Young Teacher Promotes Jewish Continuity in Ancient Community

At a JDC-supported girls' school in Zarzis,

Tunisia, students get the unique opportunity to

study Judaism, Torah, Talmud, and Hebrew.

Photo: Chrystie Sherman (via JDC Website)

Geula is 21, born and raised in Djerba, Tunisia, to a Jewish family whose roots here go back for centuries. But in the spirit of the times—and her country—she isn't spending much time looking at the past. Instead, she sets her sights on her work as a teacher, equipping her female students with the tools to be the next link in the unbroken chain she believes makes her community special.

"I think it is very important to be a teacher. I see myself as a leader and a guide to my students," says Geula. "Parents give life; teachers give knowledge. I take a lot of pride in fulfilling my role."

Geula teaches at Torah v'Hinuch, the first Jewish girls' school in Djerba that was founded in the 1950s. Today approximately 130 girls are enrolled in the school, where she teaches Judaism, Torah, Talmud, and Hebrew. Students attend class six days a week, getting time off only on Jewish calendar holidays; there is no summer vacation.

Young Leader Brings Jewish Inspiration Home to India

“After each JDC leadership program, I come back 

home to Mumbai with added enthusiasm to do 

something in my own community,” says Meirah. 

“And this keeps us growing.”

Hailing from a small and distant Jewish community like India’s, 21-year-old Meirah Bhastekar called JDC’s leadership training programs an opportunity to “discover the global Jewish community and embark upon building an international Jewish identity” with other leaders her age.

Meirah’s own strong Jewish identity began with her family. She fondly recalls Shabbat and holiday services at her grandparents’ home with her cousins, aunts, and uncles. “Being Jewish in a country where almost no one knows who Jews are can be very difficult, but my mom made sure we were always informed and were proud of our culture and tradition.”

And with that pride her family instilled a call to action. “Words like ‘responsibility’ came early to my ears,” she says. Active as a volunteer since 2005 and a graduate of JDC’s youth leadership training sessions, Meirah has been involved in almost every youth program and Jewish Community Center event in Mumbai. She credits her teenage youth group experience with keeping her “connected to my Jewish world” amid the struggles of adolescence and the start of an advertising career.

JDC invited Meirah to take part in a special session of the Buncher Community Leadership Program in Israel designed for the Indian community. She says that in addition to giving her an exhilarating first taste of Israel, “the inspiring program made me look at myself as a Jewish educator.”

Buncher also enhanced Meirah’s commitment to serve her community. She is now secretary of the local Jewish youth movement, which is spearheading a fundraising campaign to aid young people who need help paying for their schooling.

In 2010, Meirah received additional training at JDC’s international Jewish youth camp in Szarvas, Hungary, where she and other leaders from India met counselors from other countries and received key pointers from Jewish educators. Meirah returned from Szarvas “determined to take this experience forward in our community, for our kids’ day camps and youth camps.”

Further enrichment for Meirah and five of her peers came this past January at the Hadracha Training Institute in Turkey. She welcomed this opportunity to explore “an alternative community model that seemed to us the ideal Jewish community”—tightly knit, with a variety of institutions and an abundance of dedicated volunteers.

“After each one of these programs, I come back with added enthusiasm to do something in my own community,” says Meirah. “And this keeps us growing.”

Enterprising Community Leader Mirrors the New Dynamism of Turkey’s Young Jews

JDC in Turkey offers a myriad of opportunities for 

young Jews to become involved—or more involved

—in the local community, and for those who are 

interested, to play key roles in its future 

development.

Photo: Jamie Rosenberg (via JDC website)

"Our community is small, but our potential is enormous. If given the right opportunities, there is nothing we can't do." That's what 29-year-old volunteer organizer Lisi says about her peer-run Jewish leadership group in Istanbul, Turkey.

Judging from the growing numbers of previously unaffiliated young Jews that she's successfully recruited into the club, Lisi's enthusiasm is producing great results.

Lisi's story is not so different from many of her contemporaries', not just in Turkey but in many parts of the world. She grew up loving Shabbat celebrations at her grandparents' house, going to Jewish school, and taking part in youth group. But by the time she graduated from university her Jewish circle was shrinking while her world and her horizons were steadily growing. At the same time, questions about her Jewish identity and whether she had the tools she needed to command her future began to arise.

"I learned about the local young leadership group and was curious about the professional opportunities that it offered. I didn't even know it was Jewish at first; it was a nice surprise." Like many of JDC's leadership programs for young Jews, the group's seminars combined Jewish learning with professional skill development.

In Turkey, JDC offers a myriad of opportunities for young Jews to become involved—or more involved—in the local community, and for those who are interested, to play key roles in its future development. Programs include training seminars such as Buncher Community Leadership, which helps strengthen Jewish identity and provides mentoring for young leaders; the Leatid Center for Jewish Leadership, which works with seasoned and senior Jewish professionals to hone their management and community development skills; and Jewish education and networking for young adults through Gesher regional programs. Additionally, the Hadracha Training Institute seminars for senior youth leaders, where Lisi says she garnered important know-how, are creating role models and facilitators for the Turkish Jewish community and other communities in the region.

