The new face of Jewish philanthropy demands accountability and purpose
How much would you pay to save a Jewish life?
What about hundreds—or thousands—of lives?
When most people think about supporting higher-education institutions, they picture classrooms, textbooks, and graduation ceremonies. Yet in Israel, investing in higher education means far more: it means putting a nurse in an emergency department to save terror victims and training the next engineer who will develop defensive systems that save countless lives.
Still, the true reach of philanthropy is often invisible.
Philanthropy is evolving. The Giving USA 2025 report underscores that donors are increasingly directing their resources toward causes where they can see tangible, societal-scale impact—especially in education and public-society benefit. In 2024, donations to the education sector rose by 13.2 percent, and contributions to public-society organizations jumped by 19.5 percent. Donors now seek measurable outcomes and broad community change.
Education, more than any other arena, remains the most powerful vehicle for societal transformation.
The new face of philanthropy is about purpose and people. Donors ask less about what their gift will build—and more about whose lives it will change.
Many Jews express their proud Jewish identity through giving. They believe in investing in a secure future for the Jewish people and want—justifiably—to see tangible results. At the Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT), donor vision becomes reality—turning generosity into education, and education into national resilience.
Engineering the Nation’s Defense
Israel’s ability to survive amid constant threats depends not just on courage, but on ingenuity. At the heart of that ingenuity are scientists, engineers, and innovators who turn ideas into defense systems. Remarkably, many share a single alma mater—JCT.
Among them is Dov Oster. Under his leadership, Israel’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development (Maf’at) created Iron Beam, the high-energy laser weapon that intercepts short-range rockets, drones, and cruise missiles at the speed of light. It became operational during the Swords of Iron War. Yet Dov’s story carries profound loss: his son Eitan fell while commanding IDF troops in Lebanon. In Eitan’s memory—and in recognition of Dov’s lifetime devoted to Israel’s security—the Defense Ministry and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems renamed Iron Beam “Or Eitan” (Eitan’s Light). Dov built the technology that saves Israeli lives; his son gave his life defending the nation.
In fact, since 2010, every head of the Electro-Optics Department within Maf’at has been a JCT graduate. They are the minds behind the radar, early-warning, and missile-defense systems that safeguard Israel’s skies each day.
Then there is Miriam Feldman (name changed for security), a graduate of JCT’s first women’s engineering cohort, who has spent 25 years rising through Israel’s defense industry. Today she heads an engineering division at Elbit Systems. During the current war, when the IDF requested a specific technology, she told them, “That doesn’t exist anywhere in the world, but we’re on it”—the embodiment of the Israeli spirit.
Under Miriam’s leadership, her division compressed a typical two-year development timeline into just three months, delivering critical resources to IDF forces. Working 15- to 20-hour days while raising four children—and with her JCT-alumnus husband serving in uniform—Miriam exemplifies how highly trained, deeply committed professionals meet national challenges. She credits her career to JCT and the philanthropists who made her education possible.
Dov and Miriam capture the intersection of intellect, service, and sacrifice that epitomize Israel’s resilience.
When donors invest in education, they rarely meet the people empowered by their generosity. They seldom witness the ripple effect of their gift—sometimes realized only decades later.
It’s revealing—perhaps even humbling—to recognize an unmistakable truth: behind every innovation is a student who once sat in a classroom, equipped with the tools and ethos to build something extraordinary.
Healing a Nation in Need
Defense alone cannot sustain a nation. Israel’s strength rests in its resilience—and in its ability to heal. Yet Israel faces a critical nursing shortage: its nurse-to-population ratio lags behind the OECD average, and nearly 40 percent of nurses are nearing retirement age.
JCT plays a pivotal role in addressing this gap. With more than 1,400 students enrolled in the Selma Jelinek Nursing School, JCT trains nearly 15 percent of all new nurses entering Israel’s workforce. It was the first Israeli institution to launch a joint Nurse Practitioner–Master’s track, advancing the Ministry of Health’s plan to expand advanced-care capacity.
Its English-speaking nursing program allows new immigrants from countries like the US, Canada, and Brazil to contribute their skills to Israel’s healthcare system. Many of these students are young Zionists who see nursing as both a calling and a profession.
During the war, as hospitals faced an overwhelming surge, JCT’s nursing students refused to step back. Even when offered the option to pause their rotations, the vast majority continued serving—many in frontline roles, both in the military and Israel’s emergency medical corps.
Their quiet bravery embodies the essence of philanthropy’s impact—not in headlines but in the hands that heal, comfort, and sustain life.
From Charity to Investment
The shift toward impact-driven philanthropy is deeply Jewish. The root of the Hebrew word tzedakah is tzedek — justice. Jewish giving is about more than generosity; it demands accountability and purpose. It seeks to repair the world in God’s image.
When it comes to prioritizing impactful philanthropy, social entrepreneur Dan Pallotta put it best: “Our generation does not want its epitaph to read, ‘We kept charity overhead low.’ We want it to read that we changed the world.”
Supporting higher education does exactly that—it changes the world.
At JCT, philanthropy isn’t a leap of faith; it’s an evidence-based investment in preserving life, strengthening the State of Israel, and repairing the world for humanity everywhere.
The return on this investment is measured in people—engineers, nurses, innovators—whose work sustains Israel and strengthens the Jewish future.
When Professor Ze’ev Lev founded JCT in 1969, his vision was to merge faith with science so Israel’s brightest minds would also be its most values-driven. That intellect, guided by Jewish ethics, would be the bedrock of Israel’s resilience. His vision was prescient.
His vision resonates even more powerfully today. Donors want to see the lives they touch. Yet often, their greatest impact unfolds invisibly—in laboratories, classrooms, and hospital wards that keep Israel thriving—and those impacts are felt most only decades later.
So, how much would you pay, give, or invest to save a life?
The answer isn’t measured in dollars—it’s measured in lives: in the systems engineered to protect them, and in the hands trained to heal them.
Every donation to Israeli higher education is an investment in the Jewish future—the most enduring form of impact imaginable.
