Submitted by JNF
On Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at 8:30 am, Jewish National Fund-USA’s Breakfast for Israel will be held at Mayerson JCC. The annual community event will celebrate Israel’s seventy fifth anniversary and highlight several of the organization’s programs making Israel’s desert bloom, supporting individuals with disabilities, and educating the leaders of tomorrow.
Co-chaired by Barbara Greenberg, Mark Mayer, and Morry Wiener, the event will also feature keynote speaker Olga Meshoe Washington. Washington is the CEO of Defend Embrace Invest (in) Support Israel (DEISI). She also serves as a board member of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel and is the National Director for Programming and Engagement at Club Z. In 2016, Washington received the Jerusalem Award from the World Zionist Organization.
In a recent episode of Jewish National Fund-USA’s Conversations on Zionism, Washington discussed how her South African background drives her to defend Israel from its detractors: “Being a proud South African and proud of how South Africa has overcome its various challenges, I’m saying no, you can’t take our history and use it to put a narrative on a people who are not committing apartheid and using it for their delegitimization.”
“Zionism has always been about Jews taking fate into our own hands and not letting others dictate our future, and Jewish National Fund-USA plays a major role in this as the voice of American Jews and the caretaker of Israel,” said Event Co-Chair Morry Wiener. “Olga Meshoe Washington is a powerful speaker and a reminder that while I firmly believe in kol Yisrael averirm zeh ba’zeh (that all Jews are responsible for one another), it is also very impactful to have allies beyond the Jewish faith who support the land and people of Israel.”
More than three hundred local supporters of Israel attended Jewish National Fund-USA’s 2022 Breakfast for Israel.
For more information and to register, visit the JNF Ohio Valley website or contact Eric Goldstein, Executive Director, Ohio Valley.
