Tzedakah (Charity) in Israel

Interesting Perspective - Poor By Choice!

Posted by admin under Crime, Perspective, Poverty in Israel, Social Justice, Solutions to Poverty, Terrorism and Poverty, What can THEY do, World Poverty

Quite true at the national level. Sometime not so true at the private level. Many people are truly victims of the society in which they live. That said, here’s an interesting insight from Israpundit.

Pre-1967 Israel has almost no natural resources, and it certainly lacks the oil wealth of its Arab neighbors, but it is among the richest nations in the region. That is because the Jewish immigrants brought Euro-American culture that promotes diligent work and technological innovation, including ways to turn deserts into gardens. While Israel’s dirt-ignorant, primitive, and savage Arab and African neighbors still batter women to death with stones while they cripple people for life by cutting off hands and other body parts, Israelis discover ways to help paraplegics walk again.

Common sense says that people who look for and discover ways to restore damaged limbs and bring unprecedented mobility to paraplegics are going to be far wealthier than those who think in terms of whipping, mutilation, and stoning. Israel’s self-earned wealth and prosperity are daily reminders to Israel’s Arab and African neighbors that most of the latter’s poverty is entirely of their own choosing, and that they deserve to live in filth and squalor. As the old saying goes, you make your bed and you lie in it.

A look at Freedom House is a good indicator of whether a country will be poor or rich; wealth tends to correlate with political freedom and civil rights. Haiti is, for example, rated “partly free” while Somalia, the place where a girl was stoned to death in a stadium, is rated “Not Free.” Although the earthquake in Haiti requires a charitable response from the civilized world–”there but for the grace of God go I”–Haiti and Somalia have chosen a low standard of living so that is what they deserve. Now consider Israel’s Arab neighbors, most of which are similarly homo sapiens by birth but subhuman by choice.

Country Per capita GDP (IMF) Freedom House rating
United States $46K Free (highest freedom rating)
Japan $33K Free
Israel $28K Free
Saudi Arabia $23.4K Not Free *
Iran $11.2K Not Free *

Egypt $6K Not Free
Jordan $5.6K Partly Free
Syria $4.9K Not Free
Sudan $2.4K Not Free
Somalia $0.6K (CIA Fact book) Not Free

* Qatar, which is “partly free,” has the highest per capita GDP. With a population of only 900,000 living on top of “black gold,” even the Beverly Hillbillies would be on top of the list. On the other hand, oil-rich Saudi Arabia and Iran have lower per-capita GDPs than resource-poor Israel and Japan. This attests to the inferiority of their societies and culture, and that is why they hate the Jews. (Perhaps the Japanese are too far away to hate conveniently.)

Education reform and tackling poverty key to strengthening Israeli economy

Posted by admin under Disposable Income, Poverty in Israel, Social Justice, Solutions to Poverty, What can THEY do

Doomed to a life a poverty

Posted by admin under Child Poverty, Getting By In Israel, Perspective, Poverty in Israel, Social Justice, Solutions to Poverty, Unemployment, What can THEY do

This excerpt from the jpost.com brings the point right home. Yes, organizations like Karmey Hesed must be their to help the needy, many of whom are victims of misguided leadership (what an oxymoron…). But the root of the “poverty problem” must be addressed as well. Here are some bitter points:

…This coincides with a dramatic natural growth due to their prolific birthrates (8.8 children per family) which in demographic terms assuredly benefits the country. However, whereas in the 1980s haredim comprised only 4 percent of the population, today they represent 10%, or about 700,000. Barring a drastic change in their birthrate, in less than two decades haredim could amount to 20% of Israel’s Jewish population.

Currently, 25% of all Jewish primary school-age children are enrolled in haredi institutions – double the proportion of 10 years ago. If this trend is maintained, 20 years from now, 40% of Jewish children will attend haredi schools, many of which do not celebrate Independence Day, recognize the flag, permit the singing of “Hatikva” and discourage their students from serving in the IDF.

To make matters worse, in a highly irresponsible political trade-off, the Olmert government consummated a deal to fully fund haredi schools with no obligation to incorporate any secular content. Aside from the obvious negative consequences, this arrangement virtually guarantees that many graduates will be doomed to a life of unemployment, grinding poverty and reliance on state welfare.

ALTHOUGH THE majority of haredi families live below the poverty line and rank among the lowest socioeconomic strata of society, many of their rabbis urge them to learn full time, despite the traditional religious approach which extols the virtue of earning a livelihood. As a consequence, at least 70% of the males refuse to take up employment even though some of their wives join the workforce to supplement their welfare income.

