A Gift for the Future

Earlier this month, HAMC parents Jennifer and Ido Zairi hosted the Shomrei Torah Major Gifts Dinner. More than 60 people attended the beautiful evening, which was filled with pride and spirit for HAMC.

The theme of the evening was Building Passionate Jewish Leaders for the Future, and Daniel Moritz (Class of 2006) spoke beautifully about leadership and how he was instilled with a strong Jewish foundation at HAMC. Daniel spoke about how HAMC gave him the tools and skills he needed to advocate for being Jewish and for the State of Israel.

Steve Levy, alumni parent and chairman of the Capital Campaign, also spoke about the school's bright future, and here are some of his thoughts.

Tonight is, in my view, another one of those moments in time. This is a moment for all of us to celebrate our school and ourselves. This is a moment for us to reflect back on why we can now say that the Hebrew Academy is positioned to continue its recent growth patterns. This is a moment to be proud of all our contributions toward enabling the school to graduate one of the largest classes in its history. This is a moment in time for us to recognize that, under Moshe Vaknin’s administrative leadership, our school is now one of the most technologically advanced private educational institutions (not just Jewish Day Schools) in the country. This is a moment in time when we can be thankful for the academic guidance of our Dean of General Studies, Dr. Cheryl Bahar, and our Director of the Lillie Brandt Early Childhood Center, Ricki Rubin, who both played such important roles in the awarding to the school the famous Blue Ribbon and our NJAIS accreditation. This is a moment in time when we can be proud of the fact that many schools and communities around the country are looking at the HAMC as an example of how to do things right!

Ron Silbermann, this year's Annual Campaign Chairman, also spoke about the importance of the campaign. What a wonderful night for the school! Many thanks to the Zairis for underwriting this very inspiring event and for hosting the night.

You can read Steve's speech in its entirety online.