Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs has launched a solidarity campaign involving celebrities and leaders from all over the Jewish world to join forces in order to deal with the Coronavirus crisis together.

While the State of Israel is facing one of the worst crises in its history, many Jewish communities around the world are also facing changes in the wake of the Corona crisis. The peak of the crisis in the Diaspora was mainly in the first wave, when many Jewish schools were closed, community leaders died, and community centers stopped operating. Many parents found it difficult to continue paying high tuition fees for a Jewish education for their children, and events that have traditionally strengthened the community abroad have ceased.

In view of the common difficulty experienced by Israel and the Diaspora communities, the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs decided to launch a solidarity campaign called “One Nation”, in which celebrities and leaders from all over the Jewish world call for unity to face the Corona crisis. Among the participants in the campaign are basketball player Omri Casspi, chef Meir Adoni, journalist Sivan Rahav-Meir, Jewish-American actress Mayim Bialik, and more.

The late Rabbi and Lord Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of Britain, who passed away recently, sent a moving video to the solidarity campaign shortly before his death in which he said:

“Jews were in fact the first global nation. They reached it 2,000 years before the others. And what kept them together as a nation is the concept that ‘all Israel is interdependent’. All Jews are responsible for each other. We have a basic solidarity that says that if there is a Jew anywhere in the world who needs help, we the Jewish people will be there for them. I cannot imagine anything more important today, when the world itself has become more globalized, than to use our ancient tradition to come to the aid of other Jews when they need it. Judaism is many minds, one heart. Repentance, prayer, and charity can smash every evil decree. The world has suffered from evil long enough and we should pray, fight sin and give to charity, and so the evil will pass.”

As a part of the solidarity campaign, the public is invited to sign a Declaration of World-Jewish Solidarity, to submit videos, and a joint cooperative project is also being planned for Jews all over the world.

Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Omer Yankelevich said:

“This is a historic time when the people of Israel all around the world are experiencing a common crisis. It is time to work with our brothers in the diaspora and take advantage of the great power we have as a nation of 15 million scattered around the world to share each other’s knowledge and support one another. Naturally in times of crisis everyone is focused on their personal difficulties, but the goal of the solidarity campaign is to make us look up and look each other in the eyes. Only this way can we get out of this crisis in peace, and even become stronger.”