TIKKUN OLAM
Tikkun Olam means "Repairing the World". Many of our members live this concept by their active support as volunteers or professionals for charities and other organisations. On this page our members explain why these organisations are important to them. By clicking on a logo you can link directly to the charities' websites.
For the Kol Nefesh Refugee Project, click here. For this year's Kol Nidrei Appeal charities, click here.
The charities on this page are presented in no particular order.
Generation 2 Generation
G2G helps the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors tell their family stories. The charity supports them every step of the way so that their presentations to schools and community organisations are of high quality, historically accurate and have lasting impact. By telling the stories of their parents, grandparents and close relatives, using their testimonies wherever possible, our speakers capture the attention and empathy of their audiences – young and old. In this way, we promote and inspire tolerance and understanding in society.
For more information, speak with KN member Helen Stone or visit www.generation2generation.org.uk/.
CCECH
The Centre for Creativity in Education and Cultural Heritage is an Israeli charity based on the belief that it is on the ground where productive co-existence between Jews and Arabs will be defined. CCECH runs programmes that bring together Arab and Jewish school communities (children, parents, grandparents, educators) in an atmosphere of serious learning as well as a fun social environment.
For more information, visit sites.google.com/site/ccechfund/home .
EAJL
The European Academy of Jewish Liturgy (EAJL), founded by KN's Chazan Jaclyn Chernett, provides competent lay individuals and groups with dedicated professional coaching and mentoring in Jewish prayer leadership. Through its work, EAJL aims to enable communities to sustain themselves, by inspiring and training leaders of Jewish prayer, and by teaching these leaders how to build a kehillah kedoshah, a holy community.
EAJL links students and teachers around the world, using video-conferencing technology. EAJL works together with the Cantors Assembly, the largest organisation of professional chazanim in the world. The Cantors Assembly, through its global network, finds suitable professional chazanim who are also devoted teachers and spiritual mentors. EAJL and the Cantors Assembly monitor standards and award certification for each module learned. Students who complete all modules can be certified as a Ba'al Tefilla, Master of Prayer. For more information, visit www.eajl.org.
My Body Back
Women who have experienced sexual violence often feel isolated and traumatised. They are known to avoid having cervical smears, avoid antenatal clinics, decline checkups and miss neonatal appointments, leading both their health and the health of their baby to suffer.
Founded in August 2015, the My Body Back Clinics at Barts Health are specially designed for such women, providing cervical screening, STI testing, contraceptive fitting and advice, and maternity care. For more information, speak with KN member Jill Shapiro or visit www.mybodybackproject.com/.
New Citizens' Gateway (formerly the Barnet Refugee Service)
An independent registered charity working in partnership with individuals and agencies to improve the quality of life and promote the physical, social and mental well-being of refugees and asylum seekers who live, work or study within London Borough of Barnet and surrounding boroughs, helping to reduce health inequalities, social exclusion and poverty and enabling integration.
As refugees and asylum seekers, our clients are marginalized, disadvantaged and suffer severe deprivation. We support families, individuals and young people, including unaccompanied minors, who can be at great risk. For more information, speak with KN member Tanya Novick or visit www.ncgateway.org.uk/.
Meketa
Meketa is a UK trust dedicated to supporting the remaining Jewish community in Gondar, Ethiopia, by giving them the education and tools for a better economic and social future. They do this by creating subsistence-level businesses for the poorest families in the community, encouraging children and young people in their education, providing healthcare coverage, and sponsoring further education and training. Meketa have no staff in the UK, and their trustees and local volunteers receive no remuneration for the time they put in to enable the work of the charity. All the money that is raised goes to funding Meketa's activities in Ethiopia.
Meketa was launched in September 2013 by Rabbi Sybil Sheridan and KN member Hila Bram. For more information about Meketa, speak with Hila or visit www.meketa.org.uk.
Clinica AMMOR
Clinica AMMOR was founded by Dr Irene Bruinsma-Adams in 1988 to offer much-needed medical services to street children in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Since then, the clinic has served throusands of young people, from babes in arms to young adults, offering check-ups, ongoing medical treatment, laboratory tests and referrals to specialist treatment in the public health service. It also provides family planning and educational workshops. At any time there are 400-500 children on the books.
Kol Nefesh has a longstanding relationship with Clinica AMMOR through our member Georgia Kaufmann, and we collect donations to send on to them. All donations are gratefully received (money goes a long way in the favelas of Brazil). To donate, please contact our administrator, Elaine White, on admin@kolnefesh.org.uk. For the website, visit www.ammor.org.br/?page_id=72.
Hand in Hand
Hand in Hand (Yad b'Yad in Hebrew) is an inspiring initiative that brings together thousands of Jewish and Arab citizens in schools and communities throughout Israel. The Hand in Hand (HIH) mission is to create a vibrant and inclusive shared society in Israel through a network of integrated bilingual schools and organized community activities. Founded in 1998 with two classes of first-graders in Jerusalem and the Galilee, HIH now operates in six locations, with more than 1,300 Jewish and Arab students and more than 5,000 parents and adults participating in community activities. Its aim is to create a network of 10-15 integrated bilingual schools, supported and enhanced by organized community activities, altogether involving more than 20,000 Jewish and Arab Israeli citizens.
For more information on Hand in Hand, please visit www.handinhandk12.org/, or click here for a pdf brochure.
Jewish Women's Aid
Support for Jewish women and children affected by domestic and sexual violence and abuse. Helpline 0808 801 0500 (Monday to Thursday 9:30am to 9:30pm; other times monitored 24-hour answer machine). Web chat via www.jwa.org.uk/webchat. For more information, visit jwa.org.uk.
The Gideon Posner Memorial Fund (no longer active)
The Gideon Posner Memorial Fund was founded by Pauline and Charles Posner in memory of their beloved son Gideon, who died in the 1997 Israeli helicopter disaster when he was only 20 years old. The fund helped new immigrants and underprivileged children in Kfar Saba, the Israeli town where Gideon is buried in the military cemetery (and where Pauline herself is now buried in a civilian cemetery nearby).
In the disaster, two Israel Defence Force helicopters collided in northern Israel as they were waiting for clearance to cross the border into Israel's security zone in Lebanon. Seventy-three soldiers were killed.
Kol Nefesh frequently supported the Gideon Posner Memorial Fund through our Kol Nidrei Appeal, in memory of Gideon and of Pauline, who died in July 2015.
Disclaimer: This page is for informational purposes only. When making donations, please use your own judgment.