I am a Zionist by Yair Lapid

Yair Lapid, a popular and current journalist revisits Zionism: a notion that some question its relevancy today: This is his Zionist manifest of a personal nature that is inseparable from the national one. In it he says that he is proud to belong to this tiny minority that influenced the world more than any other nation:


I am a Zionist.

I believe that the Jewish people established itself in the Land of Israel, albeit somewhat late. Had it listened to the alarm clock, there would have been no Holocaust, and my dead grandfather - the one I was named after - would have been able to dance a last waltz with grandma on the shores of the Yarkon River.

I am a Zionist.

Hebrew is the language I use to thank the Creator, and also to swear on the road. The Bible does not only contain my history, but also my geography. King Saul went to look for mules on what is today Highway 443, Jonah the Prophet boarded his ship not too far from what is today a Jaffa restaurant, and the balcony where David peeped on Bathsheba must have been bought by some oligarch by now.

I am a Zionist.

The first time I saw my son wearing an IDF uniform I burst into tears, I haven't missed the Independence Day torch-lighting ceremony for 20 years now, and my television was made in Korea, but I taught it to cheer for our national soccer team.

I am a Zionist.

I believe in our right for this land. The people who were persecuted for no reason throughout history have a right to a state of their own plus a free F-16 from the manufacturer. Every display of anti-Semitism from London to Mumbai hurts me, yet deep inside I'm thinking that Jews who choose to live abroad fail to understand something very basic about this world. The State of Israel was not established so that the anti-Semites will disappear, but rather, so we can tell them to get lost.

I am a Zionist.

I was fired at in Lebanon, a Katyusha rockets missed me by a few feet in Kiryat Shmona, missiles landed near my home during the first Gulf War, I was in Sderot when the Color Red anti-rocket alert system was activated, terrorists blew themselves up not too far from my parents' house, and my children stayed in a bomb shelter before they even knew how to pronounce their own name, clinging to a grandmother who arrived here from Poland to escape death. Yet nonetheless, I always felt fortunate to be living here, and I don't really feel good anywhere else.

I am a Zionist.

I think that anyone who lives here should serve in the army, pay taxes, vote in the elections, and be familiar with the lyrics of at least one Shalom Hanoch song. I think that the State of Israel is not only a place, it is also an idea, and I wholeheartedly believe in the three extra commandments engraved on the wall of the Holocaust museum in Washington: "Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but above all, thou shalt not be a bystander."

I am a Zionist.

I already laid down on my back to admire the Sistine Chapel, I bought a postcard at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, and I was deeply impressed by the emerald Buddha at the king's palace in Bangkok. Yet I still believe that Tel Aviv is more entertaining, the Red Sea is greener, and the Western Wall Tunnels provide for a much more powerful spiritual experience. It is true that I'm not objective, but I'm also not objective in respect to my wife and children.

I am a Zionist.

I am a man of tomorrow but I also live my past. My dynasty includes Moses, Jesus, Maimonides, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Albert Einstein, Woody Allen, Bobby Fischer, Bob Dylan, Franz Kafka, Herzl, and Ben-Gurion. I am part of a tiny persecuted minority that influenced the world more than any other nation. While others invested their energies in war, we had the sense to invest in our minds.

I am a Zionist.

I sometimes look around me and become filled with pride, because I live better than a billion Indians, 1.3 billion Chinese, the entire African continent, more than 250 million Indonesians, and also better than the Thais, the Filipinos, the Russians, the Ukrainians, and the entire Muslim world, with the exception of the Sultan of Brunei. I live in a country under siege that has no natural resources, yet nonetheless the traffic lights always work and we have high-speed connection to the Internet.

I am a Zionist.

My Zionism is natural, just like it is natural for me to be a father, a husband, and a son. People who claim that they, and only they, represent the "real Zionism" are ridiculous in my view. My Zionism is not measured by the size of my kippa, by the neighborhood where I live, or by the party I will be voting for. It was born a long time before me, on a snowy street in the ghetto in Budapest where my father stood and attempted, in vain, to understand why the entire world is trying to kill him.

I am a Zionist.

Every time an innocent victim dies, I bow my head because once upon a time I was an innocent victim. I have no desire or intention to adopt the moral standards of my enemies. I do not want to be like them. I do not live on my sword; I merely keep it under my pillow.

I am a Zionist.

I do not only hold on to the rights of our forefathers, but also to the duty of the sons. The people who established this state lived and worked under much worse conditions than I have to face, yet nonetheless they did not make do with mere survival. They also attempted to establish a better, wiser, more humane, and more moral state here. They were willing to die for this cause, and I try to live for its sake.

Leora's Song - Ain't it a Pity (that life can be shitty)

Leora and I were in school together. She is just one of those infectious people you love! If you can... PLEASE save her life!!!!

