In the largest fund-raising effort in its history, more than $59 million has been raised by Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ Israel Emergency Fund from some 6,700 Greater Boston residents to support Israelis impacted by the Oct. 7 war against Hamas.
The IEF’s campaign has so far provided 72 emergency grants to 51 NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that are providing mental health, economic, and emergency social services for thousands of Israelis, according to Sarah Abramson, CJP’s executive vice president.
CJP already has awarded $40.5 million of the $59 million raised and is providing an average of $10 million in grants per quarter, according to the Boston-based agency. Almost $10 million has been awarded in the past two months.
An IEF task force is reviewing new requests for support almost on a daily basis. More than 400 applications already have been received. In the past three weeks alone, some 30 new applications were reviewed, Abramson said.
“We are partners to Israeli leaders in rebuilding Israel, even better than before, through ongoing grants and partnerships,” she said.
The programs supported by CJP range from an initiative to support the families of hostages captured by Hamas, emergency housing for kibbutzniks forced to flee their homes, to a program providing services for soldiers and reservists suffering from PTSD.
Some $55 million was raised within the first few months after the war began. An additional $4 million has been collected from 900 Boston area residents since then.
Abramson said the IEF remains open and is continuing to receive donations. “Our job is to be responsive to the urgent needs of the moment, but we would reevaluate [the need for a new fund] if the situation on the ground were to develop or change significantly.”
Benny Sharoni, the Israeli Consul General to New England, said the support from the IEF is playing “a significant role in our collective efforts to overcome the challenges at hand.
“We are deeply grateful for the immeasurable support,” he said, and called the campaign a “heartwarming and continued attestation to the strong ties and brotherhood shared between the great people of Boston and the people of Israel.”
Emergency trauma and mental health support programs are the largest categories of CJP grants. Some $6.7 million has been provided for mental health to date, followed by community-specific rehabilitation, $6.4 million; emergency social services, $5.44 million; economic relief, $2.5 million; and volunteer mobilization, $1.35 million.
“There is not a meeting you can go to in Israel where mental health isn’t the first thing people will talk to you about. Israelis are under a fog of a mental health crisis. Everybody feels it,” Abramson said.
A task force led by a team of lay leaders, including CJP board chair Laurene Sperling and Bradley M. Bloom, former board chair, work with agency staff to review every request and have been working virtually nonstop since last October.
The task force has met 28 times to establish criteria for funding, reviewing requests, and evaluating the effectiveness of the grants that have been awarded. Some Israeli graduate students at Harvard have helped create rubrics and decision-making tools.
Abramson said the grant process has been streamlined with minimal paperwork. Staff carefully reviews each application and calls the prospective grantee to learn about its mission, leadership team, sustainability, and financial viability.
“We are still continuing to prioritize soldiers and reservists but we are really thinking deeply about the North and the needs there,” she said. “We were so focused on the South that we really did not fully under the complexities of life in the North.”
In response to urgent requests, CJP provided funding to fortify kindergartens and within days after a missile killed Druze children on a playground, the agency partnered with others to build pop-up bomb shelters, primarily in Druze communities.
“We are rigorous, and we are serious, but we cry on these calls, we laugh on these calls. We’re not just checking boxes. We’re dealing with real people,” Abramson said.
She said CJP has identified “a combination of physical safety and security, mental health and well-being, and education as our sweet spots.”
One program – The Hostages and Missing Families Forum – has received $879,000 from the IEF. CJP calls the forum the “lifeline service organization” delivering support services for the 240 families – approximately 1,000 individuals – struggling with the trauma of the Oct. 7 Hamas kidnappings.
“The impact of CJP support is far beyond the dollar value. It is immeasurable,” said Rebecca Shafir, head of fund-raising for the forum. “The friendship, community, and solidarity of the Boston Jewish community with the hostage families is remarkable.”
She said the funding has enabled the forum to provide emotional support animals for children whose fathers are being held hostage; baby diapers and formula for women who gave birth while their husbands are in captivity; clothing for those whose belongings were destroyed; and tuition support for students.
One of the largest grants was awarded to HaGal Sheli (Catching the Wave of Life), which utilizes the lessons learned by surfing such as determination and persistence as an emergency trauma intervention tool to preemptively address post-traumatic stress disorder among those most deeply affected by the war and terrorist attacks.
So far, the program has treated more than 1,800 individuals, including evacuees from the Gaza Envelope and northern communities, survivors of the Nova Festival, released hostages, teenagers from kibbutzim attacked on Oct. 7, and both active-duty soldiers and veterans.
“The outpouring of support from CJP and the Greater Boston Jewish community has been nothing short of a blessing,” said Ephy Shapiro, head of international partnerships for HaGal Sheli.
Among the first grants was $1 million to support the 430 surviving members of Kibbutz Re’im. The kibbutz was the site of the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, where more than 360 were murdered by Hamas.
The IEF provided temporary housing in Tel Aviv for all the 430 surviving members of the kibbutz, clothing and furniture, psychological support and money to help create a kibbutz business recovery plan. CJP was the first federation to pilot kibbutz-specific aid, according to Abramson.
Among the organizations receiving CJP funding:
Bshvil Hamachar – The organization provides an early intervention therapy program to help combat units deal with what it calls the “probability” of PTSD and holds hundreds of online therapy support group sessions for spouses and family members of reservists. The IDF estimates that some 95,000 active-duty soldiers and reservists will require mental health support.
Brothers for Life – Has deployed teams to meet with more than 1,000 injured soldiers and assess their immediate needs. The nonprofit created and run by injured veterans provides support for the soldiers and their families, including financial aid, short-term housing, and purchases of household goods.
Israeli Children’s Fund – Provides direct financial aid and resiliency support to Israeli children orphaned by the war, including mental health assistance, education scholarships, transportation, and housing costs as they grow from childhood to adulthood.
Itach Ma’aki (Women Lawyers for Social Justice) – CJP funding will support therapy for 500 women and their families, purchasing goods and delivering food baskets to 400 families in unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev. Θ
