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. 
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a
ll. 
Give. 
appl
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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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