Many people in the local Jewish community in Los Angeles were saddened by the untimely death of Ivan Wolkind.
Wolkind passed away on Friday, May 11 of a sudden cardiac arrest while working out in the gym. He was 56 years old.
Wolkind served as the chief operating and financial officer at The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, before assuming the role of CEO at Magen Am in August 2023.
Rabbi Yossi Eilfort the founder of Magen Am which offers security services, remembers Wolkind fondly: “A year ago, I was going through a hard time and my board said: ‘Find someone who is like a mentor’. We were looking for someone with experience with Jewish nonprofit in Los Angeles, business experience, security and law enforcement experience. We were joking that it’s like looking for a unicorn. How can you find someone like that? But Ivan was all of those things.”
The two met for the first time around eight years ago. “He joked and called us the scary hairy Jews with guns,” said Eilfort. “So last year around this time I reached out and we went for lunch and I asked him if he’ll help me through our next step. Over the next couple of weeks he was on the program and he fell in love with the mission and what we do and decided to come on full time.”
Wolkind started as a consultant on August 2023 and joined Magen Am as CEO in December. On an interview with the Journal earlier this year, he spoke passionately about his work with Magen Am.
“I always believed that we, in the Jewish community, need to be equipped and responsible for our own security. There are no better security guards than people in the community who can recognize what is normal and what is not and act accordingly to protect the community.”
Beyond his professional endeavors, Wolkind served as a reserve police officer with LAPD, patrolling Los Angeles streets regularly. “I do it about three to four times a month. I finish my day job, go home, take a shower, put on the uniform, get my gun and go on patrol. It’s my way to give back to the community, and I take it very seriously,” he said.
“We were fortunate that he agreed and became part of the team,” Eilfort said. “Everyone on the team loved having him as a part of it. I’m not an easy person to work with, a little of a control freak and he was very patient; his wife told me he is similar so it worked out.”
Despite his excitement about his new position with Magen Am, Wolkind recently accepted an offer from the Holocaust Museum in Houston to serve as their CEO.
With his youngest children about to leave the house for college he felt it was time to make the move. The family was planning to leave California this summer.
“He always told me, ‘We are going to change how Jews in America are going to live in generations to come.‘ He really believed in helping make the Jewish community more secure.” – Rabbi Yossi Eilfort
“He always told me, ‘We are going to change how Jews in America are going to live in generations to come,” said Rabbi Eilfort. “He really believed in helping make the Jewish community more secure. This is what he truly believed in, but he always put his family first.”
Wolkind is survived by his wife Leah Lesch and three children: Rosie, Lenny and Nettie.
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