The lessons of Haim Taib’s Torah

For prominent entrepreneur and philanthropist Haim Taib, standing at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on the night of October 7, 2024, was magical. “It was one of the most emotional moments of my life,” he says.

For the last 34 years, Taib has developed and strengthened countries in Africa, leading over 80 national-scale infrastructure solutions, including major projects in energy, water, agriculture, technology, healthcare, and education. Five years ago, he brought the knowledge he had accumulated to Israel and established the Menomadin Foundation, which works to strengthen the State of Israel.

On that evening, exactly one year after the Hamas terror attack, Taib brought a Torah scroll honoring the memory of those who lost their lives in the October 7 terror attack and the ensuing war to the Western Wall, where it was completed and placed in the Holy Ark.

Taib explains that the idea to dedicate a Torah to commemorate the victims of October 7 came about shortly after the war started. “On the holiday of Simchat Torah, on October 7, 2023, the Jewish people were unable to complete the hakafot, the procession of circling with the Torah,” he says.

Taib decided to commission the writing of a Torah scroll that would enable the Jewish people to close this circle, figuratively. Throughout its writing, the scroll was circulated throughout the Jewish world, and portions of it were completed at each stop along the way. Taib took it to the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp as part of the International March of the Living, together with a delegation initiated by the Menomadin Foundation, comprising released hostages, parents of hostages in captivity, parents of soldiers who were murdered on October 7, parents of the Supernova festival victims, and Holocaust survivors who were saved from the massacre, along with Jewish communities from across the world.

The scroll was then returned to Israel and brought to communities in the South and in the North, where thousands of people participated in its writing. “In the same way that the Torah unites the Jewish people,” Taib points out, “this scroll became something that united the Jewish people.”

On October 7, 2024, at the Western Wall, the Torah scroll, encased in a distinctive silver case, was taken on an emotional, celebratory series of seven circuits (hakafot) throughout the Western Wall plaza by individuals representing various sectors of Israeli society, such as the hostages held by Hamas, the residents of the Gaza envelope, wounded soldiers, families of soldiers who fell in the line of duty, and members of civilian organizations such as ZAKA and United Hatzalah.

Speaking at the event, Taib emphasized the unifying role of the Torah. “A Torah scroll is not just a religious document. It is a symbol of unity, of shared values that accompany the people of Israel from generation to generation. The Torah was handed down to all the people of Israel as one united community, and the Jewish heritage is shared by all of us.”

While the entire event was emotional, Taib says that the sixth procession with the Torah, in honor of the wounded soldiers of the war, was especially moving. The Torah was held by Israel Ben Shitrit, a captain in the IDF who miraculously survived an RPG attack in Khan Yunis, has undergone extensive rehabilitation, and today is walking with the aid of a cane. Though he could not walk with the Torah, he proudly stood steadily, holding the Torah with Taib at his side.

The unity felt at the Western Wall that evening, says Taib, needs to be echoed throughout the country, especially during these difficult times. Taib says unity can be achieved by listening to others, even if one disagrees with their point of view. “We need to learn to listen,” he says. “We hear, but we don’t listen. We haven’t yet learned to live together. It all starts with listening, mutual respect, helping others, loving people, and humility.”

Taib has followed these principles in developing innovative national solutions in Africa. Over the past 34 years, he and his teams have been a vital force for positive impact in Africa, utilizing Israeli technologies and innovative models. Under Taib’s leadership, his Swiss international company, Mitrelli, has completed more than 80 large-scale infrastructure development projects and social initiatives in Angola, Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Mozambique, and beyond. One example is the creation of new models for affordable housing, one of the largest in Africa, which has provided homes for over 140,000 people.

In recent years, Taib has begun using his model of integrated strategic philanthropy and impact investments via the Menomadin Foundation to generate social and economic impact in Israel and Africa by creating and implementing national road maps for complex societal issues. The foundation is currently working on strategic national and municipal issues in Israel in the areas of social welfare, education, housing, and transportation.

In 2022, Taib initiated the development of a national road map plan for Israel’s social welfare system that was adopted by Israel’s Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry. The program, which was devised by senior scholars in the field, is the first program to formulate a comprehensive plan of reform for Israel’s welfare services.

