News From the Greater Miami Jewish Federation

Now is the time to review your 2023 charitable giving and make some tax-smart decisions while also favorably impacting the lives of others, including those experiencing the hardships of the ongoing Israeli war with Hamas.

Thousands of Israelis — including 700 survivors of the Tribe of Nova Music Festival — are receiving mental health support and trauma therapy through the newly established National Resilience Center.

Governor Ron DeSantis convened the State Legislature for a special session earlier this month, passing $45 million in security funding for Jewish organizations as a result of the horrendous rise in antisemitism occurring since the Israel-Hamas war.

As the educational arm of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE) is working diligently to provide members of Miami’s Jewish community with resources to help stand with Israel during the ongoing war, find comfort, talk with children and students and take action.

The Greater Miami Jewish Federation, its Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and the Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami (RAGM) welcome the release today of 13 Israeli hostages, 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino citizen abducted from Israel by Hamas and other terrorists on October 7.

“I knew I couldn’t be the only person in Miami with a child in Israel. It takes a mother in the same situation to understand, said Denise Dunager, M.S.Ed, a Refuat Ha-Nefesh Fellow, who founded and facilitates the Support Group for Women With Children in Israel.

Answering the call from several South Florida grassroots Israeli organizations, Federation funded a cargo plane carrying 110 tons of much-needed goods to Israelis struggling as a result of the ongoing war.

More than 290,000 ardent supporters from across the country — including 1,100 from Miami — rallied at the March for Israel on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. at what proved to be the largest pro-Israel gathering in US history.

With a dramatic reduction in farmers and other agricultural workers since Hamas' deadly terrorist attack, Israel is facing a potential food crisis, and Federation's overseas partners are stepping in to help.

March for Israel. March to free the hostages. March against antisemitism. Join the Greater Miami Jewish Federation in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, November 14, from 1 to 3 p.m. for the March for Israel on the National Mall.

Since the earliest hours and days of the war in Israel, Federation overseas partner World ORT has been delivering urgent educational and psychological support for students, teachers and their families.

Give Miami Day is next Thursday, November 16! When you donate to the Annual Greater Miami Jewish Federation/UJA Campaign on Give Miami Day, your generosity goes even further. That’s because every donation between $25 and $10,000, including new pledges or payments on an existing pledge, made to Federation will receive a bonus gift from The Miami Foundation.

This past Monday, eight City of Miami Beach firefighters deployed to Israel to spend two weeks volunteering as first responders in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa.

Thousands of school-age evacuees from Israel’s southern communities, whose education has come to a halt due to the war, are attending makeshift schools in the hotels where their families are now residing.

In the days immediately following the start of the war in Israel, three young South Floridians combined compassion and creativity to raise much-needed funds for the people of Israel, netting a total of $3,369 for the Greater Miami Jewish Federation Israel Emergency Fund (IEF).

Yesterday, Thursday, November 2, eight South Florida Congresspeople participated in a special Town Hall Briefing on Israel to show their solidarity with the Jewish community.

Since Hamas’ brutal terror attack, reports of antisemitic incidents have risen nearly 400 percent compared to this time last year, according to the ADL. This meteoric increase in Jew hatred is occurring globally and has grown remarkably worse online, where ADL has recorded a nearly 1,000 percent increase in the daily average of violent messages mentioning Jews and Israel in white supremacist and right-wing extremist channels.

A sad-faced stuffed dog with long arms is providing comfort to children caught in the middle of the war in Israel.