Jewish Agency launches emergency network to support communities globally

The Jewish Agency’s emergency network to help Jewish communities around the world deal with urgent and threatening situations has launched.

Called ‘JReady’, the initiative provides communal hubs with a crisis toolkit after coordinators said the coronavirus pandemic had highlighted
a need for more information-sharing across the world.

Experts in areas such as resilience, trauma and nursing are being linked together in dedicated online spaces. Examples of toolkits include
a novel Israeli food distribution system and a Belgian methodology to alleviate loneliness among the elderly.

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JReady, which is supported by Israeli know-how and technology, is also training Jewish community leaders in Australia and South Africa in responding to extreme fires, and campaign managers in Costa Rica on managing extreme poverty.

Organisers described it as “a first-of-its-kind digital platform [which] will enable Jewish communities to use knowledge and experience accumulated in Israel and worldwide in crisis and emergency situations”.

Chair of JReady, former Member of Knesset Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin, said recent months had “proven the need for sharing information and expertise, especially in communities hard hit by the
pandemic”.

Jewish Agency chair Isaac Herzog said: “Our sages taught us that all Jews are responsible for one another. We are harnessing Israeli know-how and expertise to realise this important Jewish value.”

He added that JReady “provides an additional layer in the Jewish Agency’s security network, which has been operating for many years within Jewish communities all over the world in a variety of emergency situations”.