Jewish Life
Training Arena
JReady Community Resilience Seminar
A 2- 4 days resilience seminar within a community or several regional communities that come together to train and build a crisis and emergency response capacity
Community Awareness Training, by EU CARE
Empower yourself to become a guardian of safety for yourself and your loved ones, including family, friends, and colleagues
Delivering bad news workshop
A 3- session workshop for professionals who are tasked with delievering bad news to community members
Resilience training in Israel
JReady offers delegations and missions visiting Israel, tailored resilience training for groups with itineraries varying from several hours to a few days
Tool Kit
JReady’s Community Resilience Mapping
Free
With community resilience mapping, a community manager can gain critical insight and analysis of the community's resilience levels.
The survey is distributed to a...
Fundnation
Free
Fundnation is an all-in-one donation management platform, designed to make running campaigns a seamless...
JEAP – Jewish Emergency App
Free
CSG and HATZOLAH JEAP
JEAP is the Jewish Emergency Application developed by the leading Jewish organizations in Victoria Australia - CSG and HATZOLAH. JEAP gives...
Tarasa – Community Memories in Times of COVID-19
Free
The local memories of each community travel between people, places, objects, and homes the members of the
councils know their stories well.
TARASA is the...
Expert Consultation
Ayelet Shmuel
LCSW Director of the Sderot International Resilience Center
LCSW Director of the Sderot International Resilience Center. Ayelet trains professional and paraprofessional teams from Jewish communities around the world and Israel in...
Schedule a consultation
Jonathan (Yoni) Michanie
Research and Data Manager at Combat Antisemitism Movement
Jonathan (Yoni) is the Combat Antisemitism Movement's Research and Data Manager, an expert in the field of combatting antisemitism and a doctoral student in the...
Schedule a consultation
Abraham H. Foxman
Abraham H. Foxman is world-renowned as a leader in the fight against anti-Semitism, bigotry and discrimination. Mr. Foxman regularly speaks out on issues of global...
Schedule a consultationBest Practices
WZO Department of Irgoon and Israelis Abroad
Israel
On October 7, 2023, at 6:30 in the morning, thousands of Hamas terrorists streamed into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Riding on vehicles and equipped with weapons, they infiltrated IDF bases, kibbutzim in the Gaza envelope, and the nearby towns. They murdered hundreds of citizens, raped women, looted and burned down homes, and kidnapped hundreds of children, women, soldiers and elderly Israelis to Gaza.
Hamas caught the State of Israel and the IDF off guard. The army pulled itself together quickly, and Israel declared war on Gaza, whose aims are to eradicate the Hamas government and its military capabilities and to bring the hostages home. Any way you look at them, the events have been unprecedented. The resulting shock waves and upheaval in Israel’s civil society and among Israelis and Jews worldwide have been some of the most difficult we have ever known.
The huge surge in antisemitic incidents, the media coverage, and the mass demonstrations against Israel across the globe have challenged everything we knew before and were familiar with. Questions relating to identity have emerged with great force.
Using videos, items from the press and websites, we have tried in this Beit Ha’am booklet to broaden the scope of the topic and raise basic and relevant questions.
We invite you to choose the sections that interest you the most and devote time and thought to them.
We also encourage you to hold a candid and open-minded discussion dealing with them.
The Jewish Agency's for Israel
Shlichut Institute
Israel
Shmini Atzert is noted in the Torah as a mitzvah – but without reason or explanation. On the eighth Shmini Shabbat, the end of the reading of the Torah (“Simchat Torah”) takes place.
The term “Atzeret” means a mass gathering of the people. We want to adopt the term “Shmini Atzeret” as the thematic Jewish framework to mark the anniversary of the October 7th Massacre: a call for a mass gathering of the entire
Jewish people in memory of the murdered and a prayer for hope and better days.
Shmini Atzeret is marked with the Kalanit or anemone; the ready-to-print sticker file is also below.
