Legacy & A Building In Jerusalem

(Moving Forward ↗️ July 2026)

Dear Friend,

In October 2019 – almost seven years ago – I found myself in West Palm Beach, FL. At the time, I was the Executive Director for North America at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. I had flown in from New York to meet face to face with a prospect considering a multimillion-dollar pledge for our new home in Jerusalem. A recent conversation between our top lay leader and this prospect had unexpectedly taken an unwelcome turn, putting the gift in jeopardy. It was my responsibility to rescue it.

Over the course of eight and a half hours across two days – and 14 drafts – we worked our way to a near-final agreement. Pardes formally secured the pledge before the end of the calendar year. Unbeknownst to any of us, that was the easy part.

Let's get to it.

Joshua Chadajo

Founder & CEO

Legacy & A Building In Jerusalem

No one could have predicted what came next. First came a cascade of bureaucratic delays in the municipal approval process. Then Covid. Then October 7th. Wars against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. Progress on the building was often nominal at best. In the meantime, this particular donor passed away. And I launched JEC Philanthropy.

My former colleagues and lay leaders persevered. It was often two steps forward, one step back. But those steps forward eventually added up. Construction is now moving rapidly. Earlier this week, I was overjoyed to see first-hand the dream becoming a reality. The photo above was taken on Monday.

Building a 32-floor tower takes time. So does building a legacy. Both require thoughtfulness, careful planning, and the right team in place. The sooner you start thinking about what you want your legacy to be, the sooner you can begin putting your building blocks in place.

I recently joined Michael T. Clear, Chair of the Private Client Services Department at Wiggin and Dana, on his podcast Future Focused: Sophisticated Estate Planning to talk about legacy. You can listen to our conversation here.

JEC Philanthropy is a boutique advisory firm providing personalized professional philanthropic guidance and support to high-net-worth individuals and families. JEC Philanthropy enables clients to give more, give better and give with joy. 

Contact me today to learn more about working with JEC Philanthropy!

Email joshua@jecphilanthropy.com,

call (646) 331-5674 or click below.

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