Russian Speakers Arrive To Help Sandy Victims
A group of 15 Russian-speaking Israeli volunteers arrived in New York on November 15 to help with Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.
The Jewish Agency for Israel sought out Russian-speaking volunteers to help in the area’s Russian-Jewish communities, which they estimate at approximately 200,000 residents.
The delegation will remain in New York for 10 days and collaborate with efforts already underway led by UJA-Federation of New York. Similar to a convoy of Israeli volunteers that arrived last week from Mechina Ein Prat — The Leadership Academy, the Russian group will clean buildings and synagogues that suffered damage, distribute food to the elderly in homes that remain without power and provide social visits to families that have had no form of communication since the storm hit.
Alan Hoffman, Director General of the Jewish Agency for Israel, said in a statement: “The primary purpose of this delegation is to demonstrate solidarity with the Jews of the United States.”
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
