Thousands of women and girls throughout Israel will gain access to educational opportunities
From left to right: Andrea Silagi z”l, Moshe Silagi, and Karen Silagi Freedman
June 21, 2022 – The Silagi family has made a $1 million gift to the Hadassah Foundation in memory of their late wife and mother Andrea Silagi z”l. Furthering Andrea’s legacy of being a renowned teacher, the gift will establish the Andrea Silagi Fund for Education, Advocacy, and Awareness.
This gift will lead The Hadassah Foundation to expand its grantmaking, increasing women’s and girls’ access to education that will help them live healthy, informed, and productive lives. Supported initiatives may include public education and advocacy, education in secular and Jewish academic settings, lifelong learning within the Jewish community, and vocational and skills-based training.
“Andrea was a teacher by profession, and her natural way in the world was to teach others,” says her husband Moshe Silagi. “She was also a trained social worker. She cared deeply about helping people live to their potential, and she had the ability to drastically improve the lives of the people around her. Anyone who knew her could see that helping people grow and thrive was important to her.”
On the heels of research that shows that less than one percent of donations in Israel go to organizations that are focused on issues impacting women and girls, the Silagi’s gift will influence the overall funding available to women’s and girls’ causes in Israel. It is also the largest gift The Hadassah Foundation has received to date.
“My mom found it important to give to large, established organizations and she also saw the importance of contributing to smaller organizations where the contribution could hold increased significance,” says Andrea’s daughter Karen Silagi Freedman. “She felt it was her responsibility to give generously and with purpose, and she strongly encouraged me to do the same.
Stephanie Blumenkranz, Hadassah Foundation Director, exclaims, “The Hadassah Foundation is tremendously grateful to the Silagi family for their generous gift. The strength, influence, and generosity that Andrea embodied will be the cornerstone of the Andrea Silagi Fund for Education, Advocacy, and Awareness. Our goal is to support educational opportunities that are as profound and as life-changing as Andrea’s teachings.”
To make a gift to The Hadassah Foundation in Andrea’s memory and for this purpose, people may do so by contributing to the Silagi Fund for Education, Awareness, and Advocacy. Click here to make a contribution to the fund.