This guest post by David Gottlieb is part of a series of posts by participants in NIF’s 2014 Study Tour.
If day one of the NIF Study Tour in Israel was highlighted by the culinary tour of the Machane Yehuda market and the chance to dine there, Wednesday began our opportunity to learn about NIF grantees and meet the people who are attempting to help Israel to be its best self.
We spent much of the day in the NIF office in Jerusalem. Our first presenters were Ronit Heyd, Yasmin Rubin and Summer Jaber-Massarwa from SHATIL, NIF’s action-arm. Ronit began with a description of the organization’s mission and some examples of the kinds of capacity building the organization provides to more than 180 social justice NGOs, groups, and individuals each year.
Yasmin and Summer then followed by facilitating what was, in fact, a class on non-profit consulting. We were provided a case study. After reading the problem, we broke up into small groups to talk about how we might be of help, and we ended by going over solutions. The problem gave us a chance to see how sophisticated and effective SHATIL is in its work. We also learned the varied experience that our tour group brings to issues in non-profit management.
Our final presenter at the office was Gili Re’l, the Associate Director of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), the country’s oldest civil rights organization and one of NIF’s flagship partners. Gili described the work that ACRI does in an incredibly broad spectrum of civil liberties issues. She talked about some of ACRI’s successes in each area, and like so many of the people with whom we have spoken, she was completely open in speaking about those areas where change has been difficult. As someone who has done civil liberties work in the US, I was struck by how many of the tactical and strategic questions faced by ACRI as similar to the ones we have struggled with in the US, even if the specific legal issues come up in very different ways.
We left the NIF offices with a much greater sense of the work of the organization and its constituents. We also continued our study, which I know will go on for the whole trip, about the incredible strengths and great difficulties faced by this wonderful place.
The best way for learning to take hold is for it to result in deeds. For most of our group, then, our day of study had a perfect ending. A number of individuals participated in a prayer and walk sponsored by Tag Meir, the group that has formed to respond to hate crimes in Israel, by prayers and acts of condolence.
We ended day two with dinner with former NIF President and Knesset member Naomi Chazan. Naomi is an amazing woman and a completely engaging speaker. For the better part of two hours, she spoke and answered questions. (The food was also really good, as it happened.) I left at the end of the evening full in every sense.