Historic Crises, Historic Opportunities

For 110 years, JDC has been an integral part of Jewish history, saving lives and strengthening communities, offering aid and developing smart and innovative initiatives, all across the world. With the ongoing crises in Ukraine and in Israel, this past year saw JDC deploy its biggest emergency response operation since World War II.

Since the outbreak of the conflicts in both places, JDC's emergency operation has helped over 450,000 Israelis and more than 53,000 Ukrainian Jews. "Our core value of arevut, mutual Jewish responsibility, is what bonds the global Jewish community together," says Zwang. "Because of this timeless commitment to each other, we're moved to act. And that is what JDC and our partners are doing – urgently caring for the hardest-hit people and working to rebuild what's been destroyed."

Building back Israeli society

"On October 7, I woke up to sirens, then heard my neighbor's screams. I went outside and faced a terrorist. He looked me in the eyes, with my neighbor's dead children lying on the road after he murdered them. I turned to him, expecting him to shoot me," says 86-year-old Ella. "But he didn't. I moved back to my yard and went back inside. I think about this event every day."

Together with her husband Lev, who is 101, Ella survived World War II and now lives in the Mishor HaGefen neighborhood in Ofakim, which suffered 52 casualties during the October 7 massacre. Like many elderly in Israel, they had to cope with a new and challenging reality. Ella keeps recalling the difficult events, with terror and fear evident on her face as she tells her story. She is still being treated to help her process that day.

October 7 and the subsequent war created an enormous burden for Israel's social services and welfare departments in various municipalities. Social workers are overwhelmed, and local authorities are challenged on countless fronts. In situations like these, many of the most vulnerable – the elderly, people with disabilities, and poor families – who often need the most help are left without support.

Upon Ella and Lev's return home, they were contacted by the city's welfare department and offered help from the new Community Caseworker program, one of JDC's emergency response initiatives deployed in partnership with the Israeli government and local municipalities to aid seniors and people with disabilities. Each caseworker, trained in providing social and emergency response services, acts as a force multiplier for welfare services in municipalities and, in collaboration with them, works to help those in greatest need since October 7.

Olga is Ella and Lev's community caseworker, and she is in daily contact with them, monitoring their needs and providing assistance, such as arranging transportation for medical treatments. Though Ella and Lev have a family network of support, others are not so lucky. For the homebound and lonely, caseworkers like Olga become their lifeline and connection to the outside world – precisely what they need during a time of war.

More than 65,000 elderly and people with disabilities have been impacted by interventions like Community Caseworkers. This is one of 169 emergency response programs deployed by JDC in Israel during the war, providing 450,000+ of the hardest-hit people with direct aid, including food and cash assistance; education, welfare, and employment services; mental health solutions; and online and mobile social services.

Supporting small businesses

The impact of the crisis is widespread, and millions of Israelis who never needed social support in the past now need it to survive.

Such is the story of Idan Arbel, the owner of a small dried fruit business in Moshav Betzet in northern Israel. She and her husband have a farm where they grow a variety of fruits, and Idan decided 13 years ago to start her current business. Alongside the fruit drying factory, there is a visitors center and a shop that operated successfully. But the past year has been devastating.

Idan and her children evacuated their home at the outbreak of the war, while her husband stayed with a small number of workers to maintain the farm. Volunteers from all over the country saved them and their orchards, which span 120 acres and a variety of fruits. And then events took a turn for the worse, as Idan describes.

"In March, my business took a direct hit from a rocket. We live inside the farm, so the house also suffered damage from the blast. No one was hurt, but the business was destroyed. After we began recovering, we were hit by another rocket in June that killed our two horses. My business and the new equipment we bought were damaged again, and the shop and visitors center couldn't open for the coming year."

Then JDC's emergency response for small businesses offered a future for Idan's business through a variety of tools, including access to funding, business management coaching, digitization, connection to marketing, sales solutions and more.

"In my view, this is much more empowering than receiving a cash donation. It creates continuity – it's not just take the money and goodbye. There's a relationship here. It's something more connecting," says Idan. Her business is one of 3,000 small enterprises helped by JDC's emergency response.

