The Leviev Foundation unveiled a major new educational program, pledging $50 million over the next five years to provide scholarships and educational grants for Jewish children from immigrant and underserved communities, the Jerusalem Post reported Monday.

Speaking at the Opening Gala of the media outlet’s New York Conference, Chagit Leviev Sofiev, daughter of billionair philantropist Lev Leviev stressed the importance of ensuring access to Jewish education, declaring that “Jewish identity should never be a luxury.” She recounted a conversation with a young public-school student who told her, “Don’t worry, no one in my school knows I am Jewish.”

The remark left a deep impression on her, she said, because Jewish children should feel proud of who they are and never feel compelled to conceal their identity.

The foundation, which focuses on strengthening Jewish identity through education, has already helped tens of thousands of Jewish children receive a Jewish education. Its work includes financial aid, mentorship opportunities, and partnerships with communities to support future generations.

“The importance of Jewish education was deeply rooted in my family”, she continued, describing how her great-grandfather, Zevulun Leviev, was sent to Siberia for teaching young “Jewish children how to read the aleph bet.” She also recalled that her grandfather, Avner, endangered himself to maintain Jewish traditions while secretly serving as the region’s only mohel. Her father often shared a lesson from her grandfather, who would tell him he was focusing on the “wrong diamonds,” because “the real diamonds are waiting for you, Jewish children need your help.”

That philosophy later inspired Lev Leviev to establish more than 150 Jewish schools and institutions across the former Soviet Union and other locations. He also went on to found the first free Jewish school in Queens.

Reflecting on raising her own children in the United States, Leviev Sofiev said she came to appreciate the same lesson her father had learned years earlier. “While raising my own children in America, I began to understand something my father had recognized decades earlier…they all understood something that we cannot forget,” she stated. “Jewish continuity survives only when each generation is willing to protect it.”

According to the foundation, the new initiative is intended to ensure that Jewish families are not forced to choose between financial pressures and providing their children with a Jewish education.

“My great-grandfather helped preserve Jewish learning, my grandfather reminded us who the real diamonds are, my father helped rebuild Jewish education, and now it is our responsibility to continue that work,” she said. “Because the greatest diamonds we will ever invest in are not the ones in jewelry, but the children of the future.”