Gilad Shalit is home. After 5 years and 4 months in captivity in a dungeon in Gaza, he is home. His first words: “I missed my family.” And so it is done, 1027 terrorists were exchanged for one boy. That is the strength of the State of Israel, as a nation and as a people. Gilad is everyone’s son. One might ask was it worth it? 1027 terrorists, some of them serving over 40 life sentences for murder – for one boy, now a man? Make no mistake; this was a horrific deal for Israel. Israel will be releasing hundreds of murderers, some of whom  were serving multiple terms of life in prison (Israel does not have the death penalty) as well as hundreds of terrorists serving prison sentences for terror and murder – all for one Israeli soldier. That is just the way it is done. Hamas will claim a great victory, and the people of Israel are thrilled to see Gilad home after five and a half years in solitary confinement in Gaza.

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I will never forget where I was when JFK was killed. Where I was when PM Yitzak Rabin was shot. And where I was when the words that an entire generation was waiting to hear rang out from the podium in Tel Aviv last Saturday night: Dear Mr. Prime Minister, We are the new Israelis!

Now, there is no turning back when 450,000 Israelis turned out all over Israel to protest the injustices of Israeli society to the poor, the working middle class, the mothers, the doctors, and the rest of the backbone of Israeli society.

There is no turning back after Daphni Leef, a 25-year-old student at Tel Aviv University, transformed her personal plight of homelessness into a national movement. With this movement — which knows neither Right nor Left, secular nor religious, Jew nor Arab — we, the New Israelis, have found our voice.

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Yesterday I was having an argument with my adult daughter. Not such an unusual incident between mothers and daughters, but this subject matter was a bit odd. We were arguing over whether her living arrangements in Beer Sheva allowed her eight seconds to reach the bomb shelter or 60 seconds. We agreed that if it was a Kassam rocket she only had eight seconds to get to safety, but if it was a Grad missile — which is what hit Beer Sheva this week, she had a full minute. I am not sure if we were correct, and I am even less sure if it matters. After all, it is simply impossible to be awoken at 5:30 am from a siren and run down two flights of stairs to a bomb shelter in under a minute.

Raising her and her siblings in Jerusalem in the years when there were 3–5 bus bombings a day was not only frightening and difficult, but it left a nation of children traumatized. Professional healthcare workers don’t know the long-term effects of war — experiencing that kind of terror — on children. It is too early to tell, although major research is currently being done on that issue. Both Israeli and Palestinian children are being examined for long-term trauma as a result of being exposed to this ongoing conflict. I do know that when my daughter went off to the army for three years, I was relieved.  I hoped that being out of Jerusalem would be more peaceful for her. Who would have thought that being in the army would be more peaceful than living as a civilian in the capital of Israel? When she went off to South America after her army service, I was a bit unsettled, but when she decided to come home and go to university in Beer Sheva I thought at last I could sleep well at night. Beer Sheva is a mother’s dream — a sleepy dusty town in the Negev where they really do roll up the sidewalks at 8 pm. I was wrong. In the  month of March alone, over 80 missiles have been fired out of Gaza into Southern Israel, several hitting Beer Sheva. When she was young she used to tell me she wanted to move to Hawaii where it was so calm and peaceful. I personally dreamt of New Zealand. Counting sheep sounded good to me. But fate is fate I suppose and with earthquakes and tsunamis, there really is no place to hide. So I suppose I will buy her a good pair of running shoes and pray that she stays safe.

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By Susan C. Levine, Co-Chair, Israel Granting Program 2008 – 2011

My New Year’s visit to Israel was highlighted with an NCJW coincidence. The trip was centered on a medical conference where my husband was the keynote speaker, so I was free to share time with Shari Eshet, Director of NCJW’s Israel Office.

This bonus visit to Israel proved again that when you want to really understand a community, there is no substitute for “home hospitality,” where family and home brings the caring world together.

Shari and I visited the NCJW Israel Granting Program project Neve Michael, a children’s village located in Pardes Hanna, which serves children from all over the country who arrive under traumatic circumstances.

From the moment I entered the 7-acre children’s village, I felt a calm and relaxed atmosphere that was immediately validated upon meeting my guide, Hava Levine, the village development director.