"Since October 7, we have lost so much. In my travels through Israel, I've seen sights of hell and torment, enormous damage, and countless broken life systems," said Hadas Minka-Brand, Executive Director of JDC-Israel. "The ripple effects on the economy, mental health, and social cohesion are heartbreaking. Moving forward, we'll need to draw from lessons from Jewish history about how to rebuild after destruction, and the miraculous creation of the State of Israel, to set about a path for renewal and a brighter future for Israelis. I have no doubt that we will succeed together."

In Ukraine, a lifeline of hope and community

When you meet 85-years-old Larissa, from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, the first thing you see is the concerned look on her face. Larissa is a volunteer in her local Jewish community, helping her fellow Jewish seniors endure the ongoing conflict in their country through Shabbat activities, social gatherings, and sing-alongs.

Like them, Larissa is one of the tens of thousands of Jews who receive uninterrupted, lifesaving care from JDC and its network of Hesed social service centers around Ukraine. And she has needed that help desperately.

Larissa has suffered bombings, water and electricity cuts, and ongoing fears for her life. Above all, she dreads the cold nights that will come as winter sets in during the coming months.

"During winter, everything gets worse. Basic necessities get extremely expensive – the cost of food, the cost of utilities. Frequent shellings mean frequent blackouts, hours and hours of cold and darkness," says Larissa. "The most important thing, the only thing to do is not to freeze and not to get sick. A lot of money is spent on medications in the winter. Conflicts come and go, but sickness never ceases."

Since the crisis started, JDC's wide-ranging support includes distributing more than 800 tons of humanitarian aid; arranging evacuations and refugee assistance; setting up employment training; and providing trauma treatment and mental health support.

Then there is winter relief, help that Larissa notes she cannot do without. Last year, Larissa and 32,000 other vulnerable Jews received essentials, such as coal, firewood, blankets, generators, and stipends for utilities. Larissa was also given a portable generator for her home.

"With the flick of a button," Larissa marveled, "I can connect my electric kettle, charge my phone, my flashlight, and even measure my blood pressure!"

This response builds on JDC's three-plus decades of work rebuilding Jewish communities throughout the former Soviet Union. The community infrastructure and training of local leaders and volunteers that JDC invested in became the backbone for its crisis response, with Heseds and Jewish Community Centers becoming hubs for aid.

Oleg and Nataliya P. and their multigenerational family experienced that chain of care firsthand. When they were displaced from their hometown of Kherson and fled to Lviv, they went from enjoying middle class comfort to the plight of being one of Ukraine's "new poor."

"There you are – a normal person, you had everything. You had your job, a house, friends neighbors…a normal life," says Oleg. "And then I came here. No job, no friends, no house. I feel as if I was thrown away. I'm here but no one needs me."

As IDPs in Lviv, they had no connections, but they did have JDC.

"We could never have imagined, to be honest, that we would turn to JDC for help. We didn't need it before," says Oleg, who, together with Nataliya, were active members and volunteers in their Jewish community in Kherson. JDC is now providing the family with rent assistance, humanitarian aid, and more.

Nataliya adds, "When a person is in a situation like this, they don't know where to turn, and then there are such organizations in the Jewish community like JDC and its Hesed. This really amazed me. We were used to relying only on ourselves. For us, it was like a discovery that other people could help us too."

A coalition for global Jewish care

JDC receives significant funding for its crisis response and daily work in 70 countries around the globe from Jewish Federations across North America through cooperation with JFNA and UIA Canada. Major funding partners also include the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Charitable Foundation, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, World Jewish Relief (UK), the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and tens of thousands of generous individual donors, foundations, and companies.

"We must meet this moment in history. We must ensure that Israel and the Jewish world are stronger and resilient for the future. JDC has always been at the heart of efforts to bolster Jewish communities at risk and Israelis facing vulnerability. Today those needs have increased. That's why we are grateful to our partners who share in the critical task. Together we go from strength to strength, fulfilling the promise of global Jewish responsibility," said JDC President Annie Sandler and CEO Ariel Zwang.

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