Chicago leaders join JFNA solidarity mission to Israel

In a show of solidarity, JUF President Lonnie Nasatir and Chicago Jewish lay leaders traveled to Israel in July on the Jewish Federations of North America Summer 2021 Leadership Mission.

The trip marked the third JFNA solidarity mission to Israel since last spring. Six JUF Board members joined Nasatir in representing Chicago on the mission: Gita Berk, Alison Karmin, Bill Silverstein, Marc Spellman, Pam Friend Szokol, and Michael H. Zaransky.

“The three days that we spent in Israel were educational, energizing, and emotional as we witnessed firsthand the realities and complexities of life there,” said Szokol, Chair of the JUF Board.

Mission participants wrestled with hot topics, from last spring’s Gaza crisis, to Israel’s new government, to how the country has coped with the pandemic. They also met with Knesset members, heard from Israel’s new president Isaac Herzog, and saw their tzedakah in action, including a visit– for the Chicagoans– to an absorption center for new Ethiopian olim, funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Szokol discovered during the trip that she was the sixth consecutive Chair of JUF’s Board to fly to Israel in a show of solidarity in recent weeks. “This pure sense of commitment and love for the Jewish state and people is embodied in all that we do,” she said. “It is a true testament to our unique lay/professional partnership. I am so blessed to be a part of this legacy.”