The Jewish nation in Israel and abroad on Wednesday lost a leader who for many years worked on its behalf through the fellowship he founded – the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Together with Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, may his memory be a blessing, I had the privilege of working to better society and facilitate immigration absorption, both during my time as Social Welfare and Social Services minister and in my current capacity as Chairman of the Jewish Agency. Rabbi Eckstein initiated and supported hundreds of wonderful projects with various government ministries. One of his most successful programs allowed the welfare ministry to allocate emergency aid funds to families and individuals in distress. He helped hundreds of thousands of people. For years he served on the Jewish Agency's board of trustees and promoted immigration, primarily from former Soviet bloc countries.
In our last conversation, at the Jewish Agency's historic headquarters in Jerusalem, we discussed the challenges facing the Jewish people. He, who had immigrated to Israel from Canada, was an Orthodox rabbi who treated his Jewish brothers and sisters, regardless of their religious affiliations and faiths, as equals; and he sought to make the world a better place through his unique partnership with Christians who love Israel and the Jewish people.
Yechiel was the one who first identified the potential of the Christian world that supports Israel and was able, with his special talents, to develop a partnership that has long contributed immensely to helping the needy, elderly, Holocaust survivors and other at-risk communities across the country.
He was a Jewish Zionist, a patriot with a huge heart who lived by the words "all of Israel are responsible for one another."
