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Originally appeared in Jerusalem Post Magazine on October 2, 2026

What a journey it has been from the Philadelphia suburbs and Messiah University, a private interdenominational Evangelical Christian university, to an apartment in Beersheba.

When Tiffany Schatz attended the Medical School for International Health at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev starting in 2005, living in Israel and even being Jewish were far from her mind. Now, Dr. Schatz is an olah, a Jewish mother of three, a thoracic surgeon at Soroka Medical Center, and an active member of the Beersheba musical theater community. 

What a journey it has been from the Philadelphia suburbs and Messiah University, a private interdenominational Evangelical Christian university, to an apartment in Beersheba overlooking a large, beautiful park.

Schatz met Jacob, the Jewish man who would eventually become her husband, while studying for the MCATs, the medical school admission test. Schatz knew there was something special about Jacob and that they might have a future together. Nonetheless, she began her medical studies in Israel and they continued dating long distance.

“I had a crash course in Judaism in his absence,” Schatz notes playfully. “I was having really positive exposure to Jewish culture and the Jewish faith and Israel. I already had a positive outlook on Israel.”

Jacob proposed one year later and they got married the following year. “We tried to institute a lot of Jewish traditions at our wedding.”

Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, southern Israel, March 30, 2026. (credit: YOSSI ALONI/FLASH90)

The two next came to Israel together, but their living conditions were not ideal. “It was very hot and we did not have a working air conditioner.” Schatz notes that Jacob was very clear about one thing: “I don’t think I will ever want to live here!” Tiffany reasoned that, if they were to ever return to Beersheba, they, like other professionals, would have air conditioning and a car. As far as Jacob was concerned, “Israel was off the table.”

After a year of doing research, Schatz pursued a five-year surgery residency in Waterbury, Connecticut. She marvels at the good education and training she received. Their first child and only daughter, Noa, now 16, was born there.

The next stop for the growing family was a fellowship at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

They were exploring the possibility of adopting a child, and when asked by the adoption agency, they indicated that they were open to the possibility of adopting a child with disabilities. They soon learned that Schatz was pregnant and expecting a child with significant disabilities. The Schatz family viewed Caleb’s birth as a gift from God that they were ready to receive. He is now nine.

Parenting two children, including one with high support needs – all while starting a new job – was very challenging. As they began to feel they were “figuring it out” and “coming up for air,” they learned that they were expecting a third child, a son, Eli, now seven, who also has disabilities. Schatz shares that Eli’s birth, much to her delight, “caused significant improvement” in Caleb. “He now had a brother and a playmate.”

Schatz decided to open a private practice in the Washington area to afford her greater flexibility and to balance work and home responsibilities.

When the COVID pandemic hit in 2000, they felt far from family and relocated to Philadelphia, purchasing Jacob’s childhood home, which his parents were selling and encouraged them to buy. “We had a good life and expected we’d live there forever.”

‘If I could be there to help, I wanted to be there’

THEN, OCT. 7 happened. “I heard so much about what was happening at Soroka and pictured the wards, the operating rooms, and the surgeons I knew. They were taking care of the wounded. If I could be there to help, I wanted to be there, and I signed up to be a volunteer.”

Schatz attended a webinar that discussed needs and opportunities. A presentation by Soroka Medical Center director-general Prof. Shlomi Codish both inspired her and “threw her for a loop.”

Codish thanked everyone for wanting to come and volunteer but said that it was very disruptive as doctors learn the various systems, then leave. “We really need for people to come and stay,” Codish boldly said. “It was like an arrow to my heart,” Schatz reports. “Yeah, I’ll do it. I am willing to come and stay!”

Schatz spoke a lot to herself while trying to make a decision about moving to Israel. She “spoke” about how she had decided to “throw her lot” with the Jewish people, and about how antisemitism had wreaked havoc on the Jewish people for millennia. She had a more difficult time speaking with her husband about aliyah – and waited a month.

In January 2024, Schatz shared her desire to move to Israel with Jacob. He was willing to listen and suggested that if they were going to consider it, they should be very thorough. They spoke with friends from the light opera group that Schatz had been part of in Beersheba and with a friend from Schatz’s medical school class.

