We were present, together with family and close friends, in the ceremony to honor the life of Lily Safra Z”L in Geneve.
Lily Safra Z”L (1934-2022) was an extraordinary woman, of unparalleled elegance and generosity. Together with her husband Edmond Safra Z”L, who passed away in 1990, they built an emporium of philanthropy: the Edmond J. Safra Foundation, one of the most important in the world. Its goal was always clear: to ensure that all people have access to a decent life. To achieve this, those who have the privilege of being wealthier (whether material or otherwise), must help others develop their full human dignity.
Among the most outstanding works of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation, there are the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research; the Children’s Hospital at Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, which is at the forefront of pediatrics worldwide; the Harvard University Ethics Center, one of the leading centers for interdisciplinary research and education in applied ethics; and the Science Campus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, one of the most prestigious in the world. The foundation has also implemented extensive social and humanitarian aid programs in Israel, Rwanda, Romania, Indonesia, India, Ukraine, Brazil, Uruguay, and many other countries.
One of the pillars of Lily Safra’s life was the transmission of the ancestral legacy of the Jewish people and its tradition. Her Foundation is responsible for supporting Jewish educational programs around the world, from the Yad Vashem Museum in Israel (the most important museum in the world considering the Shoah), the Shoah Memorial in France as well as the restoration, inauguration and maintenance of historic synagogues in Jerusalem, New York, Miami, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Geneva, among others.
Thanks to Edmond and Lily Safra foundation, the organization Menora founded the Edmond J. Safra Institute for Rabbinical Training, Teacher Training and Community Leadership. Hundreds of rabbis and teachers are trained there so that they can educate our youth just the way Lily and Edmond wanted, according to the tradition of the Torah, in a lively and dynamic way and with solid academic knowledge in all fields, in order to ensure a future leadership of excellent training, along with high ethical and moral values. Lily Safra, like Edmond Safra, will be forever present. We honor her memory with every teacher and every rabbi who studies at their institute; her soul will rise with each of the thousands of young people who receive a word of Torah from the teachers and rabbis trained at the Edmond J. Safra Institute in Menora.
