When Arnold Gerson was in Israel a few months ago, he visited the Jerusalem Technical High School, formerly the “last chance” high school, that took students who had dropped out from everywhere else. The teachers were like baby-sitters; they were merely expected to keep the kids out of trouble.
But a few years later, AMIT took over the school. A teacher who had been at the school for years told Gerson, “If it wasn’t for AMIT, these kids would end up either on the street or dead.”
Gerson has been executive vice president of AMIT, which stands for “Americans for Israel and Torah,” for seven months now. The South African native, who lives in New York, was in the Bay Area recently to meet with local AMIT donors, who number several hundred.
Quoting that teacher at the Jerusalem high school, Gerson said, “AMIT has given these kids hope. They are motivated when they failed everywhere else. In four years, the school turned around because of the AMIT philosophy. We’ve provided them hope for the future.”
For most of its 80 years in existence, AMIT has been known as a women’s organization, called AMIT Women. But like Women’s American ORT, which recently became ORT America, AMIT Women has dropped the “Women,” which reflects a change in strategy to reach new members; so does hiring a man in the top position, though Gerson’s predecessor was also a man.
“They don’t want to only involve women who don’t work outside the home, but women who work outside the home as well as men,” said Gerson, noting that most male members of the organization are associated through their wives or because their mothers were.
The AMIT network consists of about 60 schools throughout Israel that offer an education, steeped in traditional Zionism, to all Israelis. While the schools offer a religious education, students don’t need to be from religious homes to attend, and many are from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Ava Brand, who serves as executive director of the Bay Area chapter, proudly noted that the organization won second place, behind Hadassah, for “Best Women’s Organization” in j.’s Best of the Jewish Bay Area last year.
Brand spoke of one case she heard recently, in which a girl would make a commotion during physical education class, enough so that she was continuously told to sit out. As it turns out, she was one of eight children from a very poor family. Her parents could barely afford to buy shoes for her, not to mention an additional pair of sneakers for gym class. But she was too ashamed to admit this in front of the wealthier kids.
Once she was sent to the principal, she explained why she disrupted the class. The principal of the school had discretionary income from AMIT, and was able to buy her the required footwear.
Gerson said the AMIT philosophy could be summarized in three words: “Values, excellence and compassion.”
“I met with the director general of AMIT when I was in Israel,” said Gerson. “There are 15 schools that want to become part of the AMIT network. We had to say we cannot support them at the moment, as we are just managing the current schools, and that broke my heart.”
Noting that he hopes to raise the profile of the organization, Gerson said, “We’re not at the level we want to be. We want to raise the visibility and dollars.”
To find out more about AMIT locally, call (415) 664-6309 or email [email protected].