Judy & Michael Steinhardt
AT HOME AT IROKI
In Yiddish the word kavod (pronounced in the vernacular as kuved) means glory, honor, praise, dignity, and respect, and the word nachas (pronounced nachus) means gratification, pride, satisfaction, and personal fulfillment.
Michael Steinhardt is a renowned Wall Street pioneer, has been a shaper of the American political landscape, and is famous for having amassed one of the largest private art collections and the largest private Judaica collection on the planet. He’s also put decades of work, and a lot of heart, into developing his residence in the estate section of Mt. Kisco, called Iroki - Japanese for ‘garden of surprises’ - the name the American novelist Theodore Dreiser gave the property when he lived there in the first half of the 20th Century. The property is complete with a zoo, one of the largest collections of flora in the U.S., and years of collected follies.
But when it comes to lifetime achievement, and the kind of things by which the life of a man is judged, Michael Steinhardt’s devotion to Jewish philanthropy and to his wife, Judy, and their family, will be his real legacy. …And, by all measures, Michael Steinhardt deserves to be lavished with copious kavod, and has earned and should rightfully enjoy a heart filled with nachus.
A legendary figure in the world of finance, Michael became one of Wall Street’s first multi-billionaires, but, as he says, “My career in the market was more about being the smartest guy in the business than about accumulating wealth.”
Jon Corzine, the former Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, and former U.S. Senator and Governor of New Jersey, says about Michael, “Steinhardt was at the forefront of large-block trading and, for many years, was the go-to non-institutional whale who could be trusted to fulfill whatever deal was struck. We knew his word was his bond, and I always thought of him as a strong and honorable man. …And as the financial markets became more and more sophisticated, Michael became a founder of active money management and of the modern day hedge fund. He probably shorted more securities than any other investor, having the courage of his conviction…which more often than not proved to be correct.”
And Jonathon Steinberg, CEO of WisdomTree, Inc., a global financial innovator offering a diverse suite of exchange traded products, models, and solutions, as well as digital asset-related products, says about Michael, “Having Michael serve as Chairman of WisdomTree from 2004 to 2019 was both a privilege and a defining influence on our firm’s evolution. His remarkable instincts, sharp intellect, and candid nature shaped how we approached markets, risk, and long-term strategy. Michael doesn’t just challenge convention—he reshapes it. He has been a mentor in the truest sense: a formidable presence, a relentless thinker, and a leader whose standards elevated everyone around him.”
Michael reflects, “I’ve been addicted to the thrill of buying and selling stocks since my father gave me some Erie Lackawanna bonds he won in a poker game for my bar-mitzvah present, and I’m obviously proud of my track record. But the last thing I’d like to have on my tombstone, or to be remembered by, is that I was a great trader!”
Michael was once also thought of as a philosophical leader and a mover-and-shaker in American politics, having served as Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Conference, founded by Al From, which notably involved such figures as Senator ‘Scoop’ Jackson and Sam Nunn, and which had shifting the Democratic Party to a more centrist agenda as its primary objective. The DLC was dissolved in 2011 as the Democratic Party continued to move to the left, and Michael looks back dismissively, commenting that, “The problem with politics is the politicians!”
And, with great wealth in hand, Michael became a highly regarded art collector, amassing a vast collection of everything from Antiquity to Renaissance to Modern arts, and what was widely regarded to be one of the world’s finest collections of Jewish ceremonial art. Director Emeritus of The Israel Museum in Jerusalem and current Director of the Jewish Museum in New York - and Pound Ridge local - James Snyder, says about Michael, “Michael’s engagement in the collecting world – from Ancient Art to Old Masters to Modern Art – has been a model in many ways. Very few collectors have done as much to put Jewish culture in the context of other world cultures, or have helped museums - from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the Israel Museum - to highlight these connections.”
