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In Global News

The Coronavirus in Israel

Keren Rosenberg, our Global Jewish Peoplehood Director, is currently staying in Israel with her family and working remotely. Keren has visited our partnership region as well as other places and programs supported by Federation. Keren, a native Israeli, who has lived in the U.S. for the past 8 years, shares the cultural differences of dealing with the pandemic, as well as the government approach. Keren observes: 

Israelis are used to dealing with emergencies and extreme situations, which makes them eager to enjoy life, celebrate, and appreciate the moment. While living under strict lock-down, Israelis expressed themselves through balcony singing to connect themselves to each other and raise their spirits. The singing continues to be popular both in religious and secular cities, even among residents of Amigur, an assisted living facility for seniors, supported by Federation.

The Resurgence of Coronavirus
After the quarantine rules were relaxed in May, the virus had a resurgence. Tel Aviv feels crowded and busy — the beaches, restaurants, bars and the Shuk are crowded, but mask wearing is required and enforced. It is common in Israel for people who test positive for the COVID-19 virus to stay at hotels repurposed as quarantine facilities. Social distancing rules aren’t observed at the hotels because everyone is positive, so there’s a party-like atmosphere, despite the pandemic. 

Israel also has been doing extensive contact tracing by monitoring cell phone data. Israelis get a text message if they have been in contact with an infected person, asking them to remain quarantined. The government has recently approved a “traffic light plan” for managing the pandemic, which creates an intervention model in “red” and “orange” cities. 

Impact in Yokneam: 
Because of the Coronavirus crisis, many people are unemployed in Yokneam. Emergency funds allocated from Atlanta are a lifeline for families who are struggling. Yokneam is beginning to develop its own philanthropic infrastructure to support local needs. For example: 

  • 110 computers were given to needy families in Yokneam by Israeli companies. 
  • The Mayor opened a bank account for funds raised by Israelis to help Yokneam families. 
  • The municipality is looking to hire someone who can develop relationships and funding from the factories in and around Yokneam. 
  • The Maof Ethiopian Family Center is doubling down on identifying new needs of the community because of the pandemic. The center helps families to find jobs and get support from organizations in the city. 
  • After the “Yo-Tech” group won first-place in the national competition, planning has begun for a new year. The goal is to recruit both Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian teens, to continue with app development and plan accordingly for internships in local hi-tech companies. 

Impact in Megiddo: 
Family empowerment in the Moshavim (agricultural communities) is the top priority. There is a focus on outdoor workshops and activities for the Moshavim‘s teens because of the pandemic. The emphasis is on intergenerational activities and activities that will serve the entire community and last for many years, such as building outdoor furniture from recycled material. The hope is that teens will take care of things they created and avoid vandalism. Kidum Noar, Megiddo’s youth at risk department, will open a new department of business-social entrepreneurship for the teens. 

jewishatl
In Global News

Yo-Tech Program Wins National Competition

There was happiness and excitement in Atlanta and in Yokneam, our partnership city in Israel, when “Yo-Tech,” a Federation-supported initiative, won first prize in Machshava Tova — a national competition challenging teen entrepreneurs to create innovative “apps.” Machshava Tova, which means “good idea,” is an Israeli nonprofit organization with a mission to give underprivileged populations access to technology in a supportive and empowering environment. The ultimate goal is to help at-risk youth develop skills that will help them find careers in Israel’s booming high tech sector.

Our winning six-member team from Yokneam was one of just ten groups from different cities to reach the finals. They presented their app to a panel of ten judges via Zoom because of the Covid-19 regulations. Their app, called “Old School,” connects teens and seniors who share the same interests and hobbies, and matches them to connect either virtually or face to face. The teens can help seniors with tech challenges, or simply spend time with them in order to overcome loneliness. Each of the six teen winners will receive a laptop from Citibank Israel.

“This program gave me so much,” said 16-year-old Gavriel. “I was interested in computers because I know it’s the future, but I never had a chance to learn it. I have learned a lot of cool stuff about using the computer, how to speak in front of an audience, to cooperate with my friends, to work with deadlines and so much more.”

Lori Kagan Schwarz, who is Federation’s new board co-chair, was part of the committee that helped conceptualize and fund the “Yo Tech” project. She said, “I’m so honored to play a small part in the Yokneam teens’ accomplishment. It’s so fulfilling when we see a direct connection between the meaningful work we do around the table in our meetings and the outcomes on the ground, especially halfway around the world.”

