Connections Israel was founded in 1998 as an independent, educational, not-for-profit organization that strengthens Jewish identity while unifying the Jewish People. We provide educational hands on projects to Jewish communities, schools, synagogues and camps around the world that enable participants to show support for various populations and places in Israel.
Our educational programs incorporate art, music, sports and hands on activities. Through these media participants express their Jewish identities as they connect to Israel through a keener understanding of the challenges faced by IDF soldiers and the plight of terror victims.
Israel Defense Forces: One target group of Connections Israel is the IDF. Soldiers in Israel work days, nights and weekends in the heat and cold. Our educational programs sensitize participating groups to the realities and diversity among the IDF soldiers, thereby creating a natural bond.
Sderot: The residents of this southern pre-1967 city have been under rocket attack for the past seven years, with over 900 rockets falling in the last four months alone. They suffer from physical, emotional and financial instability and feel largely abandoned. Connections Israel’s educational materials provide Jews living outside of Israel with the facts on a personal level. It’s not just about the numbers of rockets that fall each day, those who consequently suffer form shock or much worse. It’s about the long term effects of children not being able to go outside to play; of parents not feeling capable of protecting their families; of years of rehabilitation for victims.
Connections Israel has numerous Sderot projects because the needs are great. If you’re planning on being in Israel, register for our Sderot Mission and get a personal and up front view of life in Sderot.
Interested in strengthening the community by spending Shabbat with a family in Sderot? You can even participate in this mitzvah from a distance! Register for Shabbat Shalom, a project in which we help underwrite the costs of families spending Shabbat in Sderot. This enables the community to experience a Shabbat of solidarity and to be on the giving rather than the receiving end.
Celebrating a bar/bat mitzvah? Unfortunately, many of the families of Sderot are now unable to provide their children with the most basic of Jewish ritual objects such as a siddur, tallit, tefillin, and a party to celebrate has been reduced to a mere a dream. You can turn that dream into a reality! Through our project Share a Simcha, you can provide group celebrations and the accompanying ritual objects for the needy young men and women of Sderot. Share a Simcha is the perfect chessed project for your child’s celebration.
Express your Jewish Solidarity – Connections Israel would like to invite you/your school/community to participate in an art exhibition that will reflect the solidarity of Jews around the world for the people of Sderot.
This Jewish Solidarity Exhibition will begin next December (Chanukah) in the city of Sderot and then move to other cities in Israel and, with appropriate sponsorship, around the world. The exhibition is an outgrowth of the ongoing efforts of Connections Israel to raise the awareness and sensitivity of Jews living outside of Israel for their brothers and sisters in Israel.
Campus Connections – Build it with Us
Situated in the heart of four Sderot communities, Campus Connections will serve as a meeting place for Jews from around the world while providing a safe community space in which to pray, celebrate and just live life. This round structure, symbolizing Jewry worldwide, will encircle the current playground and be connected to three different synagogues thereby facilitating diverse interaction and encouraging Jewish solidarity. For the first time in years, Sderot children will be allowed to play outdoors as the safe structure will be right beside them!
Download the Connections Israel brochure
