Do not oppress the stranger, for you were a stranger in the land of Egypt

Yesterday was a long day full of a variety of different activities. We first heard from Avi Armoni the former director of the New Israel Fund and the Museum of Jewish Peoplehood. He spoke about the 3rd sector (Nonprofits, NGOs, civily society) and the specific statistics associated (listed at the end of the post). What I found most interesting about his presentation was the emphasis he put on the influence Jews in the US have had on Israeli society in terms of being active in government. Avi explained that when he was younger the activity of the government was something you just accepted and felt as if you had no influence over. This sentiment has changed and Israelis have adopted a similar advocacy culture (as seen by their tent protests), where they feel as if their actions can make a difference.

For Avi and his family there are a few truths they live by- numbers matter, civil society matters, the only platform that can make a difference is the political platform, values of philanthropy, and the development of nonprofit professionals is important. These are very telling aspects of how the mindset of Israelis are changing. One of the last things Avi mentioned was the evolution of a 4th sector, businesses employing previously unemployable people (physically or mentally handicapped). This is evident that the lines between public, business, and the civil sector are blurring and there is more collaboration than competition- the theme of our world today.

From that presentation, we went to A.D. Gordon Elementary, a school for predominantly Russian speaking immigrant children. When we got there the children were lined up and ready to sing us some Hanukkah songs (in English, Hebrew, and Russian) and did a dance for us. It was the cutest thing ever! Afterward, we were able to talk to some of the older students about their experience, what they hope to do when they grow up, their favorite subject, ect. They were very eager to speak with us and we were quite impressed by their English!

When the students left we spoke with the principle about the nature of the school. They are a public school funded by the government. Soon the school will be opening it's doors to non-Russian speaking Israelis with the hope of helping to integrate the Russian speaking students into Israeli society (even though they will enter an integrated school after 6th grade). I thought it was interesting that the goal of the school was one- to provide a place for Russian speaking immigrant children to attend school with other Russian children and two- to assimilate these children into Israeli society, leaving it up to their parents to teach them any Russian culture they wish to retain. This made me a little sad, I think the idea of giving these children an opportuntiy to begin their education with other Russian children so that they are able to enter the larger Israeli society, well educated while retinaing their Russian culture. However, the view is that if you live in Israel you should be Israeli and that this school is destined to be like every other.

Lunch was in the central bus station in South Tel Aviv, very delicious falafel!! This is also the area where a majority of the immigrant community live. There we met with Meslia, an aid and information center for the foreign community and refugees, and heard about the 40,000 immigrant population who live in South Tel Aviv, 80,000 in all of Israel. They are funded 25% from the Israeli government and therefore are not able to do advocacy work or speak against the practices of the government. What they do do is provide absorption services in an attempt to provide basic human rights (as defined by the UN) to the refugee and immigrant population.

The women we met with spoke specifically about the way immigrant children are cared for before they are old enough to enter the public school system. For the first three years of most immigrant children's lives (about 1,000 children), they spend their days in a single room with about 40 other children and a single caregiver. This puts these children at a severe disadvantage as they begin school significantly behind their peers, reverberating throughout their lives, because they do not play or learn, these day cares are more of a 'holding room' while the parents work. Many children die in these facilities because of the lack of available and proper care. The conditions she showed us were quite upsetting and Mesila has been able to both open 3 appropriate day care facilities and help educate caregivers on the proper way to provide daycare.

I'm grateful that there is an organization who works to help mitigate these problems but it makes me sad that the Jewish government and people are not more involved with helping provide a better start for these people in Israel. I am also grateful that the immigrant population in the US for the most part do not experince this. Our issue is that we are now faced with a population of immigrant children who are literate and able to be productive members of society but we are not allowing them to do so legally.

Lastly, we visited Bina, an organization that emphasized social justice and study. They have many programs for Israelis and non-Israelis to study and volunteer in the immigrant community with the focus of helping to make their lives better. We examined different texts that speak to helping the stranger, the oppressed, and the orphan. Discussion ensued from there about Israel's responsibility to these populations and how the issue should be approached when looking at it through a Jewish lens.

I found it interesting that none of the quotes used were from the Reform movement or had a Reform tint. In addition, Rabbi Laura Geller brought up that this issue is a real test of how 'we' as Jews are to run a country. For so long we were the minority, powerless to influence the way the country in which we lived was run. Now we are not in that position and we do have the power to create policies and programs that reflect Jewish values. Sadly, this is how the Jewish people are choosing to deal with this problem.

As I write this, we are on our way to Kiryat Ono College to discuss the ultra-Orthodox (Hareidi) community in relation to the Ethiopian population and the education they provide to Israelis. More to come from today's adventures!!

NGO Stats:

34,000 NGOs, 236,152 employees, 29% education, 15% culture, 15% religious services, 12% welfare, 10% philanthropy foundations, 3% health, 70% are providing services, 4% advocacy- 20% of GDP, 12% of labor force, 60 billion shekels

volunteer force = 40,000 jobs, 32-35% volunteer, 160 hours a year, 22% to security, 43% welfare, % health

Income 25% fees for service, 10% contributions

"I'm not as rich as I deserve to be"- quote from Ari I thought was interesting

77% of Israeli adults contribute- values based and emotional relation to need drive volunteering- average $1,000 shekels per year per adult - door to door solicitation is commen and works
with increae wealth, not necessarily increase giving

NGOs have transformed the nature of the country that goes way beyond services, world Jewery participates in all things Israel