The Leviev Foundation announced a new initiative on Sunday, announcing that it would be investing $50 million over the next five years for scholarships and educational grants for Jewish children from underserved and immigrant communities
Speaking at the Opening Gala of the Jerusalem Post New York Conference, Chagit Leviev Sofiev told the crowd that “Jewish identity should never be a luxury,” recalling a story where a young boy who went to public school told her, “Don’t worry, no one in my school knows I am Jewish.”
That comment took her by surprise; she was stunned. Because Jewish children must be proud and never feel the need to hide their identity, she stated.
Tens of thousands of Jewish children have received a Jewish education through the foundation, which is dedicated to strengthening Jewish identity through education. It provides financial assistance, mentorship, and community partnerships to help build a strong Jewish future.
Jewish education - rooted in my family
“The importance of Jewish education was deeply rooted in my family”, she continued, telling the crowd how her great-grandfather Zevulun Leviev had been exiled to Siberia for teaching young “Jewish children how to read the aleph bet.” Her grandfather Avner also risked his own safety to preserve Jewish traditions while being the only Mohel, secretly, in the area. Her father, she recalled, always told a story where her grandfather would tell him he was wasting his time with the “wrong diamonds”, because “the real diamonds are waiting for you, Jewish children need your help.”
That led to Lev Leviev later establishing over 150 Jewish schools and institutions in the Soviet Union and beyond, and later built the first free Jewish school in Queens.
“While raising my own children in America, I began to understand something my father had recognized decades earlier…they all understood something that we cannot forget,” she stated. “Jewish continuity survives only when each generation is willing to protect it.”
The new initiative aims to help Jewish families so that none have to choose between their finances and their child’s Jewish future.
“My great-grandfather helped preserve Jewish learning, my grandfather reminded us who the real diamonds are, my father helped rebuild Jewish education, and now it is our responsibility to continue that work,” she said. “Because the greatest diamonds we will ever invest in are not the ones in jewelry, but the children of the future.”