Jewish philanthropy in Israel will be marginalized if it doesn’t change

By Gidi Grinstein
Published on November 15, 2007

Jewish philanthropy in Israel is at a crossroads. Powerful trends are marginalizing its impact on Israeli society. More than a billion dollars of philanthropic giving from Jews worldwide, spurred by endless goodwill, passion and care, are not impacting Israel or contributing to global Jewish peoplehood to the extent they should. The current system is in dire need of an overhaul.

History Comes Alive

By Ruth E. Gruber
Published on August 29, 2002

Italian scholar Francesco Spagnolo is keenly aware of the long-standing Jewish presence in Italy.

"Never before the creation of the State of Israel did Jews of so many varied origins live together, and in such a stimulating, if at times threatening, environment as in the land they called in Hebrew 'I-Tal-Yah,'" he says.

"I-Tal-Yah" -- Island of Divine Dew in Hebrew -- means Italy in Italian, a land where Jews have lived for more than 2,000 years and which has seen layer after layer of immigration from all over the Jewish Diaspora.