When Michael sold his Judaica collection in 2013, Sotheby’s called it the most valuable collection of Judaica ever offered for sale. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York together purchased the iconic late Renaissance Northern Italian manuscript of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, and the Met also acquired 18th Century Italian and 19th Century American Torah Crowns and Finials. “Collecting art was all-consuming for a period, but it was never as rewarding as anything that has gone on here for me and Judy in Bedford,” Michael remarks.
One passion which continues to this day for Michael, is his beloved Iroki the family’s 60-acre property, One passion which continues to this day for Michael, is his beloved Iroki, the family’s 60-acre property, located just down the road from Dominique Bluhdorn’s Louis Dreyfus Estate and Eric Hadar’s Wood Estate in Mt. Kisco. When Judy and Michael bought the first part of the property in 1978, they moved into the rather unattractive and somewhat uncomfortable modern house that was already there. They built the barn complex that is now on the property in 1997, and it was not until 2000 that they built ‘The Lodge’, a stunning, but relatively humble Adirondack country house - intending for it to become the guest house once they could construct a more spectacular main residence on the site of the original modern house.
…Then, after living in The Lodge for more than a decade, Judy and Michael decided it was just right for them!
…Whereupon they built a large Modern Cubist-design home with walls of glass designed by the French architect Philippe Starck, reminiscent of Corbusier, and made of prefabricated elements, called a Path House…and, in 2018, their daughter Sara, her husband Mark, and their family moved into this ‘main’ residence!
Going way beyond the zebras Hearst had roaming San Simeon, Iroki’s menagerie began with two adopted donkeys from a rescue program in the Grand Canyon, and grew to include zebras and zonkeys! Because Michael and Judy have been fascinated by the wide variety of exotic animals they’ve seen travelling all over the globe, the Iroki’s ever expanding collection of over 100 different species includes Bactrian camels, kangaroos, capybaras, scimitar-horned oryx, llamas, antelopes, fallow deer, albino wallabies, greater kudu, guanaco, mouflon, porcupines, and tortoises…pin tails, Muscovy ducks, Barrhead geese, and various water fowl from around the world…and, in a one-acre aviary, an array of exotic birds, including rheas, blue cranes, Grey Crowned Cranes, flamingos, black and white swans, and specimen macaws.
Michael is absolutely in his element taking walks on the myriad trails and paths to view the various gardens, fields, forests and wetlands - each designed to mimic a foreign and particular ecosystem - and to take-in the installations and follies Michael has had strategically installed over the years. And Judy is known for her four-mile long and fast-paced daily walks around the property, and is particularly enthralled by the flower gardens, having recently erected a most magnificent rose garden with at least 100 different varieties of roses in all different colors, designed to have constant blooms from late April through late October.
Jason Hayes is the longtime and trusted Property Manager who has overseen everything at Iroki for almost two decades. “What Michael has assembled here at Iroki is truly unique, and the property maintenance and care for the animals that he demands is second to none,” Jason relays. “We supplement the trees and plant material on the property each year. We have over 1,200 varieties of Japanese maples, and an outstanding conifer collection. Several years ago we started doing annual trips to the Pacific Northwest, always looking for the most unique specimens that we don’t already have here. We push the edge of hardiness and coddle the more delicate plants and trees through the winter. It takes an army to make this place what it is! And no two days here are the same, the landscape is ever evolving and is really a work of art unto its own. It’s fair to say that Michael is obsessed with maple trees and with conifers, and really all varieties of flora and fauna. He wants to see beautiful colors, especially preferring yellow, and exotic varieties, many of which become features of the property. …And each year I’m also charged with locating some object d’art, oddment, or other exotic curiosity - and importing it to, or recreating it at Iroki.” Michael comments, “I want to be delighted!”
