayeled shaped me,” she recalled. “It gave me clothes, shoes, books, and a lot of support.” Pointing to the kitchen she exclaimed: “That’s where I used to bake cookies, and now baking is my profession!”

Exemplifying the success of this approach is Tal Avitan, 36, who attended the event with two of his four children and was thrilled to reunite with old dorm pals again. Avitan boarded at Beit Hayeled in the early ’90s because his hometown of Sderot was constantly battered by rockets and his father was in jail. “Beit Hayeled was even better than home,” Avitan recalled. “I could sleep peacefully for the first time and, even more importantly, this is where I began to dream.” After dreaming of becoming a soccer star, Avitan studied soccer at the Wingate Institute and went on to establish the first religious professional soccer school in the country (in Sderot), which now boasts 150 members.

What’s Next?

As much as the alumni events were hugely successful in themselves — inspiring all those who attended and arousing great emotion — the network’s broader goal is to see them evolve into graduate communities that will enable AMIT alumni not only to keep in touch but also to play a role in connecting students with the "wider" world of business and employment. Graduates will be invited to give lectures at their former school, act as mentors to individual students, and offer professional consulting and career guidance. In this way, the wide-ranging expertise of the older generation will be harnessed for the benefit of the next generation.

Among former staff attending the event was AMIT Director General Amnon Eldar, whose mother, Nitzchiya, served as principal of Beit Hayeled for 20 years. Amnon also began his career as an educator at Beit Hayeled. In the early 1980s, Eldar and his wife, Michal, served as surrogate parents to 12 children. “It was a challenge and a huge life experience that took over our lives completely,” recalled Michal. “Even when I was in labor, I worried about the children back at Beit Hayeled.”

Nitzchiya and Amnon both spoke at the event. “It is here where I learned what would become the

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Shalom’s Future Now Holds Limitless Possibilities

BY ANAT ROSENBERG

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halom D. admits that 9th grade wasn’t his most successful year. He was enrolled at an all-boys’ school in Jerusalem and was told he would have to redo the year if he wanted to stay at that school. With the help of a guidance counselor, he decided to look into other nearby schools, but none of them seemed to be the right fit.

Shalom, one of eight children in his family, grew up in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem. One of his older brothers had attended an AMIT school in Jerusalem and transferred to the Kfar Blatt Youth Village in Petach Tikva for vocational training, and he persuaded Shalom to try it as well. Kfar Blatt is one of AMIT’s surrogate family residences that cater to children from disadvantaged or dysfunctional homes and offers them a safe haven in which to learn and grow.

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“My older brothers used to have conversations with me about why it’s important to invest in education and the future,” Shalom said.

Today, after completing high school at Kfar Blatt with a full bagrut (matriculation) certificate and finishing his first year at the Lewis and Wolkoff Pre-Army Preparatory Program at the Gloria and Henry I. Zeisel and Family Junior College, Shalom agrees that investing in education is the best path to personal and professional success.

Shalom spent part of the summer after high school studying four additional units each in math and English and was determined to enlist in the IDF. “After high school, I was thinking of going into the army, but my brother who was at the junior college tried to persuade me to go there, too. I said, ‘No, but I want to finish the army and start

my life,’ but my brother persisted: ‘It builds you up—you have to try it.’”

Despite not really having been interested in cars, he did try it—and he recently finished his first year at the junior college, which combines state-ofthe-art automotive mechanical engineering studies with values-based leadership training. He also won the top spot at the school’s year-end competition for advanced car systems diagnostics, beating out 11 of his classmates, including one of his closest friends. (There were no hard feelings.)

are enveloped in a warm, caring environment where they learn life skills that prepare them for significant service and fulfilling lives as productive members of Israeli society.

“Both the program and junior college gave me so many tools for the future — public speaking, responsibility, believing in myself, and believing that I’m capable,” said Shalom. “What gave me the main push to succeed was the combination of the two — the program taught me how to use the tools that the school gave me.”

“The week leading up to the competition was intense,” Shalom said, “and the dozen students who were participating studied together and supported one another in preparation for the big day.”

“At first, I admit, I didn’t have the energy to invest in studying, but we worked to help each other as a group, and I started seeing it as something that will help me for the future,” he said.

He also happens to like a good challenge and became more motivated to win. “Participating in something like this allows you to dream, and I thought it would help me advance academically,” he added.

The competition combined real-time auto diagnostics with a lightning round of general-knowledge questions about auto-tech and mechanical engineering. In the first stage, Shalom’s friend beat him by one point, but he triumphed in the second stage. “When you invest, you succeed,” he said.

That line neatly sums up the philosophy of the Lewis and Wolkoff Pre-Army Preparatory Program at the Zeisel junior college, where students devote two years to high-level training in auto-tech—learning computerized automobile diagnostics—or automotive mechanics, industrial management or legal administration, earning a valuable technological certificate and skills needed for meaningful military service and gainful future employment. During their time there, the students

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He said that both the program and the school provide students with whatever support they need to succeed. “If, for example, my studies aren’t going well, the college immediately tries to figure out how to help, offers extra tutoring and teaching hours, and the teachers will stay late when they can. The program is teaching me how to use these tools — how to cultivate my personality, independence, and responsibility.”

According to Moshe Uziel, himself a graduate of Kfar Blatt and now the director of the Zeisel junior college, “the difference between graduates who succeed in realizing their goals in life and those who do not rests on their ability to embrace all the tools we give them and get the most out of them.

Shalom and his brother are these kind of children — they welcomed the many tools they got here. In his everyday work, Shalom combines academic excellence and values, but, most importantly, he is always grateful to those around him.”

This fall, Shalom begins his second year at the junior college, where exciting things await him. He and the other finalists from the auto-tech compe-

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“ Both the program and junior college gave me so many tools for the future — public speaking, responsibility, believing in myself, and believing that I’m capable”

tition will be attending a professional automotive seminar in Germany, and he will continue to build on the knowledge he has already acquired. He is still debating what he wants to do in the army — either serve in a combat unit or in the Technology and Maintenance Corps — but he knows that the future holds limitless possibilities.

“I was never really interested in cars,” he said, with a laugh. “I used to just look at cars and ask, ‘What model is it?’ But somehow at the junior college I fell in love with the field and really connected with it. I hope to continue with it — and my goal is to do something big.”

World Zionist

Congress Elections Your vote helps determine how billions are spent on Zionist education

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lection season is in full swing both in Israel and the United States, where all eyes are looking ahead toward the outcomes of the races this September and in November 2020, respectively.

While those two elections are incredibly important for Israelis and American Jews, another looming election that hasn’t garnered as much attention is equally—or arguably more—crucial for global Jewry.

U.S. elections to the World Zionist Congress, which take place every five years, offer American Jews a unique opportunity to have their voices heard on the most critical issues facing Israel and the Jewish people, including education, conversion, the status of Jerusalem, aliyah, fighting anti-Semitism, and Western Wall prayer arrangements, to name just a few. The next elections will be held during the seven-week period between January 21, 2020, and March 11, 2020, and voting is open to American Jews over age 18.

“This is the parliament of the Jewish people,” said Sondra Sokal, past AMIT president, current

member of the Expanded Executive of the World Zionist Organization, and cabinet member of the American Zionist Movement. “This is the only place where the Jews of America get a chance, in a democratic election, to vote for who they would like to represent them on hard issues — issues such as who is a Jew, such as conversion law — that we grapple with every day.”

This vote will elect the 145 American representatives to the 38th World Zionist Congress—the largest delegation outside of Israel—and will determine which group has the greatest impact on setting policy for the coming years. It will also ultimately determine how $3 billion gets spent annually on issues and activities that are most important to Israel and Diaspora Jewry.

That money forms the budgets of the World Zionist Organization, The Jewish Agency, Keren Kayemet (The Jewish National Fund), and Keren Hayesod, and is spent in a variety of ways.

“In the U.S., for example, it’s spent on shlichim (emissaries from Israel) that work on all aspects of communal life,” said Sokal. “In the former Soviet Union, it’s spent on summer camps and teaching and encouraging aliyah. In Latin America, a lot of it is spent on security. A huge amount of money is spent on making sure that, when Jews are in danger anywhere and at any time, we can assist them in whatever way necessary.”

In other words, these elections help ensure Jewish continuity, the safety of the Jewish people, and that Israel-Diaspora ties remain strong.

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L-R: Francine Stein, Jan Schechter, Chana Shields, and Sondra Sokal

“The notion that the collective is responsible for keeping Jews connected both to Judaism and to Israel is really important, and I believe it is vitally important for us to have more funds directed toward that activity,” said Sokal.

The Congress has an enormous impact on the future of the Jewish people, said Dr. Amnon Eldar, AMIT’s director general. “The Zionist leadership, which is elected by the Zionist Congress, reflects the balance of power within the Congress and has a significant impact on Zionist education policy in the State of Israel.”

“We would like to see more of the contributor dollars go to education in Israel,” Sokal said. “We would like to see more of the contributor dollars in the Diaspora go toward Zionist education; we would like to see more of an emphasis placed on aliyah — these are issues I believe in, and I think AMIT members and their families feel strongly about these issues as well.”

Once its 500 worldwide delegates are elected, the Congress gathers in Israel to establish the policies of the World Zionist Organization, following in the tradition of the first Zionist Congress convened by Theodor Herzl in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897.

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“This election is a celebration of democracy in the Jewish community, where Jews in the United States have a unique opportunity to express their views on important issues in Israel and affecting the Diaspora. In a time of growing Anti-Zionism, often connected to anti-Semitism, casting a ballot in this election is also a personal reaffirmation of Zionism and a way to show broad support for Israel,” said Herbert Block, executive director of the American Zionist Movement (AZM), which administers the vote.

AMIT and its predecessor, Mizrachi Women of America, have been part of the Congress practically since the beginning. Mizrachi women joined the Second Zionist Congress, paving the way for AMIT members’ active participation in every Zionist Congress since then. This year AMIT will run as part of the Orthodox Israel Coalition, a slate comprising AMIT and the Religious Zionists of America (RZA, the U.S. branch of the World Mizrachi Movement). The slate will represent the interests and values of Bnei Akiva, National Council of Young Israel, the Orthodox Union, Torah M’Tzion, Touro, Yavneh, and Yeshiva University — the broad consensus of the American modern Orthodox community — and ensure that the Congress takes their values into account.

“Over the years, the Zionist Congress has included many AMIT women and supporters of the AMIT network,” said AMIT director general Dr. Amnon Eldar. “Their influence on the development of schools in the AMIT network as well as on Israel’s education system has been extremely significant.”

AMIT founder Bessie Gottsfeld, z”l, addressed the Zionist Congress held after the Holocaust, urging the World Zionist Organization to commit to the Jewish education of the ingathered exiles.

“I believe that the leaders of AMIT have a strong role to play at the Congress, not only in shaping Israel’s Diaspora commitments, but also in working to find common ground on many of the divisive issues currently affecting world Jewry,” said AMIT president Audrey Axelrod Trachtman. “As a reshet, we are committed to Klal Yisrael, the unity of the Jewish people; I would love to bring that same spirit to the Congress.”

“We were instrumental in some of the important decisions of the Congress,” said Sokal, “and we introduced legislation that said that the WZO and Jewish Agency will provide Jewish education to every oleh who comes to Israel. That was a significant accomplishment and not at all self-evident.

Bessie Gottsfeld was a Zionist pioneer when she called on the Congress to champion that cause almost 70 years ago.”

