The Conference of Presidents October 7th Mission gathered 25 leaders of Jewish NGOs to commemorate one year from the painful start of the war and reiterate Jewish community’s steadfast support for Israel. The delegation had the opportunity to engage with key officials, hostage families, and communities to gain insight into the challenges facing Israeli society.
From Tamar:
“The experience was deeply moving, filled with pain but also hope for the future. The Israeli hosts expressed gratitude to the American visitors while the American contingency pledged to continue to support the Israeli communities as needed. The overall feeling is that we are one people united, Am Yisrael Chai!
Each day was packed with non-stop meetings and concerts at night. Last night we ended with meetings and testimony from released hostages and their families. When I arrived home, I felt despair from many fronts. The meetings with government officials didn’t give me confidence in the way forward and I am not hopeful about a deal for the hostages succeeding anytime soon.
However, this morning we had one last meeting with President Herzog and Michal Herzog. After the President and William Daroff exchanged greetings, the president invited each participant to share their thoughts. From most of the Jewish organizations, the topic that came up most often was the importance of bolstering mental health. All of the participants were given an opportunity to speak on behalf of their organization. I emphasized our mental health efforts in the schools in Sderot as well, but I pointed out our efforts to bridge the divides in Israeli society by creating connections through our religious, secular, and Haredi schools. I noted that when we gather our principals to motivate them to change the discourse in Israeli society, we look to the president and his wife as role models. He responded, “I’m very happy that AMIT is participating in the Conference of Presidents. We love AMIT!” Michal added, “We love the diversification of education from AMIT.” They mentioned participating in the moving ceremony to honor our fallen teacher and student from Maale Adumim from a few days ago.
I felt so proud to represent AMIT. The president truly gave the organization a shout out in a unique way. Given the size and breadth of giving from JFNA, UJA, and Haddasah, among others, I feel we are holding our own in terms of our accomplishments in improving Israeli society on many fronts.”
We thank Tamar for representing AMIT at this important moment.