Craig Kornblum, who chairs Federation’s Global Jewish Partnership Committee added, “This is one of the programs created by our committee to engage and inspire the youth in our partner region. I’m so proud of these kids!”

jewishatl
In Atlanta Jewish Community, Global News

Race in Israel: Weber Students Learn the Ethiopian Story

This spring, just as Americans were rising up to protest the killing of George Floyd, Michal Ilai, who heads Israel Programs at Weber was preparing an intense month of high-level Hebrew learning for her summer school students. Given the protests, she felt it was a great opportunity to engage her Hebrew students in issues of race and diversity in Israel.

“With demonstrations occurring in cities around the world, it seemed like a great opportunity to talk about racism and diversity in the Israeli community. I reached out to my long-time educational partner Harel Felder at Dror Israel, an organization that is at the forefront of diversity education in Israel and asked him to help my students learn about race relations in Israel,” Michal Ilai said.

Harel Felder immediately thought of his colleague Liel, an Ethiopian immigrant who runs Dror programs for the Ethiopian community and invited her to speak with the students and share her personal story all that she’s doing to lift up the lives of Ethiopian Israelis.

Seth Shapiro, a rising Weber senior said of the experience, “Liel’s story expanded our minds and brought a new significance to many current world issues and even some of the more local issues. Listening to people like that speak of their experiences broadens horizons.”

Another rising senior in the class, Carly Spandorfer, said, “During our month-long summer course, we learned about and met many different types of people living in Israel. As we are seeing issues of race relations here in America, I feel it was absolutely necessary to discuss race relations in Israel. Learning about Ethiopian Jewry was particularly meaningful for me because we’re so used to speaking about Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews — it was refreshing to hear about somebody who is Ethiopian and has a different story than many of us. It was very empowering to hear that despite struggles Liel faces in Israel due to her skin color, she is even more committed to her Zionism and to improving her country.”

Michal Ilai felt the partnership with Dror Israel was a success. “My hope for this lesson was that students would be able to analyze events with greater clarity and articulate their position about racial inequality both here and in Israel. I was glad to see both goals were achieved.”

jewishatl
In Atlanta Jewish Community, Global News, Jewish Journeys, Shinshinim Atlanta

Feeling at Home, Far from Home

Feeling at Home, Far From Home
by Itay Yekutiel, Israel Shinshin

My experience as a Shinshin (young Israeli emissary) in Atlanta for the past two months can be expressed through the song by the Israeli band, Hatikva 6.  The song begins with a guy saying, “Here I am. I came to the world to give the time. Hello everyone, I’m ready!” He asks himself, “What is my purpose in this world?” It brings me back to the day I boarded a plane to Atlanta with seven other Shinshinim and went on the journey of a lifetime. We landed in Atlanta and it took me a long time to realize, here I am, this is what I’ve been waiting for so long! Every place we visit, and every person I talk to, just adds more to my experience, my journey, and my life.

Originally I am from Tel Aviv, but shortly before I came to Atlanta my family moved to Holon, a small city near Tel Aviv.  Here in Atlanta I live in Toco Hills, a diverse neighborhood with many different types of people and different religious communities. It’s fun to see the differences, and also to see how everyone looks and acts like one big community. My hosts are the Gal family — wonderful people, with parents Erica and Raanon, and four lovely children, very similar to my family in Israel. It really feels like my house. They love me and their home feels like mine. I never believed I would feel so at home in a place so far from home!

I had a lot of apprehensions about coming here, like how will the high holidays be? And how will the prayers be? And how different is it from home? But the truth is, it’s not that different, and it’s not that strange — it’s very similar! As an observant Jew living in Atlanta within the Jewish community, I arrived with many questions and saw a lot of new things. For example, in the synagogue, the partition between men and women is very different. In Israel, the men are usually downstairs and the women upstairs, or sitting behind the men. The second thing I saw was that the women said the blessing over the challah, which in Eretz Yisrael does not happen. Also, on Sukkot there were women who handled the four species. There is a lot of equality between men and women in many things, this is the main difference that I noticed.

Much of our volunteering happens at schools. At first I thought to myself, “What? Every morning I have to get up early and go back to school? Didn’t I just graduate high school?” And the truth is that all I thought I’d learned about myself and about life has been rediscovered here. Each lesson feels significant, and every hour of the day, even my free time, is important and adds to the great puzzle of my journey.