Three years later, Lisi has become one of the group's leading organizers, and she's implementing the very strategy that got her interested to involve a whole new cohort. "Reaching people and attracting them into the community is the hardest thing to do," explains Lisi, a successful account manager for an international fashion brand. "But our network is growing because we know our target group and what resonates with them: 20- to 30-year-olds who are thinking about their careers."

The global recession hit Turkey particularly hard and recent university graduates unable to find work are turning to the Jewish community for help. "We give them opportunities, help them build skills in communications and management, and facilitate networking. We offer young people experiences they can't turn down."

Seeing positive results, Lisi and her friends started thinking more broadly about what kinds of activities young Turkish Jews might enjoy. They organized the group's first heritage trip outside of Turkey, to Spain, which attracted over 100 participants. The following year the group traveled to Prague and to Rome, and by then participation had doubled in size.

"Part of the aim of each tour is to meet young Jews wherever we go. It seems like it is getting more difficult for Jews to find each other, because we are getting separated from one another as there are more challenges in life and more advantages outside of our communities. We are finding each other through this group and building a synergy by inviting new young people to every program."

With each success, Lisi's motivation redoubles. Looking ahead she is optimistic. "We've brought people together and we enjoy being together. Now the next step needs to make us even better!" she insists. "We are looking to organize bigger programs, setting new sights to attract even more people to our world."

JDC's Work Comes To A Close In Algeria

From Steve Schwager, CEO:

According to some scholars, Jewish life in Algeria probably dates back nearly 2,600 years, to the time of the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. So Penny and I feel that it is of special importance to note that this past July, the last Jew in Algeria assisted by JDC, Mrs. Esther Azoulay, passed away.

Her passing brings JDC's direct program involvement in that troubled country to a close after a period of 60 years. And how did that work begin?

JDC’s connection started with its support for the Refugee Welfare Committee, which was established in Algeria in 1943 in order to bring assistance to European Jews who found asylum there during WWII. Later, when the State of Israel came into being, JDC also supported the aliyah of Jews from Algeria. However, in 1953, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Algeria felt that JDC should expand its programs for the Jews of Algeria in both the social and cultural arenas, and a JDC office was finally opened in Algiers in 1957.

JDC provided assistance in many areas: home visits to the needy, support for the development of educational institutions, medical care, cash assistance, and food packages, including matzot for Pesach. By 1959, 4,000 Jews were benefiting from JDC’s aid. In addition, JDC helped strengthen Jewish life in Algeria by supporting the construction of a rabbinical school and Jewish summer camps.

Even prior to 1962, when Algeria achieved its independence, Jews in Algeria had been facing hostility from certain segments of both the local French and Arab population. And once the French departed, Algerian rule was marked by militant Arab nationalism, growing Islamization, and virulent anti-Zionism. By the end of 1963, the 120,000-member community had dwindled to some 3,000-4,000 Jews.

In 1964, Mr. Choucroun, President of the Jewish community of Saïda, sent the following letter to Dr. Franco Levi, the JDC representative in Algeria:

At the time when I am preparing to leave Algeria, I would like to say once again how much I am grateful to the organization you represent and for your good deeds. You saved people in distress … thanks to your actions, children and elderly smiled at life. There do not remain any more poor people in Saïda.

The story of the final desecration/destruction of the last remaining synagogue in Algiers in 1988 makes stomach-churning reading even today. The damage done was so extensive that the synagogue, now in ruins, had to be permanently closed. By the end of the eighties, only 94 Jews remained in the country.

In the mid-1990’s the assassination of two Jews in Algiers marked the end of an era.

JDC remained a pillar of strength, providing assistance to those who needed help even as the community continued to shrink.

Since 1985, Line Meller, then living in Algiers, served as JDC’s liaison with the remaining Jews of Algeria.On our behalf she helped to assure the welfare of a small number of aged and impoverished Jews, who continued to receive cash assistance from JDC until they passed away.

Although JDC could not redeem these unfortunate Jews from their suffering since they did not want to emigrate, the work that JDC did kept them alive. JDC enabled Line Meller to light a candle in a black hole of darkness.

In 2010, Mr. Messaoud Chetrit, 82-years-old and the last Jewish man still living in Oran, passed away. A delegation of Jews came from France to ensure that he was buried according to the traditional Jewish ritual in the very cemetery of Oran where he had been the final caretaker.

And that brings us to the last Jew in Algeria assisted by JDC, Mrs. Azoulay, who had a very difficult life. In 1992, her case came to the attention of JDC, which from that point on provided her with regular cash assistance. Over a period of two decades, this JDC aid enabled Mrs. Azoulay to pay for all the medical care she needed for her multiple ailments. But perhaps what she treasured most about this JDC connection was the reassurance it gave her that she had not been forgotten by her people.

Among her last words to JDC was this postcard, sent to Yechiel Bar-Chaim in JDC’s Paris office:

January 10, 2011

Dear Mr. Bar-Chaim,

I received the magazines and the greetings card that you sent me together with the wishes of all JDC Paris staff. I was very touched. I had tears in my eyes. Fortunately, there are people like you who have compassion for others.

I wish you and the JDC Paris staff good health, peace in the world and everything you wish.

I send you my love and thank you again.

