Diaspora Affairs Minister Omer Yankelevich traveled to Los Angeles to visit the Jewish communities there and examine new ways for her Ministry to engage with American Jews.
“I’m on my way back from a brief working trip to the Jewish communities of L.A.,” Yankelevich related, “where I was involved in promoting several new projects being undertaken by the Diaspora Affairs Ministry.
“One of the main objectives of this trip was to strengthen ties with Jewish leaders, organizations, and communities abroad, and to express our solidarity with them in these difficult times.”
Yankelevich noted that Los Angeles has a huge expatriate community of Israel Jews – “around a quarter of a million! I listened to them describing their challenges, and how they have had to adapt to the coronavirus era.”
She added that she gleaned “many insights” from her meetings with community members and leaders, and that “the main and most important one, which I heard over and over again – including among the Israel ex-pat community – is that the younger generation is becoming increasingly disconnected from its Jewish identity, and also from the State of Israel.
“This is what we’re all worried about, what gives us all sleepless nights, and we have to think up creative and innovative means” of reversing this trend, she said. “This is our most critical task today.”
All the same, she noted that despite the challenges, “I am optimistic, after seeing so many dedicated people who are doing an amazing job. Special thanks to Hillel Neuman, the consul general in Los Angeles, and all the consulate staff, for their help with my trip.”