More recently, AMIT’s representatives in the Congress helped ensure that American Jews going to Israel on a Zionist gap year at a yeshiva or midrasha program receive a stipend. This funding, through MASA, has had a huge impact on our own children and grandchildren and has been especially significant to Midreshet AMIT — the unique AMIT gap-year program for Diaspora girls that combines beit midrash learning and Zionist education with volunteerism at AMIT’s Frisch Beit Hayeled.

Jewish education around the world, and especially in the U.S., is still a critical issue, particularly in light of the disheartening Pew study of American Jews released in 2013. That “Portrait of Jewish Ameri-

“ We would like to see more of the contributor dollars in the Diaspora go toward Zionist education; we would like to see more of an emphasis placed on aliyah — these are issues I believe in, and I think AMIT members and their families feel strongly about these issues as well” cans” showed a significant increase in the number of Jews who are not religious, who intermarry, and who are not raising their children as Jews.

“We’re losing Jews at an alarming rate and the decisions [of how the Congress allocates its funds] will put several billions of dollars up for issues such as Diaspora education,” said Sokal.

In the last Zionist elections in the U.S., in 2015, only 56,737 votes were cast, a low turnout that some Jewish leaders lamented. “We’re the second largest Jewish community in the world — we ought to be able to do better than that if we want to have a say in the way that Israel develops in the next decade,” said Sokal, urging all AMIT supporters and their family members over the age of 18 to vote.

Voting is open to American Jews ages 18 and over who accept the Jerusalem Program, which states that “Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, brought about the establishment of the State of Israel, and views a Jewish, Zionist, democratic and secure State of Israel to be the expression of the common responsibility of the Jewish people for its continuity and future.”

For more information on the 2020 U.S. elections for the World Zionist Congress and to get election updates, visit www.ZionistVote.org.

—AR

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JERUSALEM: City of the Book M

ore than a decade ago, historian Merav Mack thought of doing a small survey of Jerusalem’s old libraries, as she said, “to know what exists in them and see what needs to be digitized, who needs help, and how can we preserve them.” She got the support of the Institute of Historical Research in London, estimating that she needed between three and six months of funding to complete the survey.

“We’re talking about the really early time of digitization and I came in as a historian,” she said. “I knew what I wanted from archives and libraries, and I thought, but what do librarians and archivists want to do with their collections, and how do they want the material to be preserved and digitized? Jerusalem seemed to be a wonderful case study because it had a lot of ancient archives and libraries, and I knew it extremely well already.”

After completing her survey, which was published as a 2007 report simply titled “Jerusalem’s Historical Libraries and Archives,” Mack moved on to other pursuits, but somehow kept getting pulled back to her research from Jerusalem. In 2014, she was asked to update her report for Open Jerusalem, an interdisciplinary project aimed at connecting the holy city’s diverse archives and historiographies. At the same time, many of her friends and colleagues — including Benjamin Balint, an author and translator (whose mother, Judy, has written for this magazine)—suggested she transform the story of these libraries into a book. Mack

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took Balint up on the offer and they co-authored “Jerusalem: City of the Book,” recently published

by Yale University Press.

Balint vividly recalls when Mack told him about her survey: “I said to her, ‘Well, this is more than just an academic subject. It really seems from what you’re saying that this is a way of telling the story of Jerusalem’s diverse communities.’” Joined at times by photographer Frédéric Brenner, known

for his visual record of the Jewish Diaspora, the two explored about 20 of Jerusalem’s libraries, some small and private and some large, including the National Library of Israel. They visited the Greek Orthodox library, the Ethiopian Orthodox library, al-Khataniyya, a library housed beneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the manuscript library of the Armenian Patriarchate, the Monastery of Saint Mark’s Syriac library, and Jerusalem’s most extensive Hasidic library, among others. They also studied texts at the Israel Antiquities Authority and some inscriptions around the city. They immersed themselves in the different neighborhoods, religions, and traditions, and came to understand that “the old binary way of looking at Jerusalem, as east and west, as a divided city, was kind of simplistic,” Balint said.

“The more we looked into it, the more we found that the communities of Jerusalem sort of anchor themselves in the city through their continuous textual presence,” said Balint. “For example, the Armenian patriarch was very proud of the fact that his library’s texts go all the way back to the 10th century; same with the Greeks. In other words, it’s a way of rooting oneself or showing continuity in the city.”

They also found that not everyone wanted to share their communities’ roots with the public. In fact, Mack and Balint detail the great lengths they

went to (including traveling to Ethiopia) in order to gain access to these libraries and archives, some of which are off limits to almost everyone.

The reasons for keeping people out are as diverse as the libraries themselves: In some cases, like the Syriac library, the guardians are ashamed of the library’s state of disrepair; in others, like the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, they fear theft or are concealing a secret; while in others, like the Karliner Hasidic library, it is the trauma of loss. The archive of rare Hasidic manuscripts and books that was amassed by the Karliner-Stoliner Hasidim was looted during the Holocaust, and the memory of that tragedy has not dissipated.

“Since the Second World War, they’ve been trying to rebuild that library,” said Balint. “The rabbi [Baruch Shochat, the current Karliner rebbe] has a very knowledgeable member of the community who goes around to book auctions all over the world and tries to find books with the original watermark. In rare cases, they’ve found books that were stamped, and they snapped those up, of course.”

Despite the obstacles in gaining access to these libraries, Mack and Balint both said that the gatekeepers ultimately grew on them and became an inextricable part of the story. “The funny part, or the interesting part, was that at some point we

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both realized that we actually fell in love with these custodians,” said Mack. “You learn to really appreciate those characters and realize that they are as much our story as the books and libraries are. And indeed, in the book itself, we spend a lot of time talking about them.”

The book also delves into Jerusalem’s place as a source of inspiration for texts going back millennia as well as how the city is depicted in those texts. As Balint put it, they were looking at texts that originated elsewhere and were “ingathered” to Jerusalem, such as manuscripts in the Ethiopian Orthodox library that were brought over on the backs of pilgrims, as well as those that were created in Jerusalem and radiated outward, both literally (texts that were stolen) and figuratively.

“In both cases, there’s this difference between the real Jerusalem and the imagined Jerusalem,” said Balint. “In some cases, people who had never been here had a very strong sense of what the city’s significance is projected onto this blank screen of Jerusalem—all their fantasies, religious, apocalyptic, or messianic.”

To be sure, Jerusalem still elicits strong opinions and a sense of ownership among those who revere it, and as much as the city is a point of contention among its various communities, Balint and Mack were also gratified to discover some pleasant revelations. In one incredible story, they had heard about a Palestinian who saved a Jewish library after its owners fled during the War of Independence. They knocked on doors in the Old City until they found that man’s daughter, who told them the story from her father’s perspective. “That’s one example in our book in which we talk about how communities also preserve each other’s memories, not just their own,” said Balint. “There are rare cases of transcending the usual divisions.”

In another fascinating story, Mack and Balint visited the Dominican library in Jerusalem, where the librarian, a monk, told them, “The Dominicans of Jerusalem have this story that modern Hebrew

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was, in a sense, born right here.” He took them down some stairs and showed them a shelf of old Semitic dictionaries and grammars that Eliezer Ben-Yehuda consulted as he wrote his dictionary.

“He would walk down to the Dominicans every day because theirs was the only library in the city that had these resources,” said Balint.” He would spend many hours there and some of the books still have his notes and his underlinings.”

“ There’s this difference between the real Jerusalem and the imagined Jerusalem,” said Balint. “In some cases, people who had never been here had a very strong sense of what the city’s significance is projected onto this blank screen of Jerusalem—all their fantasies, religious, apocalyptic, or messianic” What helps unite these diverse communities is their reverence for books and manuscripts, and Mack’s initial survey helped raise awareness about their value. “From 15 years ago, when I first entered these archives, to today, I see a big, really dramatic change in the attitude of all those little places: They realize that what they have is actually important.”

(She and Balint have succeeded in connecting some of these libraries with organizations that can help them digitize their archives, although in some cases their offers were declined.)

Mack and Balint are working on an exhibition related to their book scheduled to be displayed in 2024 at Israel’s National Library. It seems like the perfect opportunity to unite these neighbors, most of whom never interact with one another in the city they all hold dear, in the same room. —AR

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Rapping the Truth Black, White, We’re All Human!

T

his past summer witnessed the Ethiopian community in Israel explode with rage following the killing of unarmed 18-year-old Solomon Teka by an off-duty police officer, the second such case this year. Thousands of Ethiopian-Israeli youth protested for days after Teka’s death, blocking major junctions and roads in an effort to call attention to the racism and police brutality they face. They chanted a simple message: “Shachor, lavan, kulanu bnei adam”—Black, white, we’re all human.”

That anger isn’t new to Harel “Harry” Brown, an almost 18-year-old graduate of AMIT Elaine Silver Technological High School in Beersheva, one of the network’s vocational schools for students who haven’t found their place at more mainstream schools. Brown, an aspiring musician and rapper, has written songs about the police and other challenges of life as a teenager of Ethiopian descent in Israel. Today, he also mentors youth, helping them feel they are not alone and also helping them to develop their musical talents.

Brown is one of nine children to parents who immigrated to

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Israel from Ethiopia at ages 3 and 11. His parents met and married in Israel, settling in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva. Brown is soft-spoken and doesn’t talk much about his childhood, but by the time he was in high school, he had dropped out for about six months before arriving at AMIT Elaine Silver. Ethiopian children and youth often face discrimination within Israel’s education system as well, being placed in weaker schools or being told that they aren’t smart or capable enough (which Brown said has happened to him)—all of which leads to higher dropout rates or students not matriculating with a full bagrut, creating a cycle of limited opportunity for young Ethiopian-Israelis.

The AMIT network, which prides itself on the value of Klal Yisrael, educates some 30% of all Ethiopian youth in Israel, embracing them and equipping them with the tools they need to graduate and break that cycle. AMIT Elaine Silver—which offers three track options, including information technology, automotive technology and electronics, and design—has helped hundreds of teens from Israel’s socioeconomic and geographic periphery turn their lives around. It gives them the skills they need to enter the army with a vocation and find gainful employment afterward.

“The educational framework at AMIT Elaine Silver Technological High School is a holistic approach,” explained Pincipal Tzipi Harpenes. “We look at each child from all angles, addressing all their needs, which allows for self-development and for them to flourish as individuals.”

At school, Brown tried all three tracks and said that Harpenes did her utmost to provide a supportive framework for him. She even encouraged him to audition for the first “Road to New York” competition for a chance at showcasing his talent for AMIT supporters in the United States.

He fondly remembers frequent chats he had with Harpenes: “I used to talk with the principal every week, and we would talk about fitting in and other things. She did everything she could for me, and I’m still grateful for that today.”

Brown said he would keep to himself during his schools years. But he would write down his feelings, “and then it would become a song in my head,” he said. That’s when he became more interested in music and slowly began developing his talent as a composer and rapper, something that the school encouraged.

“Slowly, I developed my skills,” he said. “I opened a studio, and a lot of that comes from my time at AMIT. I wouldn’t have this if it weren’t for AMIT. I used to be closed off, but AMIT helped me accept who I am and live with it in a positive way.”

During his time at Elaine Silver, Brown would visit different music studios and collaborate with different rappers and write rhymes with them. He spent time at Capit, a coffee shop and youth center in Beersheva for teens a g e d 13–18 that encourages their creativity and allows them to talk openly with mentors and volunteers. He kept working on his own music, uploading videos of himself and his music to his YouTube channel.

