A global roundtable, initiated collaboratively by the Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Isaac Herzog and Minister of Diaspora Affairs Tzipi Hotovely, will convene to assess the damage caused by the virus on Jewish communities and to prepare a plan to rehabilitate those harshly impacted on the day after, the Jewish Agency announced on Monday.
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"Herzog and Hotovely have called upon Jewish organizations worldwide that deal with communal and welfare-related matters to join the roundtable," the agency said in a statement. "The forum plans to convene online for the first time on May 26 and identify situations of significant hardship requiring a systemic response, and the communities' needs looking ahead to the post-pandemic period."
According to the organization, "the forum will also discuss the preparations for a possible second wave … and identify new opportunities, initiatives and communal structures, as well as ways to help redesign communities."
In their invitation to the heads of Jewish communities and organizations, Herzog and Hotovely wrote: "The coronavirus crisis has impacted the entire world and has had dramatic ramifications on worldwide Jewish Communities, on community leadership, community resilience and its ability to provide services, communal life and in some cases even risks to the very existence of the community. While the communities' rehabilitation is expected to be a lengthy process, as the implications of the crisis are considerable and multi-faceted, this period could actually create opportunities for new ideas, initiatives and communal structures, perhaps reshaping Jewish life in the post-corona world."
