MAY 12 • 2022 | 25

M

ore than 250
local and nation-
al business and
community leaders gathered
in late March at the Norton
Museum of Art in West Palm
Beach, Florida, for a Friends
of the IDF (FIDF) VIP brief-
ing and cocktail reception in
support of FIDF’s Mamriot
program, an initiative dedi-
cated to providing life-chang-
ing tech education to teenage
girls.
The event featured a
keynote speech from Yossi
Cohen, former Mossad
Director and Head of
Softbank Investment
Advisers in Israel. Harry
Gross, a longtime FIDF
supporter and National
Executive Board member,
handed Cohen a special
award. FIDF CEO Steve Weil
and FIDF National Director,
Major General (Res.) Nadav
Padan were also in atten-
dance.
Cohen served as the lead
for one of the agency’s most

daring operations: the sei-
zure of the Iranian Nuclear
Archives. The intelligence
gained from this mission was
the impetus for the United
States’ withdrawal from the
Iran Nuclear Deal. He also
led the negotiations between
Israel, the UAE and Bahrain,
and played a significant role
in the signing of the historic
Abraham Accords.
Aligning with the IDF’s
requirements for cyber and
tech units, Mamriot provides
young girls from diverse
socio-economic backgrounds
unique educational opportu-
nities in the cyber and tech
space they may not otherwise
have been able to receive.
The event was made
possible thanks to Spencer
Partrich, a longtime FIDF
supporter and a National
Board Member, and the
preparations were led by
Tamir Oppenheim, Vice
President of FIDF’s Central
Region, and his team.

FIDF Event Benefits
Program Designed to
Level Gender Gap

Myrna and Spencer Partrich, Aya and Yossi Cohen, Steve Weil,
Tamir Oppenheim

C
l
i
c
k.
C
a
ll.
Give.
appl
y
.

www.hfldetroit.org • 248.723.8184

Hebrew Free Loan Detroit

6735 TELEGRAPH ROAD, SUITE 300 • BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICHIGAN 48301

@HFLDetroit

Community donations help Hebrew Free Loan give
interest-free loans to local Jews for a variety of personal,
health, educational and small business needs.

STORY
Our

STORY
Our

T

wo social meetings with friends brought Merle
and Ron Schwartz to focus on Hebrew Free
Loan as a place to establish a fund to honor the
memory of Merle’s parents. Over drinks and
again at a lunch, HFL came up in conversation.
Merle and Ron looked into it further, and found an
area of need that spoke to them.
“My father was the head of OB/GYN at Sinai
Hospital,” Merle said. “He trained many doctors
in the city, was very pro women’s health, and did
a great deal to advance surrogacy, infertility and
in-vitro fertilization. My mother also worked at
Sinai, and was active in prenatal care and diabetic
education. They both would have loved to know
that we established the Sandra and Alfred Sherman
Family IVF/Fertility/Adoption Loan Fund at Hebrew Free
Loan to help grow Jewish families. The cost of
testing, treatments and adoption fees can some-
times be a barrier for many Jewish couples.
“What a satisfying thing, knowing that we
could offer help in a real and substantive way,
make a difference in people’s lives, and give
them the happiness of family, just as we’ve had,”
Merle said.

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