NEW YORK, NY, August 27, 2026 — Maimonides Fund (MF) today announced a significant expansion of its North American work, including the formal launch and first dedicated hires of the Maimonides Jewish Leadership Institute (MJLI); the creation of a new Director of Emerging Technologies position; a new Leadership & Gatherings Department; and the addition of two program officers to MF’s grantmaking team.
“These are natural and exciting next steps for our organization, and a direct response to the enormous challenges and opportunities of the current moment,” said Mark S. Charendoff, President of Maimonides Fund. “Over the past several years, we’ve expanded our grantmaking while developing new ways to bring people together, deepen the Jewish knowledge of influential leaders across many sectors of American life, and strengthen the networks and institutions on which Jewish life depends. At the same time, the rapid development of AI demands that we think seriously about how emerging technologies will reshape Jewish life. These new efforts reflect our conviction that philanthropy today requires us not only to support outstanding organizations, but also to invest directly in people, ideas, and the future.”
A cornerstone of this growth is the Maimonides Jewish Leadership Institute (MJLI), now in the midst of its pilot year and poised to grow significantly in the coming years. MJLI educates and cultivates a new generation of Jewish leaders across a wide range of professional sectors, combining rigorous Jewish learning with leadership development and community-building in a yearlong fellowship, followed by sustained alumni engagement.
Developed from the educational vision of Rabbi David Wolpe and Dr. Mijal Bitton during their tenure as Scholars in Residence at Maimonides Fund, MJLI is currently operating in New York and Los Angeles, with plans to add new cohorts and reach additional communities over the next several years. Beginning August 31, Dr. Bitton will assume the role of Dean of MJLI, with responsibility for the Institute’s educational vision and curriculum. Maimonides is also launching a search for a Director of MJLI, a new senior position responsible for overseeing the program’s growth and development.
“Nobody hands you a leadership credential at the end,” said MJLI Fellow Jarrod Bernstein, Policy Director and Counsel at Morrison Cohen LLP. “You leave with a room full of people who’ve pushed back on you all year and a community you actually feel obligated to. At a moment when everyone wants to tell Jews what being Jewish means, MJLI does the opposite — it makes you figure it out for yourself, alongside people who take the question as seriously as you do.”
The expansion also includes several new and redefined roles across MF.
Chanan Weissman, previously Director of SAPIR Institute, has assumed a new role as Director of Emerging Technologies, where he will lead MF’s work on the implications of AI and other emerging technologies for Jewish education, communal life, content creation, and philanthropy. Building on SAPIR Institute’s efforts to explore the intersections of AI and Jewish life, and drawing on his previous work at the State Department on technology and national security, Weissman will help shape both MF’s philanthropic strategy in this area and its engagement with the broader Jewish community.
Yael Warach, previously Assistant Director of SAPIR Institute, has become Assistant Director of MF’s new Leadership & Gatherings Department, which will design and execute convenings, retreats, and other high-touch experiences across MF’s portfolio. These gatherings bring together Jewish communal professionals, philanthropists, volunteers, and thought leaders to build relationships, exchange ideas, and advance shared work on behalf of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
MF is also adding two Program Officers to its grantmaking team.
Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Hack will become Program Officer, Policy Initiatives on August 18. Hack comes to MF from the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard, an interdisciplinary center focused on ethics, technology, and democratic institutions. He holds a PhD in political science from George Washington University and will work on MF’s growing portfolio of policy initiatives, which use policy, legal, and other strategies to combat antisemitism, support Jewish life in America, educate about Israel, and strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Alina Bitel will join the team as Program Officer, Jewish Life & Learning, on September 14. Bitel was previously Senior Manager, Strategic Planning & Grants at UJA-Federation of New York, focused on its Jewish Life portfolio. Prior to UJA, she held positions at COJECO, Foundation for Jewish Camp, and the JCC of Bensonhurst. Bitel will oversee one of MF’s longest-standing grantmaking portfolios, supporting transformative, joyous, and content-rich Jewish education as well as the educators, clergy, and professionals who make that work possible.
Together, these developments reflect MF’s continued evolution as a philanthropic organization, complementing its grantmaking with new investments in the leaders, ideas, relationships, and technologies that will help shape Jewish life for decades to come.
About Maimonides Fund
Maimonides Fund is a private philanthropic organization that supports programs and institutions in North America and Israel. Through grantmaking, publication of SAPIR: Ideas for a Thriving Jewish Future, and an expanding portfolio of leadership initiatives and convenings, MF seeks to connect Jews to their heritage, advance serious ideas, and strengthen the vitality of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.