Bonding with Israel.
Growing up in Montreal, Simcha Chiffert-Sherzer would hear about State of Israel Bonds, the New York-based organization that supports Israel’s economic development through investments in its infrastructure.
Now a resident of Greenwich, Conn., who works in asset management at JP Morgan in Manhattan, she is a member of the Israel Bonds National New Leadership Board. Her responsibility, she said, is to “educate other young professionals about Israel’s economy and invite them to participate in Israel oriented programs.”
Israel Bonds is “a solid organization,” she said. It “offers a direct connection that makes me feel close to Israel. There’s no middle man.”
Married to an Israeli, Chiffert-Sherzer has visited Israel eight times; next visit: the High Holy Days in a few months. She doesn’t go to specific places identified as beneficiaries of Israel Bonds money, she says; rather, she visits “every site in Israel.”
Raised in a Reform household, she has served as a supporter of Chabad Loft in Manhattan, assisting with fundraising and running some community events.
Her most recent Jewish activity was highly visible — she planned to ride on the Israel Bonds float in the Celebrate Israel parade on Fifth Avenue this week.
Athlete: A competitive rower in her collegiate days — “I was tall (5-feet-10). I wanted to be part of a team.” — Chiffert-Sherzer competed in the 2005 Maccabiah Games in Israel. She won two gold medals and a silver. Since then, she’s taken up cycling. International volunteer: Alone in India on a month-long visit in 2009, she heard about the work in New Delhi of SOS Children’s Village International, the organization that supports disadvantaged children in more than 100 countries. She volunteered for part of two weeks, lending her engineering expertise to a project that collects rainwater. “I have two ears, two eyes, two legs,” she said. “I wanted to give back.”
