TEL AVIV, Israel — For one of the largest donations ever made to an Israeli university, the ceremony marking the inauguration of the Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University on Thursday morning was an understated affair — at least as understated as an event can be when it’s attended by one of the world’s top hedge fund managers, Blackstone President and COO Jonathan Gray; Israeli President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog; the former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Blackstone Vice Chair Tom Nides; along with some of Israel’s top academics and medical professionals.

There was sparkling wine and bespoke cocktails at the event, which was held just outside the newly renamed medical school building, but no gowns or tuxedos — indeed many of the attendees were faculty members, wearing their university ID cards clipped to their untucked button-down shirts and khakis. After an unveiling and ribbon-cutting ceremony and speeches, a light lunch was served al fresco. 

This type of low-key affair seemed fitting for Jonathan and Mindy Gray, whose family foundation donated $125 million to the school this week for its medical and biomedical programs. The Grays’ rabbi, Angela Buchdahl of Central Synagogue in New York City, who attended the ceremony, noted in her speech that neither of them grew up wealthy and that despite their current financial standing, they remain exceedingly “down to earth.”

Speaking at the event, the Grays both noted their family histories and how that shaped their philanthropic work today and their connection to Israel. “We are American Jews who grew up on modest means far from Israel, in Chicago and Philadelphia. But thanks to our families, we have always known where our past was rooted: here in this sacred land, where orange trees were coaxed from the arid desert. Tragically, the unthinkable events of Oct. 7[, 2023,] awakened the need to express that connection in a far more concrete way,” Jonathan Gray said, citing his family’s immigration to the United States at the end of the 19th century fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe.

“My parents overcame childhoods marked by great hardship. My mom was the daughter of two deaf immigrants who spoke limited English and who relied on her to support the family. My dad lost his mom when he was six and his sister when she was just eight years old. He was placed in an orphanage financed by German Jews during the Great Depression and always credited their generosity for providing him the stability of an education and a community,” Mindy said. “In 2002, heartache struck again when we lost my sister Faith to BRCA-related ovarian cancer when she was just 44 years old with a 4-year-old baby by her side. … Hardship formed my parents’ foundation, but what grew from it was resilience, hope, opportunity and a sense of responsibility to help others in whatever way you can.”

The donation represents the largest that TAU has ever received, and Herzog and Tel Aviv University President Ariel Porat noted in their speeches that alongside the concrete value of the gift, it also carries immense symbolic value for the State of Israel in one of its darkest hours.

“I met Jon about six months ago at his office in Manhattan… It was a particularly pleasant conversation, at the end of which Jon said he was interested to donate to Tel Aviv University as part of the efforts to help Israel recover from the disaster of Oct. 7. Soon after, we sent Jon several proposals for supporting the university. The most ambitious was the one Mindy and Jon chose: an incredibly major gift to the medical faculty,” Porat said.

At the ceremony, speakers noted that the donation will go toward a number of different areas at the faculty: significantly increasing the number of students to help combat the country’s doctor shortage, with a focus on Arab Israeli students and others from less privileged backgrounds; improving the school’s laboratories, building affordable student housing, supporting research related to the BRCA mutation and more. 

“This act of generosity by Mindy and Jon not only strengthens Israel but also strengthens the bond between the Jewish Diaspora and the State of Israel, the shared destiny of the Jewish people around the world. This connection exists in ordinary times, but it is especially needed in times of crisis,” he added.  

“You are facilitating science and technology ingenuity and creativity research and knowledge at the least likely moment in time,” Herzog said. “At the moment in which Israel must urgently train the finest medical professionals and develop cutting edge technologies and create out of the box solutions and experiments with the most innovative approaches. The moment in which countless Israelis who have lost lives, family, homes are fighting for their physical and mental well-being. The moment in which academia is being attacked and isolated. The moment in which our people lost more than we thought possible and gained an appreciation for all that remained. The moment in which we understand what the next step is in our national recovery. This is the moment, Mindy and Jon, you chose to reach out and have contact. What a profound statement of solidarity and gratitude.”

In her speech, Buchdahl also noted the bravery of the Grays making this donation to Israel publicly — at a time when the country is seen as increasingly controversial. 

“Until this gift, you should all know that they’ve never put their names on anything. But this decision to use their name here at Tel Aviv University is actually part of the impact of this gift. Sadly, at this moment, I think you all know that a large public gift to Israel, even to a medical center, is not seen as wholly positive by some Americans. So for Jon Gray, one of the most respected business leaders in the world, to put his and Mindy’s name on an Israeli institution at this time is a full-throated statement of support for the State of Israel,” Buchdahl said. “It is actually a very courageous act for a leader to do right now, and I want to thank you.”

The gift represents both the largest donation that the Grays have yet made in Israel, as well as, by far, the largest single donation that they have ever made anywhere. (Over the years, they have — in total — given around $125 million to the University of Pennsylvania, where they both studied English.)

Speaking after the ceremony, the Grays and the CEO of their foundation, Dana Zucker, told eJewishPhilanthropy that the donation combined both their desire to support Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks and their overall philanthropic priorities: medical research, specifically around the BRCA mutation, and providing medical and educational opportunities to underprivileged populations.

The interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Judah Ari Gross: First of all, beautiful event. You mentioned in your speech that there was a meeting six months ago with Porat and Tel Aviv University, but how did that come about exactly? How did you settle on TAU? Were there other Israeli organizations or institutions that you had considered supporting?

Jon Gray: I think Dana should comment on that further, but basically, after Oct. 7, we tried to find places where we could have emergency impact, including TAU. The meeting followed on that. [TAU Vice President for Resource Development Amos Elad] and President Porat were in town. We met with a number of different Israeli organizations, and we had that meeting. I think it was pretty clear to us that there was more we could do together. And that this could be very interesting because we focused so much on both medical research and underprivileged kids, and we could pull this all together.

Mindy Gray: It’s really the marriage of our two core tranches of our foundation. 

Dana Zucker: In the aftermath [of Oct. 7], as John said, we met with a lot of people, but what we do at the foundation is really try to be responsive and collaborative. So we heard a very clear need on the part of Tel Aviv University, and we were able to bring our expertise in funding cancer research and prioritizing access to education, healthcare and opportunity for children from underprivileged backgrounds in New York — it seemed the perfect marriage. Concrete and collaborative. [We were really] listening to who we’re supporting and understanding what they actually need, rather than coming in with our own vision of what a place needs.

JAG: You have in the past made significant donations to American universities, including the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard. There were questions raised about continuing that support in the early weeks after the Oct. 7 attacks amid a rise of antisemitism on campuses. Did that play a role at all in this donation? Does this mark a shift in your support for American universities? 

JG: No, we’re continuing to support Penn.

MG: It’s a broadening.

JG: Yes, Mindy has it right. It’s a broadening. For us, this wasn’t about any sort of deletion, but really addition. That’s what this is. We thought: The State of Israel needed support post-Oct. 7, let’s bring the areas we were really focused on — access to education and medical research — and bring it together, and TAU was a perfect place to do it.

JAG: Did you have any concern in making this gift about the so-called “brain drain” in Israel, that people may study medicine here and then move abroad to actually practice it?

JG: When we came here, we were struck by how amazing the doctors were and the students. But in some cases the facilities were a little out of date and there wasn’t enough housing. And so we could address this big issue, which is to upgrade and expand the facilities, which would allow this place to flourish. And that was really what the objective was.

DZ: We pressed really hard on that when we came here and heard resoundingly from the students we spoke to and the faculty their desire to stay in Israel. So this gift is really meant to enhance their ability to do so by providing funds for state-of-the-art facilities, faculty retention, scholarships for students and housing. 

MG: And also collaborative BRCA research, which is something very deeply personal to our family. I lost my sister, Faith, to BRCA-related ovarian cancer. So again, back to our mission, it’s being collaborative. So this is really growing our mission, expanding our boundaries and really hopefully encouraging others to be inspired to do the same.

JAG: What are some of the areas that you’re hoping will develop here related to BRCA research?

MG: Because the BRCA mutation affects 1 in 40 Ashkenazi Jews and because Israel’s population is one-third Ashkenazi, we really have this richness of data that can be collected and studied and also brilliant researchers here who can [make] progress. Ultimately, we want to have research that is all about prevention rather than treatment. So that’s our future-looking goal. 

And I would say coming to Israel after the trauma of Oct. 7, we know the entire country is really hurting. And to be able to help support healers feels especially meaningful right now.

JAG: One of the things that was a bit surprising at the ceremony was that you brought your rabbi, Angela Buchdahl, along with you for this moment. That felt kind of “old school,” in a way. What role does she play in your philanthropic work and in your connection to Israel?

JG: Angela has been not only our rabbi but a friend for a long time, and we were at a dinner with her — this was probably four or five months ago — and we told her what we were thinking [about our donation to TAU] and she said, “Oh my gosh, if you do this, I want to come.” And then we said, “We’re doing it.” And she said, “OK, I want to come.”

And she’s just an incredible leader. She’s an inspiring person and she cares a lot. And it was a really nice connection to be able to have her with us.

MG: You said it so beautifully. She’s been at so many life milestones, and this is a huge day and her being here feels so appropriate.

JG: [She was there] for pretty much all of our kids bat mitzvahs. She was there for the funerals for Mindy’s parents.

MG: She’s our spiritual leader and our friend. And I talked to a bunch of students after the ceremony today, and they are all amazed about our connection to our rabbi. I realized that in Israel, that’s not as common as it is in the United States.

JAG: Yeah, Israel is not as big on full-time pulpit rabbis. Normally being the rabbi of a synagogue is something that they do in addition to their full-time job. Do you have any other plans while you’re here in Israel?

JG: We’re going to have a celebratory dinner tonight. 

MG: We were in Hostage Square last night, which was sad, because last time we were here, it was celebratory that there were hostages being released, so this felt much more somber. 

JG: I would just say one of the things that’s been really interesting about this — and quite positive — is we had this piece [about the donation] in The New York Times, and the number of texts and emails that we have gotten, it’s been extraordinary, and from around the world. We’re hopeful that it will catalyze others, that it will lead others to think about giving because this country is in a lot of pain. It’s both resilient but also suffering, and I think having Jews around the world support Israel, it’s super important at this time, now more than ever.

MG: And we hope it will also catalyze collaborations between research scientists. We’re already hearing from some of the research scientists who we support, who are encouraged by this and excited to be more collaborative.