“The Right to Good Welfare project,” says Taib, “is the first comprehensive program that includes an outline for the long-term reform of the Israeli welfare services. This is the first time that we are creating an orderly road map and not doing it piecemeal. The best Israeli welfare scholars came together over the past two years to create it.”

With the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, Taib decided to direct all the resources, knowledge, and expertise accumulated by the Menomadin Foundation to promote national and local resilience through a series of projects to provide a response to both the immediate and the strategic needs of the state in a variety of fields. Alongside in-depth work with local authorities along the conflict-prone areas, the foundation led another national welfare program – an extension of the previous program, designed to equip the Israeli welfare system with the means to effectively address the challenges introduced by the war, which Taib submitted to the minister of welfare and social affairs strategic regional projects in the North and South. In June 2024, he received a special certificate of appreciation from President Isaac Herzog for his vital contributions to Israeli society throughout the war.

Another area of vital importance for the State of Israel is education. The Menomadin Foundation has designed comprehensive educational programs for the cities of Tiberias and Beersheba. Taib explains that the foundation chose those cities as pilot areas because Beersheba is one of Israel’s most advanced municipalities; and Tiberias is a local authority facing significant challenges and a low socio-economic rating. The educational program developed by Menomadin’s experts deals with all aspects of formal and informal education in municipalities, from preschool through high school.

Beersheba adopted the program and, due to its advanced capabilities, is independently implementing the process. In Tiberias, due to the complexity of the challenges, the foundation remained there to support the implementation of the process. Together with additional partners and the Ministry of Welfare, it expanded the work to other systems within the municipality, thereby advancing a holistic municipal program aimed at promoting municipal mobility. The process that the foundation underwent in the fields of education in Tiberias and Beersheba was documented, and afterward it developed a model – Menomadin Educational Road Maps – which will be made accessible and distributed to many municipalities across Israel.

In the coming year, the foundation plans to develop two to three additional national programs addressing critical issues for the country. These programs aim to bridge significant gaps, such as 21% of the population living below the poverty line; road traffic intensity per network length 3.5 times higher than the OECD average; and housing affordability, which ranks 30th out of 37 OECD countries. These figures underscore the need to advance national programs in transportation and housing – precisely what Taib’s team is working on today

Taib has had more than 30 years of experience in developing affordable housing in Angola, where he has developed self-contained communities for close to 140,000 people, complete with schools, businesses, sports facilities, and playgrounds.

“After what I have learned and accomplished,” he says, “if I look at the issues surrounding housing in Israel, I believe that there is a solution for everything.” Taib says that one of the main reasons that purchasing apartments is out of the reach of many in Israel is due to the price of the land, which the state sells to the builders and contractors. He says that the price of the land alone constitutes 30% of the cost of building. “What would happen if the state lowered the price of the land for the builders?” he muses. “Sometimes we don’t want to see the solution,” he remarks.

“Obviously, this is just one idea for the national program,” says Taib, “but encouraged by the success of the Menomadin Foundation in implementing its national programs in welfare and education, which have been adopted by the government and local authorities, my team and I will establish a group of leading experts to develop a comprehensive national plan. This plan aims to make a significant leap in housing and transportation, which are essential for connecting the periphery to the center and making educational and employment opportunities accessible to as many people as possible.”

With more than three decades of working in African countries, Taib understands the vast potential that the countries of Africa present for the world and Israel. “I think that the State of Israel has much to give Africa, and Africa has much that it can give to Israel,” he says emphatically. Taib says that the triangle of Israel, the Gulf states that are signatories to the Abraham Accords, and the African continent, along with the partnership with the United States, can lead solutions to world challenges in energy, food security, and other industries while supporting self-sustainability and economic development.

“One of Israel’s biggest challenges is gaining support from the African countries in the United Nations,” he adds.

“Why not build a national program that will create a triangle of the Gulf states, Israel, and Africa?” Reaching a level of cooperation with the African states can both increase political support at the UN for Israel and lead to significant benefits all around, he contends.

My conversation with Haim Taib began with his Torah project in memory of the victims of October 7 and the ensuing war, continued with a discussion about the importance of unity, progressed to his plans for Israel’s national road map, and concluded with his thoughts on reaching greater levels of cooperation with Africa.

Underneath it all lies the common thread that Taib has maintained throughout his endeavors in Africa and now in Israel: listening attentively, maintaining mutual respect, helping others, and acting with humility