They almost immediately began the aliyah process with Nefesh B’Nefesh and attended a Medix event for doctors wishing to practice medicine in Israel. The event spoke to Jacob as well. He reportedly felt “very comfortable” there. Schatz shares that gathering all of the necessary immigration documents became “like a compulsion,” and she enjoyed the feeling of making incremental progress every day.

AS THEY were making concrete plans to come on aliyah in August, they left their kids alone with relatives for the first time for an exploratory trip. Jacob’s mother was hospitalized while they were on their Israel trip – a sign that this was not the right moment for aliyah.

‘Why aren’t we there yet?’

Schatz, who had just taken herself off the on-call schedule, returned to and “ramped up” her practice. Fortunately, by January, Jacob’s mother was in better health. Schatz and Jacob checked aliyah flights and decided to make aliyah as quickly as possible. “He kicked in to high gear,” observes Schatz proudly, describing how Jacob began organizing and selling family possessions.

While some friends had cautioned against leaving school in the middle of the year, the family decided to move forward. “Fortunately, our, at the time, 14-year-old, was like super on board, and I was like, when are we going? What’s the soonest we can go? Why aren’t we there yet?”

“And so, we went in April,” reports Schatz, noting that, had they waited, the Iran war would have made their aliyah impossible. “The timing was remarkable, but it’s another piece of the remarkable story. If we had been stateside, we probably would have been like, ‘Yep, we’re not going. Never mind. That was a nice idea, but it’s not safe.’ But because we were here, we were like, we’re part of this.”

Schatz is now working as a thoracic surgeon, Jacob as a software engineer working on a start-up. Noa attends boarding school at Naale in Hod Hasharon and is now taking all classes in Hebrew – and acting, dancing, and playing piano. Caleb and Eli receive the services and support they need. “It does feel like it’s getting better and more manageable. And our kids, I think, are going to be okay.”

They are also finding their way socially. “I’m still involved with musicals. Last year, I was in the performance of the Pajama Game, and that was really fun, and I’m the producer this year.”

And they report, “We actually fit better here, because people like to have dinner at home and sit together. And it’s like we’ve slid right in, that’s exactly what we like to do – have people over and be invited to others’ homes!”

Next goal – making a few more friends who are native Hebrew speakers!  ■

Tiffany Schatz, 43
From Philadelphia, PA 
to Beersheba, 2025

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Originally appeared in Amit Magazine on Fall 2026

Inside AMIT’s Leadership Training Program

One of the cornerstone initiatives of AMIT’s new educational campus at Kfar Batya will be its Leadership Training Center. The center reflects a guiding principle of the AMIT Network: Meaningful educational transformation is woven throughout the entire organization. By investing in teachers, principals, and educational leaders, AMIT fosters a culture of shared growth, ensuring that innovation and excellence reach every classroom.

This initiative is already underway at the current Kfar Batya location in Ra’anana under the leadership of Ofra Peer, AMIT’s director of leadership development. With the opening of the new campus this September, the training center will move to its new home in the Evan & Layla Green Family Foundation Gogya Building.

Gogya (from the Hebrew word for pedagogy) is AMIT’s flagship educational platform whose holistic approach to learning integrates academic excellence, Torah values, socialization, collaboration, creativity, emotional development, and real-life experiences.
Peer’s warm and engaging demeanor masks the scope of the many projects she oversees for the network. She is passionate about maximizing educators’ strengths and teaching the skills that take their job to the next level.

“I remember when being a principal was just pedagogy,” said Peer. “Today, a principal is not only responsible for how teachers teach, but they are also a psychologist, a leader, and a source of inspiration — who also must know about budgets. Practice and tools are no longer enough. Now, we need people who inspire others and have vision.”

But vision alone is inadequate if you don’t know how to implement it. Since the job has become increasingly complex, Peer firmly believes that principals need holistic training. That’s where the Leadership Training Center comes in.

