The Blogs: An interview with Philathropist Chagit Leviev Sofiev

This past Sunday at the Jerusalem Conference in NYC, I had the opportunity to speak with Chagit Leviev Sofiev, a remarkable woman who is on a mission to make a change for our children’s future. Chagit is an Israeli-American businesswoman, executive and prominent philanthropist who serves as the President and CEO of the Leviev Group USA.

She is the daughter of the multi-billionaire diamond mogul and real estate investor Lev Leviev and manages the extensive U.S. business interests of her family’s conglomerate, which spans high-end diamonds, real estate development, and venture capital. Leviev-Sofiev has served as the President and CEO since 2012, overseeing corporate operations, investments, and global strategy in the United States. She acts as the President of the luxury diamond brand, actively leading fine jewelry design and high-value stone transactions.

She is the President of the Bukharian Jewish Congress of the USA and Canada, making history as the first woman to lead the organization. She serves as a U.S. delegate to the World Zionist Congress and is a board member for The Jewish Woman Entrepreneur & Executive (The JWE). Leviev-Sofiev relocated from Israel to New York to head her family’s U.S. business branch. She is married to Greg Sofiev, who serves as the CEO of LLD Diamonds USA, and together they have five children. She is an Orthodox Jew and frequently speaks on how maintaining religious observance helps her prioritize family life while managing a global multi-billion-dollar business.

But outside of Business, the most remarkable thing about Chagit is the change that she wants to make for our future generation. When I spoke to Chagit, I asked her what she believes we have to do as a Nation as we move ahead with our initiative to battle the antisemitism crisis and the fact that it has skyrocketed globally following October 7, 2023. While the extreme peaks in early 2024 have slightly moderated, total incidents remain dozens of percentage points higher than pre-war levels, with physical violence and assaults reaching record highs. Her answer was that “Jews have always been persecuted historically, there has never been a time where this wasn’t the case. Antisemitism always existed. What we need to do is actually strengthen ourselves and get more connected to our Jewish identity and heritage. This is the thing that’s missing today the most when Jewish people are disconnected to their History, they don’t go to Jewish Schools, they assimilate very easily, they don’t understand the importance of what it means to be a Jew and the urge and the need to fight, instill the values and learn what it means to be Jewish.”

I went on to ask her why so many Jews in our generation have decided to stay silent? Her answer was that “many of them are not properly educated. I talk to so many people and it’s really not their fault, nobody taught them any better. There are people who don’t know anything about Jewish Holidays and have never even been to Israel, they don’t care to go see it, they don’t know a word in Hebrew, they don’t pray or even have any type of relationship with Judaism. So if this is the case why would they care for Israel, why would they care about anything? Many of these people are the ones who voted for Mamdani. That is why all of our focus today goes towards Jewish education and making it accessible to everybody who can’t afford the cost of today’s Jewish private schools and that’s the most important thing. Once you are going to have that base, that’s it.”

As we concluded our conversation, Chagit conveyed to me that The Leviev Foundation announced a new initiative on Sunday 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. She conveyed that her father is a man who has always let his actions speak louder than words and it’s not about what you say, it’s about what you do. I thanked Chagit for all that she and her family have done to pave the way, educate and preserve our precious Religion of Judaism to be available for generations to come.