I am writing this in the middle of the war in Israel. Being part of the Women’s International Zionist Organisation (WIZO) and being honoured to be its President, it is no surprise that as an organisation we have been at the forefront of providing aid and rehabilitation to those who need it most, especially at this time of war in Israel.
The moment the war in Israel began, WIZO sprang into action by reinforcing our value systems and launched an International Emergency Fundraising Campaign to send funds to Israel. We have managed, together with all the various cities where our WIZO South Africans live and work, to accumulate a large amount in our rands, admittingly small in dollars, to enable us to continue the valuable work that we do. Every person that has been involved with WIZO and has seen the work we do in Israel, realises that we follow value systems that explicitly say: We place individuals and their needs at the core of every project and programme that we undertake and we adapt to the ever-evolving needs of Israeli society by boldly and proactively creating innovative solutions.
WIZO South Africa leapt into action by enforcing these values systems. This has enabled us to launch an international Emergency Fundraising Campaign to participate in the rehabilitation of all our projects in Israel.
Many displaced residents from the South have been absorbed into our WIZO institutions and youth villages and aid has been provided for vulnerable people, including children and youth at-risk, women in crisis, and elderly individuals. It is most important that WIZO continues to be there for families where the spouse has been called up to serve in the IDF and our volunteers continue to pack thousands of parcels of food and clothing for the soldiers on the front lines.
We are all devastated as new heights of antisemitism are being reached worldwide and, more particularly here, in South Africa. We, at WIZO, are determined to continue to proactively raise funds and continue our work for those who need it most.
We are part of World WIZO, an extremely large women’s International Zionist Organisation and therefore we act in the Jewish way. Generation after generation must have an Israel to return to and we have no alternative but to keep Israel flourishing and a source of light in what has now appeared to be a very dark place.
Together we pray for the safe release of the hostages and for the brave soldiers on the front lines. We pray for those who lost their lives on October 7th and we pray for their families and friends who are in mourning.
I want to end this by saying that I, my colleagues and all our volunteers are crying out “Bring the hostages home”. We all say BRING THEM HOME.
May the world find unity and peace and we pray for our beloved Israel and for WIZO South Africa!
Am Yisrael Chai!
Shelley Trope-Friedman
Website: WIZO South Africa
• Published in the December 2023/January 2024 issue – Click here to start reading.
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