Esther Azoulay

A Young Filmmaker's Journey Inside Jewish Morocco

Dina Kadisha, a young LA-based filmmaker who has produced and directed over a dozen films, including the documentary “Operation Promise: Exodus from Ethiopia,” traveled with a JDC Young Professionals group to Morocco in February 2010. She chronicled the trip and the group’s experiences in “Inside Jewish Morocco with Dina Kadisha,” which was recently screened as a documentary at Festival de Cannes in the Short Film Corner.

The film is the first in the “Inside…” documentary series she is creating with JDC to capture the unique stories of isolated and relatively unknown Jewish communities around the world.
To read an interview with Dina, please visit the JDC Website.

JDC Update from Tunisia

From Irv Smokler, JDC President and Steve Schwager, CEO

With turbulent political events occurring in Tunisia, we share with you how the situation is impacting the small, but vibrant Jewish community there.

Tunisia is essentially shut down by a general strike, with massive anti-government demonstrations appearing everywhere. But the Jewish community -- 300-500 in Tunis, 100 in Zarzis, 60-80 living in Sfax and Sousse, and approximately 1,000 Jews on the island of Djerba -- is not the focus of any demonstration thus far.

As a precaution, police buses now block the entrance to the Jewish Quarter in Djerba. Although there was a large demonstration of workers in nearby Houmt Souk today --- Jewish life in Djerba remains calm and continues almost as usual.

The government has intensified heavy police protection for the Grand Synagogue of Tunis and the central building of the Jewish community. A massive street demonstration on the main boulevard passed by the synagogue without incident; the focus of the protesters remains the current government.

Security forces protecting the Jewish Old Age Home in La Goulette have been increased; no incidents have been reported.

All schools and universities were shut down earlier this week as a precaution against violence and protest vandalism. Although the Jewish schools in Djerba continue to function normally, the Chabad School in downtown Tunis closed so that it would not to be viewed as different from any other educational establishment there. Prayer services at the school continue as usual.

Yechiel Bar-Chaim, JDC’s Country Director for Tunisia, reports his main concern for the small 100-member Jewish community in Zarzis on the Tunisian mainland.

On Thursday, four non-Jewish civilians were killed during the protests there and a Jewish shop was among the many that were looted in the city center. Their funerals today will most probably be followed by an outpouring of public grief and anger.

The Jews of Zarzis live in a two-square block area just off the town center, surrounded by their synagogue, Jewish schools, the mikveh, and the place where chickens are kashered. On an adjoining street are the jewelry stores where most of the members of the Jewish community earn their living.

Until today this self-imposed “ghetto without walls" was carefully protected 24/7 by the Tunisian police. But the police have simply disappeared from the streets of Zarzis and the army presence there is basically a passive one. In fact the police have reportedly disappeared in many places throughout Tunisia. But the Jews in Zarzis will be vulnerable if the demonstrations after the funerals take a wrong turn. And in fact, four Jewish families from the town have already taken temporary refuge in Djerba.

JDC has been active in Tunisia since 1950, but Jewish communal life there dates back at least 2,300 years, when 30,000 Jews were forced to move from Palestine to Tunisia by the Romans under the Emperor Titus. After World War II, estimates of the size of the Jewish population in Tunisia range from 105,000 to several times that number. The community declined to 23,000 by the end of 1967 and to 9,000 by 1990. And so we call its estimated 1,500 members a remnant, yet still thriving Jewish community.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will update you as necessary.

Looking at Jewish Morocco

Briefing from Steve Schwager, CEO

Even in our Jewish world, with its rich heritage and great diversity, Morocco stands out. Its Jewish community is distinctive on a historic scale.

Jews first arrived in Morocco over 2,000 years ago, but they really came into their own after 1492 when Spain's Jews and Muslims chose expulsion over forced conversion to Christianity and together crossed the Straits of Gibraltar to North Africa.

This shared display of steadfastness in the face of oppression helped forge a special bond between Morocco's Jews and Muslims. Thus, while political conditions were not always favorable and many Jews lived in the grinding poverty of the mellahs, Morocco became a major center of Jewish life, giving rise to great scholarship and a distinctive culture.

Morocco granted Jews equal rights as long ago as 1864. And in 1940, when the Nazi-controlled Vichy government attempted to apply anti-Semitic policies to Jews under the French protectorate of Morocco, the sultan, Mohammad V, refused to carry them out.

Today as in the past, the country prides itself on the full and equal place its Jewish citizens hold. While their numbers are fewer than 5,000—a far cry from the 250,000 of only a few decades ago—this remarkable community occupies a special place both within the Jewish world and among the Moroccan people.

JDC's role in Morocco reflects the community's uniqueness. On the one hand, since it first began working in Morocco during World War II, JDC has been deeply involved in developing and strengthening the community's education, welfare, and healthcare. Indeed, while the Moroccan community operates and funds most of its institutions itself, JDC remains a key partner in helping the community maintain quality services, providing both financial and technical support.

The significance of this partnership, however, extends beyond the services it helps bring to Morocco's Jews. Here, JDC’s International Development Program (IDP) projects take on special meaning because they uniquely express the desire of the local Jewish community to contribute to the wider society of which they are a part.