JC just applied for ROI2009

Since fulfilling his own personal goal at the tender age of 18 by leaving Anatevka (Manchester), Jonny has spent the last 15 years trying to find ways to help turn Israel into the country and State that he envisioned.
A mini-career in Hi-tech at the end of the '90s forced Jonny into a life of community work and non-profit management once he realised that the search for "the good life" would likely lead him back west of Tel Aviv.
Fours years of Israeli regional government and community work with the communities and children of the Shomron prepared Jonny for a period of service as the senior Shaliach of the Jewish Agency in Western Canada, based in Winnipeg.
Returning to Israel at the end of 2005 to the position of CEO of the World Union of Jewish Students led to a full realisation of the desperate need for professional management in the Israeli non-profit sector and, even moreso, the Jewish World bodies.
Jonny has spent the last couple of years in resource development in the Israeli third sector, and fulfills his need for ideological fulfillment through active participation in the building of organizations such as Israel2020 and Israel Connect.

Besides my activities assisting in the fundraising for a local synagogue in my community, my involvement is currently in four areas:
1) professionally I serve as Director for Resource Development for a hospital in Bnei Brak that was founded to provide for the needs of the Ultra-Orthodox community. This hospital is the world leader in the research and practice of medical science according to Jewish Law, studying and writing the oral law for tomorrow that will facilitate the use of modern developments in tandem with Jewish Halacha. My style is one of relationship fundraising, raising awareness and building community around a good aim and a worthy cause.
2) For the past 3 years I have been an activist and leader in Israel2020. Born out of concern that the disconnect that our generation feels in its own homeland is, in no small part, due to the disregard for our needs exhibited by our political leaders, and their inability to enable us to take our place as the leaders of the State of Israel in the future. Currently the General Secretary of the movement, I have responsibility for matters of organisational structure and meeting legislatory requirements.
3) Since I can remember I have always played an active role in ideological movements. I am an active member of the World Likud and the Likud Party English Division.
4) Israel Connect is an organization dedicated to developing and facilitating a two-way, long-term, interpersonal connection between Jewish youth from around the world and their peers in Israel, and to those of their peers serving in the Israel Defence Forces, in order to reinforce Jewish continuity and Jewish identity. I am the first member of the lay-leadership board that is currently being built. My experience has enabled me to assist in building the structure of the organisation, and to facilitate the process of mission definition and marketing.
My heart belongs to the Jewish World and our future. Whether professionally or voluntarily I intend to maximize the benefit that my knowledge, experience and energy can give to the causes in which I truly believe.

My first three aims are all part and parcel of the fourth, super-aim:
1) Community: The world of the Jewish social activist is a wonderous thing to experience. Our circles are manned by some of the most interesting, effective and driven people in the world. Not only would I take great pride in being numbered among this body of activism, I would also take very much to heart mr responsibility to take an active role in the life of the community in any and every way in which I can effectively add benefit to the work being done.
2) Shared Experience and Knowledge: each one of the 120 participants this year, together with each one of those from years gone by, has a wealth of knowledge, experience, information and skills from which the missions to which I turn my hand may benefit through my exposure to this community. I will gladly share whatever I can bring to the table.
3) New Energy: The role of the third sector, NPO/NGOs, social society, is never to be completed, its need neverending. There is no better way to recharge the activist batteries than to spend time in such an intense dynamic of energy as this program will allow. Add to that the networking that takes place and the community that forms and grows and you have a self sustaining source of energy that can support activism and positive work for a lifetime.
4) Hope: There are many good people promoting many great causes. It is only natural that the day-to-day can lead to a resilience to renewal and a narrowing of horizons. Competition becomes a concern rather than a boost, resources suddenly appear inadequate, social life becomes a distant memory. Participation in a shared experience facilitated by a platform such as ROI can revitalise that essential spark that stops us questioning whether what we do counts, and reminds us that we KNOW that what we do counts! I want to plug into this power source, and I wish to feed it with whatever I have to give.

Building and facilitating Networks of Purpose is what I have done and what I do.... and I know that it can be done more and it can be done better!
The Jewish People have survived and grown as a nation because of our ability to communicate, this is an unarguable fact. That the modern era, with its explosion of communication development, is a challenge to the survival of our people is a less recognised phenomenon. Have the myriad of communications breakthroughs not offered an opportunity? Have they not facilitated far more volume and variety of communication than ever before? Of course, but this growth and variation has also necessitated the development of a whole industry aimed to aid us in making use of these very tools and skills for the preservation of our age-old community and tradition.
My hope is that the development of this industry, facilitated by this track, will promote the survival of our people through the best use of all resources available, and that I can share what I have to offer with the pool of available resources that, through the network of purpose formed within the ROI community, will make our Jewish World better for the future.

