A woman in Sderot who received support to expand her restaurant business. Photo: Vera Etzion
Helping Jews in economic need beyond New York, through programs in Israel, in the former Soviet Union, and elsewhere around the world, has long been a core mission of UJA-Federation of New York.
In Israel, UJA-Federation supports many economic-empowerment programs to help vulnerable populations.
“Our commitment is to help all citizens of Israel achieve . . . self-sufficiency and become integrated into Israeli society,” says David Mallach, managing director of UJA-Federation’s Commission on the Jewish People (COJP).
The small-business-development loan program for Ethiopian and Kavkazi Jews, Arab Israelis, and residents of Jerusalem, which is one of the poorest cities in Israel, is prominent in that effort.
Since 2002, UJA-Federation has contributed funds that have guaranteed about 100 loans each year. For every dollar the organization puts toward the loan collateral pool, a multiplier effect makes it so four times that much is given out in loans. Individuals have used loans — ranging from $20,000 to $90,000 — to start up everything from body shops, small restaurants, and falafel stands to barbershops and arts-and-crafts businesses, says Mallach. The businesses in turn provide jobs for family members and three or four employees.
In the former Soviet Union, combating poverty has been coordinated through the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), a beneficiary agency of UJA-Federation. Last year, JDC provided 188,000 elderly Jews there with basic food, medicine, and clothing.
“One of UJA-Federation’s primary missions is to alleviate the strains of poverty in Jewish communities around the world,” says Evelyn Kenvin, COJP chair. “Leveling the playing field will ultimately enhance the active participation of all constituents.”
When economic decline befell the Jewish community in Argentina in 2002, UJA-Federation contributed help through JDC. It was the first time in recent years a middle-class Jewish community faced large-scale unemployment, says Mallach, and “providing services through traditional communal organizations” — like synagogues and JCCs — “was an effective way to reach the Jewish community, particularly the middle class.” ♦
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