On a practical level, Israel 360 is also dedicated to coordinating Israel-related programming at Beth El. We are blessed with a busy shul calendar and many different groups that host important Israel programs. Israel 360 will focus on all Israel programming and support other groups and initiatives at Beth El, including Sisterhood, the Encounter Group, the Israel Film Festival, and others. To remain informed about all events related to Israel at Beth El, as well as noteworthy events taking place around the broader Westchester community, and volunteer opportunities to support Israel, check out ways to help below.
Israel 360 will serve as an “Israel program clearinghouse” to ensure the balanced coordination of content and schedules. If you want to plan a program related to Israel, contact Tamar Tait, tamarktait@gmail.com, or Mark Seidenfeld, seidenfeldmark@gmail.com, Co-chairs of Israel 360.
Recognizing our shared sense of “Ahavat Yisrael” – love and support of Israel – Israel 360 is a group of Beth El members with varied perspectives on and connections to Israel. We are dedicated to raising awareness and fostering respectful and nuanced dialogue about Israel that encourages openness to the diversity of perspectives among the Beth El community and the Jewish community at large.
An important element of our community’s sense of identity as Jews derives from its connection to Israel. No matter what our views and perspectives are, we believe we all find common ground in Ahavat Yisrael and our connection to Israel is often deeply personal and emotional. While many of us have strongly and passionately held convictions about Israel, others avoid discussing it altogether because they feel conflicted, uncomfortable or confused. While Israel 360 is not intended to advocate for any particular view, it is committed to raising awareness and advancing dialogue.
Israel 360 will seek to build upon Beth El’s tradition of strong support for Israel and expand that legacy to learn from a diversity of opinions in a supportive space where our community can have constructive civil dialogue about Israel, even around charged issues. We recognize that we may not always agree, but we always have the opportunity to learn from each other.
Purchase Dog Tags for the Hostages All proceeds go to UJA’s Israel Emergency Fund.
Emergency Volunteers Project (EVP) is staffing two projects in addition to its professional firefighters initiative: The EVP Mass-Feeding Unit, working with Israel’s Home Front Command, trains volunteers to prepare fresh, healthy meals for IDF units and needy populations using a fleet of mobile kitchens. The EVP Make A Soldier Smile project has volunteers cooking meals at popup field kitchens on army bases.
Contact EVP through this webform; by emailing office1@evp.org.il; or by calling 781-713-4562 (USA) or 073-729-1954 (Israel).
Israel Food Rescue Mission is a joint effort of HaShomer HaChadash, Kol Israel, Leket Israel and Brothers in Arms, in response to a war-related manpower crisis on Israeli farms. Volunteers from abroad with a valid passport and ability to commit to at least 10 days of agricultural labor are welcome to apply. Travel and lodging subsidies are available.
Volunteer for the Israel Food Rescue Mission at the link or email rabbirandybrown@gmail.com.
Mission Hinenu is helping understaffed hospitals by processing paperwork for licensed medical personnel (physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, therapists, psychologists, pharmacists) and non-medical personnel (patient transport, feeding and other tasks) able to come to Israel to volunteer. Spearheaded by siblings Yigal Marcus and Eliana Marcus Aaron, Mission Hinenu works in partnership with the Health Ministry to find and place hospital volunteers efficiently.
Jewish National Fund-USA has scheduled a series of five-day volunteer missions in Israel, starting December 10-14. Participants (ages 18 and up) will be housed in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv and spend four to six hours per day working in agriculture or with displaced families, or assisting with logistical duties at an IDF base.
Sign up to learn about JNF-USA volunteer missions.
Volunteers for Israel and Sar-El Israel provide opportunities for civilian volunteer service on IDF bases.
For VFI inquiries, email info@vfi-usa.org, call 866-514-1948 (US) or fill out this form online. For Sar-El programs, email johanna@sar-el.org or click here.
Startup Reserves for Israel, based in New York, is recruiting thousands of tech workers to give support, guidance and staffing to some 25 companies in Israel’s high-tech sector. According to an Israel Innovation Authority and Start-Up Nation Policy Institute report, 15% to 20% of tech employees have been mobilized for reserve duty, leaving 70 percent of Israeli tech companies operationally shorthanded.
