We need you to keep thinking of us

I spent much of this week in Israel, where I had the privilege of meeting with friends and colleagues across the country. It was an honor to represent our community at The Jewish Agency for Israel’s Board of Governors meeting and as I traveled south to north to visit several of our grantees. My top takeaway? The Israeli people are some of the most resilient I’ve ever met.

I made several videos throughout the trip to share my experience and messages from Israelis with you.

I’m heading into Thanksgiving with deep gratitude for you. You continue to see the Israeli people through these very challenging times, and as you’ll see from the videos, they mostly just wanted to say thank you.

More highlights from my trip below. I’ll be back with another update after the holiday.

• One of my first stops was at the Nova Festival site, now a memorial for those killed on October 7^th. Mourning there made one of my final stops even more powerful: I joined survivors of the Nova Festival who are working to heal through their art.
• In the South, I visited with members of two kibbutzim, Reim and Alumim, where the communities are returning to rebuild. I was also able to see the situation room and security camera system our community helped Kibbutz Reim purchase — essential to help members feel safe as they finally come home. When I asked Sarah-Jane Landsman from Kibbutz Alumim what she’d want to share with our community, she said, “We need you to keep thinking of us… it gives us the strength to keep going.” Watch more of our conversation here.
• It was deeply moving to join the Kinneret Valley Cluster’s Jewish and Arab leaders for a mezuzah-placing ceremony at the bomb shelter funded by our emergency grant. You may remember I wrote about this very shelter being installed just weeks ago amidst constant rocket attacks. The leaders from these diverse communities are working together to build a better future and stronger Israel.
• The Cluster’s work is extensive, and supports people of all ages. I spent time at local schools with some of the 1,000 children living in temporary housing and hotels — talk about resilient. Our support is making sure these students can continue to attend school and have some sense of normalcy when everything else in their lives may feel chaotic. Hear directly from high school student, Roni, and from their principal.
• Finally, an essential point shared during the Jewish Agency Board of Governors meeting: across North America, Federation communities have raised $849 million for Israel and have since facilitated 6 million touchpoints for victims of the war — an incredible show of support and generosity. I hope you’re as proud as I am of our community’s role in it.