Over the last year I had the opportunity to meet with many members, leaders and opinion-shapers from the English-speaking community around the country and to understand what unites this community and how we can use our experiences and capabilities to make improvements to Israeli society.
Surveying the political scene, especially its consequent stagnation, we felt a need for English-speaking Israelis to coalesce around a vision that can effect change, development and progress, and above all, contribute to our beloved homeland.
The Anglo Vision was an outcome of those in-depth conversations and are an attempt to find some unifying positions which represent English-speaking Israelis and issues that this community would like to further develop with the political and decision-making levels in Israel.
We created the first representative set of principles that will unite this community, whether Left, Right or Center, religious, traditional or secular, and form the basis for an Anglo Vision to be presented to politicians, political parties, NGOs, opinion-shapers and the wider general public.
They include issues such as Sundays off, political representation and direct accountability, Aliyah as a national priority, professional integration for new immigrants, fighting BDS, lowering car taxes and absorption counseling.
However, the global Coronavirus pandemic, which has effectively shut down normal life in Israel has necessitated a temporary refocus of our activities.
One of the most remarkable things that we found when traversing the country is Anglo engagement, involvement and impact in their communities and in the nation as a whole. The number of charities and NGOs that were created by English-speaking Israelis or have one at the center of their work is extraordinary.
While I know that it is virtually impossible to quantify an exact percentage, I am certain just from this journey and our meetings that the number of Anglos involved in contributing to their society is vastly disproportionate to our numbers.
What is arguably just as remarkable is that even during these trying times, English-speaking and other Western immigrants are still arriving in Israel permanently, even knowing that they will have to start their new lives in complete confinement, according to the directives from the Health Ministry. This is quite a testament to the strength and fortitude of our community.
Like other communities, Anglos feel a strong sense of contribution and commitment to our beloved homeland.
That is why in times of crisis, we should be integrating our areas of expertise and capacities to create best practices, human resources and knowledge pools to help those around us.
Whether it is to assist the elderly and most-at-risk with chores, providing those who live on their own with counseling to deal with loneliness, helping families with online children’s activities, or providing services to those most affected by what will be difficult financial times ahead, Anglos can help those within our community and outside with these and many other challenges.
At Barkai, an organization dedicated to building Israeli society one community at a time by successfully bringing Diaspora models of community building to Israel, which I founded and head, we have an open telephone line for those in our 80 communities and others around the country who need counseling, strength and resilience in times of great stress.
This is a time when each of us, whether individuals, communities or organizations can resolve to broaden our activities, even by just a little, to help those around us. We all know people who are already struggling with a myriad of issues and challenges.
Any person can see if a neighbor without private transportation needs a lift to pick up groceries or medication. Or perhaps someone can create a book gemach in their area, where people can trade books to while away the long days in relative isolation now that libraries have been effectively closed.
Obviously, these and every activity must be undertaken in accordance with updated Health Ministry regulations, but even within the ever-constrictive regulations there remains much room to contribute.
Furthermore, people can offer online courses, discussions and webinars on a host of subjects including secular and religious.
As we move more and more towards virtual communications to sustain our professional and personal relationships, we can create lists of people who need some type of human contact and encounter and organize times to be in touch with them online to see if they are ok, play online games or look for inventive ways to pass the time in an enjoyable way.
We are an innovative community that has always been able to meet the many challenges of our society, and now our country needs us more than ever.
The Anglo Vision is seeking to assist with an Anglo response for our community and our country. We are happy to lead or be a part of activities where we will be involved with helping the State of Israel and its citizens through this difficult period in its history.
The Jewish People have known very turbulent and hard times in our history, but we have always prevailed, and it has made us stronger.
Only over the last few decades since the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty in our ancestral and indigenous homeland we have known war, economic sanctions and terrorism, and as a nation we did not just survive these threats but flourished.
This is largely because we developed an indefectible attitude and strong national character which allows us to overcome these trials and tribulations, and just like we defeated the scourges of the past, we will also triumph over this unseen enemy and come out stronger.
Our commitment to our nation can start with our response as a community.
Rabbi David Fine is the founder of the Anglo Vision and founder and dean of The Barkai Center for Practical Rabbinics and Community Development