Making the Connection: JDC's Ambassadors Symposium

Making the Connection was the theme of the JDC Ambassadors Symposium, May 6-7, focusing on how we can make a genuine and meaningful connection between us as caregivers and philanthropists and the people in need around the world that we help. 

The ideal connection would look very different from the top-down approach that too often has served to increase the divide among people. It would be about achieving true empathy, about empowering the people we help so that they are the best allies in helping themselves, and about stretching how we do philanthropy and engage others.

Monday's session looked at how we care for our friends as a model for how we do good in the world.

Park Avenue Synagogue’s Rabbi Cosgrove spoke about empathy and the Hebrew concept of arevut, the responsibility we have towards one another (click here). Letty Cottin Pogrebin spoke about her personal experience fighting breast cancer and the type of care that she sought from friends and family, and articulated principles that resonated with her experience and others' with whom she spoke. Foremost among them was the importance of listening to the voices and wishes of the people we want to help and not assuming that we know best.         

What might this principle look like if we put it into play in our humanitarian work as well as our personal lives?

There are few programs that better demonstrate JDC's vision of listening to and empowering the people we serve than Jay Ruderman’s groundbreaking work with disabled people in Israel -- a partnership among his family foundation, JDC and the Government of Israel that goes by the name Israel Unlimited.  A staggering 1 million people suffer from disabilities in Israel (key stats here), but the program does not focus on accessibility alone. Instead, it makes disabled people the actors in their own story -- helping them to challenge stigmatization (here's an excellent piece on an inspiring blind Arab Israeli woman) and build up their confidence and abilities to act as positive forces in their communities through volunteerism and a new emphasis on work.

 

Poland: 70 Years Later

by Rebecca Neuwirth

In the end, it’s Agatha who makes it impossible not to hope.

I’m with a JDC Ambassadors delegation at the 70th anniversary commemoration of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. At midnight on April 19, in the light of two flames that rise from menorahs on either side of the famed Ghetto monument, Cantor Yaakov Lemmer sings in Yiddish about small boys who steal outside to sell cigarettes, and of a searing loss of innocence. Next to me, a member of our delegation sings quietly along—she remembers the tune from childhood.

Children's Memorial in Warsaw Jewish Cemetary

Loss of innocence is an elegant metaphor for the brutal desperation that drove parents to allow their young boys to risk their lives to bring home crumbs. The story of the Warsaw Ghetto is unendingly heinous. At its height, over 400,000 Jews were imprisioned in 1.3 square miles. Starvation and violence killed some 100,000 in the first year, and the Nazis deported almost 300,000 to mass murder in Treblinka. Cruel selections separated mothers and fathers from their children; sadistic and senseless acts were the rule, with human kindness used as a lure for brutality.

But the commemoration of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, unlike other forms of Holocaust remembrance, focuses not on atrocities but on courage.

It draws attention to acts of resistance and stubborn humanity, from the courage of small boys to the sharing of crumbs of food, the caring for orphaned children – embodied by the amazing Janusz Korczak, even the creation of culture that persisted in the Ghetto in the face of inhuman conditions. Above all, it focuses on the final armed resistance waged by a few thousand Jews against the impossibly larger, full force of the Nazis, and that ended one month later in total destruction and with only 13 Jews remaining.

What is our Global Jewish Responsibility?

Remarks by Rabbi Peter J. Rubinstein, Senior Rabbi, Central Synagogue
Delivered at the JDC Ambassadors Global Symposium
December 3, 2012

It is a tremendous honor to be with you this morning and a special joy to personally salute you who are involved in and support the JDC.  In my mind you are responsible for and further the work of one of the great heroic organizations of Jewish life. To say this is not hyperbole because I have seen your work in action around much of this world.

Perhaps the most personally stunning and surprising experience I had with JDC was when in the late 1990’s I travelled with a small group of Jewish leaders to visit an Albanian refugee camp during the height of the Kosovo conflict and then to take some of those refugees with us to Israel. In those days brutalized refugees were flowing across the border seeking food and water and shelter and refuge.