In addition to the humanitarian impact of our IDP programs—bringing water or physical rehabilitation to victims of Haiti’s earthquake, for example—and our philosophical motivation by tikkun olam, an important component of this work is helping strengthen a local Jewish community's relations with its neighbors by having them participate in the creation and implementation of these IDP projects.

Nowhere is the potential for this dual impact greater than in Morocco—and it’s precisely what has happened through a wheelchair and medical-equipment distribution project for people with disabilities.

Developed in partnership with the local Jewish community and the Amicale Marocaine des Handicapés (AMH), the project began in late 2007 with the distribution of the first of 1,100 wheelchairs. At the ceremony outside Casablanca's Jewish Home for the Aged, 50 wheelchairs were distributed to Muslim men, women, and children with disabilities. The power of this good deed was expressed on the faces of the recipients and their relatives.

But its impact reverberated well beyond the first 1,100 beneficiaries and their families: The ceremony was attended by senior dignitaries, including the Minister of Social Affairs and the Governor of Casablanca, and was covered extensively in both print and broadcast media.

Importantly, the Jewish community received the kudos. As one headline read, "The Jewish Community is bringing Help to the Disabled."

The initial phase of this project has had a ripple effect. JDC Board members who attended the wheelchair event during their mission to Morocco were moved to raise an additional gift for the country’s disabled. Adele Lebersfeld, then chair of JDC’s Africa/Asia Committee, presented the president of the AMH with a check to help purchase vans and a mobile unit that now serve the disabled in remote towns and villages.

That first distribution has also since been followed by others around the country. In May 2009, I was privileged to join other Board members at an event in Casablanca held in conjunction with the opening of the Fred and Velva Levine Community Residence. This time, the distribution was of special wheelchairs and equipment for disabled sportsmen and women.

A few weeks ago the project entered a new phase and marked another success. An additional 100 wheelchairs were made available for distribution thanks to funding from an anonymous donor. This time, the focus was on the residents of Fez, Sefrou, and Oujda. The head of the Fez Jewish community presided over the distribution ceremony that marked the 11th anniversary of the King's coronation in the presence of dignitaries. Once again, the benefit to both the disabled and to Morocco's Jewish community was incredible.

So many lives have been improved thanks to our efforts and those of our partners in the Moroccan Jewish community. From my participation in one of the ceremonies, I can attest to the immense warmth and goodwill this project generated. Irv and I are proud that JDC is a part of a non-sectarian initiative that has done so much to renew and reinforce the ancient bonds between Morocco's Jews and Muslims. Sensitive and effective—JDC-IDP at our best.

Looking to the Future in Djerba, Tunisia

From Steve Schwager, CEO

Decades ago, when malnutrition still afflicted Jewish children in Djerba, Tunisia, JDC ran a school canteen serving approximately 200 meals per day. Early each morning JDC also served glasses of milk—and with each glass came a piece of Swiss chocolate. Those willing to drink a second vitamin-packed glass received a second piece of chocolate.

Sweet moments are rarely forgotten—even amidst great change.

Recently, a young teacher in Djerba told Yechiel Bar Chaim, JDC’s Country Director for Tunisia, that his father “still remembers the tasty olive oil” that JDC used to distribute to the poor 35 years ago. Even the current community president, Youssef Ouezzen, who is now a prosperous businessman in his mid-forties, reminisces fondly about the “incredibly durable shoes” and “long-lasting trousers” the Joint would hand out to the needy when he was a boy.

Over the years, as the Jews of Djerba have become better educated (with the help of JDC-supported schools) and living conditions have generally improved, JDC closed the canteen and no longer distributed goods-in-kind. A community tax imposed on the sale of kosher meat soon enabled our local partners in Djerba to take over the discreet payment of monthly cash assistance to needy Jews. And just recently, the community took the initiative to build and furnish a small one-room apartment for the last of the Djerban Jewish beggars.

These developments, made possible through JDC’s work with the local community, have allowed us to shift our priorities toward the community’s future—the flourishing Jewish education system. Largely funded by designated gifts, JDC’s Djerban agenda focuses on training teachers and modernizing the curricula for the 300 children who now study in the Jewish kindergarten, schools, and yeshivot.

The only other remnant of JDC’s welfare activities on the island is that we reimburse the community’s bikkur holim fund (bikkur holim literally means visiting the sick) half the cost of medications for Djerba’s neediest Jews.

Expanding Jewish Learning and Leadership Among Indian Jews

Building and maintaining Jewish cultural and educational institutions for India’s small Jewish community—some 5,000 people in a sea of 1.1 billion—can, naturally, be a challenge. There is no Jewish day school in Mumbai, where most of the country’s Jews are concentrated; Jewish education is almost entirely informal and there is a paucity of local teachers to do the work.

Filling this void is a prime objective of JDC in India, and was the impetus for the recent Jewish Educators Seminar and Workshop.

Conducted over four days this past October at the JDC-supported Evelyn Peters Jewish Community Center (EPJCC) in Mumbai, the forum was organized by the Buncher Community Leadership Program and drew educators, volunteers, and individuals representing JDC, including two Jewish Service Corps volunteers currently working in India; ORT India; and the local community—a dynamic group diverse in experience and background, ranging in age from 17 to 70.