ANU: Museum of the Jewish People
ANU: Museum of the Jewish People and the Weizman National Museum of American Jewish History convened select Israeli and American Jewish thought leaders to develop insights on two questions;
- What are the principles for transforming a Jewish tragedy into a memory that others value and meaning for generations?;
- How can we mark the first yahrzeit as a global Jewish people?
The thinking group embarked on this task, acknowledging that while much of the memory work is for generations to come, the current leadership has to play a role in the present.
The Jewish Agency for Israel
The Shlichut Institute
Israel
This booklet, made by the Jewish Agency’s Shlichut Institute and translated by JReady, contains activities for commemorating the first anniversary of the Swords of Iron War to use by educators, teachers, parents, and counselors.
Spanish
WZO, JAFI, and the Ministry for Diapora Affairs
Israel
2023 began with a gradual increase in antisemitic incidents of up to 10%, compared to 2022. This trend was maintained for the first nine months of the year (January-September). However, the events of October 7th and the war that ensued saw a dramatic increase in levels of antisemitism around the world, which resulted in all-time highs. The number of antisemitic incidents for the period between October and December increased six-fold, compared to the previous nine-month period. On a yearly basis, 2023 ended with a 235% increase in antisemitic incidents, compared to 2022, with 43% of monitored events occurring in the USA and 35% in Europe. This past year, violent antisemitic incidents sharply increased by 33%, compared to 2022, with 48% of these related to the Iron Swords war. Here, 46% of all antisemitic incidents took place in the USA, followed by Britain (16%), Germany (9%), France (6%), Canada (6%), Australia (2.5%).
EU CARE
Europe
EU CARE
Learn how to identify suspicious activity and danger and how to react in dangerous situations.
EUCARE Fearless Together. www.eu-care.net https://learn.eu-care.net/
EUCARE: The Community Awareness Resilience Education (C.A.R.E.) for Europe project (EUCARE) is co-funded by the European Union through the Internal Security Fund.
Ohel
USA
Ohel presents: Coping with Sari, Ori and Bananas! A puppet show for children to help them process their feelings about the war, in collaboration with Sari Kapnitikoff of That Jewish Moment.
Dr. Peryl Agishtein
Pediatric Clinical Neuropsychologist, Ohel
USA
7 tips and tools for parents when addressing sirens, air raids and safe rooms for their children.
Tzivy Reiter
Director of Ohel's Children's & National Trauma Services
USA
Practical suggestions to help your young children cope with the war in Israel, by Ohel.
Bracha Rupp
LCSW, South Florida Trauma Coordinator
USA
Parenting a lone soldier is a unique experience and hard to describe. So unique, that when typing “parent of lone soldier” into Google, Israel is the only nation that shows up. Which means that the only other people in the world that understand what you are going through are other parents of lone soldiers in the IDF.
The following document provides helpful tips to help you cope as a parent, brought to you by Ohel.
Tzivy Reiter
Director of Ohel's Children's & National Trauma Services
USA
Practical suggestions to help your children cope with the war in Israel, by Ohel.
Rabbi Tuvia Brander
Young Israel of West Hartford Rabbi
United States
This guidance for Shiva, written by Rabbi Tuvia Brander from the Young Israel of West Hartford, was written in light of the terror attack that killed Elan Ganales z”l, from the West Hartford community. This short guide provides tips for those attending Shiva and can be used by communities at times of a loss of a community member.
PJ Library
It’s a rip-roaring tale. Beautiful princess saves her people! Palace intrigue! Failed assassination plots! The triumph of the underdog! So cinematic; so fun!
But the Purim story, as told in Megillat Esther (the Book of Esther) also provides a great opportunity to talk seriously about modern-day antisemitism.
