one world. one family. - Jewish Federation of San Diego County

UJF’s Connection to the Global Community
American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee (JDC)
Since 1914, the American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee, Inc. (JDC) has served as the overseas arm of
the American Jewish community. JDC serves the needs
of Jews throughout the world, particularly where their
lives as Jews are threatened or made more difficult.
JDC sponsors programs of relief, rescue and renewal and
helps Israel address its most urgent social challenges.
They are committed to the idea that all Jews are
responsible for one another.
Rescue – Whenever and wherever a Jewish community
is threatened, JDC offers rescue. In the early 1990s, JDC
helped sustain the lives and secure the rescue of 15,000
Ethiopian Jews.
Relief – For Jewish communities in distress, JDC offers
aid. For more than two decades, JDC has been providing
food, clothing and medicine to some 250,000 elderly
and impoverished Holocaust survivors in the former
Soviet Union.
Renewal – Since the fall of communist regimes in
Europe, JDC has been helping Jewish communities
rediscover their heritage and rebuild a vibrant Jewish
communal life.
Israel – JDC continues to provide assistance to the State
of Israel as it addresses the social service needs of its
most vulnerable communities: children-at-risk, struggling
immigrant populations, the elderly and the disabled.
Non-Sectarian Aid – In times of crisis – natural
disasters, war, famine – JDC offers aid to non-Jews
to fulfill the Jewish tenet of tikkun olam, the moral
responsibility to repair the world and alleviate suffering
wherever it exists.
Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI)
JAFI connects the Federation community in a global
partnership devoted to ensuring the future of the Jewish
people. The Jewish Agency works in communities around
the world with a dual purpose:
Aliyah - For Israel to survive and flourish as a Jewish,
democratic society, aliyah remains imperative. Israel
must become home to more Jewish people.
As the ‘first responder team’ of our global
partnership, JAFI continuously monitors the situation
of Jews around the world, ready to take immediate
action whenever the safety of Jews or their ability to
live Jewish lives is threatened. It must always maintain
this readiness. But clearly, the center of gravity of aliyah
today is moving from rescue operations to promoting
and facilitating the immigration of those who choose to
make Israel their home. Aliyah of choice is currently a
primary focus of the Jewish Agency.
Jewish/Zionist Education
Across the board, our global Jewish family is in decline. We
are losing more than 100 Jews every day. If we are counting
on the next generation to lead us into the future, then we need
to put Israel into their lives.
As the need for Jewish education evolves, JAFI focuses on
three major strategic objectives: dramatically increasing
participation in transformative experiences in Israel; reaching
out to communities as a full partner in developing compelling
content and strategies for local engagement; and training and
inspiring educators.
Supporting Donors (L-R):
Dan & Emily Einhorn, Allan Adler, Raquel Benguiat, and Dr. Howard Robin. United Jewish Federation | Annual Report 2007 11