I’m loving Atlanta — the people, the atmosphere, the culture, the food, the music, everything! The most positive experience I’ve had so far was the evening all the Shinshinim went to the BeltLine Lantern Parade, and as we walked there, we heard songs in Hebrew. We saw that there was a Chabad community singing near a sukkah, so we started dancing and singing with them. We felt like a family and it was a moment of fun and happiness and connection to the country in the best way possible!

As a Shinshin, it’s fun to be in the center with everyone asking questions and being interested in hearing about our lives in Israel. Yet slowly I have the thought of “this journey is going to end very quickly.” I always think that time is running away from me. So I go back to the words of Hatikvah 6 and the line, “And everything is before me” For me, the truth is that everything really is before me and my journey has just begun!

jewishatl
In Atlanta Jewish Community, Global News

I Found My Superpower in Israel

By Juli Itzkovitz, Creative Director at Federation

As I walked through Tel Aviv this spring, traffic humming, Israeli flags waving in the wind, it dawned on me that I was walking through a modern city built on timeless Jewish values. This insight is where my journey of self-discovery began, on the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project trip. Though JWRP has now been officially rebranded as Momentum, the goal is the same — to empower women to change the world by connecting with the deeply Jewish values that transform ourselves, our families, and our communities.

On Momentum I accepted the challenge of changing the world, realizing that in order to do that I needed to change myself.  The amazing result was that during my time in Israel, I discovered a courage I never knew I had, and it became my superpower.

On this trip to Israel I found:

  • Courage to travel to Israel with 40 women I had never met before. Courage to talk publicly about the amazing work Federation does in Yokneam. Courage to cry with others at Yad Vashem.
  • I found the courage to touch the wall at the Kotel and accept the incredible energy I felt. I found the courage to stand and speak and become a bat mitzvah, an experience I never had as a child.
  • I found the courage to intimately share my fears, hopes, dreams, challenges and victories with strangers who had become confidants and friends.
  • I found the courage to let myself celebrate and embrace being Jewish and to accept my brand new feelings and appreciation of Israel.
  • Courage to take on a leadership role; courage to stand up for values I hold dear; courage to be vulnerable and authentic and to lead a life based on integrity and core values.
  • Since my return to my life as I know it, I have brought this newfound courage home to Atlanta. I now have the courage to accept and talk about where I have been and where I now need to be going; the courage to be quiet and listen; the courage to step out of my comfort zone
  • I also found courage to abandon ideas that no longer serve me.

Thank you, Momentum for providing the momentum to grow and change.

jewishatl
In Atlanta Jewish Community, Global News, Philanthropy

Federation Women in Cuba

Federation Women Support Nutrition and Education in Cuba

Cuba’s Jewish population, once 15,000 strong, is now a tiny remnant estimated at about 1,100 people. Since the government lifted the ban on religious practice, they are thriving as a community, however they remain economically fragile. Like all Cubans, Jews live with food rationing and lack many basic resources. Milk, which has so many nutritional benefits, is a commodity in short supply and is only provided to children under the age of seven. That’s why, on their recent Federation and Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) mission to Cuba, Atlanta women took on the mitzvah of supporting a milk program and a Sunday school for Cuban Jewish children and teenagers. The Sunday school is held at El Patronato, Havana’s Jewish Community Center and Conservative synagogue. Children learn about Jewish holidays, and culture, study bible and learn Hebrew. Adults have classes at the nearby Sephardic Hebrew Center. “Cuba’s Jews are so vulnerable,” said Debbie Schafer, Director of Women’s Philanthropy. “The Atlanta women chose the milk project because they are mothers! It was a simple and satisfying way enhance the educational and nutritional needs of children and teens.”

In Cuba, the government provides 1 kg. of powdered milk per month per child through its ration stores. Thanks to the generosity of our Women’s Mission, extra powdered milk is now given to all Jewish students (under age 25) who attend classes at El Patronato, are enrolled in school during the week and do not have jobs. The same 1 kg. of milk is also given to the fourteen Sunday school teachers. In addition, all students — children, teens, youth and adults — are offered a glass of milk with their snack during a break in Sunday school.

