The Jerusalem Post Group honored The Jewish Federations of North America today at its International for Federations’ “leadership mobilizing the global Jewish response on behalf of Ukraine, from supporting refugee relief and resettlement to the fulfillment of the Zionist ideal of Aliyah.”

 
Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief Yaakov Katz presented the award to President and CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America Eric Fingerhut. The award was presented in the presence of world leaders and dignitaries including Israeli Ministers Avigdor Lieberman, Ayelet Shaked and Yoaz Hendel, Chief Rabbi of the U.K. and the Commonwealth Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and others.
 
“Jewish organizations really mobilized in an amazing way since the war broke out in Ukraine and Russia’s invasion,” Katz said. “Eric Fingerhut, the President and CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America, is with us today and he spearheaded those efforts, raised tens of millions of dollars to help refugees who are coming from Ukraine. It’s our pleasure and privilege to grant Eric an award today for the amazing humanitarian work that the JFNA have done to help those refugees in Ukraine.”
Fingerhut spoke about the tremendous mobilization of the North American Jewish community on behalf of Ukraine and the collaboration of Jewish organizations.
 
“We were able to operate on the border at this level of excellence because we were already there. And we were already there because the Jewish Federations that I am so privileged to represent here today raise funds and support them year in and year out in calm times and in crisis times,” Fingerhut said. “That’s what the Jewish Federations have done for over a century and the results of that work are on display today in Poland and Romaine and Hungary, in Moldova, Russia and North America and yes, inside Ukraine.”
 
“We will be there consistently until this crisis is over and all the refugees are resettled,” he added.
 
Fingerhut also took part in a panel discussion moderated by Jerusalem Post’s Jewish World Analyst Zvika Klein on “How Jewish Organizations are Changing Reality on the Ground.”
 
Jewish Federations have raised over $40 million to date in aid for Ukraine, and are also on the frontlines of refugee resettlement efforts in the U.S.

 

Photo Credit: Marc Israel Sellem