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Joy Levitt

With the loss of Shai Doron, Jerusalem has lost its best friend

Shai Doron, the Jerusalem Foundation president who died suddenly at 63, was a visionary leader who worked tirelessly to transform the city
Shai Doron, when he was CEO of the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, after the addition of the Gottesman Family Israel Aquarium, outside the entrance to the 6,500 square-meter facility, in July 2017. (Jessica Steinberg/ Times of Israel)
Shai Doron, when he was CEO of the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, after the addition of the Gottesman Family Israel Aquarium, outside the entrance to the 6,500 square-meter facility, in July 2017. (Jessica Steinberg/ Times of Israel)

This week, Jerusalem lost its best friend. Shai Doron, president of the Jerusalem Foundation, died suddenly at the young age of 63. Shai was more than a president. He was a relentless optimist, helping to shape a future for this complicated city even during these complicated times. Where others saw challenges, Shai saw opportunities. Where others saw conflict, Shai saw passion. When others gave up, Shai never, not once, succumbed to despair. 

I met him when he was the director of the Tisch Family Zoo, one of the most cherished and optimistic places in Israel. There, animals of all shapes and sizes coexisted in a kind of harmony that Shai often saw as a metaphor: if they can do it, so can we. And so it was at the zoo. Everyone visited the zoo: those in streimels and those in hijabs, those wearing baseball caps or crocheted kippot. Arguably one of the most diverse places in Israel, the zoo was Shai’s project for more than two decades, and he left it only after he did the most improbable thing ever, namely, build an aquarium, the first in Israel, the Israel Gottesman Aquarium.

Shai Doron, then director of the Tisch Jerusalem Zoological Gardens, feeds an elephant at the zoo. July 8, 2003 (Ariel Jerozolimski)

In some ways, coming to the Jerusalem Foundation was coming home. He had first worked there as a young man, serving as the chief of staff to the legendary mayor, Teddy Kollek, who created the Foundation to nurture the cultural life of what was, and still is, a poor city. Teddy traveled the world’s capitals in search of support to create a vibrant Jerusalem. No question that Shai learned from the best. But today’s Jerusalem is a much different place than it was then, and the city required a vision of what shared society could look like. His was a vision that only a gifted, imaginative, and dynamic leader possesses.

Shai Doron was built for this job. He would reject my calling him the spiritual mayor of the city because he was a self-proclaimed secularist, but that’s what he was. He brought spirit, energy, and love to everything he touched, whether it was a new sports center and swimming pool in Beit Hanina — the first public facility of its kind in East Jerusalem; a fellowship program for future leaders from all walks of life; a secular yeshiva in Ein Kerem; a podcast studio created by Israel Story; the Gazelle Valley Urban Wildlife Park; the Botanical Gardens; HaMiffal Arts Center…. You name it, the Jerusalem Foundation either dreamed it into being, partnered with creative leaders to support its work, or worked with the municipality to make it happen. Shai’s smile was contagious, for sure, but beyond that smile was steely determination not to give in or give up. 

Talking with Shai. He brought spirit, energy, and love to everything he touched. (courtesy)

I became his partner in this work just recently, joining a dedicated board in America to help support the projects developed in Jerusalem by Shai and an exceptionally talented and devoted staff. I am joined by professionals and lay leaders all over the world. We are linked not because we are all Jews; we are not. We are linked by a vision that believes that a city of secular Jews, Palestinian Christians and Muslims, and ultra-Orthodox Jews can do far better than survive the complications of their respective needs. Rather, the city can be a beacon of light and hope for all.

For Shai, it wasn’t that complicated. Give people what they need to be safe, to be fed, to be nourished. Inspire young people to lead, to stay in the city, and to fight for its rightful place as a city of peace. Give people music and art and nature and swimming pools (oh, how Shai loved to swim!). And basketball (especially if it involved his beloved Hapoel Yerushalayim). And community gardens. And community centers. Believe it can happen and then make it so.

Jerusalem has lost its best friend. And, like so many others, so have I. We will mourn with his beautiful family and treasured friends and the countless people whose lives have been forever changed by his determination. And then we will keep working to create the city of Shai Doron’s dreams.

About the Author
Rabbi Joy Levitt is the CEO of the Jerusalem Foundation, Inc.
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