THE BARN COMPLEX, CONSTRUCTED IN 1997, IS HOME TO THE TORTOISES, KANGAROOS, BUNNIES, TWO MASSIVE GREAT PYRENEES, LLAMAS, SCIMITAR-HORNED ORYX, ALBINO WALLABIES. ITS GREENHOUSE GROWS MOSTLY BEGONIAS AND TROPICAL PLANTS. JASON HAYES SHARES, “MICHAEL HAS ALWAYS BEEN INTRIGUED BY WHAT WE CAN GROW AND CULTIVATE... HE GREW UP IN BROOKLYN - AND HE JUST LIKES TO BE AROUND ALL FORMS OF NATURE AND GREENERY.”
A THREE-STORY BAMBOO INSTALLATION, CALLED BIG BAMBÚ, BY ARTISTS DOUG AND MIKE STARN - ALSO KNOWN FOR THEIR INSTALLATIONS ON THE ROOFTOP OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART AND AT STORM KING ART CENTER - WHICH FEATURES AN INTERNAL PATHWAY FOR GUESTS TO CLIMB INTO THE SKY.
Still, Michael’s most extraordinary achievement has been as a philanthropist, and in the area of Jewish philanthropy in particular.
His non-affiliated giving is noteworthy, and has included his $30M gift to what is now named the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, among other significant contributions to organizations supporting causes including democracy, social services, and education. But Michael’s Jewish philanthropy is something else altogether.
He was a member of what was called the Mega Group or Study Group, which was a philanthropic affiliation of the twenty or so wealthiest Jewish businessmen. He was an owner of the influential Jewish weekly newspaper The Forward from 1995 to 2000, until he had a philosophical difference with that publication’s move to what Steinhardt saw as too extreme left. He served as Chairman of the Board of Tel Aviv University, was a significant donor to the American Hebrew Academy, and he endowed the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, located on Tel Aviv University’s campus. His Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life, which his daughter Sara Bloom runs, is one of the leading Jewish charitable organizations in America. As Sara rightfully boasts, “The Steinhardt Foundation funds a group of Hebrew language charter schools located in Brooklyn, Staten Island, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles, called Hebrew Public. We co-founded and support OneTable, which has supplied hundreds of thousands of Friday-night Shabbat dinners to groups of Jews who need only apply for the funding, in order to promote coming together and building community and help younger Jews create a Shabbat habit and deepen their involvement in a Jewish life. We are excited about a new project called Shiva Circle, run by the Shomer Collective, which will help spread the practice of Shiva - the rituals surrounding death. And, until 2018, we published the influential Contact magazine - and a library of issues is available on our website.”
“My father is endlessly creative, and just like when he was managing money, he is willing to take huge risks, and even spectacularly fail, as long as we try something different. I admire his imagination and willingness to dream big. He loves Hebrew, and wants all American children to have access to the language that the founders of our country knew so well. He wanted young adults to have access to the timeworn wisdom of celebrating Shabbat dinners each and every Friday night, and thus OneTable was born.”
…And his crowning success in Jewish philanthropy is as the Co-Founder and a key supporter of Birthright Israel, an organization dedicated to sending young Jews on a free ten-day trip to Israel, and now also to subsidizing adult Jews first trips to the Jewish State. Michael’s daughter Sara comments, “Birthright has sent 800,000 young Jews to Israel in the last 25 years and, because my father and Charles Bronfman insisted on rigorous data keeping from the outset, the success of the program can be objectively measured. Visiting Israel works in helping to inculcate Jewish pride. Fifty percent of those who’ve been on Birthright return to Israel on their own at least once. Jews who have been on Birthright are 37% more likely to have a Jewish partner, 13% more likely to raise their children Jewish, and twice as likely to have a strong connection to Israel. …And 14 years ago we started Birthright Excel, where we arrange a 12-week internship in Israel for high-achieving Jewish students following their sophomore year of college - and, with over 1,000 alumnae, we are already seeing fruit as program graduates take special interest in supporting the State of Israel in one way or another.”