Neve Michael is a family-centered village filled with children living in family settings. These children, torn from their own homes due to abuse, violence or neglect, are welcomed into their Neve Michael substitute families that help to make these difficult transitions as comfortable and loving as possible. Our NCJW project support provides the immediate necessities a youngster might need when abruptly removed from their home.

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About seven years ago, I received a phone call asking me if I was willing to come to a meeting in Israel at the offices of the Joint Distribution Committee with some other Israeli representatives of the American Jewish Philanthropic community. The meeting was called to brainstorm about how to convince American Jewish organizations to provide financial assistance to Israeli Arab organizations as well as to Israeli Jewish organizations. I replied that I would be happy to come, but it really was not necessary as NCJW has helped all populations at-risk since we first starting working in Israel in 1947.  “That’s why we want you to come,” was the answer I received. Of course, why didn’t I think of that!

I went to the meeting and was not surprised, but rather taken aback by some of the comments said during the discussion, such as, “I cannot see American Jewish donors giving money to Arabs,”  “why don’t American Arabs fund the Israeli Arabs,” etc. For me, the experience was a real eye-opener. Since its creation 117 years ago, NCJW has always sought to help the less fortunate and at-risk populations, whomever they may be. The coalition took off with only 12 organizations, and I am pleased to say that NCJW was one of them. Seven years later, there are now 92 American Jewish organizations that have joined the Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues. These organizations understand that in order for Israel to remain a Jewish yet vibrant democratic state, it needs to work for equality and dignity for all of its citizens, regardless of their race, religion, or gender.

Last week, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues was named one of North America’s top Jewish innovators in the sixth annual “Slingshot” guidebook due to their strength in four areas: innovation, impact, leadership, and organizational efficiency. The taskforce has led the way for awareness about Jewish-Arab relations in Israel and the issues facing Israeli Arab citizens.  NCJW is honored to stand with the Task Force as we support the democratic, sovereign state of the Jewish people and uphold Israel’s Declaration of Independence, including the article that promises social and political equality for all its inhabitants, Jews and Arabs alike. I am proud to represent NCJW in this coalition. Yeshar Koach – well done!

A few days before Rosh Hashanah and Eid ul-Fitr (the holiday concluding Ramadan) I was invited to accompany a group of philanthropists and their Israeli representatives on a tour of the neighborhoods of Jerusalem. More than any other Israeli city, Jerusalem is known for its unique neighborhoods. With over 150 different neighborhoods in both East and West Jerusalem, each one is a distinct part of the mosaic that makes up this city.

Having been conquered 25 times, Jerusalem has known its ups and downs. It is amazing to see how it has endured. Not only has it survived, it is beautiful, graceful, majestic, holy, intricate, but alas, disputed and political.  A walk through the neighborhoods reminds you of the complicated ethnic and religious diversity of the city. From a meeting with young secular artists, both Jewish and Muslim, to a meeting with the Armenian Patriarchate’s representative in the Holy Land, I was struck by the candor and openness of everyone we encountered. Finally in Silwan, we had the opportunity to meet with a group of young Muslim activists working to improve their neighborhood.

As we ended the day, I was reminded of the great privilege I have to be able to live and work in this city. I was also reminded of the enormous responsibility I have, as a citizen of the State of Israel and as a representative of NCJW, to continue to work for freedom of religion for all including women and minorities, for the human rights of all and for the dignity of all Jerusalem’s inhabitants.

For those who celebrate the Jewish New Year, Shana Tova and Gm’ar Chatima Tova.

And for our Muslim friends - As-salamu Alaik-ya, Peace be upon you.

By Helen Grossman, NCJW Legislative Team

I can pinpoint the exact moment I realized that I needed to take a stand for women’s rights and equality in the United States and abroad: the moment I was forced to confront the fact that the dream of women’s equality is not yet fully realized.

On a cold, rainy December morning last year, I stood with hundreds of women at Israel’s Western Wall — Judaism’s most sacred site. We gathered to quietly conduct a morning service, held each Rosh Chodesh, the first day of every new Hebrew month, coordinated by the organization known as Women of the Wall. Though quiet, our service that morning at the Western Wall continues to echo within me.

