I doer profile
Backing Israel
Three U-M students
are spearheading
a fund to boost
Israeli businesses
and charities.
Alan Hitsky
Associate Editor
Ann Arbor
T
he idea came in the middle of
spring 2007, in the middle of the
night, in the middle of a South
Quad dorm room in Ann Arbor. Some
University of Michigan student activists
were getting tired of the usual debates,
speakers and seminars to boost support for
Israel.
They decided to create a new charitable
fund that would funnel dollars to Israeli
start-ups and agencies and, at the same
time, foster a lifetime tie between American
Jewish students and the Jewish State.
"We were sick of the usual and trying to
think of something new:' said Ari Parritz,
21, of St. Paul, Minn. "We wanted something
that would engage students:'
Together with Sasha Gribov, 20, of
Cleveland, Ohio, and Eitan Ingall, 19, of the
Washington, D.C., area and 12 other U-M
students and faculty members, the organiz-
ers are creating the Tamid Israel Investment
Group, a non-profit corporation that will
accept student donations for Israeli proj-
ects.
The emphasis is on donations. Tamid
(eternal in Hebrew) would invest funds
into Israeli stocks and reinvest all gains and
dividends to spur the Israeli economy and
Tamid founders Afi Parritz, Eitan Ingall and Sasha Gribov
help Israeli charities. The student and adult
donors will never see a financial return
on their investment. "But they could have
a day-to-day engagement with the coun-
try and what makes it tick" by following
Tamid's investments and results, said Ingall.
Although the regular school year has
ended, each of the 15 members of Tamid's
steering committee have summer assign-
ments. Some are investigating 501(c)3
charitable non-profits or other available
structures; others are looking into legal
support from Jewish federations and attor-
neys.
"We know this is something we can't do
Israel on page A42
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