This October 10-14, Federation and JDC are offering another Atlanta community mission to Cuba to shine a light on Jewish community needs. Like all JDC-sponsored trips, participants will also have opportunities to support ongoing projects in Cuba to make the lives of Cuban Jews better. Reservations are on a first-come-first-served basis. If you would like more information about the trip, please contact Staci Eichelbaum, Director of Philanthropy.

jewishatl
In Atlanta Jewish Community, Caring, Global News, People in Need

Empowering Ethopian Families

Empowering Yokneam’s Ethiopian Families
Young Ethiopian families in our Israel Partnership city of Yokneam are more successful than earlier immigrant generations, but many are still considered at-risk due to persistent illiteracy and underemployment. A new report on Federation’s investment in the Maof empowerment program demonstrates that positive mentoring and counseling interventions can change lives. Maof, which expresses “vision, courage and imagination” in Hebrew, provides heads of households with one-on-one counseling, mentorship on budget management, higher education and career development, and Hebrew language lessons, where needed. Federation’s Global Jewish Peoplehood committee reports these encouraging outcomes:

  • 8 families received consulting in monthly income management. Four of them have kept their accounts balanced. One family improved from constant debt to saving up to 2000 NIS a month.
  • 8 individuals improved their occupational status, finding better jobs with higher salaries. At least 4 more individuals are in the process of securing jobs such as technician, bookkeeper, bus driver, and more.
  • 20 individuals improved their educational status and launched new studies to earn academic degrees or professional courses.
  • 5 families received emotional therapy or domestic consulting. In 3 families there was a situation of domestic violence. Another woman had a fear of driving which kept her from being able to work. Due to the therapy, she overcame her fear, got a driving license and found a job.

During the 2018-2019 year, thirty families were served by the Family Center in Yokneam. The support services included identification of major needs, setting goals, and working to move individuals forward in their lives toward better employment and economic independence.

One-on-one mentorship really made the difference in this empowerment program. One participant said: “I was all the time occupied with worrying about my son. I could not afford buying him a computer or sending him to after school activities. Now that this is covered by the program, I am available to take care of myself. I am forever thankful for this support.”

Another commented, “She (the mentor) didn’t give up on me! She believed in me more than I have   believed in myself. She all the time urged me and pushed me to sign up. Now I am a student and I am still going to meetings with her to get the emotional support and encouragement. Sometimes just for good advice.”

jewishatl
In Atlanta Jewish Community, Federation Innovation, Global News, Innovation

A New Way to Invest in Yokneam

Growing Opportunity for Israeli Teens at Risk
For teenagers at-risk who live in our Partnership cities of Yokneam and Megiddo, the world of high tech is literally at their doorstep, and yet without the right job skills, it can feel inaccessible. Yokneam’s High Tech Park is Israel’s fastest growing startup ecosystem, home to more than 140 tech firms. Now, through a series of innovative partnerships, Federation is providing tech training opportunities for at-risk students, many of whom are Ethiopian. We are determined to make investments in skill-building, mentorship and entrepreneurial skills that can lift them out of poverty and into tech jobs that will change the course of their lives.

Ofir Dubovi, founder and CEO of Open Valley, and a dynamic driver of high tech in the region, is one of our partners in this work. “The world knows Israel as startup nation, but 93% of all startups are based in a 20 kilometer area centered in Tel Aviv,” Ofir says. “I want to extend those borders by focusing on the north of Israel. We’re creating Academies of Innovation that make technology accessible to youth. We work with NGO’s, the IDF, High Schools and the Ministry of Education to train and to teach entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship outside of Tel Aviv.”

Yokneam was founded in 1950, but in 1989 a new mayor, Simon Alfassi, was elected, and the economic structure of Yokneam changed from a centralized dependence on two large factories to a dispersed base of small high-tech companies. As the number and size of the companies grew, Yokneam and the small communities around it began to attract young entrepreneurs and developers who were looking for a less urban alternative to the Tel Aviv area. It now has over 160 high-tech companies and exports of approximately 6 billion US dollars annually.

Craig Kornblum, who chairs Federation’s Global Jewish Peoplehood Committee, has visited the region many times over many years and understands these changes. He sees the possibilities of a tech education partnership and has become a champion for the initiative.  “Over the last 25 years Federation supported this community in a traditional way, using a welfare model. Back then we could barely have imagined the growth of high tech in Israel, let alone in Yokneam. What an incredible opportunity it is to leverage existing tech assets and prepare disadvantaged teens to build a better future,” he said.

Eliad Ben Shushan, Yokneam and Megiddo Partnership Manger at the Jewish Agency, emphasizes the potential of the new initiative to connect teens from Atlanta to teens in Israel. “High tech and innovation is a common language shared by teens all around the world. We hope to bring teens to work together on mutual innovative projects, that will shorten the distance between the communities and mainly tell the modern story of Israel, the strong and innovative Israel!”

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