We are now rapidly reaching the point in which able-bodied haredim unwilling or unfit to join the workforce will comprise such a large proportion of society that the state welfare system will simply become unable to support them.

Hi Tech Success, Poverty Looms

Posted by admin under Perspective, Poverty in Israel, Social Justice, Solutions to Poverty, What can THEY do

With one in five households living below the poverty line, Israel is one of the poorest countries in the 32-member group, according to the report. The country’s employment rate of about 66 percent is below the OECD average.

The economic review identified the fervently Orthodox and Israeli Arab communities as “untapped” economic resources for Israel because of the low workforce participation in these communities. The report called on the government to “level the playing field” for Arab Israelis in areas such as education. The government needs to ensure that haredi school systems provide students with enough vocational skills so they can get jobs. With the combined communities accounting for nearly half of all children starting primary school, “work on solutions cannot wait.”

Vered Dar, the chief economist at Psagot Ofek investment house, said the disparity between Israel’s feted technology sector and its poor communities outside of the mainstream reflect a tale of two economies.

“If you take a picture of people working on Wall Street and then you take a picture of people in Louisiana who have yet to buy a new house after Katrina, you get a picture of two different countries and it’s not that different from Israel,” she said. Regarding the fervently Orthodox, she said, “we have a huge chunk of people — maybe 10 percent — who say studying is more important than working. These are people that are poor by choice.”

But by far the most burning economic issue is a new offensive by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reduce the number of migrant workers in Israel. According to the Finance Ministry, there are about 250,000 guest laborers employed in Israel — about half of whom are working illegally. Working mainly in construction, agriculture, caregiving and as restaurant cooks, they account for more than 10 percent of the Israeli labor force.

“The massive influx of foreign workers to Israel in recent years has created problems of security and drugs, but mainly it has [flooded] the labor market and weakened wages,” Netanyahu said at a press conference last week unveiling a policy to crack down on employers and deport illegal aliens.
The prime minister said last week that Israel’s economic success has made it necessary to build a barrier on the border with Egypt in order to block migrant workers.

“Israel is actually the only country in which one can enter on foot from one of the more battered Third World countries,” he said. “We are going to set up a barrier. Otherwise, a flood will come and we can’t allow ourselves to be swept away. We established a Jewish and democratic state and we can’t allow to be turned into a state of foreign workers.”

From The Jewish Week

Israel at its best… Talk About Kindness!

Posted by admin under Perspective, Social Justice, Torah, Tzedakah, What can "I" do, What can THEY do, World Poverty

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

1,000,000 Random Acts of Kindness

Posted by admin under Children, Self Improvement, Social Justice, Solutions to Poverty, Torah, What can "I" do, What can THEY do, World Poverty

What a great program:

Kindness - Return on Investment

Posted by admin under Perspective, Self Improvement, Social Justice, Solutions to Poverty, What can "I" do

Partially Povertized Israel Helps Very Povertized Haiti

Posted by admin under Uncategorized

The stories of Israel’s reach-out to Haiti are endless. Here is an account for the Cleveland Jewish News:

In the wake of the earthquake that devastated Haiti on Jan. 13, countries, organizations and individuals around the world have rallied supplies, personnel and donations for the rescue and recovery efforts.

Israel and the Cleveland Jewish community have been no exception, taking significant roles aiding those in need.

The Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland’s Endowment Fund Committee immediately recommended the organization make a $10,000 emergency grant to relief efforts. (Formal board approval of the grant was expected after press time.) The Federation also is collecting donations on behalf of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s (JDC) non-sectarian relief efforts.

Many other Jewish organizations have joined in fundraising efforts for aid to Haiti. Israeli groups have been on the ground in Haiti since almost the beginning, with more en route.

Israel’s ZAKA International Rescue Unit described the past weekend’s aiding in rescue efforts as the “Shabbat from hell.” The six-man ZAKA delegation (four Israelis and two Mexicans) flew into Port-au-Prince on a Mexican air force transport plane immediately after completing recovery and identification in a Mexico City helicopter crash last week. Using Mexican military equipment, ZAKA rescued eight students from a collapsed eight-story university building 38 hours after the building collapsed in the earthquake.
*
The rigorously Orthodox ZAKA team took time out to recite Shabbat prayers amid the rubble.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry sent a 220-person delegation to Haiti the day after the quake hit. El Al leased jets to the Israeli Defense Forces to transport the delegation, which included Israeli police rescue teams and a Home Front Command field hospital – said to be the first functioning emergency hospital on the ground.

Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center dispatched senior medical staff to run the field hospital, including specialists in emergency response, trauma surgery, OB/GYN and infant care. On Sun., Jan. 17, a baby boy (one of two babies) was born at the Israeli field hospital. According to reports from The Israel Project, the mother said she would name the baby Israel.

Also part of the delegation were teams from Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s version of the Red Cross. MDA sent an additional team of paramedics to the Dominican Republic, Haiti’s neighbor, over the weekend. (Because of the damage to the Port-au-Prince airport, many rescue teams and aid workers have been forced to fly into the Dominican Republic and travel by land into Haiti.) The new team will lend support to a Norwegian Red Cross field hospital.

The MDA is also working with the Israeli Foreign Ministry to airlift in an Israeli-manufactured water purification system this week. The destruction from the quake has left many Haitians without clean, safe drinking water.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Given Israel’s security needs, we have accumulated much search-and-rescue experience over the years. We have applied this experience previously in disaster scenes throughout the world – in Mexico, Argentina, Armenia, Kenya, Turkey and elsewhere. I hope and wish that the Israeli mission will succeed, this time as well, in saving as many lives – children, parents and families – in Haiti as possible.”

For ongoing news about Jewish community response to Haiti, visit www.jta.org. The Israel Project, www.theisraelproject.org, maintains on ongoing list of Israel’s response to the crisis.

Jews in Haiti: a brief history

In 2007, it was reported that maybe 50 Jews remained among Haiti’s population of more than 8 million people. But in earlier times, there was a stronger presence.

The first Jewish immigrants came from Brazil in the 17th century, after Haiti was conquered by the French. Most were murdered or expelled along with the rest of the white population during Toussaint L’Ouverture’s slave revolt in 1804. Archaeologists discovered the remains of a synagogue in Jeremie, a city along Haiti’s southern peninsula, and it is believed there are Jewish tombstones in the port cities of Cap Haitien and Jacmel.

By the end of the 19th century, Sephardi Jews began arriving from Lebanon, Egypt and Syria. In 1937, Haitian officials began issuing passports to Eastern European Jews fleeing the Nazis. Many of those Jews stayed until the late-1950s, when the country’s poverty and violence drove most to move, primarily to the U.S. or Panama.

Some Perspective - Israel still has room to improve…

Posted by admin under Getting By In Israel, Perspective, Poverty in Israel, Social Justice, Solutions to Poverty, What can THEY do

by Jonathan Rosenblum

Life in Israel never lacks for things to worry about: Iranian nukes, tens of thousands of missiles in the hands of Hamas and Hizbullah, a critical water shortage, the religious-secular divide. But at least the Israeli economy is strong – or so I thought.

Titles like the recent Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle celebrate Israeli entrepreneurship and portray little Israel as an economic titan. Israel attracts 2.5 times the venture capital per person of the United States; 30 times that of Europe. Israel leads the world in patents on medical devices and is a world leader in biotech and cleantech. More Israeli companies are found on the NASDAQ than those Europe, China, and India combined.

But such statistics, unfortunately, tell only part of the story, as I learned in two recent meetings with Professor Dan Ben-David, director of the Taub Center, Israel’s leading independent think tank providing information and analysis to government officials. He paints a gloomy picture of Israel’s economic future strangely at odds with the boyish enthusiasm of his presentations.

From 1948 to 1973, Israeli living standards and productivity grew at a rate that placed Israel on a trajectory to overtake the United States within a few decades, even encumbered by a socialist bureaucracy. Today, despite Israel’s “economic miracle,” the country is falling further and further behind Western living standards. The United States’ GDP per capita was 39% greater than Israel’s in 1973; it is 61% higher today.

One startling statistic captures the paradox of startling creativity coupled with economic stagnation. In 1990, the number of U.S.-approved Israeli patents per capita was 6% below that of the G7 countries, while Israeli productivity, measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 7% behind. By 2003, the number of Israeli patents was 69% greater. Yet Israel’s productivity was now 23% less than that of the leading G7 economies.

Why has Israeli creativity not translated into standard of living gains vis-à-vis the West? Clearly the hi-tech sector has been insufficient to compensate for the lag in other sectors of the economy. That lag is reflected in ever worsening poverty. In 1979, roughly one-fourth of Israeli families would have been under the poverty line, but for welfare assistance. Over the last thirty years, that percentage has grown to one-third.

