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Avi Chai Foundation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Avi Chai Foundation
Formation1984; 42 years ago (1984)
FounderZalman Bernstein
TypePrivate foundation
Tax ID no. 13-3252800[1]
HeadquartersNew York City, United States
FieldsJewish education and culture
Revenue$16,496,545[1] (2024)
Disbursements$16,999,060 (2024)[1]
Expenses$18,131,369[1] (2024)
Websiteavichai.org

The Avi Chai Foundation is an American private foundation established in 1984 by Zalman Bernstein, an investor and founder of Sanford C. Bernstein & Company. It supported Jewish educational and cultural initiatives in Israel, North America, and the former Soviet Union. Its North American grantmaking focused primarily on Jewish day schools and residential summer camps.[2][3]

Following a planned spend-down, Avi Chai concluded its general grantmaking on December 31, 2019, but remained in existence and retained assets for ongoing activities in Israel.[3][1]

In 2007, the foundation established Beit Avi Chai in Jerusalem as a cultural center for developing and presenting programming and original content related to Jewish and Israeli culture and ideas.[4]

History

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Founding and mission

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Bernstein founded the investment-management firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Company in 1967 and served as its chief executive officer. His father's death later marked a turning point in his Jewish life. Although he could then read little Hebrew, his determination to recite Kaddish led him to Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan, where he met Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. Riskin became a major influence on Bernstein's Jewish development, and Bernstein became increasingly involved in Jewish study and religious observance.[5][6]

In 1984, Bernstein established the Avi Chai Foundation in collaboration with two friends whom he considered more knowledgeable about Jewish life. The foundation's mission was to strengthen Jewish tradition and Jewish literacy, deepen commitment to the State of Israel, and promote mutual understanding among Jews of different religious orientations. It subsequently provided grants in North America, Israel, and the former Soviet Union.[6][2]

Although Bernstein was strongly opinionated, he welcomed and respected contrary views. The foundation's emphasis on mutual understanding also reflected principles associated with Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, including attachment to Israel, commitment to Jewish religious tradition, and respect among Jews with different levels of religious observance.[6]

Bernstein died in 1999. In 2005, the foundation's board announced that, in keeping with a wish he had expressed informally, it would spend down its assets and complete its work by 2020.[2]

Regional expansion

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The Avi Chai Foundation conducted grantmaking in North America and Israel before expanding its activities to the former Soviet Union in 2001. Its priorities differed by region in response to local educational and communal circumstances.[7]

In North America, the foundation concentrated primarily on Jewish day schools and summer camps.[8] By 1997, it was contributing more than $3 million annually to Jewish day schools. Its other activities included supporting professional development for educators and school leaders, helping to establish Jewish high schools, and funding preparatory programs for students entering Jewish high schools without previous day-school education.[9]

In Israel, Avi Chai's grantmaking focused on formal and informal Jewish education and adult learning.[10] The Israeli program also sought to encourage understanding among Jews with differing commitments to Jewish tradition, increase Jewish literacy among secular Israelis, and cultivate Jewish leadership.[11] Around 2010, the foundation began developing the Nitzanim initiative, which was intended to connect educational and cultural institutions in ten Israeli communities through coordinated local planning involving municipal officials and community leaders.[12]

In the former Soviet Union, the foundation supported Jewish schools, summer camps, Hebrew-language education, and other programs intended to strengthen Jewish knowledge, identity, and communal participation after decades of restrictions on Jewish religious and cultural life under Soviet rule.[13]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Avi Chai Foundation". Nonprofit Explorer. ProPublica. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "AVI CHAI Foundation (1984–projected: 2020)". Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society. Duke University. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Hanau, Shira (November 13, 2019). "Avi Chai Says Goodbye, But Not 'Mission Accomplished'". New York Jewish Week. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Who We Are". Beit Avi Chai. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  5. ↑ Lipman, Steve (15 January 1999). "Sanford Bernstein's Second Life". New York Jewish Week. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 Schick, Marvin. "Bernstein, Zalman Chaim". Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.). Gale. Retrieved 23 July 2026 – via Encyclopedia.com.
  7. ↑ Fleishman 2011, pp. 3–7.
  8. ↑ Fleishman 2011, pp. 4, 6–7.
  9. ↑ Mandel 1997.
  10. ↑ Fleishman 2011, pp. 3–4.
  11. ↑ Fleishman 2011, pp. 6–7.
  12. ↑ Fleishman 2011, pp. 3–4, 13.
  13. ↑ Fleishman 2011, pp. 4, 7–8.

Bibliography

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