Investing in Strength: The Athletic Complex on AMIT’s New Campus
The Chella & Moise, z’l, Safra Athletic Complex
Athletic Complex
(Courtesy of AMIT) Nearly two decades ago, a chance meeting introduced attorney and Jewish advocate Shari Safra to the life-changing impact of AMIT’s work. She met a student from AMIT’s Kfar Blatt campus, a residential school in Petach Tikvah, who lived there because he had no one at home to look after him.
He shared how his surrogate family and mentors were the first in his life to support him; that their care had changed the course of his life. Deeply moved by his story, Shari became involved with AMIT and discovered its extraordinary ability to nurture a sense of warmth and belonging among Israel’s children, while preparing them for a promising future.
Her engagement with AMIT grew as she took on various leadership roles. She joined the AMIT Board of Directors as NewGen Chair, then served on AMIT’s Executive Committee as VP Financial Resource Development and Ambassadors’ Club Chair, and eventually rose to her current role as president.
Together, Shari and Jacob, her husband, have championed a myriad of Jewish causes that speak to their values and belief system. Shari’s vision for AMIT includes the integration of co-ed secular schools, vocational institutions, and facilities across diverse cities in Israeli society. She seeks to broaden AMIT’s supporter base in the U.S., reaching out to individuals who have yet to find their place in a Jewish community or cause.
Shari’s work with AMIT inspired her mother-in-law, Chella Safra, together with her husband Moise, z’l, and her children, to donate the Athletic Complex on the new campus. Philanthropic powerhouses, Chella and Moise shared a lifelong commitment to advancing Israel’s future through the education of its children. They identified with AMIT’s mission and its goal of building Israel into an Education Nation, strengthening its academic future through cutting-edge programming.
“It is incredible to partner with committed and caring donors like the Safras,” said AMIT Executive Vice President Andy Goldstein. “In dedicating the Athletic Complex, Chella, on behalf of Moise, z’l, and her family are making it possible for AMIT children to gain essential lessons learned through sports—teamwork, resilience, and leadership.”
AMIT’s new innovative Gabel & Straus Family Campus at AMIT Kfar Batya—home to the Evan & Layla Green Family Foundation Gogya Center, Gwen Straus High School, Audrey Lookstein Educators’ Innovation Center, and the Chella & Moise, z’l, Safra Athletic Complex—will launch this groundbreaking approach to revolutionize education in Israel, and beyond.
The Athletic Complex will be the home of sports and fitness for the AMIT community. The state-of-the-art multifunctional sports hall can accommodate a variety of fitness and recreational activities, fostering healthy competition and team building. The spacious, stadium-style bleachers will bring together spectators from across the AMIT family, ensuring they are comfortable, engaged, and part of the action.
Small activity studios line the length of the building and will be outfitted for individual or group workout sessions in a range of training disciplines. One of the rooms will function as a music studio, combining different passions under one roof.
That is the strength of AMIT: cultivating each of our students’ varied talents, encouraging them to grow and achieve, yet also connecting them to one another, to Israel, and to their shared destiny as Klal Yisrael.