JDC Program Update: Tunisia

The latest news from our programs in Tunisia:

Welfare Programs

After a long search to fill an aching vacancy, the Jewish Community of Tunis was finally able to employ a very capable person to look after the needs of the elderly survivors. JDC then sent a professional social worker from Marseilles to Tunis for a training and supervision visit.

Most of the elderly Jews in Tunis are living alone without any educational background or conventional work experience (some have lived as professional beggars). Given their nearly total destitution on the one hand and rising living costs on the other, JDC and the Community strive to improve their modest living standards in any possible way. Thanks to two special donations, we were able in the past year to raise their monthly cash assistance by 20 percent and to finance certain improvements in their living conditions.

Lag B’Omer Pilgrimage to La Ghriba Showcases Jewish Life in Djerba

On the small Mediterranean island of Djerba, located just off the Tunisian coast, can be found what may be the most ancient observant Jewish community in the Diaspora. Approximately 1,000 Jews—nearly half of them children enrolled in JDC-sponsored educational institutions—study Torah, keep the commandments (sometimes according to pre-Talmudic customs), and pray daily in more than a dozen active synagogues. Known as Arab Jews, they have been indigenous to Djerba for millennia and their mother tongue is Arabic.

There are two settlements here: Hara Kebira, the large Jewish Quarter, and Hara Seghira, the small Jewish Quarter. It is the smaller community, and its famed La Ghriba (“the wondrous”) synagogue, that was the center of attention during the holiday of Lag B’Omer (May 11-12).

Throughout most of the Jewish world, Lag B’Omer celebrations honor ancient Jewish scholars Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, as well as the memory of the Bar Kochba uprising—the last great Jewish revolt against the ancient Roman Empire. In Tunisia, however, Lag B’Omer inspires a unique pilgrimage to La Ghriba.

Each year, the handful of Jewish families still living in Hara Seghira welcome thousands of Jews from France, Israel, and elsewhere to their gleaming white synagogue on the hill to participate in a colorful, buoyant festival unlike any in modern Jewry. They come because La Ghriba is supposed to be a synagogue of miracles. A tiny opening in the back of the synagogue leads to a crawl space where infertile women come to place eggs on a stone said to have been brought 2,600 years ago from the portals of Solomon’s Temple.

Of course, the timely focus on Djerba provides visitors—which this year included U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia, Robert Godec—the opportunity to observe how JDC has worked its own transformations in this ancient, but vibrant, Jewish community.

JDC has had a presence in Tunisia since 1950, and today works with the local community to support Jewish education and other programs, including both the Torah v’Hinuch network schools and two yeshivot in Djerba which have a combined enrollment of approximately 450 students. With JDC assistance, upgrades including a nursery, new classrooms, a dining hall, library, and computers were made to the local yeshivot. JDC also focuses on teacher training and curriculum development for the Jewish nursery and kindergarten as well as the Girls’ School.

At the same time, JDC’s International Development Program works with the broader community in Tunisia to build interfaith cooperation among the Jewish population and their neighbors in serving the most vulnerable local citizens. JDC-IDP’s flagship effort in Djerba is a farm which offers therapy and vocational training for mentally impaired individuals.

One of the few institutions in the region that serves Arab Muslims, Jews, and Berbers, the new farm has greatly expanded the program of the parent-led UTAIM (Tunisian Union to Aid the Mentally Impaired) Day Center in the Djerban capital of Houmt Souk. The project is conducted in partnership with the Tunisian Union for Social Solidarity (the semi-governmental national federation of charities) and the Committee of Cooperation for the French Rhone Delta Region, and is funded by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The official inauguration of the farm will take place in November 2009.

This year, pilgrims who came to La Ghriba for Lag B’Omer arrived with renewed hope that this ancient remnant community, one of the few still thriving in Arab lands, will continue to grow and prosper with the help of JDC.

Bringing Wells and Wellness to Residents of Rural Ethiopia

Azanaw Musaw Tegegne, an eighth grader, says that before JDC installed the fresh water tap in his village in Gondar, Ethiopia, most people drank water from a nearby stream. Like hundreds of villages around rural Ethiopia, Gondar’s Gabriel kebele (area similar to a neighborhood) had no access to potable water for drinking, bathing, or cooking during the region’s extended dry seasons and draughts.

Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. In rural parts of country, only 11 percent of the population has access to clean water while just 7 percent has access to adequate sanitation facilities. During the rainy season, the population’s water supply is procured from nearby springs, streams, and shallow wells. When the dry season comes, these water sources dry up, forcing villagers to collect water from sub-standard, often polluted, wells and streams.

The health hazards are enormous: 90 percent of all preventable diseases such as malaria, cholera, yellow fever, hepatitis, typhoid and diarrhea can be attributed to underdeveloped and ill-protected water supplies. Waterborne diseases claim the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians each year.

Limited access to safe drinking water not only results in poor health, but also causes serious developmental problems. Collecting water is back-breaking work that drains precious energy and restricts involvement in productive activities and community affairs for many women and children in every village. On average, rural villagers spend four to six hours per day collecting water from sources that can be as far as 10 kilometers from their homes.