Israel has developed a vast social safety net of welfare assistance to compensate for growing family poverty and income inequalities. But the increases in welfare payments are unsustainable in the long-run. Since 1970, per capita GDP has doubled, while welfare payments have quintupled. That ratio cannot continue indefinitely. There are too many other urgent demands on the government’s purse, including defense and the investment in the infrastructure and human capital needed to maintain Israel’s ability to compete economically. At some point, Israel will simply run out of money to keep papering over the increase in impoverished families.

Accompanying the increase in poverty has been a dramatic increase in income inequality. Israel was once one of the most egalitarian countries in the world. Today it’s has the steepest income inequality in the Western world. And, as Professor Ben-David explained, that inequality is not measured only in the gap between the richest docile and the poorest; the gaps are widening between each docile and the one immediately below. Those disparities will greatly strain the Israeli social fabric.

One of the major factors underlying Israel’s declining productivity relative to other economically developed countries is its low rate of labor force participation. In 2008, the percentage of non-employed males between 25-54 was 20.4% in Israel. No other Western nation comes close to that. The comparable rates in the United States and Switzerland were 14% and 6.3%.

Lack of investment in infrastructure and human capital (i.e., education) serves as another major brake on the Israeli economy. Israelis own half the number of cars per capita as the Western average, but Israel’s road congestion is three times as high as the Western average. The educational situation is even grimmer both in terms of quantity and quality. Seventeen per cent of Israelis in the prime-working age group (25-54 years old) dropped out before completing high school versus 11% of Americans.

Worse, they do not learn much while in school. In five international exams over the last ten years, Israeli schoolchildren ranked last among 25 Western nations in all but one. (Israeli students ranked near the very top in the first such exams in 1963.) Israeli youth are simply not being prepared for modern economies in which workers can expect to change jobs many times.

Professor Ben-David points to many factors behind the educational decline. First is the low quality of teachers. Most primary and secondary school teachers are produced by teachers colleges whose entrance requirements are considerably below those for university. Second, school principals have little authority to reward good teachers or fire incompetent ones. Most important, students spend dramatically less time on the basic core subjects – reading, writing, science, math, and English – than the average in other developed nations.

Higher education is also beset with problems. Since the mid-70s, Israel’s population has more doubled, but the number of senior faculty positions at the Technion, the MIT of Israel, increased by one. At Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University, the number of senior faculty positions has dropped 14% and 21%, respectively. As a result Israel, whose survival depends primarily on brainpower, is experiencing a brain drain unparalleled by any Western country. From 2002-2004, the rate of emigration of academics doubled.

Holders of academic degrees are 2.5 times as likely to emigrate as those lacking them. The latter figure points to the long range threat to Israel. Those who can command much higher salaries abroad – academics, research scientists, those in hi-tech, doctors, in short, the leaders of Israel’s “economic miracle” – are leaving in ever greater numbers.

No doubt Professor Ben-David hopes that he and his children will live in Israel. That is why he is so passionate about dealing with the long-range trends threatening Israel’s economic viability. But, in the end, he knows that his children will have other options. If all those who can emigrate to countries with higher standards of living and no compulsory military service, do so, our children and grandchildren will be left to deal with the mess.

Haitian Children, Finally Being Fed

Posted by admin under Child Poverty, Perspective, Social Justice, Solutions to Poverty, What can "I" do, What can THEY do, World Poverty

In this most trying time for the Haitian people, we sometimes wonder where is God. Tens of thousands (if not 100’s of thousands) of people have likely perished. The infrastructure has been destroyed with no way of quickly and easily getting the basics of food and water let alone medical treatment to those in need.

Somehow a thought came to my mind as to what’s the message? What is it that we can learn, perhaps even take as retribution from the One above.

Haiti, it is said, is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Looking at the map, Haiti is a one hour and 22 minute flight from Miami, Florida. Or about the commute from the suburbs to downtown Manhattan. And yet this nation has been somehow set aside.

How can it be that in such proximity to the wealthiest nation in the world there are people that are stricken with poverty? The answer to that question, was perhaps given to me this morning.

As the central message of a slideshow I saw recently says, God perhaps has stepped away in order to make room for humanity to respond. I think we can take a step further than that. Perhaps it’s not only a message of God allowing people to express their compassion. Perhaps there is a deeper lesson.

Perhaps the message is “what took you so long?” Why haven’t you, my creatures, come together to help this impoverished nation before disaster strikes? Poverty can be wiped out. It can be rid of immediately. If not for, to put it mildly, the lack of true concern on the part of all humanity, poverty, disease, and all the suffering that human beings on our tiny planet could be made history.

I end with the saying from our sages, Hillel to be specific, “If Not Now, When?”