UJA is proud and delighted to wish a Happy Anniversary and a hearty Mazel Tov to our Israeli partner, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), as it celebrates its 90th year. Please read the following letter from the Jewish Agency recounting its successes over the past nine decades.
Dear Friends,
August 11th marked our 90th anniversary, and we are thrilled to be celebrating this milestone with you! Since our founding, and starting with establishing the State of Israel, The Jewish Agency for Israel’s leaders have served as representatives of the Jewish people worldwide. Because of our longstanding collaborative partnership with Jewish Federations, we have continued to be on the frontlines, from facilitating Aliyah for millions of Jews to strengthening the Jewish people both in and outside of the Jewish homeland. We are proud that with your valuable support, we can continue to ensure a thriving Jewish future.
With your assistance, we have brought more than 3,200,000 immigrants to Israel from more than 80 countries worldwide. (We also celebrated 90 years of Aliyah with new olim (immigrants) from France, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Russia when they landed in Israel last month). We have responded immediately to crises and emergencies for any Jew, anywhere in the world, and we still do today. All this while fighting antisemitism and providing safety measures for hundreds of Jewish institutions globally through The Jewish Agency’s Security Assistance Fund.
In Israel, we helped establish 900 towns, youth villages, communities and neighbourhoods throughout the country. We play an important role in Israeli society, encouraging the development of Israeli culture and entrepreneurship and strengthening vulnerable populations in the social and geographic peripheries. We have established crucial wide-reaching programs to strengthen Israel: Amigour housing for the elderly and Holocaust survivors, Youth Futures and Choosing Tomorrow serving tens of thousands of at-risk youth, Jewish Agency Loan Funds for Small Businesses and more. All these accomplishments would not be possible without you
At the turn of the millennium, a time when the Jewish world faced new challenges, Jewish continuity and the connections between young Jews to their Jewish identity and Israel had become a central challenge that worried the entire Jewish world. The Jewish Agency went to work to address these concerns. We launched Masa Israel Journey, in extensive collaboration with the Israeli government, in order to deepen the bonds young Jews from around the world have with Israel. To date, 165,000 of them have been on a Masa long-term Israel experience since the start of the program.
We also strengthened the Shlichut outreach from Israel, and today nearly 2,000 Shlichim (Israeli emissaries) work in Jewish communities, college campuses, summer camps and youth movements each year. And to further establish a united Jewish people and a more prosperous Israel, we create ties between young Jews and young Israelis through strategic operations such as Partnership2Gether and the Global School Twinning Network. In the last few years, we have been working to nurture a sense of connection to Jewish Peoplehood among hundreds of thousands of young Israelis through leadership programs.
As we commemorate the 90th anniversary of The Jewish Agency, we would like to express our deep gratitude and invite you to celebrate this milestone with us. This achievement is as much yours as it is ours. Thanks to generous support from our Federation partners and The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), United Israel Appeal (UIA), the World Zionist Organization (WZO) and Keren Hayesod, the Government of Israel, and all our supporters across the globe, we are able to do the essential work we do as the global glue that connects the entire Jewish people, binding communities to Israel and to each other. We are excited for another 90+ years of partnership!
Every one of us, together.
With appreciation and thanks,
