Facing Adversity with Resilience & Hope

A Conversation between Rabbi Jessica Zimmerman Graf & Shira Ben Sasson Furstenberg, Associate Director of NIF Israel.

The ongoing crisis since October 7 has tested NIF and Israeli society like never before. Since the attack and ensuing Israel-Gaza war, NIF and our grantees have been taking action to help provide relief, staying true to our values of human rights and Jewish-Arab partnership, and pushing back against extremism. 

Come hear from longtime NIF leader and lifelong activist, Shira Ben-Sasson Furstenberg. Shira has been a trailblazer in helping lead NIF during this crisis while also personally devoting her time to support the families of the hostages. She'll discuss how NIF mobilized resources and staff around the world to meet the immense needs after October 7 and how we are looking ahead, more determined than ever to chart the course toward better futures for everyone in Israel and under its control. 

Event co-presented by New Israel Fund, Congregation Sherith Israel and the Kitchen. 
Refreshments provided.

Shira Ben Sasson Furstenberg is the Associate Director of NIF Israel. She previously served as Chief of Staff and spent ten years working as a grants and program officer at NIF and Shatil (NIF's action arm in Israel), focusing on issues of Jewish pluralism and religious freedom. Shira was the director of the Jewish Pluralism Watch, the Masorti (Conservative) Movement's Knesset watch. She also served as the director of iRep— Israel Religious Expression Platform—at the Jewish Federations of North America and worked at the Knesset research and information center. Shira holds BA and MA degrees in sociology and anthropology from the Hebrew University and lives in Jerusalem.

The New Israel Fund is the leading organization advancing and defending democracy in Israel. Widely credited with building Israeli progressive civil society, it has provided over $300 million to more than 900 organizations since its inception in 1979. Learn more at www.nif.org.