Sam Offir
Lifetime Achievement Award
Sam Offir was born in Haifa, Israel in 1943. His parents, Yaakov and Sarah Laufer, were both members of the founding generation of the modern State of Israel. Yaakov escaped Polish persecution and made aliya in 1933, while Sarah made aliyah in 1938 to escape Romanian persecution. Married in 1940, they had distinguished careers at Tnuva, Israel’s largest dairy manufacturer and distributor, and a Haifa based orphanage caring for children who lost their parents in the Holocaust.
Sam met, Shoshana, the future love of his life, in kindergarten, and, coincidentally, Sam’s best friend through his school years was Shoshana’s twin brother Izzy. After graduating High School, Sam served three years in the Israeli Army, achieving the rank of Sergeant in the Intelligence Corps.
In 1965, Sam moved to Detroit to marry Shoshana and study advertising. In his 50+ year successful career, he established himself as a master of product development, merchandising, marketing and sales in the electronics, toys and jewelry industries. These skills have also served him well in his 32 years as Gabbi at JCAB.
Sam is a proud father of his sons Don (and Jaymi) and Ron (and Celia), and he derives lots of nachat from his five talented grandchildren, Jacob (23), Isabel (20), Zoe (19), Tali (17) and Rachel (16).
Sam and Shoshana have been pillars of the shul ever since moving to Atlantic Beach 43 years ago. In addition to being Gabbai and a Trustee, Sam has been studying and sharing Kabbalistic wisdom whenever he gets the chance.