Women at the Western Wall are forbidden to wear clothes deemed “offensive” to the ultra-Orthodox, establishment that controls Israel’s religious law; wear prayer shawls (tallitot) unless they are hidden underneath layers of coats; sing or worship openly so as not to disturb the prayers of the men across the partition; or read from the Torah. So, the minute that we started singing our morning prayers, the ultra-Orthodox men beyond the partition began to protest. They screamed at the top of their lungs and hurled insults that hurt deeply. We kept praying, even as the chorus of yells from behind the wall grew louder. We refused to let their actions distract us from our religious experience.  I recall thinking that if my singing was offensive to this holy site, they must realize that their name calling and violent anger was, too. This loud protest continued, as we went from the Western Wall around to Robinson’s Arch, where women can read the Torah legally. I had never had part of my identity challenged like this before; never been told that I couldn’t practice religion in the way I deem fit; never been told that I am not allowed to participate solely because I am a woman.

On the morning of July 12, 2010, Anat Hoffman, leader of Women of the Wall (with whom I had the opportunity to worship), was arrested at a Rosh Chodesh service for carrying the Torah at the Western Wall — an act that is not illegal, according to the prohibitive Israeli law that forbids women from reading from the Torah at the Western Wall. This outrageous turn of events has reminded me once again that working toward a more just world where women can live freely is in my hands. Anat Hoffman is challenging unjust policies in the great tradition of peaceful change-makers. She is making Israel, safer for all Jewish women, and her arrest has already inspired conversations at the Knesset about changing the policy at the Western Wall. As an American Jewish woman, I am proud to stand alongside Anat Hoffman and NCJW to ensure that all Jewish women and non-Orthodox Jews can worship freely at the most holy site in our religious tradition. 

Editor’s note: Read NCJW’s statement “NCJW Shocked by Arrest of Women of the Wall Leader in Israel” to learn more about Anat Hoffman’s arrest on July 12, 2010.

“Today in Basel, I created the Jewish State.”

Thus spoke Theodore Herzl, the founder of Zionism, at the first Basel Congress in 1894. In 1948 his prophecy came true: the Jewish state of Israel was born out of the fires of the Holocaust. But well before 1948, NCJW women decided to do something about the social problems besetting the soon-to-be new state.

NCJW concerns, then as now, are echoed in the words of Melanne Verveer, President Obama’s Ambassador at-Large on Global Women’s Issues, at her 2009 confirmation hearing: “It remains a simple fact … that no country can get ahead if half of its citizens are left behind. That economic prosperity cannot take root if women are being treated as second class citizens.” Naturally the weaker minorities — women, Arabs, immigrants — bore the brunt of the business of creating a state. Today, they are still at the bottom of the ladder — but they are climbing up quickly.

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by Cindy Wolfson, guest contributor and member of the NCJW Board of Directors

The 2009 NCJW Israel mission participants were honored to meet with a hero of the gay rights movement in Jerusalem: Noa Sattath, recent director of Jerusalem Open House, which is a community center serving the needs of the LGBT population. The community center was founded 10 years ago by one of our NCJW mission sisters along with other courageous activists committed to making a difference in the lives of the Israeli LGBT community.

Unlike the US, in Israel gays serve openly in the military. Same sex partners married abroad are not only recognized as married, they also have most of the same rights as heterosexual couples.

But despite legal protections, gays in Jerusalem still face intolerance and hatred — something that, unfortunately, Noa can attest to based on personal experiences. While planning Jerusalem’s first gay pride parade in 2005, she endured death threats and an attempted car bomb. And during the parade that year, there were stabbing attacks committed by a Yeshiva student.

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A couple of weeks ago while eating sushi in Tel Aviv a posh young woman walking down the street called out my name. I was delighted to see her as I recognized who she was. T* is one of NCJW’s very first scholarship recipients at Tel Aviv University (TAU). She is additionally the only person to receive a full scholarship three years running from 2003-2005. A former student in the NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program, T exemplifies the values of NCJW. She is courageous, compassionate, and empowering. While enrolled as a student T worked as a security guard three nights a week and tutored underprivileged young girls. Our scholarship made it possible for her to finish school and then pursue her life’s passions.

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