It’s a great privilege to work with IsraAid and to help the victims of the fire from the Jewish community, so many of whom are in dire straights after such a catastrophe. I will continue to assist the Jewish community for as long as the rehabilitation process lasts.”

S o said Dr. Niveen Rizkalla, an Israeli Arab social aid expert, after being called upon to assist local Jewish communities during the massive California wildfires that killed 42 people and left many more homeless.

IsraAid co-CEO Yotam Polizer was in California at the time to visit the organization’s new American headquarters in Palo Alto. He was just about to catch a flight to Mexico to oversee IsraAid’s operations there following a devastating earthquake when he got word of the wildfires. Polizer immediately got to work organizing a local team to assist in Santa Rosa, where the fires were worst.

IsraAid’s staff set up shop at the Congregation Shomrei Torah Reform synagogue, which had become a haven for evacuees who lost their homes – both Jews and non-Jews. “I have...