National Council of Jewish Women - NCJW and Israel

NCJW and Israel

NCJW has had a long involvement with promoting the welfare of Israel. Beginning with its Ship-a-Box program to send toys, books, and educational materials to young Holocaust survivors and generations of Israeli children, NCJW began a long collaboration designed to improve the lives of women and children in Israel. NCJW funded the department of education at Hebrew University in Jerusalem for the training of teachers, and eventually established the Research Institute for Innovation in Education (RIFIE) at Hebrew University. The institute assists at-risk children from all segments of Israeli society, including as many as 40 ongoing projects each year in early childhood education, school integration, vocational education, immigrant absorption, and cross-cultural education. Major programs include: HIPPY/Haetgar (Home Instruction for Pre-School Youngsters), Manof, and YACHAD. NCJW built Hebrew University High School in Jerusalem. NCJW later launched an Israel Granting Program called Yad B' Yad: NCJW's Initiative to Nurture Knowledge, to support grassroots organizations serving at-risk children and their families in Israel.

NCJW helped launch the NCJW Women Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University, which advances research and analysis in feminist studies while reaching out to the public through empowerment seminars and community services. The NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program at Tel Aviv University is the first bachelor's degree-granting program of its kind in the Middle East, providing an interdisciplinary analysis of issues impacting women and other minorities. NCJW has expanded its Israel Granting Program to include Women to Women: NCJW's Empowerment Initiative. This new funding stream complements the work of Yad B' Yad by supporting women's empowerment projects that address women's rights and well-being in areas like economics, politics, education, domestic violence, and social justice.