Our Mission

The Neta Bolozky and Yaffa Gunner Fund supports educational and creative programs focused on connecting our local Jewish community to Israel and its multifaceted and multi-ethnic culture, society, and ethos. Our goal is to inspire and develop meaningful and enduring relationships between our local community and that of the broader, Israeli society and land while avoiding polarizing narratives. Our Israel-based programs include guest speakers, seminars, travel, and cultural events ranging from films and concerts to discussions of current affairs, as well as Israel’s leading role in global, cutting-edge technology. Our fund also supports local programing geared for children of the Jewish Community’s Amherst Hebrew School, supporting intergenerational Jewish continuity and identity.

Additionally, the Neta Bolozky and Yaffa Gunner Fund sponsors the grassroots based, humanitarian Project Rehovot (a donation funded tutoring program originally developed for Ethiopian and Eritrean first and second-generation immigrant children in Israel). The program has now expanded to meet the needs of a wide range of children of all backgrounds requiring social, academic and emotional support. Project Rehovot provides the salary of our part-time teacher, Tal Kahane, who works with small groups of often impoverished, immigrant children who struggle in their regular classroom with behavioral, cultural, and language based issues. Tal reaches (and reaches) the children through the medium of visual arts and gives these children additional tools for success. Her work engaging children with art and art therapy has met with great success year after year.

The fund was established in 2021 by Meira and Claude Penchina, in honor of two women who were deeply involved and committed to connecting the local community of Amherst with its Jewish and Israeli identity. For more information please visit our founders page. Our current chair of the committee is Karen Loeb ( kloeb@comcast.net).