Doing the right thing ...

is sometimes the right thing to do

Happy Birthday Israel

The Merkaz HaRav Slaughter of Children

מ-YNET אתמול. מעניין

סקר: עמותות 'מגלגלות' כ-75 מיליארד שקל בשנה"העמותות מסבסדות את המדינה - ולא להפך", התקוממו מנהלי ארגונים חברתיים, במהלך כנס שבו הוצג היקף הפעילות הכלכלית של החברה האזרחית בישראל. לדברי רענן דינור, מנכ"ל משרד רה"מ "יש דברים שהממשלות פשוט לא יודעות לעשות"תני גולדשטיין

22,000 ארגונים ללא כוונת רווח פועלים בישראל והם מגלגלים כ-75 מיליארד שקל בשנה, כך עולה מנתונים שהציגו ארגון-הגג "מנהיגות אזרחית" ומשרד רה"מ במפגש השנתי של החברה האזרחית שהתקיים אתמול (ג'). עוד עולה מהנתונים שהוצגו כי למעלה ממחצית מתקציב העמותות, בהן גם מוסדות אקדמיים, ממומן בידי משרדי הממשלה הרוכשים מהן שירותים חברתיים; מקורו של 13% מתקציבן בתרומות; וכ-34% מהכנסותיהן נובעות מפעילויות עצמיות.

על-פי הנתונים שהוצגו בכנס, הממשלה משתמשת בעמותות כמתווכות ברכישת שירותים ומוצרים, דוגמת אספקת מיטות לבתי חולים. היקף התמיכה הממשלתית הישירה בעמותות, שלא בתמורה לשירותים, הסתכם בשנת 2006 בכ-2.2 מיליארדי שקלים, הכוללים סכום של 150 מיליון שקל שהוחזר לתורמים כהטבות מס. בנוסף, הממשלה מעניקה לעמותות סיוע עקיף של מיליארדי שקלים באמצעות הרשויות המקומיות - אך גובה מהם מסים העומדים על כארבעה מיליארד שקל בשנה.

במגזר השלישי בישראל, המורכב מארגונים ועמותות ללא מטרת רווח, פועלים כ-250,000 עובדים בשכר ומתנדבים. שכרם של העובדים מקביל לשכר המקובל בסקטור הציבורי, ואילו ערכן השנתי של שעות העבודה שתורמים המתנדבים, המהוות כ-15% מכלל הפעילות בעמותות, מוערך בלמעלה משבעה וחצי מיליארד שקל. "ההערכה מבוססת על שכר המינימום המקובל במשק", מציינים עורכי הסקר. "אילו היינו מעריכים את שווי השוק של שעות העבודה שמספקים
המתנדבים, רבים מהם אנשי מקצוע, הסכום היה גבוה יותר". עם זאת, שיעור ההתנדבות בעמותות הישראליות נמוך למדי בהשוואה לצרפת, הולנד או שבדיה, בהן שליש עד 75% מהפעילים הם מתנדבים.

"העמותות מסבסדות את המדינה - ולא להפך - אולם הממשלה מתערבת בפעילותן גם כשהיא אינה מסבסדת אותה", מתקומם ירון סוקולוב, מנכ"ל ארגון "מנהיגות אזרחית" שבחסותו נערך הכנס. "ברור שהממשלה צריכה לפקח על העמותות שבהן היא תומכת, אבל באיזו זכות המדינה בודקת כמה מרוויח מנכ"ל עמותה שלא נתמכת על-ידיה?". דוידה לחמן-מסר, המשנה ליועץ המשפטי לממשלה שהשתתפה בכנס, מסכימה עימו. "יש צדק מסוים בביקורת על יחס הממשלה לעמותות", היא מוסיפה. "הפיקוח על שכר מנהלי העמותות שאינן נתמכות בעייתי. גיבשנו תיקון לחוק שהיה אמור להסיר את הפיקוח, אבל הכנסת דחתה אותו".

לפי הסקר, רק ל-8,200 עמותות (37.2% מכלל העמותות) ניתן אישור ניהול תקין בשנה החולפת, וכנגד 619 עמותות בלבד (2.5% מכלל העמותות) הוגשו תלונות. "אסור להתערב בפעילות העמותות באופן שמפריע להן לתפקד, אבל חייבים לבדוק מה קורה בהן", אמר ירון זליכה, החשב הכללי הפורש שנאם בכנס. לדבריו, שיפור משמעותי בפיקוח על העמותות חל לאחר שהועבר לאחריות אגף החשב הכללי. "לא עוד החתול שומר על השמנת", זליכה התגאה. "חשפנו מאות ואלפי מקרים של כפל תמיכות, רמאויות ושאר מרעין בישין, בהיקף של מאות מיליוני שקלים".

"שיתוף הפעולה בין העמותות והממשלה בישראל נמצא בפיגור", סיכם מנכ"ל משרד ראש הממשלה רענן דינור. "אין ספק שהמלחמה בלבנון היתה התנסות קשה וחשובה לשני הצדדים, וחידדה את הצורך בהסדרת שיתוף הפעולה". כשנשאל האם אינו מודאג מכך שהממשלה מסירה מעצמה אחריות ומגלגלת אותה על העמותות, דינור השיב כי "התחזקות העמותות היא חלק מתהליך בינלאומי שאינו ייחודי לישראל. יש דברים שממשלות פשוט אינן יודעות לעשות. הממשלה אינה טובה בסיוע במקומות שבהם צריך לתת שירותים ספציפיים ולענות על בעיות ייחודיות של אנשים".