American Jewish billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has the means to throw himself a grand bar mitzvah, but he chose a modest way to make it happen at the age of 58.
Ackman, whose net worth was estimated at $9.3 billion by Forbes, stood to pray in his office recently. He had tefillin wrapped on his left arm and head as he recited the Shema. Standing alongside was Yossi Farro, a Chabad yeshiva student who is relentless about putting on tefillin with Jewish men—especially notable ones.
“Mazel tov @BillAckman on your bar mitzvah today!” Farro tweeted. “Just wrapped tefillin with Bill Ackman for the first time in his life, one of the world’s most powerful and influential hedge fund managers and a proud Jew.”
Ackman has become one of the leading voices in America against antisemitism and in defense of Israel since the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war with terrorists from Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iran. Ackman said that his father, Larry Ackman, who passed away in 2022, often encouraged him to do more, repeatedly saying, “you’re not doing enough about antisemitism.”
Reflecting on that day, Bill Ackman remarked, “good comes from bad. October 7th has united the global Jewish community like never before.”
“Today, we wrapped tefillin as proud Jews in memory of the 1,200 innocent souls who were taken just because they were Jewish,” Farro wrote. Ackman later retweeted the photos and commented: “I am not a particularly religious person, but I have always believed it makes sense to hedge.”
Apparently, even a skeptic likes a little divine insurance...
Adapted from COLlive