I’m not sure what I expected when I arrived in Albania but a tent with a JDC sign outside was nowhere on my screen of possibilities. It was there and then that I came to understand the expansive theater of JDC operations which combat the results of human warfare and misery and are on the ground in the face of the most horrendous natural disasters as in Haiti after the earthquake. I comprehend the exquisite purity of an organization which has as its focus saving people in extremis no matter what their national origin, race, religion or gender. For that I salute and thank you.

The topic you have asked me to address is “What is our Global Jewish Responsibility?” In forming this question I suspect the planners of this symposium were purposeful in framing the question with inherent ambiguity for in fact this topic properly raises two very separate issues.

JDC Ambassadors Global Symposium, December 3

The Jewish Future:
New Strategies for Sustaining and Inspiring Jewish Life
New York City

Guest Speakers:
Peter J. Rubinstein, Senior Rabbi of New York's Central Synagogue
Anne Heyman, Founder & Board Chair - Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village
Jack Habib, Director, Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute
and more...

FOR MORE INFORMATION -- go to http://jdc.org/ambassadorssymposium

JDC has worked for almost 100 years in supporting Jewish life around the world. But even as we help individuals and communities deal with crisis and handle extreme poverty on a day-to-day basis, our middle and long-term aims are more elevated and strategic: to ensure robust and inspired Jewish communities that care for one another.

The December 3 Ambassadors Symposium examines the Jewish future. How can we support small, vulnerable Jewish minorities in Muslim countries against the backdrop of the Arab spring and heightened global tensions? And, how can we share successful local Jewish and Israeli program models of care with other communities and the larger world – as a way to build bridges, scale impact, and fulfill our mandate of tikkun olam, or healing the world.

Peter J. Rubinstein, Senior Rabbi of New York's Central Synagogue, will offer a keynote address on what global responsibility really means today.

The Symposium will also introduce a new feature: JDC Think Tank sessions, which will allow key leadership to “roll up their sleeves” with participants to address current open questions on the spectrum of JDC’s work. Roundtable discussions will range from maximizing renewal activities in the increasingly trendy city of St. Petersburg, Russia to inspiring young American Jews to embrace a global and Jewish tikkun olam agenda, and more.

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JDC Ambassadors Symposia provide in-depth opportunities to understand how the latest global events are impacting Jewish communities around the world – and what we can do about it. Symposia are open to JDC Ambassadors, members of our Ambassador Circle and Society, and select guests.

JDC Ambassadors New York Program, October 22

Can we turn the tables on poverty? Real lessons from the field in Israel, Russia, Haiti and beyond

JDC Ambassadors Meeting

Monday, October 22, 5 pm doors open, 5:30-7 pm program
New York

An article about this event is now available on the JDC Field Blog.

JDC's experience in combating poverty around the world contains not only a treasure trove of stories of individual dedication and initiative in the face of adversity, but also a myriad of valuable lessons learned about how best to address and ultimately end poverty.

The largest Jewish humanitarian organization, JDC leverages nearly a century’s experience to create effective programs that benefit some of the world’s neediest populations faced with disaster, extreme poverty, political instability, and genocide. JDC’s lifesaving interventions in the World War I and World War II eras are legendary; its work today helps hundreds of thousands of people in crisis and focuses on sustainable solutions to Jewish poverty and beyond.

Featuring from the field:

• Galit Sagie on the keys to social mobility in Israel
• Rina Edelstein on addressing overwhelming need among elderly Jews in the former Soviet Union
• Mandie Winston on the importance of empowering people to help themselves
• Moderated by Gideon Herscher, program development expert

For more information, contact Rebecca Neuwirth, rebeccan@jdcny.org
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JDC Ambassadors programs provide insight into the state of Jewish communities around the world – and what we can do about it. Programs are open to JDC Ambassadors, members of our Ambassador Circle and Society, and select guests.

JDC Event to Feature Professor Dan Ben-David on Israel's Internal Challenges



Professor Dan Ben-David

Professor Dan Ben-David, along with JDC Israel Regional Specialist Kobi Tav, will give a talk on September 13th at 5pm called “The Start Up Nation’s Threat From Within; Finding Solutions.”

