Supporting Israel

Since its founding, The Associated has been committed to strengthening Israel and the Baltimore Jewish community’s connection to the Jewish state.

From its earliest days, The Associated, through its overseas partners, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), was there for hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors who wanted to immigrate to the Jewish state. Over the decades we continued to support aliyah, ensuring that Jews around the world, from those facing persecution to those who just wanted to start new lives, would find their way and succeed in our Jewish homeland.

Today, we continue our work with Israel — providing life-changing Israeli experiences for our teens and young adults, as well as opportunities to engage in dialogue about the most complex issues of the day.

And through JDC and JAFI, as well as our funding of programs in our partner city of Ashkelon, we help Israelis who are struggling — making it easier for them to succeed.

Thanks to The Associated, we are:

Making a Gap Year More Affordable

The Associated provides a number of ways to make your gap year more affordable. Through the Community Fund for Israel Experiences, Baltimore’s Jewish students can receive stipends to make learning in Israel for a summer or a gap year more affordable.

“Travel to Israel has a huge impact on Jewish identity. Every year, hundreds of local teens travel to Israel for school trips, summer programs, and gap years in Yeshiva or Seminary. These trips are expensive, especially in today’s economy,” says Rabbi Aaron Levitt, executive director of Jewish Educational Services.

“The Associated’s Community Fund for Israel Experiences (CFIE), administered by Jewish Educational Services (JES), helps subsidize these incredible learning opportunities for the community. Spending time in Israel, learning Torah and walking in the footsteps of our ancestors, helps our teens develop their independence, their spirituality, and their love of Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael,” he adds.

The Associated also helps subsidize the cost of MASA Israel Journey. MASA offers incredible opportunities to spend a gap year studying at one of the leading seminary programs in Israel.

Helping All Israelis Succeed, Economically and Personally

Through our longstanding partnership with the JDC, we continue to advance initiatives that empower the Haredi community to overcome poverty by creating pathways to sustainable employment and, in the wake of the war, strengthen its active role in Israel’s recovery and journey toward a resilient future.

Developed in collaboration with the Haredi community and rooted in its values, a range of programs help integrate community members into the workforce and foster economic independence.

A national employment initiative designed to secure quality, gainful employment for young adult Haredim in yeshivas has reached 9,000 people at more than 120 yeshivas to date. Another initiative has provided high-tech professional training and job placement to over 12,000 Haredi individuals in the past four years. And a program for young women who are high school seniors is giving them guidance and preparation to pursue higher education and vocational training.

Since October 7, JDC has introduced new initiatives offering training and apprenticeships to prepare Haredi community members for jobs in industries facing acute labor shortages exacerbated by the war, such as construction and logistics.

Supporting Aliyah

Through JAFI, we are there for the tens of thousands of Jews who make aliyah to Israel each year. From the very first step to ensuring that every Jew is integrated successfully into Israel. That includes navigating new benefits, helping with learning the Hebrew language and providing employment assistance to integrate into the new home.