The Shlichut Institute
In 2018, The Jewish Agency launched The Shlichut Institute, which will act as the premier center for providing Jewish Agency Israeli emissaries (shlichim) with ongoing training before, during and after their service. The institute will also provide tools and technology to enable valuable community experiences. Natan Sharansky serving as the institute’s Founding Chair.
Bringing It Home
Each year, hundreds of Shlichim return home to Israel after serving in Jewish communities in the Diaspora, undergoing transformative professional and personal experiences. Shlichim return infused with motivation and a strong desire to influence society. The Shlichut alumni network aims to create a platform of diverse programs designed to “bring Shlichut back home” and to promote a generation of leaders in all sectors – social, governmental and business – who are committed to the Jewish world. In 2017, 1,100 returning shlichim are participating in the alumni network’s programs. All programs are focused on The Jewish Agency’s core values and vision, and relate to Israel activism, Jewish pluralism in Israeli society, and connecting Israel and the Diaspora.
- Periphery college students building local communities (Choosing Tomorrow – a Jewish Agency Young Activism program)
- Micro-grants to young social activists (Click – a Jewish Agency “Young Activism” program)
- Jewish pluralism (Gvanim)
- Leadership and Jewish identity development with Hillel Israel
- Career-development events, scholarships for volunteerism, social events, and more.
The Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Program for Excellence, an initiative that began in 2017, engages outstanding shlichim upon their return to Israel from their community assignments in Jewish communities around the world and guides them through a two-year process of personal and professional development in order to assume senior leadership roles and inspire Israeli society. Mandel Fellows devote 25% of their time to a comprehensive process of personal and professional growth, consisting of group learning and individual mentorship.The program’s goals are:
- To integrate returning shlichim into key organizational positions
- To develop exceptional young leadership as well as an interconnected network of learners and change agents
- To establish a forward-thinking organizational culture that is responsive to the contemporary needs of Israeli society and global Jewry, while cultivating vision, creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation
