Nir Lahav, the unit director for The Jewish Agency for Israel’s Social Activism Unit, recently visited the United States to share information about the initiatives of his program. Over the course of his trip, Lahav visited with different organizations and discussed how people can get involved with his program. He spoke with The Jewish Link by phone about what he is in the US for and what his unit does.
With the goal of The Social Activism Unit being to “train young Israelis, both those in need and those wishing simply to close social gaps, to become leaders, social entrepreneurs and skilled volunteers who widen the circle of impact,” Lahav and the Social Activism Unit “invest in ‘social capital,’ the volunteers’ commitment to live in communities where they have invested effort.”
The Jewish Agency is an organization that was founded in 1929, predating the creation of the state of Israel. Their goal is to “connect the global Jewish family, bringing Jews to Israel, and Israel to Jews, by providing meaningful Israel engagement and facilitating aliyah.” Their staff since the organization’s inception has included many prominent figures in Israeli society, such as David Ben Gurion, Arthur Ruppin and Natan Sharansky. “We build a better society in Israel—and beyond—energizing young Israelis and their worldwide peers to rediscover a collective sense of Jewish purpose,” their website explains.
For the Social Activism Unit, the program has three visions: “Harnessing the idealism of young Jews in service of vulnerable populations; increasing young diaspora Jews’ connections with Judaism and Israeli society; [and] increasing young Israelis’ connections with Judaism and with diaspora Jewry.” Lahav has incredible passion for the program, and hopes that his visit will raise awareness for the unit.
Lahav originally worked in business but decided to leave it behind to work at The Jewish Agency, starting as the program director of the joint distribution committee’s “It’s a Deal.” He began working in 2006 as director of the Youth Futures program, which is described as “critical services to middle-school children in Israel’s socio-economic fringes.” Lahav has a wife and three children and lives in Israel. Between 2009 and 2011, Lahav moved with his family to Rwanda, taking up residence in the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, which is a space that “provides a warm, supportive environment for children who had been orphaned in the country’s horrific civil war.” There, he served as an interim director while his wife worked as a volunteer doctor. Integrating into the village’s social structure, two of his children attended a local school with the other children. His remaining child did volunteer work before leaving to join the Israeli Defense Force. Following Lahav’s stay, he returned to The Jewish Agency and later began working with the Social Activism Unit.
The Jewish Agency is the largest Jewish nonprofit in the world. According to their website, they were “instrumental in founding and building the State of Israel and continue to serve as the main link between the Jewish state and Jewish communities everywhere.” If you would like to learn more about The Jewish Agency, you can check out their website at http://www.jewishagency.org/.
By Adam Samuel
Adam Samuel is a journalist from Teaneck. When he isn’t busy reading the daily news, he divides his time between managing his blog, adamssoapbox.blog, and gradually learning how to play piano.
