1. The “Open Door” project: apartments and houses for families evacuated from the South and North | Zahi Arabov
Zahi Arabov, a graduate of the Arison School of Business and the owner and chairman of Acro Real Estate, established the “Open Door” project — an initiative offering apartments and houses to the residents of the south and the north of the country who were evacuted.
This project goes beyond just offering shelter; the company provides a comprehensive support package to ease the burdens of evacuees during these challenging times. This includes equipping the homes with electrical appliances, furniture, toiletries and food, connection to infrastructure like electricity, internet and gas, and more.
To date, the project has successfully accommodated 260 people in 26 apartments and 9 villas.
But even more important is the personal touch each family receives. Representatives from the project warmly welcome families upon their arrival, and ongoing assistance is provided by dedicated community managers throughout their stay, ensuring that every need or problem, that may arise, is addressed promptly.
The “Open Door” project is indeed a reflection of Zahi Arabov’s open heart. It reflects the values championed by Prof. Reichman — "freedom and responsibility". Once again, the words of our university’s founder resonate with our alumni’s actions.
 |
2. Donations for reserve soldiers | Anat Rodonia
As soon as the war broke out, the Reichman University Student Union, led by its Vice Chair Atalia Toronto, together with former Vice Chair of the Student Union Adv. Anat Rodonia, a graduate of law and government, launched an equipment collection situation room for reserve soldiers – whether students or alumni. With the help of over 1,000 volunteers, hundreds of packages have already been sent to reservists all over the country. The donation center operates from Sunday to Thursday, between 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM.
To join the crowdfunding initiative to keep the situation room running, click here >>
 |
 |
3. LinkedIn advocacy community | Erez Ezra
In routine times, Erez Ezra, a GMBA graduate, serves as the managing partner of a private high-tech investment fund and as Head of the Global Consulting Practicum at Reichman University. However, in recent weeks, Erez has devoted his time to advocating for Israel on social media, focusing on LinkedIn.
After writing several posts that went viral, he decided to set up several WhatsApp groups to serve as efficient platforms for disseminating messages. These broadcast WhatsApp groups encompass over 1,200 members. Participants receive only 2-3 new LinkedIn posts each day for immediate distribution, facilitating their chances of going viral. The success of these efforts has won the posts millions of views and garnered numerous reactions, from Sydney to Hawaii, overcoming the challenge of generating such traction on LinkedIn, which is unlike other social networks.
By dedicating only a minute to spreading the 2-3 posts a day, each individual contributes to explaining the Israeli narrative to the world.
Take part in the “hasbara” effort! To join the WhatsApp group with messages for distribution, click here >>
https://chat.whatsapp.com/DYU9OhU0oeIIc2eVmsrWu1
 |
4. Buy North South | Boaz Inbal
Boaz Inbal graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science and is an executive at Wix. He recently launched “Buy North South” — a Wix volunteer project that emerged in response to the conflicts in the south and north of Israel. The project provides an avenue for small businesses in the war-affected zones to offer and sell gift cards for their products or services. The customers can redeem these cards once these businesses resume operations, and the business owners receive the payments to their accounts immediately.
If you are a business in one of the conflict zones, register on the website to start selling gift cards >> https://www.buysouthnorth.co.il/business-info
To purchase a gift card, click here >> www.buysouthnorth.co.il
 |
 |
 |
5. Advocacy videos | Gal Zuta
Gal Zuta, a graduate of law and business administration, is a content creator, video editor, social media manager, and founder of the travel blog travelgal.co.il.
Since the outbreak of the war, Gal has been supporting many people in two crucial areas:
Tourism and aviation — Gal has been helping people with cancellations, compensation, and finding flights back to Israel.
Production of advocacy videos — She has also been providing assistance to the families of the hostages and missing individuals by editing videos for them, in addition to creating informational videos with messages that are distributed around the world.
Interested in reaching out to Gal? Click here to connect with her! https://www.instagram.com/gal_zuta/
 |
6. The Iron Lionesses operations room | Gal Ginzburg Allalouf and Efrat Katash
Meet the founders of “The Iron Lionesses”: Gal Ginzburg Allalouf, an alumna with a bachelor's degree in law and business administration and a master's degree in the GMBA track. A former commercial lawyer, she now works as a strategic business consultant for large companies with the consulting firm Proactive. Efrat Katash is a senior communications consultant and a graduate of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy. Together with Roni Wagner, a culinary entrepreneur, and Noga Kapelushnik, an educator, they established the "Iron Lionesses operations room".