“Harry joined our school in the beginning of 10th grade,” recalls Harpenes. “He came as a boy who struggled academically, had low self-esteem because he was surrounded by a toxic environment. We quickly realized he was musically gifted and enrolled him in Capit as an outlet to ensure he was getting the holistic solution he needed. By the time he graduated, he completed his basic learning requirements and through his music he found the tools to best deal with his challenging surroundings.”

Now that he’s completed high school, Brown continues to make music and he mentors youth through a program called Ma’agalim.

Much like the AMIT network, the nonprofit Ma’agalim helps at-risk 11th and 12th-graders from the periphery undergo what they call a process of “personal growth.” It enables these teens to recognize their self-worth, envision goals for the future, and prepare for meaningful army or national service. Brown works with these teens and helps them express themselves through music.

He sees himself in the kids he works with, and understands that they need an outlet, that not all of them fit in to traditional or mainstream frameworks, and that they all have potential. They just need support and encouragement to bring that potential to the surface, just as AMIT Elaine Silver and its principal did for him.

“AMIT is a framework that gave me many paths toward the future,” he said. “Even today, every step I take, I think, ‘What would they tell me at AMIT?’ It gives me a lot of strength.” —AR

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5.1%

70

5.6%

75

6.2%

80

7.3%

85 90+

8.3% 9.5%

TWO RECIPIENTS AGE

RATE

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4.3%

65/70

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75/80

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80/85

6.6%

85/90 90/95+

8.0% 9.3%

California residents: Annuities are subject to regulation by the State of California. Payments under such agreements, however, are not protected or otherwise guaranteed by any government agency or the California Life and Health Insurance Guarantee Association. Oklahoma residents: A charitable gift annuity is not regulated by the Oklahoma Insurance Department and is not protected by a guaranty association affiliated with the Oklahoma Insurance Department. South Dakota residents: Charitable gift annuities are not regulated by and are not under the jurisdiction of the South Dakota Division of Insurance.

Dvar Torah

BY DR. GIDON ROTHSTEIN

The White Light of the Shofar

V

ery soon, we’ll all be standing in our synagogues, waiting to hear the first blasts of the shofar. Yet, chances are, in that important moment, instead of focusing on what we are supposed to hear, we will be hoping the shofar blower has an easy time getting the blasts out smoothly and quickly, or feeling similarly distracted.

The shofar is a loud sound, sure, but what does it spark in us? What is its importance? This is a hard question, because our history has left us with numerous suggestions.

The Talmud took the sounds of the shevarim, teru’ah, and combined shevarim-teru’ah blasts to be an imitation of crying, which suggests the shofar looks to help us feel the sadness of our failures as the True Judge evaluates our deeds of the past year. (The True Judge, of course, sees our successes as well; I think the Talmud understands the Torah to tell us to cry with the shofar because deep down we know our failures deserve more of a negative reaction than we can or want to bear).

Maimonides, in his Laws of Repentance 3;4, suggests the shofar means to wake us as a spur to repentance, but more significantly as a call to recalibrate, to pay more attention to our Creator, avoid the trap of sinking into the day-to-day, and to be better about staying aware of the long term and ultimate.

The middle blessings of the Mussaf prayer, after each of which we blow a round of blasts, seem to link the shofar to other functions, announcing G-d’s kingship (malchuyot), hoping G-d will apply the most positive version of memory to our deeds (zichronot), and as an accompaniment to

moments when G-d intruded most obviously into history on our behalf—at Sinai, in the Temple, and in the future Redemption (shofarot).

How confusing can tradition make it? Which of the many options do I take? The one that fits each of us best each year, is my suggestion.

I often think of the shofar sound as white light.

Before white light hits the prism, it contains all the colors of the rainbow in one harmonious whole, each of whose elements are not separately visible.

As the sound of the shofar hits us (the prism), colors of the tone separate and become more visible to each of us based on the kind of prism we are.

Some years, the shofar provides cathartic cries of regret over how far we’ve strayed; some years, we are fortunate to be awoken from the slumber of too many; some years, we hear the flourish of trumpets as the King of Kings takes the throne. And so on. The more colors we know, the more likely it is we’ll find that year’s best color.

We can treat shofar as a ritual we repeat exactly the same year after year and can make the mistake of thinking, here we go again! I hope we don’t. I hope, for me and for all of us, we find this year’s color of the shofar leading us to our best ketivah ve-chatimah, being written and sealed in the Book of Life, for our best Shanah Tovah U'metukah, a good and sweet year.

Gidon Rothstein, a Phd in near eastern languages, has been a congregational rabbi and high school educator. He is the author of "Murderer in the Mikdash," a mystery set in the time of a third Temple, and, most recently "As If We Were There: Readings for a Transformative Passover Experience." He lives in Riverdale, N.Y., with his wife and children.

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AMIT was named the #1 educational network for the HIGHLIGHTS & SUCCESSES Yeshivat AMIT Nachshon wins prestigious Education Ministry prize In recognition of its innovation, creativity, and groundbreaking educational work, Yeshivat AMIT Nachshon was awarded the prestigious national education award by the Education Ministry’s religious education administration. In recent years, the school—which boasts a 100% enlistment rate in the IDF—has shifted its educational approach to AMIT’s Gogya method. Students learn in open spaces and decide how they prefer to learn: independently or in groups, using a multidisciplinary approach that creates more engaged, active learners. “Yeshivat AMIT Nachshon in Mateh Yehuda is an educational success story,” said Dr. Amnon Eldar, AMIT’s director general. “Through constant improvement, the school leads its students to academic excellence while teaching them values.”

Kipa Bots in Modi’in bring home trophy!

Even though they decided not to compete on a Saturday, Kipa Bots, a robotics team from AMIT Boys Mr. & Mrs. Lester Sutker Art and Sciences School in Modi’in, won the first international league robotics competition this year in the research category.

Eighty players from around the world presented their robots.

They built and programmed a Lego robot that independently solves complex tasks on a special task board. In addition, the students carried out research work on the annual theme of the program — human space travel. During the Sabbath the team placed a sign explaining to the rest of the audience why they were not competing that day. The principal of the school, Lior Halevi, wrote, “When I saw the sign that you prepared for Shabbat, I was filled with excitement and pride. You may lose some points, but from my perspective, you won.”

AMIT Modi’in girls get physics lesson of a lifetime at CERN A delegation of students from Midreshet AMIT Art and Sciences Jr. and Sr. High School for Girls visited the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, the research organization in Switzerland that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. The girls, Nitzan, Lior, and Avital, were chosen to take part in the trip due to their high scores in physics and math and their highlevel English skills. They all said that this was a once-in-alifetime experience for them.

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third year running by Israel’s Ministry of Education!

HIGHLIGHTS & SUCCESSES Gwen Straus student represents Israel at Intel science fair in U.S. Is it possible to design an electrochemical device that charges quickly yet works for a long time? That question asked and answered earned AMIT student Aviad G. a ticket to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the world’s largest pre-college science competition.

Aviad, a 12th-grader at AMIT Gwen Straus Jr. and Sr. Science High School for Boys, and his research partner, Daniel M. (from a school in Netanya), were among 1,800 teen researchers from more than 80 countries who attended the fair in Arizona. Aviad and Daniel invented a hybrid battery-capacitor that charges in seven seconds and lasts for six hours. Aviad said, “I’m really pleased that I decided to go to Gwen Straus. I like the combination of advanced science studies and Torah learning that I didn’t find at schools in the surrounding area. I really connected to that way of learning.”

“The experience at Intel, seeing people from all around the world who are my age and also developing and creating things, it really encouraged and inspired me to pursue research and development and science in the future—it really pushed me in that direction,” added Aviad. First, though, Aviad plans to study at yeshiva before enlisting in the Israeli army.

AMIT Bet in Ashkelon wins Unistream social entrepreneurship competition AMIT Bet High School in Ashkelon’s entrepreneurship team came in first place at the National Youth Competition for Social Entrepreneurship. The competition, held at the Tel Aviv cultural center, gathered hundreds of students from across Israel who developed startup concepts around protecting the environment and children. They developed the idea for a smart diaper that can detect when a diaper change is needed.

AMIT students presented their startup in front of Israel’s top business professionals, impressing the judges with their tech-based business model and claiming first place for their invention. The students are currently working on fundraising to support the continued development of the product.

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DEVELOPMENT

National

AMIT Pays Tribute to Outgoing & Incoming Leadership

L-R: Audrey Axelrod Trachtman and Debbie Moed

L-R: Dr. Amnon Eldar, Aliza Bloch, Audrey Axelrod Trachtman, and Suzanne Doft

AMIT held its Annual Assembly Inauguration in June at the Moise Safra Center in New York City. It was a very moving evening paying tribute to AMIT’s President Debbie Moed and all that she accomplished over the past four years with her board and in partnership with AMIT’s professional staff. Under Debbie’s leadership, AMIT has achieved much of what she set out to do. We also welcomed incoming President Audrey Axelrod Trachtman and her new slate of board members and heard from Audrey about her vision for AMIT’s future.

The evening, led by Barbara Rascoff, chair of the event, and Cara Major, co-chair, was a memorable one filled with highlights of the past four years and tributes. The Honorable Aliza Bloch, Mayor of Beit Shemesh, spoke about her role in breaking down the barriers to create a more inclusive and welcoming community and how that is also the guiding principle to AMIT’s approach and philosophy. She doesn’t just talk the talk, but walks the walk, as she shared that all of her children attend AMIT schools.

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DEVELOPMENT

Tri-State

AMIT’s Executive Circle Launch Hits the Mark This June, AMIT launched our new Executive Circle business group with attendees from the business, real estate, and high-tech worlds. Held at the SOSA space in New York City, over 50 people came out to this inaugural event. The evening L-R: Andrew Gadlin, Alex Luxenberg, Alec Ellison, Adam Kaplan, Steve Mann, James showcased several Heinzman, Yaniv Nissim, Yossi Tsuria, Audrey Axelrod Trachtman leading entrepreneurs who are involved in the Israeli high-tech industry. Our speakers included Alec Ellison of Our Crowd, a global equity crowdfunding platform, Adam Kaplan of Edgybees, an augmented reality experience, James Heinzman and Steve Mann from ThetaRay, a cyber-security company that prevents fraud in real-time, and Yaniv Nissim from GoParrot, an on-line platform that customizes restaurant and food experiences. Also presenting was Yossi Tsuria, who founded Carmel 6000, a social-tech initiative that partners with AMIT to train young women to develop technological products to address social needs. The evening was moderated by Alex Luxenberg of Facebook. Andrew Gadlin of Odeon Capital opened the night by saying, “An investment in AMIT is an investment in the future of Israel.” The group will be working on more exciting programs that feature up-and-coming start-ups.

The Executive Circle is a place for business movers and shakers interested in networking with likeminded people and for exploring how they can play a role in helping to shape Israeli society by educating its future leaders.

L-R: Andrew Gadlin, Adam Kaplan, Alex Luxenberg

ILANA-RENA Chapter visits American Folk Art Museum Members of the AMIT Ilana-Rena Chapter in Forest Hills, N.Y. enjoyed a tour of the “Made in New York” exhibit at the American Folk Museum. The exhibit included colorful carousel horses, quilts, and paintings depicting New York life in the 1800s.

L-R: Reba Weiner, Jane Stiefel, Rachel Wiederkehr, Miriam Peskowitz, and Judy Silberberg

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DEVELOPMENT

Tri-State

AMIT Art Excursions This spring, AMIT held four very popular art excursions in different New York City-based sites and galleries. Sandra Blank and Malkie Rosen were the co-chairs of the art excursions and Ronnit Vasserman, founder of the Art Connect group, led the guided tours. In March, we attended the famous annual Armory Show, one of the world’s leading art shows, where our participants discovered thousands of artworks spanning different media, cultures, and art movements. In May, there was an art excursion to Harlem where we visited galleries, heard about impactful street art and about Jewish history, and visited interesting architectural sites and other landmarks. Finally, in June we toured fashionable Upper East Side galleries. This tour included gallery visits in townhouses that showcased some of the best exhibitions of the season.

Long Island Generations-in-Israel More than 70 people gathered in June at the Sephardic Temple in Cedarhurst for AMIT’s Sabra & Massada chapters Generations-in-Israel luncheon. This year’s luncheon recognized more than 20 years of the Sabra Book Club and featured keynote speaker Ariel Burger, National Jewish Book Award winner for his recent biography “Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom.” In addition, Ilana Gottlieb, director of Midreshet AMIT, spoke about education in Israel, the AMIT network, and the seminary experience. Co-chairs of the event were Harriet Bryk, Zipporah Marans, and Audrey Wagner. Honorary co-chairs were Brenda Kalter and Rise Kaufmann.

L-R: Ann Lebowitz, Ava Moskowitz, Sara Gottlieb, Ilana Gottlieb, and Renee Bachman

Midreshet AMIT Moms’ Lunch Out For the first time, moms of Midreshet AMIT seminary students gathered for a lunch in Teaneck, N.J., to learn more about AMIT’s mission. Debbie Moed, AMIT’s president spoke about the organization and about how the AMIT seminary was founded. This event was co-chaired by Amy Wildes and Sherry Friedman and was organized as an opportunity for parents to get to know one another and to share their feedback from the seminary year.

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DEVELOPMENT

Tri-State

Long Island Yom Iyun

Keynote Speaker Raizi Chechik

Over 115 women attended AMIT’s Annual Long Island Yom Iyun, a day of learning for women and by women. The event featured keynote speaker Raizi Chechik, head of school at Manhattan Day School, who spoke on “Letters Floating in the Air: The Story of the Woman who Printed the Vilna Talmud.” Chechik recounted, “The Yom Iyun is a real happening. Event chairperson Rebbetzin Mimi Mehlman started this event 20 years ago. It began as an educational group with many prominent keynote speakers in Lido Beach and it has grown exponentially over the years. The Yom Iyun has motivated hundreds of women to come together to learn, as a chabura, many valued and insightful lessons from our Torah and beyond.”

Teaneck Summer Tea In August, 80 people gathered for the Hindy Weinstock Geula Chapter Annual Shabbat Tea. Ms. Miriam Krupka Berger, dean of faculty of Ramaz Upper School, spoke about “Eichah: Translating a Poetry of Grief.” This event was graciously hosted by Lois Blumenfeld & Norman Sohn. Donna Hoenig annually chairs this event in memory of her mother Anita Scharf, z”l, longtime AMIT supporter.

L-R: Robbie Fried, Lois Blumenfeld, Genene Kaye, Miriam Krupka Berger, Donna Hoeing

Englewood Mother-in-Israel

L-R: Daniela Gontownik, Joanna Parker, Atara Okrent

L-R: Melody Benrimon, Mollie Sherman, Debbie Moed, Tamara Goldin

Over 80 women gathered at the East Hill Synagogue in Englewood to honor Daniela Gontownik at AMIT’s Mother-in-Israel dinner. Daniela was recognized for her work as the past Shalva Chai president and as a chair of the Mishlaoch Manot project, which is L-R: Zev Gontownik, a major fundraiser for the Shalva Chai Daniela Gontownik, chapter. Guests heard from Arik Nagel, a Ava and Ruthie Gontownik former AMIT teacher at the Lester Sutker Art and Sciences Jr. and Sr. High School for Boys, in Modi’in. Guests loved hearing about his personal experience of having been an AMIT student and then returning to the AMIT family as a teacher.

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DEVELOPMENT

Emerging Leaders Great Neck Trivia

L-R: Mike & Rebecca Madar, Andrew & Marisa Gadlin, Alana & Adam Gelnick

In February, over 70 people gathered at the home of Alana and Adam Gelnick in Great Neck for trivia, sushi, poke bowls, and ice cream. Ten teams competed to win the number one prize, lotto tickets for their entire team. Many new faces learned about AMIT and had a great time honing their competitive skills.

Westchester Scavenger Hunt In late February, over 60 people gathered at the Bruce Museum for AMIT’s Greater Westchester Scavenger Hunt. Everyone used their best sleuthing skills to decipher clues and answer questions about exhibits on the dawn of modern medicine, the Silk Road, the L-R: Yael Jerome and Tamar Croog Museum of Cartoon Art and the art and science of botanical collecting. Elana Minkove and Debbie Isaac spoke about AMIT and explained how art is an integral part of an AMIT education and is being used in many schools as a form of L-R: Tobi Haims and Debbie Isaac therapy for students.

Los Angeles NewGen Flexes Muscle for AMIT Tech School LA’s NewGen members gathered to stretch and strengthen their minds and bodies all while benefitting AMIT’s Elaine Silver Technological High School. Guests participated in a dynamic and upbeat yoga class and had a good time sweating, mingling, and learning a bit more about the important work of AMIT in Israel.

AMIT LA NewGen launched in 2018 with the help of our wonderful board members: Briana Benaron, Rachel Cohn, Joel Gerson, Dafna Landau, chair, Michael Roklen, Andrea Stern, and Leslie Schapira continue to grow our community.

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LA NewGen members following the active yoga class

DEVELOPMENT

Emerging Leaders

Networking and Entrepreneurial Panel

L-R: Jeremy Lyman, Scott Nadler, Mike Boxer, Chef Guy Vaknin, Tess Koman, Abbie Sophia

Over 60 people gathered at WeWork for AMIT’s 5th annual Networking and Entrepreneurial panel. Five remarkable panelists spoke, including founder of the a cappella group Six13, Mike Boxer, features editor and author Tess Koman, co-founder of Birch Coffee, Jeremy Lyman, professional photographer Abbie Sophia, and founder and owner of Beyond Sushi, Chef Guy Vaknin. Scott Nadler, mortgage loan originator did a terrific job emceeing the panel. Thank you to our panelists, chairs, WeWork, and all who attended!

2nd Annual AFLI Summer Bash AFLI recently hosted its 2nd Annual Summer Bash, which drew in over 60 young lay leaders for a night of BBQ by the Wandering Que, games, raffles, and ice pops — all against the backdrop of the gorgeous Manhattan skyline! Thank you to everyone who came out and celebrated summer with AMIT. Special thanks to our AFLI chairs Eliana Isaac and Jared Isaac, and VP Michal Jacobs.

L-R: Eliana Isaac, Jared Isaac, and Michal Jacobs

NewGen Philadelphia kicks off!

L-R: Rivka Dear, Rachel Baker Mann, Ariel Amzallag, Jillian Boxer, Sara Hirsch, Stefanie Weiner, Shani Finkle

The first ever NewGen Philadelphia “Kickoff Party for a Cause” took place at a private home in Bala Cynwyd in June. It was an evening of wine and scotch tasting, live jazz piano, and making s’mores at a fire pit. The party was attended by 40 new-to-AMIT men and women from ages 25-45. Everyone enjoyed the evening’s relaxed, inspiring, and happy vibe. The night ended with the sun setting over the lawn, jazz music in the air, and the partygoers sitting around the fire pit roasting marshmallows and discussing future NewGen Philadelphia event planning ideas.

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DEVELOPMENT

Mid-Atlantic

Baltimore

L-R: Miriam Gross, Lia Weisbord, Iris Miller, and Susie Schoenfeld

Kenny Friedman talks about wine

Over 50 people gathered at the home of Liba and Avi Benus in Baltimore for AMIT’s annual Familyin-Israel event. Jacqui Slasky, a teacher at Yeshivat AMIT Eliraz High School in Petach Tikvah, shared with the crowd an inspiring presentation of the importance of AMIT’s excellent education throughout Israel.

The guests enjoyed a delicious dinner paired with select kosher wine by Kenny Friedman, a local kosher wine connoisseur.

Birah Chapter of Greater Washington, DC

Jeffrey & Donna Lawrence

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Sarah and Buddy Stern hosted “The Best Event Yet,” a beautiful Generations-in-Israel event honoring Donna Lawrence for her longtime commitment to AMIT. Over 80 friends and family enjoyed this simple and elegant event to honor Donna and hit all the important notes about how AMIT is modeling Jewish values. Debbie Moed delivered a beautiful presentation followed by a tribute to Donna from her family. Elana Stein, Donna’s daughter, who is carrying on the AMIT tradition, emceed the evening while Jeff, Donna’s husband, spoke eloquently about his wife’s dedication to the children of AMIT. Topping the evening off, Donna’s granddaughter Isabelle Stein wowed the audience with her spectacular melodic presentation of Shir L’Shalom.

DEVELOPMENT

Mid-Atlantic

Philadelphia Generations-in-Israel

AMIT teacher Jacqui Slasky talks about the important work AMIT is doing

L-R: Hillel Berkowitz, honoree Eti Berkowitz and Elchonon Berkowitz

Philly celebrated their annual Generations-in-Israel event honoring Eti Berkowitz, longtime devoted member of AMIT, at the home of Stacey and Amir Goldman. Yaela Baine, Philadelphia Council/Shira Chapter vice president emceed the evening. Stacey Goldman delivered a thoughtprovoking Dvar Torah and Talia Eisenberg’s presentation to Eti was heartfelt. Eti’s powerful speech touched the hearts of our guests. More than 80 people enjoyed hearing Jacqui Slasky speak about how she is changing the lives of her students by implementing AMIT’s teaching and learning methods at Yeshivat AMIT Eliraz in Petach Tikvah. A special performance by the Caskey Torah Academy Girls’ Choir topped off a beautiful evening!

New England Generations-in-Israel AMIT New England Council/Ra’anana Chapter celebrated Generations-in-Israel with keynote speaker, Ariel Burger, author of "Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom" The event was held at Maimonides School in Brookline. The guests enjoyed hearing Jacqui Slasky, AMIT teacher and coordinator at Yeshivat AMIT Eliraz in Petach Tikvah, speak about the fine work she does every day in her classroom. Jacqui treats her students like her own children and understands their individual needs. Jacqui fosters love and hope in the student’s hearts while giving them an excellent education! The evening was enjoyed by all!

L-R: Ethlynne Brickman, AMIT teacher Jacqui Slasky, and Annie Aliphas

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DEVELOPMENT

Midwest

Midwest Council’s 2019 Mother-in-Israel Event The Midwest Council Mother-in-Israel event held in May featured engaging presentations from Rav Yoni Berlin, head of school at AMIT Gwen Straus Junior and Senior High School for Boys in Kfar Batya, Ra’anana, and Renee Rosen, best-selling author of “What the Lady Wants: A Novel of Marshall Field and the Gilded Age.” More than 75 attendees enjoyed dinner as they heard from the author, and learned how AMIT schools have grown and evolved over the years.

L-R: Sandy Miretzky, Renee Rosen, Rav Yoni Berlin, Linda Simons, Tami Drapkin, and Laurie Engel

Midwest Council’s Financial Planning Seminar

Certified financial planner Jonathan Neuman presenting at the seminar.

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In July, the Midwest Council sponsored a seminar, “The Do’s and Don’ts of Estate Planning,” at the home of Julie and George Lennon. Guest speakers included certified financial planner Jonathan Neuman, estate planning and elder law attorney Barbara Fox, and AMIT’s National Planned Giving Director, Genene Kaye.

