Jewish Life

The Jewish Life Program seeks to improve social and economic outcomes for communities in Israel and North America. We focus on building capacity in under-resourced fields, like civic service and urban planning in Israel and Jewish chaplaincy in North America, and to develop courageous leadership. In North America, the communities we support include Muslims and Jews together and Jewish students at the City University of New York.

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Featured Project: Rothschild Cadets for Local Government

The Rothschild Cadets for Local Government trains talented young Israelis to work in Jewish and Arab municipalities in Israel’s periphery. The Cadets bring to these underserved municipalities their expertise in fields such as urban planning, public administration, and digitization, but also a commitment that comes from their sharing the background of those they are serving. 230 Cadets have participated in the program since 2011.

The Revson Foundation supports a one-year training program in affordable housing whose goal is to create a cohort of Cadets with the knowledge, access, and capacity to plan and implement feasible solutions to Israel’s housing crisis.

A component of the Revson grant was a 10-day “mobile workshop” in New York City, organized and led by the Citizens Housing Planning Council (CHPC). In June 2018, a group of 12 graduate Cadets participated in an immersive trip to learn on site about affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization. Cadets met with government and neighborhood experts to see community engagement and affordable housing finance in action, as they have been practiced in four NYC boroughs.

The Cadets left New York City with a profound understanding of the importance of community development and nonprofit and philanthropic involvement in housing policy and their practical implications for the Israeli context.

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