October 8, 2008

by Maxyne Finkelstein
Special To The Jewish Week

The recent agreement between the Jewish Agency for Israel and the aliyah group Nefesh B’Nefesh has led to questions about the direction the Jewish Agency is taking today globally, and particularly in North America. Since 1948, the Jewish Agency has served the Jewish world as a vehicle for strengthening Israel and the Jewish people. Since then, with the support of Jewish federations in North America and partners throughout the world, we have brought 3.3 million people to Israel. In the last year alone, we facilitated the aliyah of nearly 20,000 — from places as disparate as Georgia, Siberia, Ethiopia, India and New York.

So it may have come as a surprise to some when the Jewish Agency came to an agreement with Nefesh B’Nefesh, giving  a local organization the leading role in marketing and promoting aliyah in North America.

On a practical level, it makes sense for two organizations — which share the same goal of promoting and facilitating aliyah — to work together and pool their expertise and resources. This streamlining not only benefits both organizations, but more importantly it benefits the oleh (immigrant), who now can make aliyah at a “one-stop shop” that provides the best of the services of both organizations. 
The Jewish Agency is aware of the importance of using resources strategically. And in the context of the many partnerships we have developed in many areas in recent years, we recognize the added value of a North American-based organization in promoting aliyah to a local population of North Americans. We work similarly with Ami, an organization that promotes and facilitates aliyah in France. 
Under the new collaborative venture, the Jewish Agency retains full responsibility for working on behalf of olim to attain citizenship with the relevant governmental authorities in Israel and will continue to carry out its historic responsibility as the organization mandated by the State of Israel to oversee aliyah worldwide.

But the move also provides an opportunity to articulate what the Jewish Agency sees as its broader goals in North America. Since its inception, the Jewish Agency has had a second and increasingly important role — connecting the Jewish people, and particularly the next generation, to their identity, with Israel at the center.

The road that leads a Jew in North America to decide to immigrate to Israel is often a long one, and for those who reach that critical juncture it almost always follows years of Jewish and Zionist education and/or formative experiences in Israel. It is building and strengthening this connection to Israel that the Jewish Agency views as its broader goal here. Sometimes, this bond culminates in a person’s decision to make aliyah. But whether it does or not, such a bond encourages positive personal identification with Israel and Judaism. In turn, this identification develops a more responsible and active member of the Jewish community. And this connection will reduce the potential of assimilation in the next generation.

We help build this connectedness to Israel through the more than 120 Israeli teachers the Jewish Agency recruits and assists in serving as educators in day schools for two or three years; and by the record 1,500 Israeli young adults we brought this summer to serve as counselors in Jewish camps, who are important as a focus for informal education. It is strengthened through dozens of young Israeli volunteers who serve in communities and on college campuses all across North America through the sponsorship of the Jewish Agency.

The sense of connectedness continues after high school, as we encourage teens and young adults to make Israel an important part of their lives, through travel and study abroad. We build on the increased interest in Israel travel, much of which has come through the outstanding work of Birthright Israel (where we are a funding partner). We offer Jewish young adults, before, during or after college opportunities to study and live in Israel — from two-week volunteer programs, to semester and year-long study and specialized internship programs in the framework of MASA, a joint project of the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency to give young adults abroad a significant life-experience in Israel. In this context we are filling the growing demand of a “gap year” abroad.

On the community level, we sponsor nearly 50 partnerships between Jewish communities in North America and municipalities in Israel; by the role we have taken on, with federations and other partners abroad and in Israel, in closing the social gap in Israel and strengthening the periphery; or by communities who are part of our Makom program where resources are provided to integrate Israel into local synagogues, schools, and community centers through education, arts and culture.
Last month, together with the United Jewish Communities, we hosted an Israel travel seminar in New York that attracted 75 professionals from across North America involved in using Israel travel to encourage identity in their communities. The seminar underscored the recognition of the life-altering capacity of Israel travel and the importance it will have in identity development in the next generation.
The Jewish Agency recognizes that the routes to developing identity, like the paths to practicing Judaism, are many. The Israel travel or informal education experience of the next generation is different from that of their parents, and must be compelling and relevant. Ultimately, we are investing in building this connection with Israel, knowing it may serve to encourage aliyah and will certainly serve to enrich identity and community. 

That is what the Jewish Agency in North America is about in 2008.

Maxyne Finkelstein is CEO of the Jewish Agency for Israel – North America.