We are all reeling from the horrible news coming out of Israel this past week. We know that many of you have been directly affected or have friends and loved ones that have been murdered, taken hostage, or injured – not to mention the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and reservists being deployed. At this terrible time, we are sharing what we’ve been hearing from our Israeli grantees, as well as some articles and resources that we’ve found particularly meaningful. Please know we are actively reviewing our funding strategies to ensure that we can be as responsive as possible to the emerging needs of our grantees.
We hope this is meaningful and look forward to when we can report on healing. Please let us know if there are additional resources that you have learned about that you think would be helpful. Like you, we are praying for better days ahead.
Read here what we are hearing from our grantees.
Resources
The Jewish Funders Network has been sending out regular email updates with information about emerging funding needs stemming from the current crisis, as well as a list of vetted organizations that are providing aid on the ground. It is also working with the Home Front Command, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Civil Society Umbrella, the Foundation Forum, and the Business Forum in Israel to launch an online platform for vetted needs. (Currently this link is just to recommended organizations, but in the next few days, the site should link to the online platform.) We’ve summarized key points from JFN’s updates and added some information relevant to work in this document.
eJewish Philanthropy has published a giving guide highlighting areas of needs and organizations working in these areas.
Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America is providing regular updates on its site about the situation in Israel and stories from its hospitals and its other programs responding to the many needs right now.
The Jewish Education Project has published a recorded webinar on how to talk to children about the crisis.
As mentioned in our post about grantees, Moving Traditions has created a guide for reflection through poetry and is preparing additional resources to release soon.
What We’re Reading
Both the Times of Israel and Haaretz are helpful sources of accurate and frequently updated news coverage, although most Haaretz content is behind a paywall.
In addition to the ongoing news coverage, we’ve found these articles particularly enlightening:
- Hamas Is Reportedly Using Rape as Warfare. Where Are the Feminists? (Newsweek)
- How Israel’s Feared Security Services Failed to Stop Hamas’s Attack (New York Times)
- How to Be a Liberal Zionist When Israel Is at War (Times of Israel)
- For Grant Makers With Programs in Israel, the Attacks Are ‘Deeply Personal’ (Chronicle of Philanthropy)