Ira Riklis and Important Charities

In last year’s Research as Public Work seminar, taught by professors at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, college students worked alongside local high schoolers to turn a nearby vacant lot into a community garden and gathering spot. For the Penn students, this class—part of Penn’s Urban Studies Program—gives them a chance to apply classroom knowledge to real-world challenges and allows them to become advocates for the local kids. Such innovative programs are one of the reasons Ira Riklis and his family are proud to be continuing supporters of the GSE.

Both Ira Riklis and his wife, Diana, earned their graduate degrees from Penn: he from the Wharton School, she from the Graduate School of Education. Deeply appreciative of their experiences there they seek to give back to the schools so that the next generation of students can receive the same high-quality education. Most of their support goes to the GSE, since that is where they feel the greatest need lies.

In April, 2009 Tel Aviv—the economic, cultural and academic capital of Israel—celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. As befits its status as the first Hebrew city to established in more than 3,000 years, Tel Aviv is a truly international city brimming with vitality and accomplishments. But Ira Riklis knows that there’s another side to the city. Some forty percent of its residents live in poverty.

That’s why he and his family have supported the American Friends of the Tel Aviv Foundation for more than twenty years. The Foundation catalyzes donors to be strategic partners in supporting projects that address the evolving needs of the Tel Aviv community. A beacon of hope and progress, the Foundation and its supporters seek to elevate the quality of life in Tel Aviv through education, culture and arts, sports, the environment and social services. No other donors have supported as many projects as the Ira Riklis family. And to make the most of the donations, they’ve focused their support on projects in a single neighborhood—Schoonat Ezra. Their most recent project, the Yehudit Riklis Z”L artistic bench on Rothschild Boulevard, was completed just this year. It honors the memory of David and Rifka Israeler, who, along with ten of their eleven children, were shot and killed by the Nazis during World War II.

If you had the power to save another person’s life at virtually no discomfort or inconvenience to yourself, wouldn’t you do it? Most people would answer that question with a Yes! But the question Ira Riklis asks is, “then why don’t more people step up to give blood?” Less than 15 percent of those of us eligible to donate blood actually get around to doing so with any regularity.

There may be many reasons why this is so. People get busy and forget. And many people probably don’t realize that there’s a critical daily need for blood for patients in hospitals, clinics and emergency rooms. It’s wonderful that people turn out to donate in droves during emergencies like happened in New York, September 11, 2001. But that doesn’t cover the daily needs. For some, it may be fear of pain that keeps people from donating. But Ira Riklis wants to let people know that those fears are unfounded. He’s been donating blood several times a year for many years now and can say with certainty that the process is easy and painless. So that leaves the question: What’s stopping you from donating?

For a number of years now, Ira Riklis and his family have been providing significant funding for Citymeals On-Wheels, an organization that provides both meals and a lifeline for New York City’s homebound elderly. Their support has earned them the rank as some of the group’s “Very Grand Patrons.” But he and his family feel not so much “grand” as privileged to be able to participate in such a worthy cause.

The organization was founded in 1981 after Gael Greene and James Beard read a newspaper article about homebound elderly New Yorkers with nothing to eat (and no one to look in on them) on weekends and holidays. They rallied friends, including Ira Riklis, to raise private funds to supplement a government-funded weekday meal delivery program. The program, along with the need, has grown steadily over the years, and now serves 18,000 homebound elderly New Yorkers with nutritious meals and human contact every day.

One need not hold to the precise beliefs of an organization in order to see the value in what they do. Such is the case with Ira Riklis and Aish HaTorah. While the organization is intrinsically very Orthodox, he considers himself as “Conservadox”—somewhere between Conservative and Orthodox. While he attends an Orthodox synagogue, he is neither Kosher nor Shomer Shabbas. He drives on the Sabbath and does other activities not allowed under the view of strict Orthodoxy.

For Ira Riklis, it is the simplicity of the organization’s outreach effort that is most appealing. Their goal is to make sure that every Jew has a chance to learn about and connect with their heritage and their faith. In his own life, he has experienced the warmth and support the group can offer. He has studied with David Clyman, one of Aish’s Rabbis, for more than twenty years, an experience that has truly enriched his life. And the donations he makes to the organization are a way of expressing his gratitude and of helping them provide the same level of support and caring to others.

The Hebrew word gematria is generally believed to derive from the Greek word
geometria, which translates as “geometry.” Ira Riklis knows that gematria is the calculation of the numerical equivalence of letters, words or phrases. Those calculations (which he leaves to smarter people) provide insight into interrelation of different concepts and the interrelationship between words and ideas. One of the best-known examples of these equivalences is Chai, the Hebrew word for life, which is composed of two letters which add up to 18.

This has made 18 a “lucky number” among Jews. That’s why when Ira Riklis donates money to worthy organizations he usually does so in some multiple of 18. Some of the fifty organizations he and his family regularly support each year receive large sums, some lesser amounts. Some receive a check for $18.00. While not a large sum, it’s a way to participate in helping the organization realize its goals and an appreciation of the gift of Life.

Jews have a mandate to improve the world in which they live, a concept represented by the Hebrew phrase tikkun olam, which means “perfecting the world.” Tikkun olam is achieved through the performance of deeds of kindness (gemilut hasadim). Ira Riklis knows that these deeds fall into a hierarchy, from lower to higher forms. The very highest form are deeds that help sustain a person before they become impoverished by offering a substantial gift in a dignified manner. This may include extending a suitable loan, or helping others find employment or establish themselves in business so that they can become independent and stand on their own two feet.

While some may see these acts as magnanimous gifts, Ira Riklis views them in the context of Jewish law and tradition in which they are seen as obligatory self-taxation. Judaism holds that people in need have a legal right to food, clothing and shelter that must be honored by more fortunate people. In this view, it is unjust to not give charity to those in need. According to one ancient sage, charity is equal in importance to all the other commandments combined.

When you go to donate blood, the nurse or technician will take a sample of your blood to determine what type you are. Some types are rare; some are more common. But no matter whether you’re O+ or AB-, your donation is needed and will help save lives. But, as Ira Riklis points out, there are just two types of donors: those who give only during times of crisis, such as after the attacks on the Twin Towers on Sept. 11th, 2001, and those who make it a point to give on a regular basis. And that latter type is all too rare.

To be fair, stringent heath regulations mean that only 37 percent of us are eligible to give blood. But what’s surprising to Ira Riklis is that fewer than one in seven of those who are eligible actually come in to make a donation. This is even though blood is urgently needed everyday for trauma victims and people going through operations. Donating blood is a live-saving act (and one day that life might be yours). So the question to ask yourself is: what type of blood donor are you? Are you the type who helps save lives everyday, or the type who only responds during the worst disasters?