DEVELOPMENT

Western

Past and Present Leaders Honor AMIT LA’s Staunch Supporters

Barbara Mendes (center) explains some of the many vibrant pieces of art in her gallery

Community members gathered in April to honor AMIT LA’s staunch supporters for an evening of engaging conversation, laughter, and excitement at the Barbara Mendes Art Gallery.

Surrounded by the vibrantly colored walls and intricately detailed artwork, guests heard from the artist Barbara Mendes and from AMIT President Debbie Moed, who shared a deeper look into AMIT’s forward-thinking approach to education.

Past and current leadership came together to learn more about how they are helping AMIT provide cutting-edge, Jewish values–based education to more than 35,000 Israeli students across 33 cities and 107 schools.

AMIT LA's Evening of Passion & Philanthropy AMIT LA celebrated a night of passion and philanthropy in May, hosted at the beautiful home of Phil and Shelley Zalis Fleshner in Beverly Hills. The program, emceed by L-R: LA Council Chair Evan Green and Joy Volk, included an informative presentation by celebrity Layla Green, AMIT Principal Rav Yoni Berlin, Advisory and Engagement Committee nutritionist and entrepreneur Rachel Beller, who shared Member Joy Volk, and Regional VP of important tips on how to lead a healthy lifestyle and how West Coast Sandra Roklen. proper nutrition can help prevent or manage existing health conditions, including cancer. AMIT Principal Rav Yoni Berlin spoke about the impactful work that AMIT is having on children from diverse and low socioeconomic backgrounds. He also shared how AMIT schools continue to lead in innovation and academic excellence across Israel.

Nearly 60 guests attended and the evening was supported by AMIT LA’s Advisory and Engagement Committee members: Susan Baum, Chumie Begin, Debbie Goldenberg, Felice Greenbaum, Shelley Zalis Fleshner, Janice Kaufler, Esti Levine, Miriam Libo, Pegi Medioni, Lori Meisel, Cheryl Nagel, Evey Pollack, Carol Reich, Lynn Rohatiner, Rivkie Samson, Janet Sasson, Sharon Silver, and Joy Volk.

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DEVELOPMENT

Southeast Mingle, Music & Magic The Geula-Shalvah Chapter of Miami Beach enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of mingle, music, and magic at its annual winter/spring luncheon held at Prime 41.

The luncheon was attended by 85 people who shared the magic with Avi Frier. Special thanks to chairs Dahlia Oppenheimer, Helen Ciment, Linda Bogin, and Chapter President Francine Katz.

Golda Meir Mother-in-Israel In May, the Golda Meir Chapter of Deerfield Beach held its Motherin-Israel luncheon for over 75 participants. Different members provided a variety of foods for the luncheon, raising more than $7,500. Thank you, Co-chapter Presidents Beverly Elefant and Naomi Redisch.

BBQ at Morikami Park On a beautiful afternoon in March, the Yocheved Chapter of Boynton Beach held its 6th annual barbeque at Morikami Park. Over 100 people attended and enjoyed the festivities. Many thanks to the leadership of Jay Kaplowitz and Eleanor Chiger.

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$1,000,000 +

$75,000-$99,999

Ellen, z”l, and Meyer Koplow, NY

Lee and Louis Benjamin, NY

The Lewis and Wolkoff Family Legacy, CO

Leon and Gloria, Edward, Sari, and Howard Miller, NY

Minnie Lieberman, z”l, NY The Moise Y. Safra Foundation, NY Ellen and Stanley Wasserman, NY

$50,000-$74,999

$250,000-$999,999

Anonymous, NY

Sarena and David Koschitzky, Canada Shari and Jacob M. Safra, NY Alan Selevan, z”l, NY Ethel and Lester Sutker, IL

$100,000-$249,999 Florence, z”l, and Albert Dreisinger, NY Gail and Martin Elsant, NY Layla and Evan Green, CA The Barbara and Fred Kort Foundation, CA Ellen and Emanuel Kronitz, Israel Estate of Marilyn H. Phillips, NY Joyce and Daniel Straus, NJ

As of 8/12/19. We apologize if your name was inadvertently left off this list.

Anonymous, NY Hadassah and Marvin Bienenfeld, NY Freda and Elliot Braha, NJ Suzanne and Jacob Doft, NY Education for Giving, Israel David Goldman Charitable Trust, Israel Amy, z”l, and James Haber, NY Harvey Goodstein Foundation, PA Norma and Emanuel, z”l, Holzer, NY The Kolatch Family Foundation, NJ Ria and Tim Levart, NJ Zachary Levy, z”l, NY Debbie and Samuel Moed, NJ Robyn Price Stonehill and David Stonehill, NY Youth Towns of Israel, Israel

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AMIT • B 

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Lisa and Leon Meyers, NY The Dorothy Phillips Michaud Charitable Trust, CA Mifalai Matmanot Meuchadim, Israel Judy and Albert Milstein, IL

• O  C

Momentum Engine Growth, Israel

$36,000 - $49,999

The Stone Family, NJ

Anonymous, MD

Zahava and Moshael Straus, NJ

Helen and Henry Bienenfeld Foundation, PA

Kol Hanearim Inc., NY

Audrey and Chaim Trachtman, NY

Barbara Bloom, MD

Ann and Yale Baron, NJ

Villar Group, Israel

Brenda and Albert Kalter, NY

Laurie Latt Wolff and Richard Wolff, NY

Deborah Stern Blumenthal and Michael Blumenthal, NJ

Kivunim Foundation, Israel Sydelle and Robert Kleiman, NY Joel Koschitzky, Israel Evelyn and Lawrence Kraut, NJ Sharon and Morris Silver, CAL

$25,000 - $35,999

Ilan Nissan/Goodwin Procter LLP North American Conference of Ethiopian Jews, Israel Owl Rock Capital Partners LP, NY Regina Peterseil, NY

Lotte, z”l, and Ludwig Bravmann, NY

Lauren and Mitchell Presser, NY

$18,000 - $24,999

Ethlynne and Stephen Brickman, MA

Michael Cleeman, NY

Vanessa and Raymond Chalme, NY

PricewaterhouseCoopers/ Andrew Cristinzio, FL

Beate Frank, z”l, OH

Christian Friends of Yesha Communities, Israel

Jerald Ptashkin, CA

Marion Crespi, NY

Shirley and Milton Sabin, FL

Jone and Allen Dalezman, MA

David Shapira Services, Israel

Adina and Marc Dolfman, NY

Shemesh Foundation, Israel Celia and Reuven Sherwin, Israel

Tamar and Eric Goldstein, NY Anne and Sheldon Golombeck, NY Pnina and Jacob Graff, CA

Jennie and Avi Rothner, IL

Anonymous, FL

Pearl & Marty Herskovitz, Israel

Anonymous, MA

Hamifal Education Childrens Home, Israel

Adena and Ezra Dyckman, NY Selma and Jacob Dyckman, NY

Judy and Isaac Sherman, NY

Debbie and David Isaac, NY

Danielle and Ronald Ellis, Israel

Shibley Righton LLP, Israel

Sarah Liron and Sheldon Kahn, CA

Ruth and Gene Fax, MA

Deena and Adam Shiff, NY

Rosa and Isaac Cohanzad, CA

Eleanor M. and Herbert D. Katz Family Foundation, FL

Lisa Rosenbaum and Ronald Fisher, MA

Beatrice Shustko, z”l, NY

Jewel and Ted Edelman, NY

Keren DM (Glencor), Israel

Rosalyn and Ira Friedman, NJ

Marilyn and Herbert, z”l, Smilowitz, NJ

Ike, Molly and Steven Elias Foundation, NY

Gitta and Richard Koppel, Israel

Leelah and Joseph Gitler, Israel Paulette and Max, z”l, Goldberg, NY

Sondra and Myron Sokal, NY

Paula Yudenfriend and Arlin Green, PA

Adina Straus, NY

Howard Heller, MA

Talpiot Religious Childrens’ Village, Israel

Anonymous, NY Evelyn and Isaac Blachor, NY Blackman Foundation, CA

Gazit-Globe. Israel Mitzi Golden, NY Reginetta Haboucha, NY

Marilyn and Leon Moed, NY Nerine Trust Company, Israel Sandra and Evan Roklen, CA Renee Silverstein, z”l, NY

Halina Hershkovitz, z”l, FL

The Bressler/Robbins Foundation, IL

Helena Inga and Marc Singer, Israel

Haruach Halsraeli (The Israel Spirit), Israel

Rita and Eugene Schwalb, FL

Rose Hurwitz, z”l, MA

Ina and David Tropper, NY

Mildred, z”l, and Alvin Hellerstein, NY

Sylvia and Morris Trachten, z”l, Family Foundation, Israel

Ithaca United Jewish Community, NY

Judy and Morry Weiss/SapirsteinStone-Weiss Foundation, OH

Russell Jay Hendel, MD

Audrey and Max Wagner, NY

Max and Sunny Howard Memorial Fund, NY

Gillian and Robert Zeldin, NJ

Haotzman Technologies, Israel Harwit Charitable Trust, CA Laura and Jonathan Heller, NY

Edith and Herman Itzkowitz, PA Suzanne and Norman Javitt, NY Elissa and Thomas Katz, FL

Tishrei Transport, Israel

Yoreinu Foundation, Israel Helene and Gerald Zisholtz, NY

Kirkland & Ellis LLP, NY

$10,000 - $17,999

Ruth and Hillel Kellerman, CA

$5,000 - $9,999

Kislev Tuvla Veschar, Israel

Anonymous, CA

Keren HaYesod, Israel

Anonymous, Israel

Nancy and Josh Korff, NY

Anonymous, NY

Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek, Israel

Anonymous, Israel

Shirley Liebowitz, z”l, NY

Anonymous, NY

Ruth and Daniel Krasner, NY

Anonymous, NY

Matanel, Israel

Trudy and Ted, z”l, Abramson, FL

Rochelle and Seymour, z”l, Kraut, NJ

Anonymous, NY

The Joan S. and Leon Meyers Foundation, NY

Amdocs, Israel

Ruth M. Finglass and Kevin A. Kubach, MD

Anonymous, MD

Barbara and Joel, z”l, Rascoff, NY

Max & Anna Baran, Ben & Sarah Baran and Milton Baran, z”l, CA

Ruth and Robert Lewis, NY

Raquela and Avi Adelsberg, NY Sarah and Maurice Aghion, MA

Debbie and Julio Berger, NY

Jennifer and Marc Lipschultz, NY

Zelda and Solomon Berger, NY

Rita Lowi, CA

Seed the Dream, PA

Daisy Berman, z”l, NY

Zipporah and Arnold Marans, NY

Randi Schatz Allerhand and Joseph S. Allerhand, NY

Harriet and Heshe Seif, NJ

Anne Bernstein, CA

Etella and Haim Marcovici, NY

Susan Alter Klaperman, NY

Norman and Bettina Roberts Foundation, NJ

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Nicole and Raanan Agus, NY

As of 8/12/19. We apologize if your name was inadvertently left off this list.