Over the last 25 years, JDC has built dozens of potable water wells throughout Gondar and the surrounding countryside with guidance from the Ethiopian Water Works Construction Authority and the local government in Gondar. Funding for this effort has come from international NGOs, as well as private donors and foundations. The Ground Water Development program has produced hand dug wells, protected springs, taps, micro-dams, and latrines.

JDC originally built wells in areas that served large numbers of Jews (the Felas Mura population awaiting immigration to Israel) but also supplied water to the non-Jewish villagers. By 2008, as JDC constructed a dozen wells across Gondar through its International Development Program (JDC-IDP), new water projects served 100 percent non-Jewish populations.

As JDC-IDP’s larger goal is to provide assistance that will leave communities stronger and self-sustaining in the long run, each project engages and is facilitated by local village water committees, who solicit local manpower for some labor and materials used in the construction process. JDC-IDP also provides the villagers with training on the importance of drinking the clean water and encourages behavioral change to improve overall health. Whenever possible, in addition to building the wells, JDC-IDP constructs communal latrines to facilitate a safe, sanitary human waste disposal system (as open air toilets are widely known to contaminate the town’s clean drinking water). Community education and involvement contributes tremendously to the success and long-term sustainability of these projects.

With safe, fresh, local water sources for drinking, cooking and sanitation available in his village for the first time, Azanaw Musaw Tegegne no longer needs to travel great distances to collect water. Freed of this chore, he will now be able to finish eighth grade at the newly built JDC-IDP school in his hometown of Gabriel, Gondar—one of 10 schools JDC-IDP has built in the region in the past 18 months.

That last fact is important, as Ethiopia has an adult literacy rate of barely 36 percent. Azanaw will be one of the just 23 percent of teenage boys and 13 percent of teenage girls enrolled in secondary schools. (Only 55 percent of all boys and 47 percent of all girls are enrolled in primary schools; 38 percent will not reach the fifth grade.)

Committed to making a difference in the development of Ethiopia’s educational system and securing a future for some of the most vulnerable people on the globe, JDC-IDP has been repairing and building schools for some of the poorest Ethiopian children across the Northern Gondar region since 2000.

At a celebration in appreciation for JDC-IDP’s donation of a hand water pump to one local village, the Chairman of the Gondar City Council, Asmamaw Yosuf, said, “Really, you have reached at the [root] of the problem. The people have no words to appreciate your donation. [We have] seen the enthusiastic dances praising to your organization.”

Briefing from Steve Schwager, Executive Vice President and CEO, JDC

I wrote this column in Istanbul, Turkey—a city of 14 million people where JDC began nearly 95 years ago. I traveled at the request of our Country Director, Ami Bergman, and the local Jewish community leadership. Much has changed in the world and in Istanbul since our founding. The Ottoman Empire no longer exists. The building that housed the American Embassy where Henry Morgenthau, Sr. sent the famous 1914 cable has been closed and replaced with a bombproof, fortress-like American consulate.

Large numbers of Jews have lived in Turkey for over 500 years, ever since we were expelled from Spain in 1492. The community numbered over 100,000 people at its peak; now about 25,000 Jews share the country with 70 million Muslims.

I was amazed to find that some things have not changed since my last visit 10 years ago: The Jewish community continues to be well-organized and operates the full range of Jewish institutions and services from preschool activities to old age homes, with the extremely active involvement of its lay leadership.

The political trends in this country are of great concern to the Jews. The recent war in Gaza has caused a rapid rise of anti-Semitism that is supported by the national government. The following piece was published by a local leader named Leyla Navaro; her words capture the concerns of the Jews of Turkey far better than any column I could write:

Looking back at my life as a Turkish citizen, I recall only two disturbing events reflecting racism, discrimination and anti-Semitism in Turkey. The first one is the Wealth Tax, a tax imposed only on non-Muslim Turkish citizens during World War II. I was six years old and my grandfather’s textile shop in Yesildirek was seized because he could not pay the sum imposed on him. I remember the tax officials in our house, searching for anything they could seize. There was a deep sense of worry among family members and my grandfather fell ill and took to his bed.

The second event was the 6-7 September disaster (Riots in 1955 which left mostly Greek businesses, as well as many establishments owned by minorities, pillaged). My family did not suffer physically since we did not own a shop, but I remember being very sad and frightened.

During the 1950s, when the “Citizen! Speak Turkish” slogans became widespread, I remember that my elder sister and I quoted this slogan and scolded people who spoke Ladino and minority languages. We must have been 11 or 12 years old. Today I recall this with shame, although I know that this is “identifying with the aggressor” behavior in psychology. A person who is threatened begins to identify with his/her aggressor and turns into an aggressor as well. Perhaps such behavior can be forgiven coming from an 11-year-old, but absolutely not from an adult, let alone from a country….

I was born in Turkey more than half a century ago and I live in this country. My mother, father, and my ancestors are natives of Turkey. I studied in Turkey. I married a Turkish Jew. My children attended Turkish schools. We speak Turkish at home. I have written books in Turkish and likewise conducted lectures and seminars in Turkish. I have proudly represented Turkey in international workshops and board meetings abroad. In fact I go by the pseudonym of “the Turkish woman.”