“I am a proud Jew and a proud Zionist,” Michael proclaims. “I’m not afraid to highlight the disproportionate achievements and contributions of Jewish people to society, and a focus of my life has been to promote Jewish pride. Jews are responsible for being a moral conscience in the world and to celebrate and affirm life! That charge distinguishes us…and gives the world reason for optimism and hope for the future. It’s not easy being a Jew! Contrary to some anti-Semitic tropes, we Jews are big on tzedakah - giving charity, and our collective giving far outsizes our being a puny two percent minority of the American public. My focus has always been on educating Jews about their history, culture, and rich tradition, and in promoting Jewish values, and encouraging Jews to actually experience being Jewish as a part of everyday life. …And, as I’ve been quoted as saying over the years, I believe that the more one understands Israel’s promise and predicament, the more one understands that Zionism is a force for good.”
“We are devoted to Jewish life and values, but we are not religious,” Michael’s wife Judy interjects. “I grew up in Scranton and was too busy cheerleading to go to attend Hebrew school. My family’s Judaism centered around holidays. One of Michael’s passions has been educating the next generation of American Jews to understand their identity. At his heart, he is an innovator. For example, when everyone poo-pooed the idea that sending young adults to Israel for free could be transformative, Michael insisted. And Birthright has been a tremendous success.”
“The creativity and wild imagination that Michael applied to the stock markets, and then to philanthropy, he also applied to our gardens,” Judy continues. “Since 1978 when Michael and I purchased our first 16 acres on Croton Lake Road we have both been deeply involved with the property. Michael with the gardens, trees, and animals, and I with the architecture and design of the barns and the houses. We were looking for a country home that was commutable to Manhattan. Michael was at the height of his hedge fund career - working 24 hours a day - and a close friend told us about a rental in Bedford. After spending a summer in Watermill with three small kids and seeing Michael only on weekends the idea of a one-hour commute was appealing. When we first came to see the property, Michael immediately fell in love with some breathtaking roses…it was the beginning of Michael’s great interest in gardening and landscaping. But then, when we drove up to the property for the closing, the seller was busy uprooting those roses to take with them. We were devastated. But our passion and curiosity was sparked.”
“From the very beginning of our life on Croton Lake Road I have a clear image of Michael pouring over garden catalogues. Every winter weekend he would sit in his favorite chair in front of the fireplace reading, circling, and rereading descriptions of annuals, perennials, fruit trees, and conifers. What always amazed me was there was never a photo of the plant, only a vivid verbal description. Those catalogues ran the gamut from roses to dahlias to camellias, flowering shrubs and conifers with purple cones. He often became so excited that he would read the description aloud to me which would include the color, size, and fragrance of the plant. On Monday morning Michael would turn in the catalogues to his secretaries who were asked to order everything he had circled. …And then there were the trips to the nurseries. A Day Lily farm in Rhode Island, a yearly visit to Marders and Whitmore on Long Island in search of an unusual maple or some other specimen tree. …And as if that wasn’t enough, Michael and Jason started late winter visits to the Pacific Northwest where they both established precious friendships with two special tree nurserymen, Talon Buchholz and Bill Patterson.”
“And next came the animals. In 1980 we heard on a special CBS newscast that burros were overpopulating the Grand Canyon. These burros were up for adoption and two very quickly became part of our family. As did Molly and McGee, two goats that Michael proudly led around on a leash. We also took in Ananaie , a retired Buffalo from the Big Apple Circus,“ Judy remembers with a smile.
Iroki is indicative not just of Michael’s vision, ingenuity, and perseverance, but of the kind of great fun Michael and I have had together for the last half-a-century! Old as we are, we’re still a young couple!” Judy proclaims.
Taking in Judy’s praise, Michael says with some emotion welling, “In the end, it comes down to family! …Our three children, David, Daniel, and Sara, have blessed us with 14 grandchildren!” And, with that as a starter, Michael launches into a prideful description of each grandchild, starting with their name and age and then including a story about some facet of his personal connection with each one. He takes a family picture off the shelf and says, “If you want to know the meaning of life…it’s right there!”
