“Jewish text is both a mirror and a set of binoculars. It reflects back to us and gives us insight into who we are, and it also gives us a set of lenses with which to view the world outside.”

— Rabbi Leon Morris

Related Grantee: SAPIR: Ideas for a Thriving Jewish Future

“The gifted population in Israel is a population that has very, very strong potential to impact on issues which are of national interest to Israel….A lot of the time, they are the same population that don’t get the academic programs or solutions that are needed in order to maximize their individual and their collective potential.”

Related Grantee: Future Scientists Center

“The Digital Storytellers Lab of the Jewish Writers’ Initiative has selected thirteen digital media writers/creators for its inaugural program….The fellows hail from a variety of professional backgrounds – including journalists, filmmakers, novelists, songwriters, game designers, and more – and were chosen via an open call for proposals that brought in over 260 applications.

Related Grantee: Jewish Writers' Initiative Digital Storytellers Lab

“Bombach is the driving spirit behind a new Israeli network of schools that provides ultra-Orthodox children not only with a comprehensive religious education, but also requires them to study a core curriculum of math, English, science, history and civics.”

Related Grantee: The Netzach Educational Network

“One cannot really understand the truth if one does not understand the arguments and views that can be urged against it. Just as we appreciate our blessings when we feel the lack of them, we sharpen our perception of truth when we are confronted by arguments that appear to contradict it…Openness to others, including those with whom we might vehemently disagree, is also essential for creating a robust and living culture.”

Related Grantee: SAPIR: Ideas for a Thriving Jewish Future

“The very act of impact evaluation requires narrowing down the problem to make it legible and, in the process, other complex and unwieldy problems, that might be more pressing, will be left out. Impact evaluations only encompass the highest impact philanthropic efforts that we can measure and publish with confidence. Halfway into comparing air pollution and malaria, I had a renewed appreciation for James C. Scott’s ideas on the tradeoff between legibility and complexity. Air pollution mitigation institutions don’t make it to the top five of the GiveWell list because both the causes of air pollution and the interventions to mitigate pollution are complicated.”

“Ne’emanut for Buzaglo indicates trust rooted in your connection to the speaker(s)—a unique and distinct voice among many, that you hear differently from all others because it is speaking specifically to you, in the context of your relationship with them…. The relational act of transmission is what carries moral weight. When one is ne’eman, one sees oneself as a link in a chain and takes on the role of continuing the chain into the future.”

This year’s Forbes Israel 30 Under 30 features two alumni of the Future Scientists Center Odyssey program:

“At the age of 14, [Keshet Shavit] was accepted into the academic studies programs for high school students at Ben Gurion University – Odyssey (of the Center for Future Scientists and the Ministry of Education) and Marie Curie, and began her first degree. She came to Professor Amir Sagi’s laboratory and carried out research there, the results of which were presented at conferences and published in an academic article when she was only 18 years old.”

“In middle school, [Avraham Barbi] says, he got bored and used to disrupt classes….”I wanted to find another place to gain knowledge, so I enrolled in the ‘Odyssey’ program at the Technion (of the Center for Future Scientists and the Ministry of Education). There I realized that the field of physics fascinates me.” Currently, Avraham is a member of Escola – the alumni network of the program, and is about to finish his master’s degree in the track for quantum information at the Hebrew University.”

Related Grantee: Future Scientists Center

“‘The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes’ is a three-part documentary series that combines interviews from Holocaust survivors, key witnesses at the Eichmann trial, historians, and experts on the Holocaust with reenactments of the historical events. The series, which first aired on Israel’s Kan public broadcaster last year, tells the story of Adolf Eichmann’s role in orchestrating the Final Solution during the Holocaust.”

Related Grantee: Gesher Multicultural Film Fund - The Jewish Story Film and Media Collaborative

“Should we fund art simply for art’s sake, for the sheer quality of it, or should we fund art in an instrumentalist way, toward particular ends? The former might seem like more of a luxury, while funding art that’s intended to educate or shape hearts and minds in particular ways might seem more necessary and urgent. But does the instrumentalist approach compromise the artist’s autonomy and authentic artistic expression?”

Related Grantee: SAPIR: Ideas for a Thriving Jewish Future

New York, NY, March 15, 2023 — Maimonides Fund is pleased to announce two exciting new additions to its New York-based programming staff. Chanan Weissman will join as Director of the new SAPIR Institute, and Zackary Wainer will serve as Director of Special Initiatives.

“We are excited for Chanan and Zack to join our growing team,” said Maimonides Fund President Mark Charendoff of the new hires. “They both come with considerable expertise that will add new and important dimensions to our work, enabling us to grow our impact and the positive change we can make for Jewish communities and the State of Israel.”

Beginning April 1, Chanan Weissman will conceptualize, launch and lead the new SAPIR Institute, which will develop a suite of programmatic efforts inspired by the quarterly journal SAPIR: Ideas for a Thriving Jewish Future, published by Maimonides Fund and edited by Bret Stephens.

Weissman comes to Maimonides after more than 12 years in the federal government, including two stints as the White House Liaison to the American Jewish Community, first in the final year of the Obama Administration and then in the first year of the Biden Administration. Most recently, Weissman served as Section Chief of the Internet Freedom unit at the Department of State. Weissman entered into government service as a Presidential Management Fellow and served in a number of capacities throughout, including in various roles on the National Security Council; Bahrain desk officer in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs; and Yemen/Kuwait Action Officer in the Department of Defense. He was the recipient of numerous State Department Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and a Political Partner at the Truman National Security Project.

As Director of Special Initiatives, Zack Wainer will serve as an in-house consultant to the Fund’s Board and program staff, developing new strategies and initiatives. He comes to the Fund with a background in management consulting, most recently at Boston Consulting Group, where his work revolved around corporate strategy and change management, with a special focus on education. Wainer holds a Ph.D. from Brown University in the Ancient Near East and History of Science, completed a post-doctoral Fulbright fellowship at Hebrew University, and taught courses in Biblical Hebrew, Mediterranean mythology and ancient medicine in the Department of Classical Studies at William & Mary College.

Maimonides Fund is a private grantmaking organization that funds in North America and Israel. For more info on the Fund and its program areas, visit www.maimonidesfund.org. To learn more about SAPIR, visit www.sapirjournal.org.

“Whether as a nation that dwells apart or a nation on a mission, Jews generally share the conviction that Israel should stand for certain ethical principles — and be judged according to them. For this issue of Sapir, we asked 13 diverse thinkers and doers to offer a brief comment about what the phrase ‘a light unto the nations’ means to them when it comes to Israel today…”

Related Grantee: SAPIR: Ideas for a Thriving Jewish Future