The toll of the war initiated by Hamas on October 7, 2023 continues to grow. The continued suffering of the hostages and their families is beyond imagining. The sacrifices of Israel’s brave soldiers and reservists and their families is indescribable. All of these things have caused us in the Jewish communities in North America to mobilize in support.

 

The news of the recent hunger crisis in Gaza and the many efforts by Israel and others to address it, despite the manipulation of the humanitarian aid process by Hamas and the UN, has added yet another dimension to the response needed by our Jewish communities in North America. While nothing in our experience compares to the challenges our Israeli brothers and sisters face, we know that divisions here at home threaten a different kind of harm, one that could fracture us and impede our ability to flourish as a Jewish community.

We at the Jewish Federations of North America will continue to support Israel in every way we know how – including raising funds, organizing volunteer trips, welcoming Israeli children to our summer camps, and sending our children to learn about Israel up close. We couldn’t be more proud of everything our Federation system has done and continues to do to connect and engage our communities to Israel, and we know that there is much more to come as we work to help Rebuild Israel from this devastating war.

 

In the meantime, we all must redouble our efforts to help our communities understand the key issues at play. To assist you in this important work, we will increase the support available from our system to each Federation.

 

It is important that we continue to hear both from Israel’s official representatives and from those who can knowledgeably analyze the situation from the outside. We will continue to seek out and add additional webinars to our schedule in the coming weeks and months.

 

In addition, we are pleased to offer speakers to visit your community and offer briefings, community wide programs. We are in the process of finalizing the list of speakers, which tentatively will include John Spencer, Hen Mazzig, Haviv Rettig Gur, Lahav Harkov, and others. Of course, not all speakers will be available to travel to every community, and we appreciate your understanding as we work to coordinate this rather complex effort. Federation CEOs will receive a separate email with details about how to request and schedule a speaker to visit your community.

 

Finally, we will continue to provide regular written updates and analyses, as well as sample talking points and social media posts.

 

As always, we welcome your suggestions and feedback on how we can best support your important work. Please do not hesitate to reach out to either of us with your ideas.

 

Above all, we must remain united. We know we have many different points of view on the issues facing our communities and Israel. But as the book of Ecclesiastes puts it so beautifully, “if one attacks, two can stand up to him. A three-fold cord is not readily broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12). Entwining those who have different opinions into our communal effort makes us stronger – indeed, it is the only thing that will ensure our collective survival and flourishing.

 

Thank you for all you do for our community.

 

Gary Torgow, Chair
Eric Fingerhut, President and CEO