Rachel Fish, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism Proud PJ Library Parent Member, PJ Library Nextgen Board
Incidents of antisemitism can occur at unexpected moments and often when we least anticipate them. To experience hostility and discrimination from others because of religion, race, and/or ethnicity is traumatic for adults and children alike, and fear can make it hard to speak up and stand up for oneself. It’s a difficult topic to discuss, and for many of us, navigating this terrain feels daunting and explosive. How do we speak, whether in person or via social media, to family members, close friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and, most importantly, our children about such an ugly and painful subject? What is required for each of us to feel confident to enter this conversation and feel as if we are on sturdy ground?
PJ Library
Let’s face it, no one wants to have to tell their child that there are nasty people in the world who will try to hurt them just for being themselves. We raise our kids to be good people, mensches, to help and accept others, and to do the best they can to treat those around them fairly and with respect.
SCN
United States
The Secure Community Network (SCN), the network of Jewish communal security professionals, national security experts, and religious leaders hosted a series of conversations to aid preparedness for the High Holiday season. Click the link to access the webinars and resources:
https://www.securecommunitynetwork.org/high-holidays
Johan Tynell
CSO
Denmark
The purpose of ”Alma and the Lockdown Drill” is to explain to young students why we have security at their schools in a simple way, and to explain the procedures of a lockdown. Every school is unique, but the principles of a lockdown are universal. Lockdown drills are designed to allow students and teachers to practice how to barricade themselves inside a classroom. By practicing a lockdown, the students and teachers prepare themselves, so that they would be protected if they were to face an external threat.
The book contains work material and questions that help facilitate a discussion about lockdown procedures which are specific to your school. There are guidelines, both to generate discussion with students and to direct the teacher in how to conduct the drills. Before using the book and its materials, it is important that you know the school’s lockdown procedures. If your school does not have procedures yet, we recommend that you discuss the topic with management and develop your own approach.
The Masorti Movement
Israel
This year of COVID-19 disrupted the flow of our lives and created crisis situations that children and adults, families, communities, and nations now have to contend with. With the passing of time, and as many people have already been vaccinated or are recovering from COVID-19, we begin to “receive signals” from the virus; we gain insights on how to conduct ourselves in this complex time, how to further understand the implications of the disease for us and our society, and for the first time, to have hope that we will be able to return to our everyday routines. With these unique circumstances in the background, families will be sitting down at their Passover Seder tables in this, the Hebrew year 5781. With the Passover holidays soon upon us, both at the Masorti/Conservative Movement and at NATAL, Israel Trauma and Resiliency Center, it is understood that when a secure and calm
environment is created, family can be a source of personal resiliency. The holiday meal, where we read the Haggadah and hold the family Seder, provides a wonderful opportunity to pause and reflect on the past year. We should ask ourselves what we have learned during this challenging time: what worried us, what caused us pain, what was important to us and gave us the strength to keep moving forward. This “Passover Supplement” is intended to help us turn the Passover Seder into an “Island of Resilience” in the Corona Sea. The suggestions for activities below can be carried out during the Passover holidays or during family preparations for the Seder.
Union of Orthodox Synagogues
South Africa
COVID-19 health and safety checklist for leaders and organizers of congregations. The document provides a concise yet comprehensive list of protocols to ensure the safe and responsible reopening of places of worship within the community.
Union of Orthodox Synagogues
South Africa
A series of informational posters in English, designed by the Union of Orthodox Synagogues in South Africa for billboard posting in shuls. The posters contain various public health regulations relating to responsible conduct during the coronavirus pandemic.
Mati Goldstein
Chief Officer International Rescue Unit & Magen Department ZAKA
Israel
ZAKA valuable information and key points which will assist in aiding daily Jewish life during this time.
Israel Trauma Coalition
Israel
In times of crisis, community Rabbis and lay leaders have a unique role in maintaining and nurturing
personal and community resilience. Rabbis are inundated with halakhic questions regarding prayer
gatherings, lessons, issues of closeness and distance. Behind each such question lies significant
psychosocial concerns, anxieties, the need for support and maintaining continuity in the face of an
unknown threat.