…And the feeling is mutual…
Asked to comment on what makes Michael special, his daughter Sara offered, “He’s the greatest dad. Period. End of story. He set the bar high for our family, and always expected hard work, dedication, and excellence. He frowned on materialism, and always reminded us that we are judged not by what we say, but by our actions, how we live our lives and how we treat the people around us. He always wants to know how he can help, what he can do to make our lives better. …They say that there is a blessing in a long life, and as I get older, I understand that more. I’ve had the privilege of working with my dad at our Foundation, and I live on the same property as an adult with my own family. My children are lucky to know my parents through their own eyes and experiences. They see the life they have built, with our family smack at the center. Our immediate family of course, but also our extended family. My dad worked hard, and was successful, and then retired in his mid-50s, devoting himself with the same energy he had to making money, to giving it away. We all feel enormously blessed to have our parents as our role models.“
And Michael’s son David says, “The word that best sums up my dad---and what I probably admire most about him—is his passion. When he was in business, his passion to be the best resulted in one of the longest and best investment records in hedge fund history. He made a fortune and then gave a lot of it away. And that passion extended to his philanthropy where he took risks and genuinely helped move the needle, making a difference in the causes he has cared most about. And when you walk around his place in Bedford and experience the beauty of the Japanese maple garden in the fall, or pick golden raspberries in the summer---or watch an Albino Wallaby hop across a field with a baby’s head poking out its pouch ---you know you’re experiencing the embodiment of my father’s love and passion for plants and animals—in this magical haven he built to enjoy with his family.”
And a few of Michael’s grandchildren also poignantly touched on their sense of Michael’s essence…
His grandson Jacob Berman, who is 26, writes: “I am in awe of Hoohaw and the way he has lived his life - true to his convictions, with deep emotional vulnerability, and with intensity for the things he cares about. He is careful with his words and has a deep love and appreciation for his family. And as a grandchild, especially since by the time we came around Hoohaw had retired from his career, he has been nothing but doting, inquisitive, and loving. I feel grateful for the relationship I have with him.”
His grandson Josh Berman, who is 24, writes: “Hoohaw calls frequently and cares deeply about what I’m doing. He always wants to know the latest about everything in my life - from what’s going on at my job, to what’s going on with my friends, and about what’s happening in my love life - especially the latter. He loves trying all different types of food - a love which has definitely been passed down to me. And he was a good stickball player back in his Brooklyn days...but no longer. He has always been larger than life…but he’s always made me feel special!”
His granddaughter Kira Berman, 22, writes: “I am so proud to have Hoohaw as my grandpa. Through example, he’s instilled in us values of intellectual curiosity, rooting for the underdog, and—of course—a true passion for food. From quizzing us with mental math to racing crabs at the beach, he’s always been such a fun and involved presence in our lives.”
And his granddaughter Lila Steinhardt, who is 19, writes: “As a grandpa, Hoohaw has always had a special way of making me feel loved. He can always make me laugh with his quick wit and the silly side he reserves just for us grandchildren. Those moments of laughter and lightheartedness are some of my fondest memories with him, and they show me a warmth and playfulness that is uniquely his. …Beyond that, Hoohaw’s actions have always inspired me. His creation of Birthright Israel is a perfect example of how his passions and dedication come to life. His vision to connect young Jews to their heritage was nothing short of genius, and he approached it with humble charitability—never seeking recognition, but genuinely wanting to make a difference. His dedication to his family, his love for my grandma Judy, his passion for animals, and his deep commitment to the Jewish world are all pieces of a legacy that I’m so proud to be a part of. He has built a legacy through his actions, teaching me not just through his words but by the life he leads.”
…Heaps of kavod and plenty of nachus. Michael Steinhardt has every right to be kvelling - being proud. He’s a mensch - a true gentleman!