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AMIT • B 

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Reut Foundation, Israel Fritzie and Sheldon, z”l, Robinson, IL Kristina Reiko Cooper and Len Rosen, Israel Vivian and Solomon, z”l, Rosen, FL

• O  C

Miriam and Howard Rosenblum, NJ Ann and Hy Arbesfeld, NY

Debbie and Ezra Feuer, NJ

Rona and Ira Kellman, NY

Gale and Eric Rothner, IL

Asher Foundation, Israel

Vanessa and Joseph Gad, NY

Keren Roi, Israel

Elizabeth and Gidon Rothstein, NY

Lolly and Harris Bak, NY

Marisa and Andrew Gadlin, NY

Rochelle Stern Kevelson, NY

Rachel, z”l, and Martin Balsam, NY

Shifra and Perry Garber, NY

Diane and Barry Kirschenbaum, FL

Rene Rothstein Rubin and Seth Zwillenberg, PA

Greta Bayer, z”l, CA

Linda and Norman Garfield, PA

Chani and Steven Klein, NY

Jodi and Zvi Benhaim, NY

Rita Geller and Ernest Bloom, IL

The Klibanoff Family, NJ

Tamar and Ethan Benovitz, Israel

Randi and Alan Gelman, Israel

Jane Klitsner, Israel

Phyllis and Edward Berkowitz, NY

Abigail and Ari Glass, NY

Laurie and Robert Koppel, NY

Ellen and Morris Bienenfeld, NJ

Miriam and Felix Glaubach, NY

Ethan and Ruth Kra, NJ

Andrea and Bryan Bier, NJ

Shari and Maurice Gluckstadt, NY

Mark Kristoff, NY

Beth and Reuben Blumenthal, NY

Esther and Jack Goldman, NY

Edy and Jacob Kupietzky, IL

Sari and Stuart Braunstein, NY

Nathan and Louise Goldsmith Foundation, NY

Bryna and Joshua Landes, NY

Adrianne and Leon Brum, FL Laurie and Eli Bryk, NY Yetta Bugatz, z”l, NY

Aviva and Zev Golombeck, NY Anne and Jerry Gontownik, NJ

Donna and Jeffrey Lawrence, MD Diane and David Lent, NY Kari and Joshua Levine, NY

Hedda Rudoff, NY Tammy and Kenny Schaum, NY Jan and Sheldon Schechter, NY Esther and William Schulder, NJ Seligsohn Foundation, PA Deanne and Leonard Shapiro, Israel Ruth and Irwin Shapiro, NY Chana and Daniel Shields, NJ Jane Shiff, NJ Mollie Siegel, NJ Sara and Gabriel Solomon, MD Marsha and Jan Spector, GA

Pearl Caslow, IL

Sandra E. Goodstein and Arthur Rosenblatt, PA

Carol and Arnold Caviar, KS

Gorlin Family Foundation, MD

Dorothy and Robert Lewis, NY

Margaret and Chaim Charytan, NY

The Gottesman Fund, NY

Mindy and Seymour Liebman, NY

Haim Chera, NY

Sara and Ronald Gottlieb, FL

Audrey and Haskel Lookstein, NY

Beth Chiger and Neil Sambrowsky, NY

Sharon and Melvin Gross, NY

Rita Lourie-Galena, PA & NY

Michelle Chrein, NY

Samantha and Bobby Harary

Adama Makhteshim, Israel

Barbara and Melvyn Ciment, MD

Phyllis Hammer, MA

Meira and Solomon, z”l, Max, NY

Talpiot Religious Children’s Village, Israel

Trina and Paul, z”l, Cleeman, NY

Debbie and Eddie Herbst, CA

Manette and Louis Mayberg, MD

Lilly Tempelsman, NY

Sherry and Neil Cohen, NY

Sylvia Holder, z”l, NJ

Benay and Ira Meisels, NY

Agudat bet Sefer Tichon, Israel

Shevi and Milton Cohen, NY

Caroline and Marcelo Messer, NY

Marilee and Michael Tolwin, CA

Diane and Howard Cole, NY

Aviva Hoschander-Sulzberger and Vernon Sulzberger, NY

Elana and Shami Minkove, NY

Sandra, z”l, and Max Thurm, NY

Karen and David Cole, NY

Shulamit and Joakim Isaacs, Israel

Myra Mitzner, NY

Bertie and Fred Tryfus, NY

Steven Cooperman, NY

Peggy and Robert Insel, NY

Michael Moore, TX

Marilyn Isler, z”l, NY

Marilyn and Lee Wallach, NY

Lisa Dardashti, PA

Gloria and Burton Nusbacher, NY

Sonia Bodenstein-Izenstark and Ira Izenstark, CA

Paula and Leslie Walter, NY

Arlene and Avrom Doft, NY

Reva and Martin Oliner, NY

Anne and Mark Wasserman, NY

Bea and Irwin, z”l, Peyser, NY

Marion and William Weiss, NJ

Hedy and Paul Peyser, MD

Roselyn and Walter, z”l, Weitzner, NY

Suzy and Paul Peyser, NY

Joyce and Jeremy Werthheimer, MA Linda and Stanley Weissbrot, IL

Renee and Harvey Douglen, Israel Elaine and Lewis Dubroff, NY Hattie and Arthur Dubroff, NJ

Elaine and Robert Jacobs, NY Debra Jakubovitz-Fletcher and Tim Fletcher, CA

Sylvia and Norman Levine, FL

Susan Ederson, NY

Barbara and Manfred Joseph, NY

Vicki and Jerry Platt, NY

Linda and Barry Eichler, PA & NY

Nancy and Benjamin Sporn, NY Francine and Aaron Stein, NJ Naomi and Gary Stein, NY Randi and David Sultan, NY Nechama and Howard Taber, NY

Connie and Alan Kadish, NJ

Lillian Pozefsky, z”l, NY

Linda and Steven Weissman, NY

Sherry and Aaron Eidelman, NY

Hermann Kaiser, NJ

Esther and Donald Press, NY

Booky and Jerome Wildes, NY

Yaffa and Michael Eisenberg, Israel

Ruth and Jerome Kamerman, NY

Tzippi and Ira Press, NJ

Stella and Samy Ymar, MD

Sheila and Kenneth Fields, NJ

Ruth and William, z”l, Kantrowitz, NY

Judy and Jerry Pressner, NY

Esther and Dov Zeidman, NY

Gabriella and David Fridman, NY

Harriet and Joel Kaplan, NY

Joyce and Stanley Raskas, NY

Tamar and Benjamin Zeltser, NY

Beth and Harry Fried, NJ

Elissa and Michael Katz, NJ

Evelyn Reichenthal, TX

Nazim Zilkha/Dechert LLP, NY

Lilly and Alfred, z”l, Friedman, NY

Joia and Joshua Kazam, NY

David Reinhard, FL

Eva Zilz, NY

As of 8/12/19. We apologize if your name was inadvertently left off this list.

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Adele and Jules Brody, NY

Theresa and Michael, z”l, Foley, NY

Harwit Charitable Trust, CA

Elaine Brown, z”l, NY

Ruth Friedlander, z”l, NY

Havtacha Chapter, NJ

Beverly Brown, z”l, Israel

Lilly and Alfred, z”l, Friedman, NY

Laura and Jonathan Heller, NY

Laurie and Eli Bryk, NY

Sylvia K. Friedman, NY

Mildred, z”l, and Alvin Hellerstein, NY

Lois and Michael Burak, NY

Clara T. Friedman, z”l, NY

Russell Jay Hendel, MD

Anonymous, FL

Goldie Bursten, MO

Florence Furedi, z”l, FL

Barbara Hirschhorn, z”l, MD

Anonymous, MA

Canada Foundation, Canada

Marisa and Andrew Gadlin, NY

Marcia and Philip, z”l, Holzer, NJ

Anonymous, NY

Celia Carson, z”l, CA

Galil-Moorings-Simcha Chapter, FL

Norma and Emanuel, z”l, Holzer, NY

Anonymous, NY

Centennial Bank, NY

Rose Garfin, z”l, FL

Ima Hollywood Chapter, FL

Goldie Abers, z”l, CA

Miami Beach Chai Chapter, FL

Gayl Shechter Chapter, NY*

Peggy and Robert Insel, NY

Trudy and Ted, z”l, Abramson, FL

Margaret and Chaim Charytan, NY

The Gazit-Globe, Israel

Debbie and David Isaac, NY

Nicole Schreiber Agus and Raanan Agus, NY

AMIT Chicago Council, IL

Rita Geller Bloom and Howard, z”l, Geller, IL

Israeli Brooklyn Chapter, NY

Edith H. and Haim Agus, z”l, NY

Joan and Norman Ciment, FL

Clara Gero, z”l, Israel

Michele and Ben-Zion Jacobs, NY

Alisa West Orange-Essex Chapter, NJ

S. Trina and Paul, z”l, Cleeman, NY

Aliza Oceanside Chapter, NY

Greater Cleveland Chapter of AMIT, OH

Randi Schatz and Joseph Allerhand, NY

Freda Cohen, z”l, CT

Rosalind Alper, z”l, NY

Florence and Melvin Cohen, z”l, NY

Joseph Anmuth, z”l, CA

Sherry and Neil Cohen, NY

Asara-Rishona/South Shore Chapter, NY

Joseph Cohen, NY

Aviva Brooklyn Chapter, NY

Shevi and Milton Cohen, NY

Avivah Chapter, WA

Diane and Howard Cole, NY

Ayelet Queens Chapter, NY

Jone and Allen Dalezman, MA

Lolly and Harris Bak, NY

Darchey Noam Long Beach Chapter, NY

Mollie Baller, z”l, FL*

Daroma Long Beach Chapter, NY

Rachel, z”l, and Martin Balsam, NY

Yolande and Ernest, z”l, Dauber, TX

The Bank of New York, NY

Lila Denker, z”l, FL

Beersheva Delray Beach Chapter, FL

Irmgard and Joseph Deutsch, z”l, FL

Stella B. Behar-Testa, z”l, NY

Dimona Boca Raton Chapter, FL

Joan and Shael Bellows, IL

Suzanne and Jacob Doft, NY

Nina and Sam Bellows, z”l, IL

Adina and Marc Dolfman, NY

Lee and Louis Benjamin, FL

Irene and Murray, z”l, Dorit, CA

Thelma, z”l, and Harvey Berger, MA

Florence, z”l, and Albert Dreisinger, NY

Beatrice and Harry, z”l, Berger, NJ

Hattie and Arthur Dubroff, NJ

Honey and David Berger, NY

Dvorah Shalom Chapter, FL

Zelda and Solomon Berger, NY

Adena and Ezra Dyckman, NY

Daisy and Herbert Berman, z”l, NY

Selma and Jacob Dyckman, NY

Anne and William, z”l, Bernstein, CA

Dina and Moses Dyckman, z”l, NY

Benjamin Bernstein, z”l, NY

Jewel and Theodore Edelman, NY

Bertha K. Green Chapter, NY

Roslyn and Matthew, z”l, Besdine, NY

Gina and Graham Edwards, England Carole and Gary Eisen, NY

Layla and Evan Green, CA Morris L. Green, z”l, NY

Susan Alter Klaperman and Gilbert, z”l, Klaperman, NY

Elizabeth Beylin, Citibank N.A. Trusts & Est., NY

Esther Queens Chapter, NY

Paula and Arlin Green, PA

Jane Klitsner, NY

Ike, Molly and Steven Elias Foundation, NY

Hilda Gross, z”l, FL

Kolatch Family Foundation, NJ

Rosalin Bieber, z”l, MI

Gail and Martin Elsant, NY

Sharon and Melvin Gross, NY

Miriam and Louis Kolom, IL

Dassie and Marvin Bienenfeld, NY*

Emek Hanahar Bronx Chapter, NY

Julius Guggenheimer, NY

Ellen, z”l, and Meyer Koplow, NY*

Dahlia and Arthur Bilger, CA

Dorthy and William, z”l, Engel, CA

Olga Guttmann, z”l, FL

Gitta and Richard Koppel, NY

Birah Chapter of Greater Washington D.C., MD

Esther Ben David Chapter, NY

Amy, z”l, and James Haber, NY

Laurie and Robert Koppel, NY

Esther Chapter, MA

Hagudah Lekidim Hachinuch, Israel

Zlata Korman, z”l, FL

Selma and Irving Ettenberg, z’’l, FL*

Lillian and Elliot, z”l, Hahn, FL

Sylvia and Leon Korngold, z”l, NY

Ruth and Gene Fax, MA

Phyllis Hammer, MA

Barbara and Fred Kort Foundation, CA

Frances Feder, z”l, NY

Milton and Miriam Handler Foundation, NY

Sarena and David Koschitzky, Canada

Felicia Hanfling, z”l, NY

Ruth and Daniel Krasner, NY

Beverly Hills Shirah Chapter, CA

Evelyn and Isaac Blachor, NY Aaron and Marie Blackman Foundation, CA Barbara Bloom, MD Doris and Marcus Blumkin, NY Renee Bohm, z”l, MD Boro Park and Tova Brooklyn Chapter, NY Ethlynne and Stephen Brickman, MA

