Adam Klazmer: Life Insurance Gift Begins a Legacy at the Age of 27

When it came time to decide how to spend the summer between ninth and tenth grade, instead of signing up for another season at his beloved Camp Ramah, Adam Klazmer and his brother decided to travel to Israel to work on a moshav outside of Zichron Ya’akov. “I fell madly in love with Israel,” Adam remembers. In eleventh grade, he returned to Israel and his affection only grew—so much so that he came home with an announcement: He was going to move to Israel and join the army.

Five years later, after graduating from Babson College, that’s exactly what Adam did. From 2010 to 2012 Adam proudly served as a lone soldier in the Israel Defense Force. His service with the 50th Battalion of the Nahal Infantry Brigade took him from the West Bank to the border with the Gaza Strip. He loved living in Israel, and returning to Philadelphia was a challenge. He felt lost. Luckily, a friend introduced Adam to a number of charitable organizations, including Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Philadelphia, and he began to develop a warm community that shared his lifelong philosophy: Kol yisrael arevim zeh bazeh (All of Israel are responsible for one another).

Even as he immersed himself in the Philadelphia community, Adam continued to think of his friends who were still serving in the Israeli military. He remembered that, as a lone soldier, managing day-to-day life was difficult when off base. He didn’t always have time to wash his sheets or cook a hot meal; and with his family so far away, support was limited. Adam was struck by his sense of duty to his fellow lone soldiers. “Whatever I can do to make their lives easier—to remind them that somebody appreciates them, cares about them, and respects what they’re doing—then that’s my job.”

So Adam got to work. As a financial planner, he knew he could use a life insurance policy to make a profound impact on our Jewish community. When he learned that he could direct his planned gift specifically toward supporting lone soldiers through the Jewish Community Foundation, he knew he’d found the perfect fit. That he was only 27 years old didn’t deter him.

“Using the leverage that life insurance provides, I’m able to make an impact that is so much greater than I otherwise could,” Adam explains. Adam recognizes that, at this stage of his life, there is a limit to the impact that he can have, but he is committed to making a difference. “There will be more,” he says, and his reasoning is simple: “When people need a hand, you give it to them.”