UJC MetroWest seeks to raise millions for its Israel Emergency Campaign

by Robert Wiener
NJJN Staff Writer

What began three weeks ago as a fund-raising drive to help Israeli civilians cope with the short-term effects of war is now the Israel Emergency Campaign, a major effort by United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey to help Israel cover costs that could run into the hundreds of millions.

“We need to launch a special campaign for this effort,” said UJC MetroWest executive vice president Max Kleinman, citing a “pressing need” to help Israel meet costs incurred among its civilian population.

“We’re talking about the possible need of hundreds of millions of dollars in order to get children who are in bombing areas outside those areas with their families; taking care of the vulnerable, the elderly, and new immigrants; and providing food, medical care, and trauma counseling,” he said.

“We don’t know how long this is going to last, but already, tens of millions of dollars have been spent, and tens of millions of dollars have to be spent on a monthly basis.”

The campaign is part of a North American push by the national United Jewish Communities. Kleinman said MetroWest is being counted on to deliver $9 million —three percent of UJC’s $300 million goal for the Jewish federations in the United States and Canada.

In the three weeks since the establishment of its special mailbox to address immediate needs, the philanthropy has raised $250,000.

“There are basically about 300,000 Israelis right now who are besieged and under attack by Hizbullah rockets,” said Kleinman. “Outside of Haifa, most of them have to be in the shelters most of the time. Many of them are children and the elderly. The shelters may have no air conditioning. There are hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have undergone tremendous physical or psychological trauma, and dozens have been killed under these rocket attacks in the midst of a war.”

Sitting alongside Kleinman in a conference room on the Alex Aidekman Family Jewish Community Campus in Whippany, Jeffrey Korbman, director of the Metro West UJA Campaign, said the campaign will be waged “very aggressively” with parlor meetings for major donors as well as “an aggressive direct mail and telemarketing effort to our donor base.”

“We are contacting synagogue presidents and rabbis about how people can get involved and what they can do,” added Kleinman. “We are doing Web site updates and an on-line donation program. There will be assignments for people to talk to other people about making significant donations.”

With the onset of the High Holy Days in September, UJC Metro West officials will reach out to rabbis and synagogue leaders to assist in the fund-raising effort.

The philanthropy is also offering a $500 subsidy to each person who signs on to upcoming UJC solidarity missions. One is scheduled to leave Aug. 7.

“As a gesture of solidarity with Israel and a training opportunity for leaders and community members, national UJC is coordinating such moves to bring people for the purpose of being briefed by government officials and touring areas that have been attacked,” Kleinman explained.

The campaign will last through Yom Kippur, which falls on Oct. 1-2. Korbman said the appeal’s short-term nature is “designed to create momentum within a time frame. You can’t really create and sustain momentum indefinitely. It gives us the opportunity to measure the situation in so far as fund-raising is concerned as well as the situation in Israel.”

Praising members of the local Jewish community for an early and generous response, Korbman said, “We have received hundreds and hundreds of checks, virtually unsolicited. It tells me that…crisis galvanizes the Jewish community.”

Gary Aidekman of Madison, who chairs the MetroWest UJA Campaign, joined the discussion by speakerphone.

“I’m very proud of the community,” he said. “Among other things, we saw the necessity and we responded effectively and quickly. Sometimes large organizations have a difficulty getting momentum going. I don’t think that has been the case with us.

“It is generally not one of my favorite campaign themes to say that if the Jews don’t help Jews, then nobody will help them. I don’t think it’s 100 percent true,” said Aidekman. “But in this instance, it is clear to me that Israel is under a great deal of pressure. There is not a groundswell of support for Israel or the suffering going on there. The international press tends to focus on the other side and balances it against the suffering going on in Israel. Jews have a priority to step up toward their brothers and sisters in Israel.”

Also connecting to the conversation by speakerphone was Kenneth R. Heyman of Short Hills, president of UJC MetroWest.

“There have been a lot of Jewish organizations that have reached out in the last two weeks to Jews everywhere,” he said. “But there is something unique in terms of how we respond and the breadth of what we can do in Israel.”