“The academic achievements of Israeli students are incredibly low compared to other westernized countries.” This startling statement from the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies should give one cause for worry. Its effects could mean a disastrous future for Israel if they are not reversed soon.

This troubling fact is one of the reasons why Professor Dan Ben-David devotes so much time to researching ways to improve the economy in Israel. The Executive Director of the Taub Center, Professor Ben-David, is one of the foremost economic voices in Israel in the push for a greater and less stratified Israeli economy. At an upcoming event that will take place at JDC Headquarters, Professor Dan Ben-David will detail the socio-economic changes that pose a challenge for the long-term health of the Israeli economy.

More and more people are immigrating to Israel, many of them from different ethnic groups. However, in contrast to the rising population rates employment rates have been decreasing. New immigrants are not contributing to the growth of Israel’s economy.

Professor Dan-Ben-David argues that by putting strength into the education system, more people will become part of the Israeli economy. “Education is the basic national infrastructure. It is a primary factor in providing equal opportunities for full realization of individual abilities.”

Ben-David, one of Israel’s leading economists, has discovered a multitude of alarming facts concerning the state of Israeli education. Education gaps in Israel are among the highest in the West. Few students take core classes and the class sizes are inconceivably large. The education gaps between students also rate as some of the most unequal in the west. “The failure is systemic; continuing in this way is no longer an option,” he wrote in a recent study.

Professor Ben-David, as the Executive Director of the Taub Center, works closely with JDC’s Israel program office to address the issues that are holding back Israel’s potential and threatening its future success. “The ability of the Joint [JDC] to join forces with the government in innovating social services, in doing pilot projects that are studied as they go ahead in order to measure the potential national impact that they can have…this is having a long-term impact on Israeli society,” said Professor Manuel Trajtenberg.

JDC founded the Taub Center in 1982 and still remains a fundamental supporter of the institution. RSVP is mandatory to this event. For more information email Rebecca Neuwirth at rebeccan@jdcny.org or call 212-885-0878.

JDC Ambassadors Circle Global Symposium - Photos of the Day



JDC Board Member and

JDC Ambassadors Circle Chair
Steven Price welcomes everyone.

 


Alan Gill, Executive Director of International Relations talks about
Areivut: Responsibility and its Challenges





JDC Ambassadors Circle Steering Committee Member
Zachary Fasman introduces a session Israel's greatest challenges.



Dan Ben-David
Executive Director, Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel
discusses the challenges facing Israel today and looking to the future.



Yossi Tamir, Director of TEVET
JDC's Employment Initiative in Israel talks about
programs aimed at addressing some of those challenges.

   



Aleksandar Oscar
President, Sofia, Bulgaria Jewish Community
Vice President, Bulgaria Jewish Community
speaks about the European Jewish community today.




Jennifer Kraft, Director of Community Relations
discusses opportunities for outreach and engagement in today's
American Jewish community.





Mazi Melesa, who came to Israel during Operation Solomon shares her
personal story; with Amir Shaviv, Assistant Executive Vice President
for Special Operations. 



Judy Amit
Global Director, International Development Program
discusses disaster preparedness and international cooperation
during times of crisis. 

Daniel Sahalo
National Coordinator, JDC-Eshel programs for
Ethiopian Elderly in Israel, who emigrated to Israel during Operation Moses
tells his own personal story of integration in Israeli society. 

Etta Gross Zimmerman of the JDC Board of Directors
introduces the session on Post-Soviet Jewry,
The  Greatest Challenges.

Asher Ostrin
Director of Former Soviet Union Department
speaks about the issues facing Jewish communities in the
Former Soviet Union today.

Fabian Triskier
Associate Director, JDC Latin America Office discusses
Latin America's Jewish communities.



Sigal Shelach, Director of Programs for Minorities and Immigrants,
JDC-Israel TEVET
and Sam Amiel, Senior International Relations Executive
talk about the challenges of employment for Arab-Israelis.