The operations room is a voluntary enterprise that was set up on the first day of the war to raise funds from Jewish, and even non-Jewish, communities abroad (the ratio is 80/20) directly for military units, with an emphasis on life-saving equipment. The project has raised millions of shekels so far.
The operations room collects funds that go directly to 24 aid organizations supporting military units, and ensures a thorough verification process. They are in regular contact with the directors of the organizations and the people on the ground to understand the needs and requirements and prioritize the funds accordingly. All donations go to critical equipment, and all in real time. “We have built an extensive infrastructure that enables our donors to receive tax refunds in the US, where most of the donations come from, as well as in England and Israel. And we don’t take a shekel of commission. Our work thrives thanks to the wonderful people who have volunteered to help: Amir Nachshon from the Haifa Foundation, Tal Weiman (a graduate of Reichman University), Sharon Silberfaden, who built the Iron Lionesses brand, and our operations room team of amazing women who join us every day”.
To help out in the operations room in various capacities and to make donations, please contact theironlionesses@gmail.com
To read more about the operations room, click here >>
https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001461794
https://m.jpost.com/diaspora/article-770721
 |
 |
7. Display of empty strollers in front of the UN | Adi Abras
For Adi Abras, an alumna with a master's degree in communications and new media who lives in New York, her geographical distance from Israel does not affect her commitment to being actively engaged and using every available means to raise awareness.
As a mother to a 10-month-old baby girl, Adi was deeply moved by a poignant display to raise awareness of the hostages in London. Inspired by it, she decided to galvanize the entire Israeli and Jewish community to set up a similar exhibition in New York.
On October 25, 2023, more than 30 empty strollers, adorned with posters portraying the kidnapped children and babies alongside teddy bears holding red balloons, were placed outside the UN headquarters in New York.
“The response was amazing”, she says. “I received support and strollers from all over New York and New Jersey, and we had them in front of the UN building for 4.5 hours”.
The display attracted a great deal of interest from passersby and received coverage from local and international media outlets.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
8. The “Poppies of Hope” Project | Avital Schwartz
Avital Schwartz, a bachelor's degree graduate in psychology and a professional baker with her own cake design business, founded the project “Poppies of Hope.” The project aims to raise awareness in Israel and abroad about our civilians and soldiers, who were abducted to Gaza, and to extend support to their families.
In this project, various communities and groups come together to bake sugar cookies and decorate them to resemble the red poppy flowers that bloom in the Gaza border area during winter. Each cookie is dedicated to one of the hostages. Alongside each cookie, a note is attached bearing the name of a hostage, along with a prayer for their safe return home.
Once all the cookies are prepared, each group decides what they want to do with them — take a photo and share it on Instagram or Facebook, hand them out on the street to raise awareness, or even sell them and donate the proceeds to the hostages operations room. In addition, each group shares photos of their activity with the families of the hostages, to offer them support and solidarity. "Each person is an entire world, and we will not give up until everyone returns home", sais Avital.
“When the war started, I found myself volunteering every day. It helped me feel more optimistic and goal-oriented, and relieved the feeling of helplessness during such a scary and sad time. Along the way, I heard from family and friends in the United States that many people are eager to volunteer and help but are struggling to find ways to contribute from afar, aside from financial contributions. That's when the idea of the cookies came to me”.
The link below has all the information you need to join the project from anywhere in the world — links to the names of the kidnapped civilians and soldiers, recipes, demonstration videos, a list of materials, and donation links. So if you are interested in taking part, click here:
https://thepoppyproject2023.my.canva.site/poppy-project-2023-org-hebrew
 |
 |
9. Name & Shame – Fighting antisemitism | Yoav Davis
Yoav Davis, a graduate of the Sami Ofer School of Communication, lives in recent years in New York, and alongside his work at the media company Davis Media, he created the Instagram page Jews of NY, which is dedicated to the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel. The page reaches millions of people, and has over 140,000 followers.
The page from the beginning of the war has been completely mobilized for the sake of the Israeli narrative and the war on anti-Semitism.
"We have made headlines thanks to a campaign, that we are leading in a city, called 'Name & Shame', within the framework of it we are fighting the phenomenon of tearing down ads of the kidnapped and uploading to the network records of those people", says Yoav. "It all started when Noa Tishby and Gal Gadot shared our post and exposed this reality and together with other Israeli artists we raised awareness to the fact that people are taking those ads down. We are trying to eradicate it. You are invited to follow us".
 |
