There always is a starting point. It’s just a question of defining it. The first spade actually hit the dirt in 1964. Construction got under way. Which would make the four decade mark sometime next year. The first IEF school actually opened for business in 1965. But by the time you see the building you are seeing the end of the first step. Not the beginning. And to mark the fortieth anniversary of Israel Education Fund by that measure would fall short. Israel Education Fund celebrates now because it was forty years ago, in 1963, when David Ben-Gurion saw an inequity in access to education that could forever alter the fabric and face of Israeli society. Only 18 percent of Israeli kids got a high school education—and they had to pay for it. Of even greater consequence was the disparity between opportunities available to “veteran” kids and new immigrants. Sounding familiar? In 1963, he decided to do something about it. In 1963, the idea of Israel Education Fund was born. In 1963, Joseph Meyerhoff and UJA’s leadership, along with the government of Israel and the Jewish Agency, began to piece together a plan that would set new precedents. We’re rolling out the anniversary now to both celebrate the phenomenal achievements of Israel Education Fund donors and to set the stage for moving forward. Because building the land of Israel is far from over.

Ben-Gurion’s call to action was matched by the tenacity, dedication and boundless commitment of Israel Education Fund donors that continues until today. Could those who created IEF have fully realized the ultimate capacity of this commitment? The lives that every IEF project would touch—year after year; generation after generation? IEF donors have left a mark on the history of Israel that is unparalleled. And a legacy to all the Jewish people that has yet to be fully measured. In celebration of forty years building Israel, IEF is proud to honor the 2003 inaugural recipients of the Israel Education Fund Ben-Gurion Leadership Award.

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