Anne Heyman speaking about the
Agahozo Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda



JDC Ambassadors Circle Global Symposium - May 17, 2011

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

9:30 AM - 4:00 PM

New York City

Join us for a full day of exclusive briefings on the status of Jewish communities and JDC's work around the world.

This exclusive event will focus on the challenges and opportunities facing JDC today. Meet JDC representatives from around the world, hear insider briefings on JDC's global operations and Israel's strategic landscape, and get updates on thriving and struggling communities from South America to the Middle East, and much more.

We are planning several tracks based on each person’s individual experience with JDC—beginner, advanced, and applied (for Jewish community leaders, campaigners, and volunteers with strong JDC affiliation). So you're sure to get the greatest possible value out of this JDC Ambassadors Circle Global Symposium.

To purchase tickets and register, please go to
http://jdc.org/Temparchives/ambassador.html

For more information, please contact Rachel Rosenthal at ambassadors@jdc.org or 212.885.0876.

JDC Ambassadors Circle Global Symposium - May 17, 2011

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

9:30 AM - 4:00 PM

New York City

Join us for a full day of exclusive briefings on the status of Jewish communities and JDC's work around the world.

This exclusive event will focus on the challenges and opportunities facing JDC today. Meet JDC representatives from around the world, hear insider briefings on JDC's global operations and Israel's strategic landscape, and get updates on thriving and struggling communities from South America to the Middle East, and much more.

We are planning several tracks based on each person’s individual experience with JDC—beginner, advanced, and applied (for Jewish community leaders, campaigners, and volunteers with strong JDC affiliation). So you're sure to get the greatest possible value out of this JDC Ambassadors Circle Global Symposium.

To purchase tickets and register, please go to

http://jdc.org/Temparchives/ambassador.html 

For more information, please contact Rachel Rosenthal at ambassadors@jdc.org or 212.885.0876.

If You are in Washington DC on March 8...

Reservations are required.  To reserve a spot please go to THIS LINK. 

About Dr. Rick Hodes

Dr. Rick Hodes, JDC’s Medical Director in Ethiopia, is a graduate of the University of Rochester Medical School and trained in internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University. During more than 20 years with JDC, he has provided and supervised medical care for victims of famine, war, and disease outbreaks in Kosovo, Rwanda, Zaire (Congo), Tanzania, Albania, and Somalia. Dr. Hodes is currently an attending physician at the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s Mission), concentrating on heart and spine disease as well as cancer. Dr. Hodes was inducted into the Medical Mission Hall of Fame in 2006, and the following year was selected as a “CNN Hero” in the “Championing Children” category. He is the subject of the book, This is a Soul by Marilyn Berger, as well as the Sue Cohn Rockefeller short documentary, Making the Crooked Straight.

About Will Recant, PhD

Will Recant is the Assistant Executive Vice-President of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, specializing in JDC’s international development and disaster relief programs. He has briefed and worked with U.S. Government agencies and Congressional members on issues specific to rescue and relief; and Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs) on program coordination, partnership development, and cooperation. Recant has traveled overseas to coordinate and evaluate existing and potential JDC programs in over 30 countries, where he has also acted as JDC’s intermediary to embassies and officials. He has helped provide disaster assistance to the Tsunami-affected countries, Kosovo, Africa, and Haiti. Recant holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from George Washington University.

Photos from the Last JDC Ambassadors Circle Global Symposium of 2010

Thank you to everyone who attended the JDC Ambassadors Circle Global Symposium on December 13, 2010.

Stefan Oscar, JDC Area Director for Poland and the Baltic States,
Karina Sokoloska, JDC Country Director for Poland
and Zoya Shvartzman, Director of Resource Development for JDC-Europe
discuss key issues within the Jewish communities of Europe today.



Galit Sagie, Director of Planning and Development for JDC-Israel
presents programs to benefit vulnerable populations in Israel
through projects that promote enviromental sustainability.



Will Recant, Assistant Executive Vice President
holds a workshop on how to share JDC's story.

