by Michael Horowitz, JFGA CEO/President

The last time I wrote to you, we had just returned from an incredible experience in Israel, joining over 250 Atlantans, while connecting and reconnecting to our homeland, awakening our Jewish identity and better understanding our individual connection to the global Jewish people. While in Israel, we learned of the kidnapping of three young, Jewish boys and when we returned to Atlanta, we focused our attention on their release, and then upon learning of their murders the need to pay tribute to them in a memorial service.

Than began our non-stop surfing of news reports, Facebook posts, along with ongoing dinner conversations as we watched the unfolding of Operation Protective Edge. We witnessed the incredible technology of the Iron Dome which saved thousands of Israeli lives. At the same time, we watched as world opinion began to ostracize Israel for having the “chutzpah” to protect its citizens and dare to have a life free of non-stop sirens, rockets falling, terrorists knocking at their door through a system of incredible and sophisticated terror tunnels, and for refusing to once again, be a victim of evil.

We were amazed (but were we surprised) by the rampant and significant growth of worldwide anti-Semitism, and also observed the sophistication and incredible cruelty of ISIS as they slaughtered Christians and other “non-believers.”

Were all these events related? Was Israel (and the Jewish people) the proverbial canary in the coal mine, with the twist that they would not be the victim in making the canary’s point? Clearly, the relationships of good vs. evil and Western values were all part of the equation.

But Israel proved once again that while others of good intention were there to help, Israel's survival was dependent on their ability to take care of themselves. They also knew that their family in communities throughout the United States and in Atlanta would be there to provide support for their cause and help address the trauma that so many of Israeli children and families faced. We asked for your financial support to help children and families get necessary respite. We asked for your help in providing trauma counseling and servicers to the vast majority of the population victimized by Hamas. We asked for your help in meeting the needs of the disabled, frail and elderly whose normal channels of service were instantly disrupted. And we asked for your help to assist those communities most significantly impacted as they rebuilt their damaged buildings, fortified others for the safety of their citizens and try to create a normalcy in an absurdly abnormal environment.

And you were there as we raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in Atlanta, and tens of millions nationally through our Federation system, 100% of which were sent immediately to Israel to support our partner organizations on the ground responding immediately to developing needs.

As I write this piece, we are looking at yet another failed ceasefire (the eleventh thus far that Hamas has either rejected or violated) and assessing the needs of the people in Israel and how best to proceed.

And yet, the needs of our greater Atlanta community: supporting those with special needs, Jewish education for youth, transportation and medicine for an aging population, continue to abound. We are balancing the need to help our brothers and sisters in Israel get through this crisis while we continue to provide services for ongoing basic human needs. We stand with Israel thousands of miles away and we continue to engage our children in meaningful Jewish experiences right here in Atlanta.

We are comforted in knowing that with your continued support, we can meet our goals, obligations and services for all the people we serve, near and far.

Shabbat Shalom,

Michael Horowitz

CEO/President