Both secular and religious Israelis need and desire to develop compassion for each other that is underscored by a shared history and tradition rooted in Jewish values.

Some have claimed that Israel’s leading threat to security and future lies from within. Following Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination in 1995, the country was visibly torn and major social issues such as immigration, the question over who is a Jew, social issues related to marriage and death, were the headlines to a story that was related to the make-up of contemporary Israeli society and the inherent tensions between its diverse citizens. 
 
JCF currently supports six programs in this core issue area, all of which incorporate social action as a tool for social change; next year, one of these programs will be funded internally as a program of the JCF. Current funding provides $590,000 to the six programs; next year’s funding will total $285,000 for the five external programs. BINA: Center for Jewish identity and Hebrew Culture is an example.
 
BINA: Center for Jewish Identity and Hebrew Culture – BaShchuna
BINA is a pluralistic Comprehensive Community-Building Initiative (CCI), a method of implementing change through the creation or enhancement of community among individuals within discrete urban areas. Every year over 100 (pre-army, mid-service and post-army) young adults from all over the country participate in the program, touching the lives of thousands of children, youth, adults and elderly in the neighborhoods. They provide educational support in the local schools, serve as tutors in after-school programs, hold programs for youth-at-risk, assist the elderly in the community and organize pluralistic community holiday celebrations.

Learn more about our work in Israel.