FEDERATION
IMPACT You give our Jewish community a better future
“When this horrible event first started, I felt like I wanted to catch the first plane to Israel and fight for my country.” —Eitan Ben Baruch Cincinnati resident and Israeli citizen
WINTER 2024
Israeli and Cincinnatian Erez Greniman at the March for Israel in Washington DC
You Support Cincinnati’s Israelis Who Face
Pressure of War, Antisemitism —story on p. 2
jewishcincinnati.org
Israelis in Cincinnati Speak Out “The world is upside down, how can you not see that?” Netali Ben Baruch is frustrated. An Israeli living in Cincinnati in this time of crisis for her country, she constantly feels the need to defend Israel’s right to exist, and “explain, every single day” what is going on in Israel. Her husband, Eitan Ben Baruch, finds it impossible to speak of October 7 with those who don’t seem to see the awfulness of the terrorism.
When asked what they wanted their Cincinnati community to know, Netali responded with tears in her eyes, “Am Yisrael Chai. It will be hard, but we will win. And I hope the West will join us to make democracy survive.” Your gift supports the Cincinnati Israeli community, from supporting the work of our Israeli emissaries (shlichim), through organizing events such as Cincinnati’s participation in the March for Israel.
The couple has lived in Cincinnati for almost six years and have two young daughters. Netali has a fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital; and Eitan, a lawyer in Israel, studies law at the University of Cincinnati. “I am so scared,” said Netali. “In Cincinnati I never before felt any antisemitism, and now I want to say: The world is upside down, how can you not see that? There was terrorism, it’s not political.” Eitan agreed: “It’s a conflict between our right to live or [no] right to live.”
During this crisis, you created a network of support for Israelis in Cincinnati like Netali and Eitan Ben Baruch.
You Support Israelis after October 7 The Federation System Is Built to Help in Israel’s Time of Need Collective action is powerful. The Federation system, organization by the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), has raised and allocated donations for emergency humanitarian aid to Israel. We partner with
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You help Jews and Arabs in the Negev to work together toward a shared society.
JFNA because they have worked with organizations in Israel for decades. Collectively, you have given to emergency medical services and health care. You support frontline communities under fire. You also help new immigrants who lived in absorption centers close to Gaza with evacuation to safer locations, temporary housing, children’s activities, and increased security. You help survivors recover from trauma and rebuild their lives. You have also given targeted assistance to special populations, including vulnerable populations and their caregivers, and marginalized populations, such as Israeli Bedouins. For example, AJEEC-NISPED is an ArabJewish organization for social change in the Negev. A joint team of Bedouins and Jews work together to create an equal, shared society, which allows Bedouins and Jews to coexist while preserving their identity and culture. The organization is currently mourning the death of one of its founders, Vivian Silver of Kibbutz Be’eri, who was murdered on October 7.
YOUR GIFT
ADVOCATES HOSTAGES’ SAFE RETURN
Cincinnati Unites in Solidarity The Jewish Federation and our Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) organized the Empty Shabbat Table in partnership with Cincinnati’s Israeli community. This installation piece was displayed at Washington Park on Shabbat on November 10 to honor the hostages taken from Israel whose fate in Gaza is uncertain. Intended to give space for those who are missing, its central message was “Bring Them Home.” Similar tables have been arranged around the world. On November 10, the Empty Shabbat Table in Washington Park was exhibited as a passionate call to bring home the hostages held in Gaza.
Here, each empty chair was matched with a plate, a glass, and a poster with a photo of the hostage and their story. Some place settings had teddy bears, representing the children who are missing.
sing along to familiar songs.
While visitors could walk around the haunting display all day, before sunset the crowd gathered close to hear speeches of grief and resilience and
When asked what the table was for, Felicia Zakem, one of the organizers, said: “It’s to tell the world we want to bring them home.”
IN BRIEF... The Jewish Federation supports Cincinnati 2030, our community’s vision based around caring, engagement, the wider world, and communal health and resiliency.
According to the ADL, there has been a 388 percent rise in antisemitism since October 7. You support our public affairs arm, the Jewish Community Relations Council, in fighting antisemitism in Cincinnati high schools, universities, and neighborhoods. You support Sapir Biton, a psychiatrist who is part of an American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) initiative that mentors psychiatrists in Israel’s periphery. She and her family lived one kilometer north of the Gaza Strip. She currently lives in a hotel with her family, and tends to those traumatized by the October 7 attacks. “To give them a little bit of relief—it’s what I swore to do,” she says.
Sapir Biton is a psychiatrist whose work is supported by JDC. Her work is crucial during this difficult time for Israelis. As she says, “The people here need me. I feel that.”
Our community helped two Israeli chefs—Jessi and Navah—who came to Cincinnati for our Israel at 75 Celebration. With help from friends, they were cooking for Israeli soldiers out of their own pockets—typically a thousand meals a day. Our Israel and Overseas Committee gave them funding for 1,400 meals. |3
Challenge and Opportunity Dear friends, So much has happened since the last newsletter, which was before October 7. Then, I noted that being part of Jewish communal giving allows each of us to consider ourselves a part of something bigger than ourselves, a part of the story of a People that we are still writing. Today, many weeks into the crisis in Israel, another Jewish leader’s words are echoing in my head: that the greatest challenge that we face is educating and living “We values” in an “I society.” Those words were meant as a lament that a hyper-individualistic society, such as ours, is at odds with the collectivist nature of communities and the value of mutual responsibility—that, truly, Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh B’zeh: all of us are responsible for one another. Many Jews today are faced with the realization that, regardless of how we might identify ourselves—as Jews supportive of Israel or not—many in the world cast us all together. In short, we are a community, like it or not. I do deeply believe that we are 4|
responsible for one another. Jewish Cincinnati believes it, and we act on it. Both a challenge and an opportunity arise now: the challenge is to maintain our humanist values, by not letting the “otherness” ascribed to us lead us to retreat into ourselves and stop reaching out to the larger community. The opportunity is to see that a crisis can serve to unite us, despite all our diversity, which allows us to accomplish amazing feats. Thank you for going on this journey with us, as we continue to write the story of our People. Thanks for all you do,
David Harris Chief Development Officer Jewish Federation of Cincinnati