February 13, 2023

By Nancy B. Greer
President & CEO

The devastation that Monday’s earthquakes have caused in Turkey and Syria are utterly heartbreaking. Behind the images of death and destruction are countless stories of human tragedy—families mourning unimaginable losses, communities where ordinary people lived and worked together torn asunder.

It is heartening to know that Federation’s international partners have responded swiftly to the crisis to help the Jewish community in Turkey and provide large-scale humanitarian assistance. Please join us on Tuesday, February 14, at 9 am, for a special online briefing with Seattle native Sam Amiel, who is leading the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s massive relief efforts on the ground in Turkey. 

The need is urgent. An estimated 1 million people have lost their homes, and JDC is helping survivors cope with freezing weather by distributing tents, thermal clothing, and portable heaters as well as food and first aid kits. The IDF and the Israeli nonprofits United Hatzalah, IsraAID, and Rescuers Without Borders have sent in teams to help with search and rescue and medical care.

You can help now with rescue, relief, and recovery by making a gift through the donation mailbox that the Jewish Federations of North America set up within hours to mobilize support for earthquake survivors.

The Federation, thanks to your generosity, has long supported our international partners, JDC and the Jewish Agency for Israel, including their heroic crisis response programs. Whenever an urgent need has arisen from natural disasters, war, disease, or terrorist attacks, our partners have reacted with skill and dispatch to bring relief and save lives. The world-shaking events of the past year have shown beyond a doubt the good that they do.

It all comes down to our timeless Jewish values of being there for each other, caring for the stranger, and repairing the world. Your generosity touches many lives at those critical times when people are most in need of help, no matter who they are or where they are. It’s what we do … together. Thank you for all you do.

I hope you can join us on Tuesday for the JDC briefing with Sam Amiel.