Jerusalem through the eyes of our Program Officer and our partners: Part 2
by Mitchell Price
As I reflect on my time in Jerusalem, my mind keeps returning to a phrase I heard from Gilad Sevitt, Founder and Director of Madrasa, an organization that teaches hundreds of thousands of Israelis to communicate in Arabic. He shared that “culture is an asset.”
And as I met with partner after partner, I realized how this concept is central to the ethos of so many of the civil society initiatives who are part of the network of the Jerusalem Model, a program of Jerusalem Philanthropic Initiatives (JPI). JPI was established by Leichtag Foundation and is now supported by an increasing consortium of funders who support the goal of leveraging Jerusalem’s diversity to become its core creative asset. In my role at Leichtag, I processed many of the first grants these initiatives ever received. It is amazing seeing the transformational changes they are ushering into society, and the new points of growth their organizations are currently going through.
I am excited to tell you more about the organizations and people I met with, sharing but a glimpse of the many ways they are contributing to Jerusalem civil society!
Temech
Temech’s mission is to provide the financial, socioeconomic and professional tools needed to enable women who are religiously observant, to tap their inherent potential. Temech aims to raise the employability and professional levels of women, thereby reducing poverty and dependence on social services and advancing long term economic sustainability. The organization utilizes a variety of core services including recruitment, training, networking and consultancy. In addition to creating jobs for salaried employees, Temech’s mission also focuses on enabling entrepreneurs and small business owners to develop their businesses, gain skills and, in turn, create new income.
Working from the inside, under the guidance of trailblazing professional women in Israel, and in consultation with community leaders, Temech has spent the last ten years working as change agents that have created the cultural environment and normalized the presence of Orthodox women in the workplace.
One of the many success stories I heard about was a woman named Mita. Through connecting with Temech and the mentorship she was given, Mita started her own business painting beautiful works of art on wine bottles. Through the extensive network of Temech, she gained the skills to translate her idea into a growing business to be able to support her family.
Avratech
Avratech’s vision is for ultra-Orthodox men in Israel who are highly committed to their religious studies and in the mainstream to be able to navigate Torah learning and economic advancement for their families. Avratech seeks to make it possible for such men to work in technology-related fields, while maintaining their religious commitment. Avratech’s mission is to identify ultra-Orthodox men with high potential and transform them into programming experts in just 18 months.
This groundbreaking technological school is a one-stop-shop, including practical and complex training in all areas of software education. Graduates of Avratech are ready and eager to contribute to the high-tech industry, all while continuing to study Torah.
I met with multiple participants of the program who were learning English taking a crash course in computer essentials. All of the men I met with were the first in their family to enter the workforce and all had families that they were eager to support following the completion of the course. Avratech partners with RavTech, a software development company, so graduates have two years of work already set up for them upon graduation.
Sinsila
“Sinsila” in Arabic means the natural stonewalls, also called “Salasal”, which are medium-sized stones, close to each other, in the form of monolithic chains that do not exceed one meter high. The longitudinal shape is dependent on the slopes of the mountains and hills in order to prevent soil erosion, and ensures the continuation of agricultural activity without obstacles in mountains planted with trees, especially olives, almonds, grapes and seasonal plants.
The Sinsila center is located in the heart of East Jerusalem, on the terraces of the Central Library. It is dedicated to educate, inspire, create with, and empower, local communities. Its goal is to heal the urban environment of Jerusalem by providing local and sustainable solutions. Sinsila’s action plan has three main focus points: employment, inspiration, and education. Its multi-dimensional approach encompasses healing the city, community work, urban planning, economic empowerment, sustainability, and ecology. They do this through providing beehives for the women to maintain on the rooftops of their own homes. As a result, they are able to care for the bees, produce honey, and sell the product.
The timing of my visit was perfect as a cohort of women were learning how to take care of sick bees. Following an overview course, we headed “into the field” and opened a honeycomb to look for signs of an unhealthy bee. It was inspiring seeing the participants engage with the content, learn a new skillset, and come away ready to take care of the bees themselves (getting much closer than I did to the swarms!)
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Black, Jewish and Queer. These three identities weave the fabric of who I am, but it took a long time to believe that they could exist together.
Lee and Toni Leichtag established the Leichtag Foundation in 1991 following the sale of their business. Lee and Toni were lifelong entrepreneurs with a passion for innovation and for supporting talent. They believed that only with big risk comes big reward. Both born to families in poverty, Toni to a single mother, they strongly believed in helping those most in need and most vulnerable in our community. While they supported many causes, their strongest support was for young children and the elderly, two demographics who particularly lack voice in our society.
Lifelong Baltimoreans, Rabbi George and Alison Wielechowski and their sons, 11-year-old Lennon and 9-year-old Gideon, are more than pursuing the good life in Southern California. Having moved to San Diego more than three years ago, they are fulfilling a lifelong dream.
You would think that as the executive director of San Diego LGBT Pride, Fernando Zweifach López Jr., who uses the pronoun they, has done all the coming out they possibly can. A queer, non-binary individual who has worked for many years on civil rights issues, López also speaks openly and often about their father’s family, Mexican-American migrant workers who tilled the fields of rural California.
Stacie and Jeff Cook understand commitment. They live it.
