In fact, when she was growing up in San Francisco, California, it was her mother, Renee Weinreb, from whom she learned to love AMIT. That love carries into her own life today as a new member of the LA Leadership Council.
“My mother was involved with a lot of Jewish organizations,” she recalled, “but AMIT was truly her passion. She did a lot of fundraising and she was very successful at it. She would keep lists, call the donors. Big, small, whatever they gave, they did give. She had great success. She ran a Hanukkah fundraiser specifically for the youth village at Kfar Blatt.”
Her mother held regional and national leadership positions, and both her mother and father, Irwin Weinreb, won a humanitarian award from AMIT.
“She was just extremely passionate about AMIT for a number of reasons,” says Yael. “AMIT resonated for her because she highly valued education. And an education that was religious and about Zionism was very important to her. She loved the fact that AMIT gives children a strong education and a strong Jewish education.”
Yael became an AMIT life member when she was 20 years old – a gift from her mother. That lifetime membership has grown even stronger now as a member of the LA Leadership Council.
“I’ve always supported AMIT,” she adds. Yael is a Chai Society member and has established seven memorial plaques for departed family members at the Kfar Blatt Youth Village synagogue, and she continues to contribute annually on behalf of their yahrzeits. For her last birthday, Yael decided to do a social media fundraiser on behalf of AMIT.
“We beat our goal. I was so happy,” she said.
Looking ahead, Yael is on the committee to promote AMIT’s 95th anniversary extravaganza with its upcoming Israel Mission in May 2020!
In many ways, AMIT’s mission dovetails with Yael’s own professional passion. She is a private educational therapist and works with students who have learning disabilities helping them with remediation and support.
Among its missions, AMIT serves a population of students who also must surmount challenges, whether they are socioeconomic or otherwise.
“I think I love AMIT for many of the same reasons that my mother loved AMIT,” she said. “I love Israel. I love helping kids. I’ve always loved helping kids, especially the kids who need that extra something. The kids who do well, well, they do well. But with the other kids, it is the greatest joy is to see their success and see them find their place.”
There is a favorite quote, a motto, that Yael said she ascribes to. She has taken the quote and framed it in her home. That same quote was emblazoned on a T-shirt that her mother wore.
The quote is: “One hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.”
For Yael, this is a way of continuing her mother’s legacy.