Four Pillars of Leadership

The center is based on four pillars of leadership:

  • Psychological confidence
  • Spiritual identification
  • Implementation
  • Awareness that leads to growth

Psychological confidence is the belief that principals must take initiative, and it stresses the importance of making room for failure.

“AMIT wants us to be creative and have vision,” said Peer. “If you don’t succeed, that is OK. It is OK to fail and try again; try something else. It is the same with the children we teach. We permit them to fail and try again.”

Peer strongly believes in the value of investing in others. “Not many people want to work in education,” she said. “We must demonstrate to them that at AMIT, we want them to constantly grow and learn. Organizations that study and adjust to the times and to the world are the most successful. If the principal is always learning, it models ongoing learning and motivation for the students.”

“Practice and tools are no longer enough. Now, we need people who inspire others and have vision.”

Principals’ training session

Peer described this trickle-down effect: “If the principal models this, they pass it on to the teachers, and they then pass it along to the student. In the Leadership Center, everything the principals learn they must share with their teachers.”

The second pillar of leadership is spiritual identification, which reflects the goal of everyone sharing the same values. For example: “Take care of all students, and all students can succeed.” Peer is particularly committed to the value of opening doors to all students, recognizing that each one is someone’s child — and should therefore be cared for as if they were our own child.

“If you succeed in bringing your whole community together, that is the highest level of leadership,” said Peer.

Implementation, the third pillar, is crucial because, as Peer noted, “Being charismatic is not enough if your school is not working. Principals need both a big vision and a clear plan of how to carry it out.”

The fourth pillar, awareness that leads to growth, tasks a leader to focus inward.

“A principal must know their strengths and weaknesses so they can improve in the areas that are lacking,” said Peer. For example, if a principal is not an expert in budgeting, she suggests they build a team of people to help them address that deficiency.

Peer credited AMIT Director General Dr. Amnon Eldar for his visionary leadership in this area. “Ten years ago, he believed that to make a change in the educational network, you must invest in the principal — because to make a change in the world, you must have great leadership.”

Measurable Progress

Peer described the incredible progress made in the Leadership Training Center within a few short years.

“When I came here three years ago, there were islands of leadership,” she said. “We realized we needed to build one home that would take us to the next stage.”

Today, AMIT offers 13 different programs for principals: aspiring, single grade, junior high school, senior high school, and whole school. There is also an option for new principals who prefer private conferences.

The center is designed to strengthen educational leadership at every level. The Amir Program prepares aspiring principals through a combination of leadership seminars, shadowing experienced school leaders, and one-on-one professional mentoring.

Current principals participate in specialized tracks which bring together educational leaders for monthly learning experiences from a variety of sectors, ranging from business and public service to Bedouin society, and encourages them to apply new insights to their schools.

The center also provides ongoing training for middle leadership across the network, equipping department heads, coordinators, and other educational leaders with the tools to manage teams and implement strategic initiatives.

“The center now deals with leadership at all levels and focuses on both practice and inspiration. I am very happy with our progress,” shared Peer. “We started with almost nothing. Now, we have a leadership podcast, we are drafting new talent to be principals, and we are not compromising on who we take. Our principals are the best!”

While Peer’s work is primarily centered on principals, she is aware that her programs affect students and teachers. “We believe every student has his own way to learn, and teachers have their own way to teach,” she said, understanding that every principal, teacher, and student will apply the lessons appropriately within their school communities.

A Revolution in Women’s Leadership

Taking pride in the fact that all AMIT’s schools for girls are currently run by women, Peer stressed the importance of having women in those leadership positions. “A female leader is a role model of balance and shows students they can be anything they want,” she said.

Yet she added that girls must be free to forge their own path. “The most important part is giving girls the option to choose — whether army or national service, medicine, law, or staying at home,” she said. “They must do something significant and meaningful in life, and my mission is to present their choices.”

Peer is proud to be part of the revolution in women’s leadership and has found incredible fulfillment in her chosen career.

“Being a principal is the most significant job,” she said. “You deal with children and the future of your country. It is the hardest work you can imagine, but it is very rewarding.”

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