To Seth Horowitz, Bar Mitzvah was a “graduation” of sorts from Judaism. Now, as the Executive Vice President of Modell’s Sporting Goods and Chairman of the Aish Center’s Board, he will introduce a Modell’s Sporting Goods marketing meeting with the Passover Seder’s “15 Steps of Freedom”. Jewish wisdom and teaching, he says, “is too compelling” not to share.

The irony isn’t lost on Seth. Introduced to the Aish Center’s Executive Learning Program two years ago by friend and associate Neil Cole, Seth didn’t know what to expect when Rabbi Stuart Shiff arrived.

“I was really surprised. So much of what we learned together seemed so right, so deeply familiar. It was as if someone described my deepest thoughts but wrote it down thousands of years ago,” Seth explains. “And it was mine, it was Judaism.”

Seth values what learning has done for his relationship with wife Lori and children Eli and Jordan, as well as his career. “It’s had a profound impact: I’m closer with family and friends, I have a deeper understanding of priorities, I’m attacking business situations with more intellect…Judaism has fine-tuned my machine.” He also values the personal bonds he’s developed with the rabbis.

“Rabbi Shiff is a mentor, a friend, a part of my family,” he says. “My wife is excited to speak with him when he calls up.”

It was, in his words, a natural next step to accept the invitation to join the Aish Center’s board.

“Because what I had learned helped me so greatly, if I could help one other person, I would do it,” he explains. “So many of us live in a world that is so clouded by the modern pace of life, we miss out on important things. Judaism offers more of that. I want other Jews to have that opportunity.” For Seth, the Aish Center was the vehicle to accomplish that. According to the rabbis, his impact on the Aish Center was immediate.

“He’s used his talents as a real leader to help unify our vision,” says Rabbi Shiff.
“Having a high-level CEO/Executive on our team has changed us,” says Rabbi Adam Jacobs, the Aish Center’s Managing Director. “He brings structure, proactivity, positivity, creativity… It’s big.”

“I’m passionate about the Aish Center,” says Seth. “I love the work I do for them. I left other commitments to do more with them. I’m able to give back through what I’ve learned within the corporate environment to an organization that gives me and others so much.”

Lionel Leventhal has always been a proud Jew. Now, he’s not satisfied with that; he wants to help create a renaissance of Jewish pride among Jews in New York.

“The Jewish people have achieved so much with such small numbers against such odds,” he explains. “I want Jews to know that, to be a part of that. the Aish Center is a team that knows how to share that. I want to make it bigger.”

“I’m also concerned that there is an entire generation of young adult Jews who might have a tenuous connection to their Jewish identities. We have to act now to address this.”

A partner and founding member of the Paul Capital Healthcare, Lionel is not a stranger to undertaking big projects. Nine years ago, Lionel and his partners helped create a new form of financing for the healthcare industry (synthetic royalty interest financing), and have grown the business over that time from a start up to being one of the largest healthcare private equity funds worldwide. At PCH, Lionel manages structuring, negotiating and closing transactions for the funds’ $1.5+ billion in committed capital. When introduced to the Aish Center by close friend Jeff Moelis, Lionel was immediately struck by the attractiveness of the team and its programs.

“I was extremely impressed by how powerful and effective the rabbis were at turning on young Jews to the relevance of Judaism,” says Lionel. “The programming is amazing – it’s new, it’s customized, it’s broad, it speaks to people in ways they need to be spoken to.”

After participating in the Aish Center’s Executive Learning Program for two years, the Aish Center Managing Director Rabbi Adam Jacobs asked Lionel to join the board. Lionel jumped at the opportunity.

“I bought the model. This was a committed and talented team addressing the greatest liability the Jewish people face – assimilation – in a way that works. And Aish wasn’t trying to fund its efforts through the young adult Jews it provides services to, because they couldn’t,” he says. “I saw the need for more established members of the Jewish community to contribute.”

“No question, having Lionel on the Board has raised our confidence, our sights, our focus on long term strategic planning, and our results,” says Rabbi Jacobs. “He’s an upbeat, can-do, big and creative thinker with tremendous professionalism and vision,” he adds.

For his part, Lionel is excited by the opportunity.
“I feel such a close relationship to the rabbis. They’re exceptionally open-minded. We are friends, teammates, teachers, and students together,” he explains. “And it’s confirmed for me the extraordinary importance of this mission.”