US Jews open their wallets for Israel
Hizbullah rockets may have stopped for now - but the American Jewish response to the crisis has not.
When American Jews think about Israel's war with Hizbullah, they recall numbers - 1948, 1967, 1973 - that mark previous wars of survival for the Jewish state. They also respond in numbers - dollars, that is.
"Philanthropically, American Jews feel such a sense of connectedness to Israel," said Darrell Friedman, a consultant to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and former president of Baltimore's Jewish federation.
When Jews feel their homeland is under siege, their philanthropic instincts kick into high gear.
"It's our tradition," Friedman said. "Jews will take care of Jews."
That's evidenced by the innumerable emergency campaigns under way and by the mere existence of the North American Jewish federation system, an unparalleled philanthropic network among American ethnic groups.
On August 7, the United Jewish Communities federation umbrella launched a massive campaign to ease the humanitarian crisis in Israel, with the goal of raising hundreds of millions of dollars. So far it has raised $173 million.
Much of those funds are being channeled through programs being run by the UJC's main overseas partners, the JDC, which provides humanitarian relief in Israel and abroad, and the Jewish Agency for Israel, which manages immigration and absorption in Israel and Zionist education worldwide.
The UJC campaign is the Jewish community's largest fund-raising response, but the options for giving right now are broad. The crisis has given rise to new organizational partnerships, has brought certain groups to prominence and has elicited a mix of approaches to fund raising.
Efforts have focused on emergency services like first aid, upgrading bomb shelters, sending children from the northern region to summer camps in the center of the country and feeding and housing Israelis who have fled their homes.
But the needs are still developing and are sure to grow after the war, as Israelis begin rebuilding their cities and their lives.
The tenuous cease-fire reached Monday does not change that fact - and it's an open question how long the cease-fire will last.
The Israel Emergency Campaign was "established with a long-term view," UJC spokesman Glenn Rosenkrantz said. "So many needs exist, including economic revival, infrastructure and facility rebuilding, support for victims of terror and post-traumatic stress counseling for Israelis being among them."
Even as the UJC announced initial plans to raise $300m., its board determined that another $200m. would be necessary.
"It's a moving target," said Howard Rieger, UJC's president and CEO.
As the needs of the month-long war became apparent, private and public philanthropies began working together to respond.
The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies' after-school program for disadvantaged Israeli youth ran a special operation in bomb shelters with support from the Jewish Agency and the JDC.
Like many other foundations, the Bronfman philanthropies used supplemental funds for the crisis in Israel to avoid detracting from other programs.
"There's no question that we've seen people reallocating, but I think what's been more striking is the number of people that we've seen not wanting to reallocate," said Mark Charendoff, president of the Jewish Funders Network, whose 1,200 members include some of the biggest Jewish names in philanthropy around the world.
Most foundations already have set their budgets and commitments, so the principals are taking money from their personal wealth, he said.
When American Jews think about Israel's war with Hizbullah, they recall numbers - 1948, 1967, 1973 - that mark previous wars of survival for the Jewish state. They also respond in numbers - dollars, that is.
"Philanthropically, American Jews feel such a sense of connectedness to Israel," said Darrell Friedman, a consultant to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and former president of Baltimore's Jewish federation.
When Jews feel their homeland is under siege, their philanthropic instincts kick into high gear.
"It's our tradition," Friedman said. "Jews will take care of Jews."
That's evidenced by the innumerable emergency campaigns under way and by the mere existence of the North American Jewish federation system, an unparalleled philanthropic network among American ethnic groups.
On August 7, the United Jewish Communities federation umbrella launched a massive campaign to ease the humanitarian crisis in Israel, with the goal of raising hundreds of millions of dollars. So far it has raised $173 million.
Much of those funds are being channeled through programs being run by the UJC's main overseas partners, the JDC, which provides humanitarian relief in Israel and abroad, and the Jewish Agency for Israel, which manages immigration and absorption in Israel and Zionist education worldwide.
The UJC campaign is the Jewish community's largest fund-raising response, but the options for giving right now are broad. The crisis has given rise to new organizational partnerships, has brought certain groups to prominence and has elicited a mix of approaches to fund raising.
Efforts have focused on emergency services like first aid, upgrading bomb shelters, sending children from the northern region to summer camps in the center of the country and feeding and housing Israelis who have fled their homes.
But the needs are still developing and are sure to grow after the war, as Israelis begin rebuilding their cities and their lives.
The tenuous cease-fire reached Monday does not change that fact - and it's an open question how long the cease-fire will last.
The Israel Emergency Campaign was "established with a long-term view," UJC spokesman Glenn Rosenkrantz said. "So many needs exist, including economic revival, infrastructure and facility rebuilding, support for victims of terror and post-traumatic stress counseling for Israelis being among them."
Even as the UJC announced initial plans to raise $300m., its board determined that another $200m. would be necessary.
"It's a moving target," said Howard Rieger, UJC's president and CEO.
As the needs of the month-long war became apparent, private and public philanthropies began working together to respond.
The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies' after-school program for disadvantaged Israeli youth ran a special operation in bomb shelters with support from the Jewish Agency and the JDC.
Like many other foundations, the Bronfman philanthropies used supplemental funds for the crisis in Israel to avoid detracting from other programs.
"There's no question that we've seen people reallocating, but I think what's been more striking is the number of people that we've seen not wanting to reallocate," said Mark Charendoff, president of the Jewish Funders Network, whose 1,200 members include some of the biggest Jewish names in philanthropy around the world.
Most foundations already have set their budgets and commitments, so the principals are taking money from their personal wealth, he said.
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