Welcome our Shinshinim for 2025-2026!
Liri Shimron
Hometown: Kfar Saba
School Majors: Biology & Music
Hobbies: Baking / Cooking, Fitness/Exercise, Hiking / Being in Nature, Listening to Music, Playing Instruments, Reading,
Social Media, Travel, Watching Movies / TV
Relaxes and Unwinds By: Listen to music and talk to my best friends
Favorite Holiday: Passover because of the interesting story and traditions and of course, the long break.
Most Excited About: To get to know the community and be meaningful to them.
Itai Yaniv
Hometown: Tel Aviv
School Majors: Physics & Arabic
Hobbies: Arts / Crafts, Baking / Cooking, Cars / Motorcycles, Fitness/Exercise, Hiking / Being in Nature, Listening to
Relaxes and Unwinds By: Taking time out and just do whatever I feel like at the moment; reading, watching a movie,
listening or playing music, talking a walk...
Favorite Holiday: I really like Passover because it’s a long holiday and there is a long break. It always falls on the time of year when the weather gets nice so I spend most of the vacation outside or at the beach.
Most Excited About: Experiencing new things I wouldn’t get to experience in any other place or program. Getting to
know the global Jewish community.
Temple Emanu-El Partners With IsraAID
Temple Emanu-El is a proud partner of IsraAID's, Israel's leading humanitarian aid organization. IsraAID embodies the spirit of Israel, utilizing top-notch Israeli expertise - such as mental health, psychosocial support, water, and medical expertise - to make a difference in the world. Since its founding in 2001, IsraAID has been responding to natural disasters, refugees crises, post-conflict situations, and health epidemics, such as COVID-19, working in emergency and long-term development settings in 55+ countries. IsraAID collaborates with communities in the field at the deepest level, working with communities to build back and become resilient following humanitarian crises.
We invite you to join Temple Emanu-El in supporting IsraAID's Emergency Response fund, HERE. This vital fund enables IsraAID teams to deploy wherever they are needed immediately following a crisis, without waiting for seed funding. By reaching affected communities sooner, IsraAID can save more lives and have a greater impact.
For more info on IsraAID, visit: https://www.israaid.org/
IsraAID Mobilizes to Send Medical Supplies to India
Catastrophic wave of COVID-19 infections leaves Indian hospitals struggling to cope
IsraAID, Israel’s leading non-governmental humanitarian aid agency, will provide urgent support to Indian hospitals and healthcare workers as the country faces an unprecedented and devastating wave of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. In the past week, daily cases have crossed 350,000 – the most of any country at any point during the pandemic – with many more likely to be going untested and unreported. Major shortages of medical supplies, including lifesaving oxygen, ventilators, syringes, and more, have left Indian healthcare providers struggling to cope with the influx of new COVID-19 patients.
In the coming days, IsraAID will dispatch medical equipment and supplies, including crucial oxygen concentrators, to Indian healthcare facilities and organizations. IsraAID will also explore technological solutions to meet gaps in COVID-19 response and care, including data management, logistical support, vaccinations, and more. The organization will also respond to the devastating secondary effects of the pandemic, including a growing mental health crisis, launching self-care programs for frontline health workers to build community resilience and “help the helpers”. IsraAID’s partners include the Israel-India Forum at Tel Aviv University, Indian civil society organizations and healthcare providers.
IsraAID has been at the forefront of the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching more than 8 million people across 17 countries worldwide. In February 2020, IsraAID sent medical supplies to Chinese hospitals experiencing shortages and provided remote self-care training for frontline Chinese health workers. Last month, the organization launched its Global Vaccine Access initiative in the southern African country of Eswatini, supporting the government as it plans and implements its nationwide COVID-19 vaccination program.
IsraAID has worked in India previously, providing relief distributions, psychosocial support, and water well rehabilitation in Kerala following devastating flooding in 2018. IsraAID has also worked extensively in the wider region, including in Nepal for four years after the 2015 earthquake.
Yotam Polizer, IsraAID’s CEO, said:
“The scale of the crisis currently unfolding in India is simply overwhelming. As a humanitarian organization that has responded to COVID-19 in 17 countries up-to-now, we felt we could not just stand by. We have ongoing partnerships on-the-ground in India and we look forward to working side-by-side with Indian organizations to both respond to this emergency and prepare for the future. With life in Israel returning to a pre-pandemic “normal”, it is crucial to remember our shared responsibility to partner with communities facing the worst of it. The pandemic will not be over for anybody until it is over for everybody.”
Donations to support IsraAID’s response in India can be made through the IsraAID Emergency Response Fund.
IsraAID opens a new Child Friendly Space in Guara-Guara, Mozambique following Cyclone Eloise, reaching approx. 40 children each day, incl. children with physical disabilities.
IsraAID responds to Moria refugee camp fire, Lesbos.
