From hedge-fund management to the hills of Judea and Samaria, David Magerman’s journey is one of bold transformation—from a secular upbringing in Florida to becoming one of Israel’s most committed and visionary philanthropists. A trailblazer in both finance and Jewish education, Magerman has redirected his focus from American institutions to building a strong, values-driven future for Israel. He supports K–12 religious Zionist education, olim integration into Israeli universities, and pro-Israel media through his partnership with JNS.
From modest beginnings in Kendall, Florida to the pinnacle of the hedge-fund world, David Magerman’s philanthropic journey has been one of purpose, transformation, and deepening Jewish identity.
“My father was a taxi driver and my mother was a secretary,” Magerman shares. “We were a secular Jewish family and didn’t have much to give to charity.”
After earning dual degrees in mathematics and computer science from the University of Pennsylvania, Magerman went on to complete a Ph.D. in computer science at Stanford. He launched his career at Renaissance Technologies, widely recognized as the world’s most successful quantitative hedge-fund management company. Alongside his professional achievements, Magerman’s connection to Judaism deepened—and so did his commitment to giving. Education was a core value.
“Once my four children started attending Jewish day schools, I realized that there were deep issues that needed to be solved, one of which was to give more people access to Jewish learning,” says Magerman.
He established the Kohelet Foundation in 2009 to support Jewish education in Philadelphia, the United States, and Israel. “I invested in many projects, made mistakes, and learned from them,” he admits candidly.
His priorities drastically changed a few years ago with the realization that “America is a failing engine, entrenched in problems that I couldn’t solve and the Jews couldn’t solve.”
“There was a lot of work to do in Israel, so I began shifting my priorities from America to Israel,” he explains.
One notable shift was his decision to refocus support for the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC) toward Israel, creating a movement of vibrant Jewish life and support for Anglo students.
In 2022, Magerman founded the Tzemach David Foundation in Israel, hiring Executive Director Tamar Krieger and investing in religious-Zionist K–12 education. After the horror of Oct. 7, 2023 and the ensuing multifront war, Magerman doubled down on his commitment, and the Foundation expanded its initiatives to the higher-education space—creating a pipeline for Jewish college students to see Israel as a university destination.
He also became an outspoken critic of the rampant antisemitism on U.S. college campuses, especially at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. His decision to pull a multimillion-dollar donation from Penn and redirect it to Israeli universities made headlines.
Since then, he has donated $1 million to five Israeli institutions to expand Hebrew-language learning and help new immigrants integrate academically.
“This has been very public,” he acknowledges, “but I also support other vital initiatives—from helping build communities in Judea and Samaria and fortifying them against terror, to investing in infrastructure across the country. I am a religious Jew, and I want to unapologetically restore the grandeur of Judaism.”
A fierce critic of social media’s role in spreading false narratives, Magerman was drawn to JNS’s mission. “The Jewish philanthropic world is small, and I had heard of Alex Traiman,” he says. “When we met and I learned how JNS is fighting back against misinformation with honest, unapologetic, pro-Israel journalism, I was all in.”
Though unable to attend in person, Magerman says of the Inaugural JNS Policy Summit: “I heard it was incredible, with an impressive speaker lineup and flawless execution, which is rare for a first-time event of that scale.”
Magerman is pleased to be partnering with incredible organizations and to have the ability to invest in practical solutions to restore the Land of Israel.