I have been a self-appointed ambassador while teaching Europeans, Americans and Asians, who know little about Turkey, and therefore are biased. In my thirty years of professional life, 90 percent of my patients have been Muslims; among them were numerous women who traditionally cover their heads, including those donning the Islamic turban. I teach at a state university and actively contribute to projects undertaken by public and private institutions, civil society establishments, and similar bodies. Following the earthquake of 1999, I volunteered for months doing post-traumatic work. I am a regular taxpayer, and I am concerned and actively involved in the financial and ethical interests of Turkey.

This being said, could you tell me why, in what seems like just one day, I have been transformed into an enemy of the state simply because I am Jewish? How did I become a potential target, an implicitly appointed party in the current Middle East war? Friends and family know my feelings, as well as my stand on this war; they are aware of my sensitivities for those who are killed in times of war.

I am shocked that I am being held responsible for the war in the Middle East just because I am a Jew. It is difficult to understand the point underlying the statement: “We are the grandchildren of the Ottomans who saved you from Spain.” Am I to be forever indebted just because the Ottoman Empire accepted my ancestors 500 years ago? Am I still a guest in this country where I was born and raised, where I fulfill my citizenship duties, and to whose development I actively contribute? Am I expected to walk with my head down? Have I become a target to existential threats and should I endure it?

Loyalty ranks as one of the prime characteristics of Turkish Jews. Turkish Jews living in other countries continue to speak Turkish, get together to watch Turkish movies, and savor Turkish cuisine. They enjoy singing Turkish songs. Although they no longer live in Turkey, they are still loyal to their roots and attached to the culture of their origin. Jews within Turkey also share this strong sentiment; they love their country and defend it steadfastly against the prejudices encountered abroad. I am no exception; I will never allow people to undermine the image of Turkey and strongly believe in the recognition of local values.

Today, however, my faith is shattered.… My country of birth, to which I pledge allegiance, no longer considers me an equal citizen, but views me as a member of the enemy camp just because of my religion. Boosted by a popular but seemingly non-mainstream media, governmental authorities who should protect their citizens do not refrain from using offensive and threatening rhetoric, thus inciting hostility in the masses. They cannot or do not want to say “no” to the racist tidal wave which is about to invade the country.

Does that mean that we were wrong to believe that we shared a common destiny and a sense of belonging, regardless of ethnicity, religion, and faith, with the rest of the Turkish citizens? Have we been living 500 years in dark ignorance?

It seems that the very popular expression of “mosaic of cultures” is nothing but a slogan for tourists—an illusion and a delusion. Perhaps the real goal is to reduce the “mosaic” into a single hue. And if that is true, then there are citizens who see me today as a potential enemy—and will seek to hurt or eliminate me…. Today, I am sad, worried, and somewhat frightened for myself; but I am equally saddened, worried, and frightened for Turkey’s future, which appears to be sliding towards an abyss of racism. I am frightened for a Turkey which will commit itself to a great solitude, unless a conscious effort is exerted to put a stop to this situation. A dark solitude…

On behalf of JDC, Irv and I have expressed our support to the Turkish Jewish community and have assured them that we will stand by their side whatever the future brings. Our responsibility is to continue to serve as the community’s bridge to the American Jewish community and the greater Jewish world. There is a Hebrew song that talks about the whole world being a narrow bridge and that the most important thing is to never be afraid. I have tried to assure the Jewish community in Turkey that JDC is the 911 bridge of the Jewish world—and that they should not fear; we will be here for them.

Update from Steve Schwager, CEO and Executive Vice President

Africa and Asia hold some of the most historical, beautiful, and unique Jewish communities in the JDC world. The region also is home to countries that face our most diverse challenges for ensuring their secure futures, maintaining their social service agencies, and supporting their varied Jewish community lives through Jewish education, lay and professional training, and networking with other communities. My focus today is on the breadth and scope of our endeavors in this vast and varied JDC area.

JDC’s work in the Africa/Asia region is an excellent example of how we put our global operating principles into action. Despite the small numbers of Jews residing in these countries, JDC continues to reach them wherever they choose to live. And because we are both apolitical and pluralistic, we are able to help these Jews to thrive as peacefully as possible in the region’s moderate Muslim countries, while always respecting the Jewish community’s various religious beliefs and viewpoints. The role we play in these Jewish communities and the new directions now being explored for them will allow for their improved and more self-sufficient future.

Turkey
Turkey has a vibrant and active Jewish community with a history of relative financial stability and a rich tradition of Jewish education and caring. JDC's involvement in the Turkish Jewish community dates back during World War I, when our services included financial assistance to the neediest Jews, soup kitchens in the Jewish quarters, and a special fund for emergency assistance. In the years that followed, when nearly 2,000 Jewish orphans were registered in the country, JDC supported every child in an orphan asylum in Istanbul, ensuring that those left behind by the ravages of war could live a decent life.

Today, JDC support complements the community’s remarkable, volunteer-run educational and welfare programs by providing technical assistance that 1) enhances the community’s lay leadership engagement and trains professionals and 2) helps develop programs for weaker members who may be adversely affected by changing socioeconomic developments. JDC has also advanced many creative non-sectarian initiatives targeting some of the most vulnerable groups in Turkey. These programs, rooted in our belief in tikkun olam (repairing the world), reflect positively on the Jewish community and strengthen its value and acceptance as a minority in this predominantly Muslim country.