  

JDC Ambassadors Circle Members, Izzet BenSusan (originally from Turkey),
Dalia Cohen (originally from Zimbabwe)
and Laurent Morali (originally from France)
talk about why they left their home countries and the issues
new immigrants face upon arrival in their new country. 
Sam Amiel, Executive for International Relations, moderated the panel.

Danny Pins, Director of JDC's Immigrant Division for JDC-Israel,
speaks on the topic, 'Israel's Future - Preventing Young Adults
from Falling Through the Cracks'.

Shauli Dritter, Director of Field Operations, JDC-FSU
talks about JDC's role during crisis situations.

Participants have a lunch-time discussion with
Karina Sokolowska, JDC Country Director for Poland.

Stefan Oscar, JDC Area Director for Poland and the Baltic States
speaks more in depth about his region during the lunch session.

Zoya Shvartzman, Director of Resource Development, JDC-Europe
tells her story during the lunch session.

Eliot Goldstein, Deputy Director for International Relations
led an interactive session on 'Values and Dilemmas' in JDC's work.

During the 'Values and Dilemmas' session,
led by Eliot Goldstein, Deputy Director for International Relations,
participants were asked to discuss one of five dilemmas
based on real-world situations faced by JDC professionals.

Sarah Hirschhorn, Division Director for Strategic Partnerships, JDC-Israel
talks about the issues of mainstreaming Arab and Haredi populations into Israeli Society.

"Making the Case - Storytelling, Framing and Telling the Overseas Story'
-- a workshop with Michael Novick, Executive Director for Strategic Development.

Shawn Landres, CEO and Co-Founder of Jumpstart
presents on how Jewish innovation and social entrepreneurship
are working to build a sustainable and viable Jewish future in Europe.

Gideon Herscher, JDC Director of Haiti Relief Efforts
talks about his own personal reflections on the months
he spent on the ground in Haiti following the devastating Earthquake.

SAVE THE DATE: JDC Ambassadors Circle Global Symposium

Join us for a day of high profile briefings on the status of Jewish communities around the world.

JDC Ambassadors Circle Global Symposium

Monday, December 13, 2010

New York City

Our keynote speaker will be Gideon Herscher, Director of Haiti Relief and Reconstruction Efforts. 

As emergency relief efforts in Haiti transition to longer term recovery, an on-the-ground presence will be critical in order to provide information on new directions, address emerging needs, and identify partnering opportunities.

In the midst of this chaos, Gideon Herscher relocated to Haiti for a period to serve as JDC's representative on the ground, overseeing and coordinating the organization's disaster relief and development efforts.

For the past 10 years, Gideon's main focus has been the developing and implementation of programs and partnerships for vulnerable populations in Israel, as well as overseeing a number of critical JDC programs in Ethiopia and Rwanda.

Gideon wrote a wonderful piece about spending Rosh Hashana in Haiti and the hopeful experiences that he encountered during his time there.  You can read it HERE.

Photos of the JDC Ambassadors Circle Global Symposium on May 10 - Part II

On May 10, 2010 Jewish leaders and philanthropists from across the country and around the world joined us at JDC's global headquarters for our JDC Ambassadors Circle Global Symposium. It was a great event featuring JDC's best and brightest who shared their insight and knowledge of JDC's work around the globe.

Danny Pins, Director, JDC's Immigrant Integration Division talks about the challenges of integrating the most vulnerable immigrant populations into mainstream Israeli society. 

Jennifer Kraft, Director of Community Relations and Linda Levi, Director of JDC Archives take participants on a walk through JDC's 96 year history. 

Sam Amiel, Senior Program Officer, gives an overview on the Jews of North Africa.

JDC Board of Directors member Mark Sisisky presents the upcoming JDC mission to Ukraine in June.    

JDC Board of Directors members (from left) Susie Stern, Betsy Sheerr, Alan Jaffe and Mark Sisisky participate in a panel discussion to discuss philanthropy and the Jewish world.

Our keynote speaker, Asher Ostrin, Executive Director of Former Soviet Union Programs shares lessons and values learned during his 24 year career working for JDC. 

Video clips of our presenters coming soon....