Rabbi Joy Levitt stepped into the role of CEO of the Jerusalem Foundation Inc. at a tumultuous period for the organization, first in the midst of the ongoing war in Gaza and fighting along Israel’s northern border, and then through the sudden death of the Jerusalem Foundation’s president, Shai Doron, in late July.

“I officially started in June, getting oriented. Now I have my feet on the ground, running,” Levitt told eJewishPhilanthropy on Friday. “Nothing is more important right now than supporting Jerusalem and its people.”

In an obituary written two days after Doron’s death, Levitt described him as a close friend and the “spiritual mayor” of the capital — a designation that she said he would hate being a “self-proclaimed secularist” —  whom she had first met back when he was the director of the city’s zoo.

“I had been involved with the foundation for many years. For the past five or six years, serving on the board. My term on the board coincided with Shai’s appointment. I was really inspired by him and by the work,” said Levitt, the former CEO of the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan.

Levitt noted that the foundation planned to launch “a fund in Shai’s memory [to support] future leadership.”

“He saw the power of people launching NGOs from all communities: east Jerusalem and west Jerusalem, Haredi and Palestinian. They want their city to thrive and they are relentless in their insistence that the city needs to not just thrive but to appear not only as pictures that people see on their iPhone of iconic sites but as a place where people actually live,” she said.

In addition to Levitt’s appointment as CEO of the organization, Steven Scheinfeld was selected to serve as the foundation’s chair. Scheinfeld, a partner with the Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP law firm, succeeds Alan Hassenfeld, who has served in the role for decades and will now hold the title of chair emeritus.

“It has been an honor and inspiration to work for the city of Jerusalem since the days of the legendary Mayor Teddy Kollek. I know that Steve will now lead us forward and I will continue to be part of this work,” Hassenfeld said in a statement.

The Jerusalem Foundation Inc. is the U.S.-based affiliate of the Israeli organization — not an “American friends of,” but supportive of its counterpart’s efforts to create “parks, libraries, community centers and archaeological, health, social and cultural activities” in the Israeli capital.

“We are excited to work with both Steve and Joy and to further our partnership to strengthen the city of Jerusalem and all its residents,” Zvi Agmon, chairman of the Israeli Jerusalem Foundation, said in a statement.

Levitt said she was drawn to the organization’s work as it focused on the actual city of Jerusalem, rather than an imagined, ideal version.

“Too often Jewish professionals see Jerusalem as a theme park. We have an idealized vision of it. We fly in, stay in fancy hotels, have meetings and go to the key spots and we leave,” she said. “Jerusalem is so much more than that. It is very complicated but also beautiful and significant.”

Though the foundation’s focus is in Jerusalem, Levitt will remain living in the United States while making frequent trips to Israel.

“I will work closely with my colleagues in Jerusalem to identify projects and programs that need support,” she said.

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion is a key partner of the foundation, working with the organization directly on projects and facilitating others, Levitt said. And yet she stressed that the foundation is independent from the municipality.

Levitt noted that Jerusalem city politics can be a fraught matter. The city’s two most significant demographics are Haredim and Arabs, most of them Palestinians without Israeli citizenship — two communities that have historically had low socioeconomic standing, often requiring more municipal services than they return in taxes. Though Haredim represent one of his core constituencies, Lion and the municipality must work to ensure that secular and non-Haredi religious Jews continue living and working in the city.

“It’s Jerusalem — there’s always going to be conflict, but I would say that the foundation is an honest broker in all sectors of the community,” Levitt said.

“The mayor is a pragmatist, he wants the city to thrive,” she added. “We help him fulfill that vision.”

Reflecting on her background as a rabbi, Levitt said that she believed that creating a vibrant and peaceful Jerusalem was a fulfillment of the line from the book of Isaiah: “Ki miZion tetze Torah”

— “For instruction shall come forth from Zion.”

“I believe that if we can support a vision of a shared society, that’s what those words mean,” she said. “That’s how I feel about the work.”