When Myra Kraft was five years old, she took a satchel, slipped quietly out of her house and proceeded to go door-to-door hitting on the neighbors for money. When she returned with a bag full of cash, her by-now-frantic mother gasped with a combination of relief and shock.
Myra Kraft, flanked by Israels National flag football team and coach Yonah Mishaan, at Kraft Stadium in Jerusalem.
The year was 1948. Myra's father, Jacob Hiatt - a Lithuanian immigrant who had settled in Worcester, Massachusetts, and made it rich in the packaging business - was away on a United Jewish Appeal mission to Europe and pre-state Palestine. Myra's little fund-raising escapade was her way of contributing to the cause. Or perhaps she was merely showing that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Either way, she has been engaged in this activity ever since, though her nickel-and-dime endeavor of childhood is now sung to the tune of millions. And the causes - like the foundations she has established or whose boards she chairs - are as numerous as they are varied. Having a net worth of more than $1 billion will do that, particularly when it is coupled with a belief in the act of giving and with the skills to persuade others to follow suit.
If Myra - who has just been appointed chair of the Israel committee for the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) - minds that she is best known today for the fact that her husband, Robert, is the owner of the New England Patriots, she does not show it. If anything, she seems happy to discuss the team in particular and football in general - a sport she says she used to hate but grew to love.
And though the purpose of our interview is to discuss the mission she, as head of Boston's Jewish federation, brings here every year, it is conducted at Kraft Family Stadium in Jerusalem, home of American Football in Israel. (A week hence, her husband and two of his players will kick off a game of tackle in the presence of the Boston group and local spectators as curious to hear Robert Kraft address the crowd in Hebrew as they are keen on getting his autograph.)
In the no-nonsense style for which she is famous in the world of professional philanthropy, Myra rattles off articulate answers to questions on a range of topics, making it clear which of her statements are off the record and which are merely a reflection of her personal opinion, particularly when it comes to politics.
About one thing she is utterly unequivocal, however: "The way Israel is portrayed in the media is so wrong," she says.
Why, if you've got the Patriots, would an amateur football organization in Jerusalem be of any interest to you and your husband?
About 10 years ago, when [AFI President] Steve Leibowitz approached us through the Jerusalem Foundation - with which we had had previous dealings - providing a place for kids to play sports was really a no-brainer for us. [At the time, Ehud Olmert was the mayor of Jerusalem and gave the project four dunams of unused land in the city.]
Then, a few years ago, we enhanced the field by funding state-of-the-art artificial field turf, because water is such a precious commodity in Israel.
I'll tell you a funny story. The other day, a family with two little kids asked me directions to Kraft Stadium. The person I was with asked them why they were looking for it. They said that they had read about it in a guide book and their kids wanted to see it. So, apparently it's made some tour books, which is fantastic.
Every time I drive by there, the lights are on, and there are people playing sports - even on Shabbat. It's the best use of money that I've ever seen.
Steve is the best. Not only have we enjoyed our friendship with him and his family over the years, but he's very good at making sure the right thing is happening at the stadium.
How did you feel when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl to the Giants last month?
Well, it was sad. But it's important to remember that we had a perfect season up until then, which is a real accomplishment. And once you get over the disappointment, you don't dwell on it; you start focusing on the future. There's always next season.
What is your take on what has come to be called "Spygate"? [The case of a Patriots employee being accused of videotaping the signals of the coaches of the New York Jets during a game. National Football League (NFL) Commissioner Roger Goodell fined Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000, and docked the team $250,000 and a first-round draft pick. Goodell subsequently had the videotape destroyed, arousing the ire of Sen. Arlen Specter. Goodell has since defended his actions on the grounds that the Patriots paid their dues and have behaved above board since then.]
You know, that was looked into already by the NFL. We cooperated fully, and the NFL was satisfied. It was the NFL that destroyed the tapes. That Congress should be dealing with this stuff while troops are in Iraq and the country is in a recession is appalling. It should be busy with other things that genuinely concern the American taxpayer.
Is it true that you had to develop a taste for football?
Yes. I hated it. My husband and my [four] sons used to go to games every Sunday, and when they did, I would have a great time by myself, going to the movies and doing The New York Times crossword puzzle. I couldn't understand the game no matter how hard they tried to get me to learn it. Then, when Robert bought the team, the first game they played after that was in Miami, over Labor Day weekend. Well, I went, but I thought, "I'm leaving Cape Cod to go to Miami?"
When the first play was over, I turned to my husband and sons to ask them a question, and they told me to be quiet. "For years, we begged you to learn and tried to teach you. Now you've got to do it on your own."
So I did.
How?
By watching and asking questions - at the right time. And every year, my knowledge increased. Now I absolutely love it. I had thought it was just a brutal, stupid sport. Actually, it's layered and complex. You have to be very, very smart to play it and to coach it. It's a brilliant sport. It's like strategizing a war - the way chess is.