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Julia Chosner, z”l, NY

Lillian Feketis, z”l, FL Chaiki and Ziel Feldman, NY Jack Fink, z”l, NY Myrna and Eli Fishbein, z”l, NJ

Gesher Tzion-Atlanta Chapter, GA Geula-Shalvah Miami Beach Chapter, FL Lea Gilon, NY Dorrice and Harry Ginsburg, z”l, AZ* Leelah and Joseph Gitler, NJ Miriam and Felix Glaubach, NY Gloria Sheer Bronx Chapter, NY Golda Meir Chapter, FL Golda Meir Staten Island Chapter, NY Evalyn R. Goldberg, IN Gertrude Goldberg, z”l, NY Paulette Goldberg, NY Mildred and Hyman, z”l, Golden, NY Esther and Jack Goldman, NY David Goldman Charitable Trust, Israel N & L Goldsmith Foundation, NY Harold Goldstein, FL Tamar and Eric Goldstein, NY Helen Goldyk, FL Anne and Sheldon Golombeck, NY Harvey Goodstein Foundation, NY Lois Selevan Goodstein, z”l, NY Pnina and Jacob Graff, CA Adele Gray, z”l, FL

Hanita Brooklyn Chapter, NY Bank Hapoalim, Israel

Elaine and Robert Jacobs, NY Suzanne and Norman Javitt, NY New Jersey Council, NJ Kadimah Chapter, CT Robin and Simon Kahn, Israel Eva Kahn, z”l, NY Sara Liron and Sheldon Kahn, CA Hannah, z”l, and Hermann Kaiser, NJ Brenda and Albert Kalter, NY Ruth and Jerome Kamerman, FL Miriam and Sol Kanarek, NY Kansas City Nitzanim Chapter, MO Ruth and William, z”l, Kantrowitz, NY Marilyn and Edward Kaplan, FL Ida and Gustave Kaplan, z”l, FL M. Karasick/Deborah Chapter, CA Shirley Z. Kaufman, z”l, FL Lauren Kayden Foundation, NY Rona and Ira Kellman, NY Rena Kent, z”l, NY* Amy and Todd Kesselman, NY Dora Kesten, z”l, NY Key Bank, OH Kfar Boca Chapter, FL The Kirkland & Ellis LLP, IL Kislev Tuvla Veschar Inc., Israel

Joel Koschitzky, Israel Rochelle and Sy, z”l, Kraut, NJ Kravitz Family, z”l, CA

*Indicates all donors of lifetime cumulative giving of $1 million or more.

Dorothy Kreiselman, NY

Marilyn and Leon Moed, NY

The Moise Y. Safra Foundation, NY

Ellen and Emanuel Kronitz, Israel

Naomi Chapter, NY

Sam Samson, z”l, CA

Sarah Kupchik, z”l, FL

Negba Foundation, Israel

The Sarah Kronovet Chapter, NY

Arlene and Moshe Kupietzky, CA

Robert Neiman, z”l, KY

The Sarah Ribakow-Tikvah Chapter, MD

Ann and David, z”l, Kupperman, NY

Celia and David Neuman, MD

The Savannah Chapter, GA

Celia Kurr, z”l, FL

Miriam and Bernard Neuman, IL

Jan and Sheldon Schechter, NY

Bertha and Irving, z”l, Kutoff, MN

Miriam Neustadter, NY

Ellen and David Scheinfeld, z”l, NY

Robyn Price Stonehill and David Stonehill, NY

Dena Ladin, FL

New England Council/ Ra’anana Chapter, MA

Janet Schiff, z”l, FL

Ruth and Meyer Strassfeld, z”l, FL

Gertrude Schneider, z”l, FL*

Zahava and Moshael Straus, NJ

Dahlia Kalter Nordlicht and Mark Nordlicht, NY

Charlotte Schneierson, NY

Joyce and Daniel Straus, NJ*

Elaine and Saul Schreiber, Israel

Gwen and Joseph Straus, z”l, NY

Daniela and Laurence Schreiber, NJ

Adina Straus, NY

Shirley and Paul Schulder, z”l, NY

Aviva Hoschander-Sulzberger and Vernon Sulzberger, NY

Greta Landis, z”l, NY Esther and Stanley Landsman, NY Sylvia Lansky, z”l, NY Francine and Alvin, z”l, Lashinsky, NY Erna Lazard, z”l, FL Sheila, z”l, and Elihu Leifer, MD Miriam and Louis Leifer, z”l, NY Agatha I. Leifer, z”l, NY Bank Leumi, NY Ria and Tim Levart, NJ Alice Levi, z”l, NY Gerald Levy, z”l, NY Linda and Alan Lewis, FL Dorothy and Robert Lewis, FL Minnie Lieberman, z”l, NY* Mindy and Seymour Liebman, NY Rose Lippin, z”l, NY Lela London, z”l, NY Long Island Council, NY Audrey and Haskel Lookstein, NY Los Angeles Council, CA Bernice and Mitchell Macks, z”l, IL Gershona Maden, z”l, NY Maera Chapter, NY Millie and Lawrence Magid, NJ Manhattan Council Chapter, NY Mae Manney, z”l, NY Zipporah and Arnold Marans, NY Etella and Tivadar Marcovici, NY Ilse Marcus, z”l, NY

Barbara and Jules, z”l, Nordlicht, NY* Isidore Okun, z”l Minette and Nate Olick, CA Rose Orloff, z”l, FL Linda and Ira Panzier, NY Paul S. Pariser, MT Pearl Schwartz - Houston Chapter, TX Thelma Pearlman, z”l, FL Tama and Emanuel Penstein, z”l, NY Regina and Pincus, z”l, Peterseil, NY Ingebord Petranker, z”l, CA Bea Peyser, NY Suzanne and Paul Peyser, NY The Philadelphia Council, PA Estate of Marilyn Phillips, z”l Eve and Stuart L. Pinkert, IL Esther and Donald Press, NY Lauren S. and Mitchell Presser, NY The Prospect Park Aviva Chapter, NY The Queens Council, NY Jane and Bill Quint, z”l, CA Bethia Straus and Paul Quintas, IL The Raanana California Chapter, CA* The Raanana Channah Chapter, NY The Rae Koenigsberg Chapter, MD Roman Rakover, z”l, CA Barbara and Joel, z”l, Rascoff, NY

Alice Schuster, z”l, NY Rita and Eugene Schwalb, FL Diana Schiowitz and Paul Schwartz, Israel Pari and Henry Schwartz, NY Carmi Schwartz, z”l, Israel Dorothy Sebulsky, z”l, CA The Secours Populaire Francais, France Seed the Dream Foundation, PA Harriet and Herbert Seif, NJ* Bashie R. and Irwin Selevan, z”l, NY Alan Selevan, z”l, NY Esther, z”l, and Jacques Semmelman, NJ Shalhevet Great Neck Chapter, NY Shalva Chai Englewood Chapter, NJ Rose M. Shapiro, z”l, FL Deanne and Leonard Shapiro, NY The Margaret Rose Shapiro Chapter, FL The Sharona Chapter, CA Judy and Isaac Sherman, NY Chana and Daniel Shields, NY Deena and Adam Shiff, NY

Blanche Katz Renov and

Silbert Charitable Fund, NY

Meira and Solomon, z”l, Max, NY

Joseph Renov, z’’l, Israel

Elaine and Walter Silver, z”l, FL

Sema Menora, z”l, IL

The Rishona Chaper, FL

Samuel Silverman, FL

Sharon and Solomon Merkin, NJ

Norman and Bettina Roberts Foundation, NJ

Renee, z”l, and Gerald Silverstein, NJ

The Joan S. and Leon Meyers Foundation, NY

Fritzie and Sheldon, z”l, Robinson, IL

Harold Skolnick, z”l, CA*

Rochlin Foundation, Israel

Lisa and Leon Meyers, NY*

Marsha Slavitt, z”l, CA

Ellen Rogoff, z”l, NY

Leon and Gloria, Edward, Sari and Howard Miller, NY

Marilyn and Herbert, z”l, Smilowitz, NJ

Vivian and Solomon, z”l, Rosen, FL

Sondra and Myron Sokal, NY

Lottie Rothschild, z”l, CA

William Solomon, z”l, NY

Etta Rubin, NY

Arthur Solomon, z”l, NY

Herbert and Augusta, z”l, Rudnick, NY

Nellie and Aharon Stavisky, Israel

LI Sabra Massada Chapters, NY

Francine and Aaron Stein, NJ

Safra National Bank, NY

Hilda and Arthur Stern, z”l, NY

Shari and Jacob M. Safra, NY*

Sandra and Harold Sternburg, z”l, ME

Deborah Silberman, NY*

Ruth and Hyman Simon, z”l, NY

As of August 19, 2019. Please notify Liz Klibanoff, Director of Financial Resource Development, of any inaccuracies or omissions at 212-477-4737 (LizK@amitchildren.org). We regret any errors.

