Alternative Israel Prize

Shabbat, May 6, 2011 / 2 Iyar 5771

(Translation by JobKatif. For Hebrew article click here)

Society: Rav Yosef Tzvi Rimon, Torah V’Avodah

By Eliyashiv Reichner

Rav Yosef Tzvi Rimon established JobKatif which has integrated more than 2,200 displaced people from Gush Katif into the workforce.

Rav Yosef Tzvi Rimon received a phone call on the day when the Disengagement began from the communities in Gush Katif which changed his daily routine for the next five and a half years. This call led him to establish the most significant social venture that has been established for the welfare of the displaced families; a private, voluntary venture that is about to expand to help other populations in Israel.

Rav Rimon, the rabbi of the Alon Shvut South community and R’am (head rabbi) at the Yeshivat Hesder of Har Etzion was called by the rabbis of Gush Katif on the 10^th of Av 5765, to check the resources available for the displaced families at various hotels in Jerusalem. However, after four days of intensive activity, he came to the conclusion that the most critical problem standing before them was the employment issue. They were creative people, pioneers who had fulfilled their dreams, industrious people who worked hard for dozens of years and earned their incomes respectably, but became unemployed overnight. This was a population whose unemployment rate was one of the lowest in the country, but in one day, they needed support.

JobKatif [known as "Taasukatif "in Hebrew], a non-profit organization, offers help in various aspects of finding employment: placement, writing resumes, career choice counseling, professional training course, opening businesses and more. The organization employs fifteen people, most of them displaced people from Gush Katif themselves, in addition to a few dozen volunteers. The professional staff of JobKatif consists of psychologists, businesspeople, and coaches who have been trained amongst the displaced families. The staff members go door-to-door at the temporary residential sites, and inquire about the status and conditions of the families. JobKatif’s website has a job portal with dozens of job opportunities and allows for fast contact between the employers and the job seekers, with help from the organization’s staff.

The State Comptroller already has established that JobKatif has succeeded where the State has failed. The former head of the Prime Minister’s Office, Ra’anan Dinur, said during his testimony at the State Commission of Inquiry with Regard to the Treatment of the Expellees of Gush Katif, “I join all those who give credence and importance to JobKatif, and [believe they have] the chance to reach good results.” In the report of the Commission of Inquiry, it is written, “The successful experience of JobKatif proves that a non-governmental organization who knows the relevant population and works according to its special needs, is much more effective in finding solutions to the employment problems of the expellees than any governmental office.”

Because of JobKatif’s success, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Employment decided to partner with the organization to fund a portion of its activities according to a matching agreement: for every shekel donated to the organization, the State will add three shekels. Rav Rimon reports that the donations and the State’s contributions are still far from meeting the needs because JobKatif’s expenses are approximately 1 million shekels. Close to one thousand of the expellees still require assistance in the area of employment. About half of them are still unemployed and half of those who are working do not earn a high enough income to pay for basic expenses. These are people who had worked for many years, and now subsist off of monies that were supposed to be used to build new houses. The more time that goes by makes these employment problems get worse, and those who have not yet gotten back into the workforce are more complicated [cases] and require even more professional assistance.

Rav Rimon’s activities in the organization are done voluntarily, as he gives his many Torah classes, and publishes his user-friendly halacha books at an astonishing frequency. He claims that a rabbi’s involvement in a community’s needs gives meaning and tremendous strength to his rabbinical activities.

Through his public “Torani” actions, Rav Yosef Tzvi Rimon personifies the natural connection that is supposed to occur between the world of Torah and the world of social action, and so he is worthy of the Alternative Israel Prize for 5771.

Rav Rimon’s reaction: “I am pleased that after almost six years, the people of Gush Katif have not been forgotten. For me, this is a tremendous zechut (merit) that G-d has given me to work with these people, and help them stand on their own. JobKatif is proof that that you should never despair from acts of chesed, or think that they are impossible. If someone has the will to do an act of kindness, G-d gives him the strength to do so, more than he thinks he has.”