Apply to Startup Reserves for Israel here or email info@startupreserves.org.
Citrus & Salt in Tel Aviv paused its usual cooking workshops and launched Citizen’s Kitchen to provide 500 daily fresh meals for Israeli soldiers and displaced families. Sisters Aliya Fastman and Shaendl Davis, with Alon Sharaby run the project and work in cooperation with World Central Kitchen. The volunteer effort is staffed mainly by English-speaking immigrants and visitors.
To volunteer at Citrus & Salt, contact Aliya Fastman, citrus.salt@gmail.com or +972-53-334-6861.
Pantry Packers of Jerusalem ordinarily provides Meals on Wheels to 37,000 families every month, and also runs soup kitchens. Now, with thousands of refugee families from the south sheltering in Jerusalem, the city asked Pantry Packers to commit to providing 6,000 meals, three times a day. Lots of extra hands are needed.
To schedule a volunteer activity at Pantry Packers, email volunteer@pantrypackers.org or click here.
OneFamily needs volunteers to provide a range of services to victims of terror, from cooking and baking to visiting injured people in the hospital and more, as well as administrative support services such as social media, photography and answering phones.
Apply to volunteer at OneFamily here.
Adopt-A-Safta is welcoming foreign volunteers, with access to a vehicle, to deliver Shabbat meals to isolated seniors on Friday mornings. Many of the recipients are Holocaust survivors in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.
Volunteers may complete this form online to help Adopt-A-Safta with meal delivery.
Birthright Israel alumni, aged 18 to 40, can spend two weeks volunteering in food rescue operations as well as sorting, packing and distributing goods for civil and military personnel. Birthright is offering free airport transfers as well as health insurance and accommodations in Tel Aviv with safe rooms. The first trip is scheduled for November 20 to December 3.
Apply here for Birthright Israel alumni volunteer trips.
Masa Israel Journey is offering a new six-week volunteer program, designed in response to the ongoing conflict. Participants may choose food packaging, tutoring, agricultural work, assisting displaced families or contributing to rehabilitation efforts in southern and northern Israel.
The program also includes leadership seminars and certifications of leadership upon completion of the program. The first cohort begins December 5 and is open to individuals aged 18-40, with more starting dates being announced soon.
Apply to Masa’s volunteer program here.
WATCH CONGREGANT SALO AIZENBERG ON EYLON LEVY’S PODCAST
What is Israel’s strategy to combat Hamas’ global propaganda machine? In this exclusive interview, Salo Aizenberg, an independent scholar and leading voice in exposing misinformation, gives an inside look at how the Israeli government counters Hamas’ disinformation war. Watch the interview on Youtube.
Vote MERCAZ USA
The Chairman of the Knesset’s Diaspora Affairs Committee, MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv, has a special message especially for us at Beth El about the important role we can play right here and right now in helping make Israel stronger and the entire Jewish people stronger.
Join us for Israel Day
Support the NOVA Foundation
Support IDF Soldiers
As a service to our members, Beth El includes in this section outside events that may be of interest to members of our community. Listing an event does not constitute endorsement of the event by Beth El.
RUN FOR THEIR LIVES Westchester Run for your lives will meet at Kensico Dam Plaza on Sunday at 10:30am same as last week, rain or shine. Bring a friend, wear red, and let’s wave our flags, with pride, for the hostages, their families and friends, and for Am Yisrael. Release Them Now.
MORE IN WESTCHESTER Check out more Westchester events in Westchester Jewish Council’s Community Calendar and Israel In Westchester.
Click here for the recording of Israel 360’s Breakfast Briefing with Amir Tibon: Ha’aretz Diplomatic Correspondent and Survivor of the Hamas Attack on Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
Westchester Jewish Council’s Resources
For ongoing insight into how Israeli’s are thinking about this moment, listen to the Shalom Hartman Institute’s podcast here.
For Michael Koplow’s weekly column about Israel policy and strategy from The Israel Policy Forum, click here.