How you can help Israel right now
Donate. Give to any of the hundreds of non-profits helping Israel today. JEWISHcolorado’s Israel Emergency Campaign sends 100% of all collected contributions to Israel and funds many groups, including 45 NGOs and our partnership regions, providing urgent help. See how how funds are being allocated here.
Contact and express solidarity with every Israeli you know. Reach out, even to that old tour guide from your last trip there 25 years ago. And when they don’t respond, send another message of love. Tell them all that is being done to try to help. Tell them they aren’t alone. Such communications lift their spirits and ours.
Write letters to IDF soldiers or to residents. Send a digital card of support to IDF soldiers through JEWISHcolorado’s Shlicha, Nelly Ben Tal, or write cards of support to displaced families who have lost their homes.
Elevate awareness of hostages in the hands of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They’re listed here. Distribute these flyers.
Amplify messages of solidarity on social media. Share factual information from credible sources; share emotional stories that move you; there are many in our community offering to match personally a dollar amount for every positive comment on their pro-Israel post.
Write emails to your company and your children’s teachers and school administrators. Use these templates:
Host informal parlor meetings. Invite non-Jews (colleagues and friends) and/or for other Jews less knowledgeable about Israel. All of us are emissaries for Israel and all of us know such people. JEWISHcolorado can help.
Attend many of the virtual or in-person public programs on the crisis. Watch online for briefings from the Jewish Federations of North America, the Jewish Agency, the Joint Distribution Committee, and many others.
Political advocacy. Elected officials pay more attention to personal communications than to mass, duplicated messages. Maintain a balance between urging action, expressing, and saying “thank you.” Many members of Colorado’s Congressional Delegation, and Colorado state legislators have been supportive. They deserve our thanks, as do Governor Jared Polis and many suburban mayors. Donate politically. You can sign this action alert urging Congress to provide urgent security funding for Jewish community institutions.
Show your solidarity by wearing a blue ribbon. The blue ribbon symbolizes support and solidarity for the safe return of the hostages taken by Hamas terrorists in Israel—learn more about the blue ribbon campaign.
Support Jewish college students and Hillels. Both your own alma mater’s, and your kids’ and grandkids’ Hillels.
Talk to your kids.
- Check out this resource from PJ Library for tips on talking to your young kids about Israel and antisemitism.
- The American Psychological Association provides tips for talking about war for parents and teachers of middle schoolers.
- Dr. Sivan Zakai provides language to use in initiating dialogue (scroll down for middle schoolers).
Support local businesses that are donating portions of their proceeds to Israel. Restaurants, clothing stores, small in-home retail/jewelry - Find additional resources on JEWISHcolorado’s Israel Emergency Resource Page
Consume English-language Israeli media. Consider:
Monitor American newspapers and other press. Tell them when they got something right, and when they got something wrong. And tell the same thing to their readers via “Letters to the Editor.” Don’t focus only on major national or local papers. There are still plenty of specialty, neighborhood, and regional publications. Do the same with your alumni and professional magazines.
Call in to talk radio. You don’t listen to talk radio? Doesn’t matter, tens of millions of Americans do.
Are you a healthcare professional? Israel needs volunteers now via telemedicine. Learn more at American Telemedicine and Tele-mental Health Initiative for Israel, and if you’re able to go to Israel, Medical Volunteers for Israel.
Pray for the Murdered, the Injured, the Missing, and the IDF. Attend communal minyans and services. Combat and report antisemitism. Utilize the ADL’s incident report form or the reporting form for Secure Community Network.
Support your own mental health. Call Colorado Crisis Services (1-844-493-8255 ) for emotional support. Or call this Colorado Warm Line Rocky Mountain Crisis Partner peer line
(1 844-493-8255 and then press *) 7 AM to 12AM every day, including holidays.
Natal trauma hotline: 1-800-363-363
- Eran emotional first aid: *1201 Hebrew, Arabic (extension 2), English (extension 10), Russian (extension 3), Soldiers and their families (extension 5), Holocaust survivors (extension 4)
- Israel Ministry of Education’s emotional help line: *6552 (ext. 5)
- Havinenu psychological assistance and support hotline for religious and ultra-Orthodox: *3251
Buy Israeli products. This resource shows what can be bought where. When the dust settles from this war: travel, travel, travel to Israel. By plane, by kayak—anyway, anyhow—get there…and bring others with you. JEWISHcolorado and JFNA Missions can help plan the experience of a lifetime.
Invest in the Israeli economy. If you are a donor-advised fund holder, contact the Jewish Community Foundation at JEWISHcolorado to learn about ways to align your investment selections.
In all these endeavors, involve your children and grandchildren. This is perhaps the second most important action all of us can take for them. For ourselves. For Israel. Forever.
Finally, the single most important action for Israel, today, right now, is donate.