Lilly Tempelsman, NY Sara, z”l, and Leo Thurm, NY Sandra, z”l, and Max Thurm, NY The Tikvah-B’noth Zion Chapter, CA Morris and Sylvia Trachten, z”l, Family Foundation, CO Audrey and Chaim Trachtman, NY Ina and David Tropper, NY The Trump Foundation, Israel Bertie and Fred Tryfus, NY The UBS Bank, Israel Audrey and Max Wagner, NY Ellen and Stanley Wasserman, NY* Ida Wax, IL

Hindy Weinstock Geula Teaneck Chapter, NJ

The Signature Bank, NY

Matanel, Israel

Debbie and Sam Moed, NJ

Anna Teich, z”l, FL

Marcia and Lee Weinblatt, NJ

Roselle Silberman, NY

Mizrachi East Chapter, NY

Marvin Walter Tasem, MN

Mollie and Israel, z”l, Siegel, NJ

Evelyn and Sidney, z”l, Reichenthal, TX

Myra and Samuel, z”l, Mitzner, NY

Rose Tapp, z”l, IL

The Shoshana Hempstead Chapter, NY

Margolit Queens Chapter, NJ

Marilyn E. Mitnick, z”l, NY

Marion Talansky, Israel

Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Inc., MD*

Marc and Micheline Ratzersdorfer, z”l, Israel

Judy and Albert Milstein, IL

Rosalee Swerdloff, z”l, FL

The Shira Chapter, PA

Margate Chapter, NJ

Shirley Mesirow, z”l, IL*

Ethel and Lester Sutker, IL*

Bronka Weintraub, z”l, NY Marion and William Weiss, NJ Judy and Morry Weiss, OH The Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Foundation, England Sylvia and William Wolff, NY Yedidut Toronto, Israel The Yeftah NPO, Israel The Yonkers/North Riverdale Chapter, NY The Yoreinu Foundation, Israel Jacob Zarember, AZ Hilde and Benjamin Zauderer, z”l, NY Gloria and Henry, z”l, Zeisel, NY* Herbert M. Ziff, NY The Zionah Chapter, NY Helene and Gerald Zisholtz, NY Molly and Jack Zwanziger, IL

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Michelle and Stefan Frank, NY

Michael Horovitz, Israel

Shani and Sam Frank, NY

TWINCO INC., TX

Sharon and Michael Freudenstein, NY

Naomi and Joel Intract, Israel

Marsha and Thomas Friedman, NJ

Mishel 300 Investments, Israel

Reva and Mark Friedman, Israel

Elaine and Mervin Jacobs, FL

Sandy and Myron Friedman, Israel

Susan Julius, CA Tirza and Sam Kahan, IL

$1,800-$4,999

Jared Brecher, NY

Anonymous, FL

Jill and Jonathan Brickman, NJ

Avrohom and Renee Fruchthandler, NJ

Anonymous, FL

Yardena and David Brickman, NJ

Debby and Steven Gage, NY

Anonymous, Israel

Elaine and Sy Brief, FL

Kenneth Gainer, NY

Anonymous, MD

Esther Cardash, IL

Barbara and Steve Geller, IL

Anonymous, NJ

Mark Chass, Israel

Debbi and Marc Geller, IL

Anonymous, NY

Helen and Larry Ciment, FL

Caron and Steven Gelles, NY

Anonymous, PA

Benjamin Cohanzad, CA

Ruth Ilse Gerber, z”l, CA

Debra and Meyer Abittan, NY

Michael Cohanzad, CA

Sharon and Seymour Gertz, IL

Elizabeth and Howard Abramowitz, CA

Hedy and Morris Cohen, PA

Janet and Gilad Gevaryahu, PA

Wendy and Sanford Cohen, FL

Naomi and Stanley Goldis, PA

Gloria and Sanford Kestenbaum, Israel

Pri HaGefen Company, Israel

Laura and Joseph Goldman, MD

Sue and Jordan Klein, IL

Diane Covkin, NJ

Shira and Gadi Goldress, NY

Shirley Knox, FL

Donna Dalnekoff, Israel

Alan Goldsmith, VA

Beverly Kogut, TX

Judy and Michael Daniels, IL

Yonina and Eric Gomberg, NY

Miriam and Louis Kolom, IL

Amy and Gary Davis, TX

Florence Goodman, OH

Rachel and Bryan Koplow, NH

Michael Diamond, NY

Aviva and Justin Gordon, IL

Alan Docter, FL

Beth and Michael Gottesman, IL

Deborah Peacock and Nate Korn, NM

Yaniv Dorani, Israel

Norman Green, CA

Stan Dorman, MD

Eudice Greenfield, IL

Tami and Shlomo Drapkin, IL

Sharon and Gary Greengrass, NY

Sandy and Eli Dweck, NY

Gayle and Paul Gross, FL

Kenneth Eckstein, NY

Goldie and Alex Gross, Israel

Debbie and Richard Eisenberg, NY

Robyn Horowitz and Yehoshua Grossman, NJ

Renee and Leon Adams, NY Leah and Jonathan Adler, NJ Myrna and Charles Alpert, NY Beth and Brad Alter, IL Ann Holstein and Edwin Altman, PA Daniel Altshuler, CA Estelle and Jacob Apelberg, MD Roberta and Alan David Aronoff, NY Judy and Ron Aronson, Israel Viven and Auerbach, Israel Yakov Avni, Israel Yaela and Neil Baine, PA Mizrahi Tefachot Bank, Israel David Battat, NY Fischer Becher, Israel Joan and Shael Bellows, IL Lee and Paul Belsky, NY Deborah and Barry Berg, NY Beatrice Berger, NJ Blimi and Benjy Berger, NY Diane and Noah Berkowitz, NY Sylvia Berns, Israel Beth and Samuel Bernstein, NJ BGNY Management, Israel Evelyn and Saul Bienenfeld, FL Harriet and George Blank, NJ Sandra and Howard Blank, NJ

Phyllis and Joseph Eisenman, NJ Pearl Elias, PA Dr. Francoise Engel, MD Escope, Israel Dexel Factory, Israel Rose and Joshua Farkowits, NY Elliot Feinerman, Israel Avshalom Ferber, Israel Sherry and Mark Fessel, NY Naomi and Daniel Feuer, NJ Sunrise Financial, NY Estelle Fink, Israel Jeanne Finkelstein, FL

Stephen Kahane, MA Karen Kaplan, IL Marilyn and Ed Kaplan, FL Hillary Katz, NY Marissa and Dan Katz, FL Laura and Daniel Kaufthal, NY Judy and Abraham Keehn, NY Marjorie and Steven Kellner, NY

Laura and Yaron Kornblum, NY Rama & Mark Koslowe, NJ Susan and Saul Koss, MD Shani and David Kramer, NJ Debbi and Lee Krantzow, NJ Diane Kranz, NY Sara and Alan Kravitz, NY

Felice and Michael Grunberger, MD

Mark Kristoff, CT

Alexander Grunwald, Israel

Shelley and Stanley Kroll, IL

James Haddad, NY

Rachel and Shawn Langer, NJ

Sharon and Michael Haddad, NY

Cheryl and Lee Lasher, NJ

Arie Halpern, z”l, NJ

Carole and Manny Lax, FL

Marjorie and Charles Hamaoui, NY

Helen Leiderman, NY

Barbara and George Hanus, IL

Esther and Paul Lerer, NJ

Debbie and Robert Hartman, IL

Bank Leumi, NY

Laurie and Bernard Hasten, IL

Alice Levi, z”l, NY

Milton Heching, NJ

Jodi and Elie Levine, NY

Ellen and John Hellman, Israel

Jane Levy, NY

Kim Heyman, NY

Margaret and Andrew Levy, NJ

Fred Hidary, NY

Aviva and Nate Lichtenstein, IL

Rivkie and Lance Hirt, NY

Shari and Nathan Lindenbaum, NJ

Sara and Josh Bleier, PA

Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co., Israel

Roni and Yehuda Blinder, NJ

Sharon & Jeffrey Fishman, CA

Robin and Mark Hoenig, NJ

Roslyn and Joel Linderman, CA

Lois Blumenfeld, NJ

Melvin S. Cutler Foundation, MA

Rena and Scott Hoffman, NY

KC and Leslie Littner, Israel

Sheldon and Debbie Bootin, TX

Reut Foundation, Israel

Marianna and Michael Horn, MD

Julie and Richard Lobel, NJ

Elana and Aryeh Bourkoff, NY

The Roseman Foundation, NC

Chani and Jonathan Hornblass, NY

Naomi and Carl Lopkin, MA

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Sally Mendelsohn and David

Reena and Raphael Novogrodsky, NJ

Lowenfeld, NY

Bobbie and Jerry Nussbaum, IL

Livdiam LTD, Israel

Sarah Okon, MA

Melvin Lubin, NJ

Alissa and Abraham Ossip, NY

Vered Mahani, Israel

Careena and Drew Parker, NJ

Iris and Sharon Maidenbaum, NY

Brenda and Edward Parver, NY

Diana and David Makkabi, CA

Ronnie and Joshua Penn, CA

Fegi Mauer, IL

Dana and Michael Petrover, FL

Naomi Mayer, NY

Renee and Phillip Pilevsky, NY

Pegi and Gerard Medioni, CA

Pia and Stuart Pollack, PA

Shoshana Quint and Jonathan Melmed, NY

Karen and Russ Posner, NY Epiphany Prayer, Israel

Ellen and Eric Roskes, MD

Shani and Bruce Tager, NJ

Sarah and Jeff Rosner, PA

Marion Talansky, Israel

Danna and Eyal Rubenstein, Israel

Hope and David Taragin, MD

Lena Russo, NJ

Stella B. Behar- Testa, NY

Norma and Clifton Russo, NY

Paul Tramontano, CT

Rhoda and Stephen Sand, PA

Sylvia and Avi Tuchman, MA

Sylvia Sanker, z”l, NY

Sandra and Jerry Turnauer, FL

Alan Sar, z”l, CO

Joy and Michael Volk, CA

Janet Sasson, CA

Hindy Walfish, Israel

Shirley and Matthew Schein, Israel

Jenny and Max Weil, Israel

Mindy Schneider and Michael Lesser, NY

Yael Weinreb, CA

Elaine and Saul Schreiber, Israel

Esther and Baruch Weinstein, NY

Keryn and David Schreiber, IL

Shirley Weinstein, NY

Jacques Semmelman, NJ

Barbara and Michael Weiss, NY

Sharon and Rony Shapiro, MA

Cathy and Allan Weiss, NJ

Susan Shapiro, NY

Lillian and Sherwyn Weiss, FL

Yaffi and Yoseph Shmidman, Israel

Rita and Howard Weiss, NY

Helene and Jack Shrago, NE

Elaine and Mark Weitzman, NY

Jane Quint, z”l, CA

Aviv and Relli Siegel, CA

Michelle and Mitchell Weitzner, NJ

Belinda and Steve Raikin, PA

Darina and Andrew Silverman, NY

Marguerite and Ronald Werrin, PA

Daphna and Daniel Raskas, MD

Harriet and Yaakov Sklar, FL

Maeira and Michel Werthenschlag, NY

Sylvia Ravetch, FL

Joy and Barry Sklar, NJ

Shlomzion Malka Wertman, Israel

Daphne and Joshua Rawson, NY

Minoo Southgate, NY

Douglas C. Williams, CA

Susan and Max Reichenthal, TX

Phyllis & Mark Speiser, NY

Rebecca and Daniel Wolf, NJ

Shelley Rindner, NY

Sydelle Spero, z”l, Israel

Efrat Yaffa, Israel

Mimi and Geoffrey Rochwarger, NJ

Rena and Bruce Spinowitz, NY

Sherry and Aaron Yanoush, Israel

Shuli and Avi Rockoff, MA

Marilyn Stadtmauer, NY

Yephtah NPO, Israel

Keren Roi, Israel

Elizabeth Straus, NY

Yachad Shivtei Yisrael, Israel

Ilan Rom, Israel

Claire and David Subar, Israel

Benco Zad, CA

Miriam and Bernie Neuman, IL

Yaacov Rose, FL

Naomi and Ira Sved, PA

Stephanie and Howard Zauderer, NY

Betty and Harold Neustadter, Israel

Marcia and Philip Rosen, NJ

Esther and Henry Swieca, NY

Bibsi and David Zuckerbrot, Israel

Bernice and Oscar Novick, IL

Aliza and Yitzhak Rosenblum, NY

Elbit Systems, Israel

Religious Zionists of America, NY

Dinah and Andrew Mendes, NY Jenny Michael, NY Hymen Milgrom, Israel Debbie and Robert Miller, Israel Ellen Miller, Israel Maxine Miller, Israel Renee and Leonard Minsky, FL Rhonda and Michael Mont, MD Vera and Robert Moreen, PA Miriam Muskin, OH Judith Goldberg Ness and Seth Ness, NJ

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