- Israel

'Leading Up North' Initiative: JDC Short-Term Service Project in Israel Teams Up with Schusterman Foundation

This past summer's conflict in Israel left many Jews around the world wondering what they could do to help. For hundreds of young Jewish leaders, the answer became evident: "Leading Up North," one of the largest short-term service programs in Israel for young Diaspora Jews ever convened.

Sponsored by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, Leading Up North has gathered 500 Jews from North America, the former Soviet Union, Latin America, Europe, Australia, India and Israel in a demonstration of solidarity, leadership and connection to the people of Israel through a range of service programs in 10 communities across the north. Lynn Schusterman has been an active JDC Board Member since 1993.

Within this framework, JDC is piloting its first Short-Term Service program in Israel, thanks to support from the Schusterman Foundation. This initial project in Israel is a specialized track for young leaders from two of the country's top Hillel organizations. From January 1-11, 20 students from Columbia and New York Universities are immersing themselves in JDC programs in the northern communities most greatly impacted by Hezbollah Katyusha rockets.

"We are so excited about the success of this project with these 20 students," says Steve Schwager, JDC Executive Vice President. "We hope to be able to send 200 young Jewish leaders on another JDC Short-Term Service project in Israel next year."

Josh, a current program participant and a junior at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study where he is focusing on the ideological bases of extremism in today's Middle East and studying Arabic, Islamic history, and regional politics and economics, has long felt a personal connection to Israel. "I see the JDC program's focus on service in the north as something that I can do to contribute my part to the wellbeing of those who have suffered," he explains. Josh had experienced the tragedy of suicide attacks with the death of a friend in the bombing of the Hebrew University cafeteria in the summer of 2002. In the midst of his studies, Josh completed 15 months of volunteer combat service in the Israeli Defense Forces, from which he returned in February 2006 only to learn some months later that Israel was at war.

"This summer was a particularly difficult time for me. Working at home in the States, I was forced to watch as my friends in my former army unit were killed and injured in Lebanon, with many of them remaining to this day in the hospital," shares this committed young leader. "Unable to have been there to sacrifice, my role in helping pick up the pieces is perhaps the very least service that I, as a Jewish American deeply connected with Israel, can provide in these difficult times."

Through JDC's Short-Term Service program, Josh and his peers are spending their mornings refurbishing bomb shelters—cleaning, painting, developing colorful murals, repairing furniture and creating gardens—in Haifa's Hadar, Neve David, and Neve Paz neighborhoods, which are home to some of the city's most disadvantaged communities. Midday, educational sessions facilitated by JDC project staff will focus on challenges facing Israel's vulnerable populations, including discussions with JDC staff and site visits to programs that meet the needs of at-risk communities; Jewish values related to volunteerism and the obligation of one Jew to another; and how to bring their short-term service experience home. And in the late afternoons, students will return to the Haifa neighborhoods, where they will volunteer alongside local Israeli peers in various community centers and clubs serving local residents.

Among other efforts, volunteers will work with the "Better Together" and "Mishol" programs. Better Together—a flagship program of Ashalim, JDC's partnership with the Government of Israel and UJA-Federation of New York to address the issues facing Israel's 330,000 at-risk youth—literally brings together community organizations, citizen groups, local municipal agencies, funders and others to provide a network of programs and services for children-at-risk within their neighborhood. The Mishol ("Path") program organizes tenant associations comprised predominantly of immigrants to care for their buildings and neighborhoods. Both programs are of special importance because they mobilize community groups to help themselves.

Volunteer activities will include helping children with English homework, teaching songs and games in English, working in a senior citizen's club that serves immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union, and cooking with members of a women's club.

To prepare the students for their immersion in the north of Israel, a 'pre-program intensive' was organized for them. "Before they traveled, we coordinated many programs and briefings to educate the participants about JDC and increase their understanding of and commitment to JDC's work," explains Naomi, JDC's Project Director for Short-Term Service. The hope is that these young Columbia and NYU students will leverage these experiences upon their return home, raising awareness of the diversity of Jewish life in Israel, of the challenges facing the country's at-risk populations, and of JDC's efforts in response to these challenges.

Sarah, a senior at Barnard College studying Jewish Women's Studies, studied abroad at the University of Haifa in the spring of 2006 and left just before the war broke out. "I want to see the impact of the war on the community that I became so close to," she explains. With friends and a connection to Israel that pre-date this current volunteer experience, Sarah and others like her are prepared to bring home a compelling message to their peers.

Among the highlights of the trip, on January 3rd the entire group of 500 Leading Up North participants, their Israeli peers and residents of the north converged in Kiryat Shmona for a day of service, culminating in a festival for the residents of the north who were so deeply affected by the war. The full cadre of volunteers will share a Shabbat retreat in Nahariya January 5-6. And evening social events with students from Haifa University and the Technion are also a likely favorite.

"This is a unique opportunity for young Jewish leaders to show their solidarity with Israel in its struggle to recover from this past summer's war," says Lynn Schusterman. "The hope is that we can do our part to ensure that Israel emerges stronger than ever, and that we can bring the important message of how American Jews—and the leaders of tomorrow—can help that happen."

January 2007