Israeli supermarket mogul Rami Levy and his daughter, Yafit Attias, were this week’s guests at the Young Leadership club at OTS’s Neveh Shmuel High School.
After greetings from Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Yaakov Fisher and school principal Chezi Zecharia, Levy explained his personal strategy to the students: “To buy a lot, to make some money, and to give as much as possible to those who do not have the ability to stand on their own two feet.”
Levy developed this approach when, as a young child, he accompanied his mother to the shuk, where a vendor refused to sell to her on credit. “At that moment, I had the idea to sell food and necessary items wholesale to people who cannot afford to buy expensive items,” he said.
During the course of the visit, Levy took a number of questions from students about his business activities. In answering a question about employing Arab workers, he explained that he hires employees regardless of race and nationality. “Just as I would not want to be told that I wasn’t hired because I was Jewish, I will not discriminate against Arabs,” he stated.
Levy’s daughter, Yafit Attias, told students that “Since my childhood, as long as I can remember, Dad would always tell us before Shabbat Kiddush: ‘What is on the table is not to be taken for granted. You must never forget where you came from and to think it is all a given. “
