October 2, 2022

A Celebration of Gratitude for 27 Years of Service

More than 120 lay leaders, community members, and Federation professionals came together in person for an evening to celebrate Amir Shacham as he retires this fall.

Groundbreaker, teacher, storyteller, guide…

These are some of the words Global Connections Chair Rebecca Gold used to describe Amir in one of the many tributes expressing gratitude for the indelible impact he has made during his 27 years of service to our global Greater MetroWest community.

Event chair Paula Saginaw presented Amir with the gift of a kaleidoscope, representing his passion for Jewish pluralism and shared society and his dream for Israel to be a mosaic of different shapes and colors, separate but coming together to create a beautiful pattern. She also gave him On the Ground, a collection of some of his most moving blogs over the years. See a virtual version of the book here.

“Amir has changed how we interact with and think about Israel and overseas,” Paula said. “With his untiring efforts, he has helped us create not simply relationships but partnerships, where each of us benefits from the synergy of working together and helping one another.”

In honor of Amir’s service, the Jewish Federation has established the Amir Shacham Living Bridge Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation (JCF). The fund will support Global Connections’ Living Bridge programs and ensure that Amir’s legacy of fostering connections between our Greater MetroWest Jewish community and Israelis lives on.

Thank you to all who donated to the fund and especially to Sally Epstein, and other donors to the JCF Seymour Epstein Leadership Enrichment Program Fund, who agreed to contribute the assets of the Epstein Fund to the Shacham Fund, bringing the total new fund to more than $450,000. The Shacham Fund will support Living Bridge programs, including a program named in memory of Seymour Epstein z”l. Click here to contribute to the fund.

We wish Amir well on his next chapter.