The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life (Steinhardt Foundation) is a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

based

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

foundation, created in 1994, which funds projects and programs aimed at improving

Jewish education Jewish education ( he, חינוך, ''Chinuch'') is the transmission of the tenets, principles, and religious laws of Judaism. Known as the "people of the book", Jews value education, and the value of education is strongly embedded in Jewish cul ...

and identity for American Jews. , Rabbi David Gedzelman is the President and CEO of the Steinhardt Foundation. The Steinhardt Foundation was created as the Jewish Life Network by former

hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as sho ...

manager

Michael Steinhardt Michael H. Steinhardt (born December 7, 1940) is an American billionaire hedge fund manager, philanthropist, and former antiquities collector. In 1967, he founded a hedge fund, Steinhardt Partners which he ran until he closed it in 1995. After a ...

, who disbanded his financial practice to focus on

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. A founding initiative, co-sponsored with the Israeli government, private donors, and Jewish communities around the world, is the Birthright Israel program, to provide young Jews, age 18 to 26 years old, the opportunity to tour Israel for the first time. As of April 2005, the foundation had disbursed over $100 million to various educational, cultural and service causes, including starting and/or funding: the

PEJE PEJE or Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education is an organization designed to support Jewish day schools. It was founded in 1997 by Michael Steinhardt and 11 other partners,Massing, Michael,Should Jews be Parochial?", ''The American Prospect ...

in 1997; programs at the

92nd Street Y 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a cultural and community center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the corner of East 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Founded in 1874 as the Young Men's Hebrew Association, the ...

; the

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development The New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (commonly referred to as Steinhardt) is the secondary liberal arts and education school of New York University. It is one of the only schools in the world of i ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

; and the Steinhardt Social Research Institute at

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

. From 2000 to 2013, the Steinhardt Foundation co-sponsored the annual

Harold Grinspoon Foundation The Harold Grinspoon Foundation (HGF) is a private foundation established in 1993 and located in Agawam, Massachusetts. It is a 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization charitable organization with the goal of "enhancing Jewish and community life in We ...

Awards for Excellence in Jewish Education, renamed the Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards for Excellence in Jewish Education during that period. From 1998 to 2018, the Steinhardt Foundation published the quarterly magazine ''Contact''.

External links

References

Jewish charities based in the United States Jewish educational organizations Charities based in New York (state) {{charity-org-stub