Last week, NIF made a serious push to let people know about our New Initiatives for Democracy, a set of strategies intended to provide Israelis with the tools to change the public discourse in Israel in ways that reinforce and strengthen its founding values as a liberal democracy. These are big bets, intended to strengthen the voices of Israelis who share the core values of decency, fairness, and equal opportunity and to rapidly increase the influence of these voices on Israel’s national direction.

I hope you’ll take time to familiarize yourself with these exciting new initiatives. And then I hope you’ll decide to be part of the $500,000 challenge put down by NIF’s Board leadership to provide the level of resources required to launch and sustain these efforts. All gifts to NIF in made between now and October 31st will be matched dollar for dollar.

Our conversations with longstanding NIF supporters have been incredibly positive, with many people affirming our sense that recent trends in Israeli society call for fresh approaches that will build on and amplify NIF’s traditional work. To be honest, many people have said “it’s about time”. To be even more honest, some have asked us whether it isn’t already too late.

That’s understandable. Waves of illiberal legislation moving through the Knesset, increasing public displays of religious and nationalist extremism, and the ongoing social, economic and political impact of an occupation now heading towards its fiftieth year have made people question whether any new set of set initiatives is going to make a difference for Israel’s future.

The fact is, we don’t know for sure if we can impact change – which is always the nature of social activism. Will supporting a new generation of think tanks with the research and communications savvy necessary to insert new frames and new policy ideas into the stories that make the news and the conversations that Israelis have around their kitchen tables make a difference? We think so. If the initial response to work done by our partners at Molad and Mitvim is any indication, there’s serious progress to be made.

Can creating a multi-issue progressive online organizing platform build a massive, lasting constituency for change that can shift conversations at key moments and won’t dissipate when the tents are folded up? It’s impossible to know for sure, but the successful experience of efforts like this in Canada, Australia, India and the UK indicate that there is a huge opportunity here for Israel.

And will it be possible to identify, train and network Israel’s next generation of civic and political leaders, encouraging them to work across the increasingly outmoded dichotomies of religious and secular, Jewish and Arab, Ashkenazi and Mizrachi and aim for a truly shared society? No one is certain, but the scores of people – and especially younger people – who refuse to believe that the course of Israeli public life is predetermined need encouragement and support, and we’re determined to invest in them.

One of the best known prayers in the High Holy Days prayerbook is one that starts out fatalistically, telling us that everything that will happen in the year ahead has already been written and sealed. But that prayer ends by resisting the idea of pre-determination and declaring that repentance (breaking old habits and rededicating ourselves to core values), prayer (expressing our determined hope that these values will be realized), and tzedakah/charity (taking action that translates our values into action) – is really what shapes our fate.

In this season of renewal, we’re putting forward bold new ideas for Israeli democracy. We want these ideas get people talking, so please let us know what you think. We also hope you’ll also get other people talking by telling them about our work (and about the match).

Thank you, as always, for being our partner in working to strengthen democracy and equality in Israel.

And best wishes for a sweet new year.