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Email this pageIsrael’s Progressive Movement Provides Emergency Assistance During Gaza Operation
Members of the World Union’s staff in Jerusalem and the Israeli Progressive movement nationwide are providing emergency assistance and relief to residents of southern communities that are being hit by retaliatory strikes from the Gaza Strip since the start of Operation Cast Lead*, the Israel Defense Force’s assault on Hamas terrorists.
Hundreds of rockets have been fired at civilian targets since the start of the fighting, some with a range that extends far beyond the areas whose regular bombardment led to the operation. All of this means that for hundreds of thousands of Israelis, everyday life is filled with severe stress and anxiety, and a simple trip to the corner market – or even a quiet evening at home – can mean injury or death.
The movement’s efforts to assist these area residents are being led by the community division of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) and by Keren B’Kavod (Dignity Fund), the humanitarian aid project run by the Israel Religious Action Center, with assistance from Progressive congregations and institutions. They include emergency home hospitality in the center of the country, temporary housing solutions for people with special needs, day-long recreational and cultural excursions outside the area, delivery of food parcels for civilians and soldiers, and entertainment for youngsters stuck for long hours – and even days – in bomb shelters. All of these activities are being conducted in coordination with local social welfare bureaus.
World Union staff members in Jerusalem have volunteered their time to conduct food drives, host families and support the IMPJ activities of Keren B'Kavod. At World Union headquarters in Mercaz Shimshon/Beit Shmuel, the culture department has organized free educational walks for families and children – more than 150 people – who have been displaced from the south. The professional guides, led by Beit Shmuel’s educational walks director, Ishai Shavit, are taking the groups through Jerusalem and its neighborhoods.
The department has offered to organize further siyurim (walks) for future groups, has made Beit Shmuel’s Hirsch Theatre, the city’s acclaimed center for educational and cultural activities, available for performances, and has publicized the availability of these activities in the Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Achronot.
The IMPJ’s community division has long been working with southern communities that have been in rocket and mortar range of the Gaza Strip. In fact, the very kibbutz dining room where IMPJ leaders led a Tu B’Shevat seder a little less than a year ago has been severely damaged (see WUPJnews #299 and the photos below). Keren B’Kavod has made a name for itself by serving disadvantaged populations year-round, especially at holiday time (see WUPJnews #329). It also spearheaded movement efforts to assist residents of Israel’s north when they came under bombardment from Hezbollah missiles in fighting during the summer of 2006.
What you can do
WUPJnews readers who wish to support the movement’s emergency efforts can make a donation to help pay for transporting families away from the danger zones, accommodations and for much needed supplies, such as food, water and toys. Click here and indicate in the Purpose box that your donation is for the IMPJ in response to the Gaza crisis.
Members of the besieged and assisting communities in Israel would also be grateful for words of comfort and support from fellow Jews the world over. Visit the IMPJ’s congregation page to contact them.
You can also read and join a very active discussion of the situation online at the blog of North America’s Union for Reform Judaism. Click here to visit that site.
Left: The dining room at Kibbutz Mefalsim near the Gaza Strip during an IMPJ-led Tu B’Shevat seder last year. Right: A more recent view of the same dining room.
*The title of this operation, which was launched during the last days of Hanukah, comes from an Israeli holiday children’s song and refers to the dreidles traditionally made of cast lead. Hanukah is a time when we celebrate the bravery of those who fought to remain true to our faith and our heritage.