India



In stark contrast to Turkey is India, where JDC has been assisting the Jewish population since discovering in 1961 that there were native Jewish groups, such as the Bene Israel, who were in dire need of help. Our current programs run the gamut from helping the elderly and the destitute in their daily survival to creating cultural and educational programs for youth and adults.

One flagship program is the Jewish Youth Pioneers (JYP), based in Mumbai’s Evelyn Peters Jewish Community Center. This uniquely Indian-Jewish youth group spans ages 15-27 and spearheads a range of activities for themselves and the community. One such event is KhaiFest—a communitywide Hanukkah gathering where Bollywood meets Jewish tradition and the Pioneers raise funds for community needs including, most recently, the Bayiti Jewish Home for the Aged.

However, since India’s Jewish community lacks the organizational and financial wherewithal to fully fund essential welfare and Jewish education programs on its own, JDC continues to provide most of these basic services for them. But India’s recent impressive economic growth holds promise of a change as those young professionals who are benefiting most from the country's boom take on greater responsibility for community affairs. If we are to help India move towards a more self-sufficient future, we must help them focus on various community building programs, which will include using our expertise in informal Jewish educational programs to encourage them to develop a more systematic approach to Jewish education. So our approach to work in India is two-sided: JDC must still provide essential direct services while we also believe that through appropriate professional and leadership development initiatives, India will be able to take the significant steps toward becoming a more independent Jewish community.

Tunisia
The very traditional Jewish community of Djerba in Tunisia probably dates as far back as the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E. JDC began its work in Tunisia during World War II, primarily providing relief to the Jews of Tunis who were the only community in North Africa to suffer the ravages of war and the Nazi occupation.

Our work in Tunisia greatly escalated in 1949 after a pioneering research visit by Dr. Herman Stein. Working with our French partner organization, Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE), JDC set out to lower the high rate of infant mortality and malnutrition among Tunisia’s Jewish children. Overall, its primary goal was to improve the conditions under which Jews in the region were forced to live, which included the need for more schools, more medical dispensaries and clinics, more child care centers, and more vocational and occupational guidance.

Today, in this entire region, only Djerba is experiencing significant Jewish population growth. Their development, combined with JDC’s recent success in gathering extra-budgetary donations, has enabled this Jewish community to increasingly finance its ever-expanding school system, even as JDC reduces its commitments to Tunisia. The money no longer needed for education is redirected to the needs of the shrinking elderly population in Tunis and to underwrite underfinanced programs elsewhere in the region.

Tunisia is clearly an example of a country with a mixed model. The Jews in both Tunis and Djerba look to JDC for more technical assistance, i.e., bringing in an expert JDC consultant on early childhood education for their preschool programs. This particular aspect of our work has an ironic flavor: Elsewhere in the world, particularly Europe and the FSU, JDC’s responsibility is to bring Jewish tradition back to Jews who, living for generations under Communism, lost contact with their historical roots. By contrast, in the countries of Africa and Asia, it is often JDC that represents the forces of modernity entering the lives of traditional Jews. The series of computer labs for Jewish learning that JDC is introducing into the Jewish schools of Tunis and Djerba—including the yeshiva—are but one example.

In Tunis, there is a gradually declining dependence on JDC for welfare and medical assistance, while in Djerba the community takes care of all of its own welfare needs and covers most of the current operating expenses for their formal Jewish education programs. This growing financial self-sufficiency in both communities strongly influences both the vision and the role of the local lay and professional leadership and enlarges their realm of responsibility. We obviously encourage this process even further by promoting stronger ties through training and exchange programs between Tunisian lay leaders and professionals and their counterparts in other countries around the Mediterranean.

Morocco
Morocco has a thriving Jewish school system alongside an increasingly dependent elderly population.

JDC first came to Morocco during World War II to assist European Jewish refugees. It was only then that JDC realized the desperate situation of the indigenous Moroccan Jewish population—a community that by some accounts traces its roots in the region back to the year 70 C.E. In cooperation with the local leadership, JDC initiated health, education, and clothing and food distribution programs in Casablanca, Agadir, Meknes, Rabat, Tangier, and 13 additional smaller provinces.


Today, Morocco has a vibrant Jewish community with 700 children in Jewish schools. JDC support supplements the resources of the local community, which itself manages all programs and funds 70% of welfare programs, and over 50% of medical and education programs. While JDC has had some success in finding significant local resources to help build the Fred & Velva Levine Community Residence for welfare cases, and local funds help support scholarships for needy Jewish students, the Moroccan Jewish community and JDC are still working hard to develop young leadership and increase fundraising from both within the region and abroad.

Egypt
And finally, I must mention Egypt—perhaps the oldest Jewish community outside Israel in the world. In this declining Jewish community, JDC is playing its traditional role of helping to provide for the members’ welfare and Jewish needs for as long as necessary.

JDC President, Ellen Heller and I are proud that our work in Africa and Asia reinforces JDC’s commitment to serving wherever there are Jews in need. Our work ensures that Jewish communities around the world, no matter how small or remote, will know that they never stand alone.