Sharon Shapiro (l-r), Jay Ruderman and Shira Ruderman
NEWTON — When the children of Morton and Marcia Ruderman were growing up, they were aware of their father’s “donations checkbook.” Whenever Mort Ruderman was asked to support a charitable cause, he would reach for that checkbook and respond, generously, with a gift. Those gifts went a long way toward establishing a family commitment that was eventually formalized in the years before Mort’s death as the Ruderman Family Foundation (“Foundation”).
Today, the Foundation, which gives away $8-10 million annually, is helping to shape an innovative kind of philanthropy by focusing on the inclusion of people with disabilities in Israel and in the Jewish community worldwide, as well as educating Israeli leaders on the American Jewish community. It is run by Mort’s son Jay, together with his wife, Shira, sister Sharon Shapiro, and several trustees, both within and beyond the Ruderman family.
This rags-to-riches philanthropic tale begins with Morton Ruderman, an entrepreneur who grew up with little means in Malden and became wealthy after co-founding Meditech, a global health care technology firm, and investing in commercial real estate. Mort and Marcia raised three children, Sharon, Jay and Todd, in Lynnfield, while maintaining strong ties to Malden. Three years ago, Mort passed away from Alpha-1 lung disease.
“My father grew up without a lot of money,” said daughter Sharon Shapiro. “After he became successful, he always wanted to help people, especially people who couldn’t help themselves.”
At the same time that Mort began to take on a greater philanthropic role and to express interest in creating a charitable foundation, Shapiro, a dietitian who had been living in New York, returned to the Boston area with her young family and began working for her father, lending a hand with his charitable donations.
“There wasn’t any kind of focus,” she said, adding that her father continued to support favorite charities of friends and organizations like CJP. In fact, it was a request by CJP that first connected the family to the issue of disabilities at day schools.
“It was an area where not a lot of foundations were focusing, and we thought we could have an impact,” said Shapiro, who, together with her sister-in-law Shira, began learning about the needs of those with disabilities as well as the business of charitable giving, not knowing where it would lead.
Her father “really put this in our hands,” said Shapiro, “He wanted this to be our journey.”
Shapiro, who lives in Brookline with her husband Rony, 12-year-old twins Noam and Ella and 8-year-old daughter Hadas, oversees the Foundation’s Newton office and continues to focus on programming that fosters greater awareness of disabilities for the Foundation, remaining involved with the Gateways program (special education services), Yachad (social and recreational events for children and young adults with disabilities; see story on page 2) and synagogue inclusion. She is also passionate about teaching teens about philanthropy.
“The most impactful thing for me is talking to parents, hearing their stories and the difficulties,” she said, adding that she is always moved when parents tell her about finally finding a program that helps. “That to me is very touching; that we could make an impact and help people.”
Shapiro credits the ramping up of the Foundation to when her brother Jay came on board 6-8 years ago. A graduate of Brandeis University and Boston University School of Law, Jay began his career as an assistant district attorney in Salem, and then took some time to live in Israel, where he met Shira, who had finished her service in the Israeli army and was teaching Arabic at the ulpan Jay was attending. After two years in Israel, which included time during the Intifadah in 2000, Jay and Shira returned to the United States.
While Shira and Sharon began to professionalize the Foundation at the urging of Mort, Jay was drawn to politics “to do something that would help Israel.” He became the deputy director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in New England. The couple remained in Boston for four years before returning to Israel, where Jay worked for the Israeli army as the liaison between the IDF and the Diaspora, and continued to work for AIPAC in Jerusalem.
When Jay came on board as president of the Foundation in 2008, he inherited the Foundation’s focus on disability. Already, Shira and Sharon had undertaken a yearlong study of philanthropy, began to think about running a foundation, educated Mort about the subject, and donated $10 million for Jewish education, earmarked for disabilities.
“What interested me was that this area was not being addressed in the Jewish world. This was an opportunity to have an out-sized impact,” said Jay. “Also, my background was in politics, and I saw it as an issue of civil rights …the issue is one of fairness. It is fundamentally unfair that kids with disabilities are excluded from a Jewish education.”
While initially there was no personal connection to disabilities for the family, later Todd’s son was diagnosed with autism. According to Shira, Mort said, “Now I know why this is our mission.”
“Everyone has a connection with a disability,” she added. “It is the largest minority in the world, and people are routinely excluded and discriminated against… Disability is everyone’s business.”
Jay brought a new strategic and targeted focus to the Foundation, a combination of investing in education and advocating, staking out a “leadership position” as philanthropists.
The Foundation maintains offices in Newton and in Israel, and Jay and Shira, who both work full-time for the Foundation, have recently returned to Brookline to live with their four children: Michael, 11; Tamar, 9; Yehonatan, 7; and Ariel, 6.
Beyond the Foundation’s strong presence in the Greater Boston area, it has a global impact, reaching Australia, South Africa, Russia and Mexico, through the Ruderman Award in Inclusion program, which annually awards five $50,000 awards worldwide. In Israel, the Foundation partners with the Israeli government and American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in Israeli society.
“It is groundbreaking to have a private family foundation sitting with the Israeli government,” said Jay, explaining that projects will be adopted as policy and continue to be sustained, in the same way that Massachusetts is now invested in the Transitions to Work program. “It is now beyond the Jewish community.”
Shira Ruderman serves as the Foundation’s Israeli director. Born in Israel, Shira grew up with three siblings in a middle class family near Tel Aviv. “My family did a lot of giving and chesed,” she said, adding that she and Jay grew up with the same values. She has taken a leadership role in encouraging philanthropy in Israel, a relatively new concept there.
The Foundation’s reach in Israel involves Jews, Arabs, Muslims and Druze. “We see it as national philanthropy,” said Shira. “In order to make it a human rights issue and social justice matter, we work in all cycles of life — in camps, in schools, in housing. Disability is an issue across the board.”
The Foundation also works to educate Israelis on the U.S. Jewish community, including establishing a master’s program in American Jewry at University of Haifa.
Now, the Foundation is focused on creating partnerships and educating American Jewish leaders, and creating a network of families with disabilities.
“The Foundation is a legacy,” said Shira. “Our impact will be based on the fact that we put our heads down, work professionally, are deeply committed to social activities, and are in a leadership position to change our community.”
“My goal is to put us out of business,” added Jay. “I want to reach the point where we don’t have to do this advocacy. That will come, but it is going to take some time.”
To find out more about the Ruderman Foundation, visit rudermanfoundation.org.
This article was written by Amy Forman, a member of the Jewish Journal staff.
To view the original article on the Jewish Journal website, click here.