Only in Israel

Shabbat Message from CEO Ezra S. Shanken
 

Every time I come to Israel I experience a different facet of the people and place to which we are intrinsically connected. I’m here for two sets of meetings: the Keren Hayesod National Leadership Conference, and the Jewish Agency Board of Governors meetings, alongside our past board chair and Jewish Agency committee member, Karen James.

I always make time to visit key projects in our partnership region when I’m here, and in order to do so I raced directly from the airport up north for a town hall meeting with Metulla’s Mayor David Azulay and the general in charge of the IDF’s Northern Command. I had the impression this would be an important yet fairly standard meeting. It was anything but.

In order to understand what I’m about to recount, you first need to understand the unique geography of this town.

Metulla is surrounded on three sides by Lebanon, and the IDF’s understanding is that one in every three homes on the other side of the fence line is linked to Hezbollah. It is also a beautiful area, with stunning views of orchards and rolling hills, and nature reserves that attract people from across the country.

What the general came to talk about was installing a horseshoe shaped wall around Metulla in order to maintain security.

Many residents had mixed views and voiced concerns about its impact on tourism and their daily lives, but in the end the general made the decision to build it, citing his responsibility to keep residents safe. It was not an easy decision to hear, nor do I expect it was an easy one to make.

The residents’ remarkable resilience was on full display the next morning, when the mayor and I visited a new elementary school.

If you witnessed the meeting the night before, you might be tempted to expect a school in a bunker deep underground to keep students as safe as possible. Instead, the school is a high-tech wonder filled with light where they make sure that everyone has the best opportunities for learning and advancement. I especially loved the specialized seating that helps kids with ADHD wiggle and wobble their energy out so they can concentrate.

Only in Israel do you see such a dichotomy, and only in Israel does it make complete sense.

The point is this: despite serious security issues and socioeconomic challenges, people in our partnership region are focused on giving their children the best start and the best future.

That is why our strategic investments in Northern Israel and the work we do there are so important.

As for the Keren Hayesod National Leadership Conference, it has brought us together with Jewish community leaders from Australia, Northern Europe, South America, and more, providing an opportunity to work together and create connections to the State of Israel and to each other. To be in a room with such diversity has been amazing. We are not just learning from each other but supporting each other, and to be doing that together in Jerusalem is bringing a new layer of meaning to the concept of klal Israel.

That was reinforced when we welcomed a full plane of Ethiopian Jews who were reuniting with family they had not seen in 30 years, and when we met Russian and Ukrainian olim at an absorption centre. What an incredible sight! It was not that long ago that when things were bad in our home countries we had no place to go.

One of the things that has made this trip to Israel so special is the number of local community members who are here now and whom I’ve been able to connect with. A few of us took a group shot that's the the top of this message. And that brings me to one last item before Shabbat…

Save the date for the Annual Campaign Opening Event!

Mark Thursday, September 8th on your calendar for our first big in-person Annual Campaign event since before the pandemic. We will be joined by some very special guests to kick off the campaign and have an important conversation about mental health. As one of the key issues that has been exacerbated by the pandemic, we need to lead the way on this not only in our work and in our partnerships, but in normalizing the way we all talk about it.

Ezra S. Shanken 
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver