Mick Davis shares hopes at UJIA Annual Dinner

UJIA Chairman, Mick Davis, gave a heartfelt speech about the challenges facing the UK Jewish community and Israel at UJIA's Annual Dinner and Campaign Launch on 8 November 2010. He likened programmes for regenerating northern Israel to the prophetic ideal of "beating swords in ploughshares", explaining how UJIA's investments in schools and colleges are bringing prosperity and stability to vulnerable communities along Israel's northern border.

You can read Mick's speech in full below or download it as a Word document.

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Chief Rabbi, Rabbanim, Secretary of State, William Hague, my Lords, Ladies and gentlemen.

I have stood before you four times before. In 2006, I exhorted you to increase your gift believing that a direct in your face appeal was the best way to connect. In 2007 I apologised to you for the way I spoke to you in 2006 believing that a more humble persona would entice you to increase your gift. But it is true that in the heady days of 2007, humility did not sit well with me, however in 2008 on the blackest Monday of the financial meltdown we, you and I, found common cause. We were all worth decidedly less that day but we found a hope and a belief in the work of UJIA and we felt rich in our commitment to our people, Israel and our children and despite the plummeting markets we gave more. Last year in 2009, I spoke to you of the great promise of the UJIA programme, asking you not only to remain on Board but to bring others on too. But in this past year the weight of the world's financial problems took hold of the philanthropic world and our income declined. We have cut our overheads and our headcount but we had to reduce the amount of money we spend on programmes too. Programmes which if starved of our support may well whither away and with them part of our Jewish future too.

I know that you all share my passion for UJIA - there is simply no currency otherwise in attending these dinners year after year. I know you all care for the continuity of Jewish life both here and in Israel. I think many of you feel that being a Jew in the Diaspora is more difficult for our young people today than it was when we were growing up. It is a greater challenge today to reach for one's Jewish heritage and proudly step forward and build on one's Jewish commitment. Our children collide with a world of variable and inconsistent values and competing attractions. They confront every day on university campuses not a debate on the policies of the Government of Israel, but an assault of the very legitimacy of the Israeli State and its status as a Jewish homeland. They listen to the vitriol and hate which emanate from the organs of the United Nations and they read distorted versions of today's complex reality in the media by people who constantly assure us that the anti-Zionist is not an anti-Semite. They find themselves in the midst of a campaign orchestrated by both left and right to boycott Israel in one form or another. They might themselves sometimes struggle with some of the actions of the Israeli government, as they seek to understand Israel's actions in a complex world, and to reconcile this with their own and Israel's values and commitment to social justice. But without our support, this healthy introspection can be exploited, and doubt begins its corrosive journey as they then wrestle with their Jewish identity and the centrality of Israel to that identity.

It is for this reason that UJIA will continue to invest in young Jews in this country. We will continue to invest in both their Jewish and Zionist education, to give them the tools to engage critically and to ensure that despite the challenges and dilemmas, they remain committed to the community and proud of their heritage.

However, to do that effectively we have to be able to commit to multi-year programmes. Today we fund short and commit long. Not a great proposition. So my plea to you tonight is to please give us multi-year pledges so that we are not again forced to cut funding to programmes in a summary fashion. Give a multi-year pledge and provide certainty and stability to our partners and beneficiaries, and insulate our work from the the short-term ups and downs of the fundraising campaign.

I was asked by someone who has supported Israel and UJIA for many years - what is the point of Jewish continuity; not just as a Diaspora concept but in terms of the notion of Israel as the Jewish Homeland. Why are we so precious about it? I am sure that many of you will have answers to this question. But for my friend history, heritage and values were not enough. Israel's past promise cut no ice. In the face of such doubt I struggled with a cogent reply.

But I think the answer to this the existential questioning is seen in the video you are about to see. It will show you the culmination of our plans and dreams to deliver a rejuvenation of the Galil. I have spoken of this, our quest, every year. Last year we showed you the completion of the first phase of the new campus of the Tel Hai Academic College with the opening of the Rosser Chinn complex. This year we show you the opening of the Esfandi-Isaacs ORT High School in Shlomi and the Lord Steinberg Hemed Torani-Environmental School in Merom HaGalil. Both these schools will end the need for children in these regions to be bussed long distances for their schooling. Both will deliver outstanding education and in the case of Merom HaGalil the Steinberg school is one of three that will be built on this campus so that 2,500 children will no longer have to make the journey each day to over 200 different schools in other towns and districts. A social cohesion which has been absent from Shlomi and Merom HaGalil will develop and flourish and they will blossom as a result.

But it is something that Joey Esfandi said at the opening of the Shlomi school which I think answers that question. You will know that Shlomi is situated within a few metres of the border with Lebanon. You may also know that Shlomi received the first missile from Hezbollah at the time of the kidnapping of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, which was the direct cause of the second Lebanese war. You must know that this new school has been built within a few feet of the border on an exposed hill overlooking the Town and in the shadow of the very hills of Lebanon from where that missile was launched. Joey noted that in the midst of this complex and multifaceted conflict where war had cursed the land only a few years before, the people of Israel and the citizens of Shlomi chose to build a school on that hill and to bring their children there to learn of a world whose future can be peace and harmony. They did not bring guns or a brigade of soldiers to protect themselves from the hostile forces of Hezbollah - they brought the hope of children and an army of teachers.

And a few kilometres to the east, the new campus of Tel Hai Academic College stands on the very place where the massed artillery of an Israel battalion sent missiles into Lebanon in response to the Katyusha rockets which rained down upon the citizens of the Galil. This arena of war and division now teems with students from all the people who make up the rich tapestry of the Galil. Jew, Muslim, Christian and Druze walk the halls of the campus and learn together in its lecture theatres.

No matter how often we may disappoint ourselves and our friends as we journey through destiny; this is the promise of Israel and the promise of Jews who are today still imbued with the inspiration of Isaiah and Micah of old: "...they will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning forks..." This is our ongoing contribution to humanity and this is the point of Jewish continuity.

So as I ask you today to give more and pledge longer, I reflect on our achievements. Buildings - great buildings - yes, but also a promise of peace and a vision of hope. Vested not in the edifaces we have erected alongside our neighbours, but in the message we give to them and to ourselves: There is a life and a future and an inheritance of peace which is borne from the investments we make this day in our children. We will hopefully live to see one day not just one school on that hill but thriving communities living in peace and it will be good. But until then our job is not done and our project is not complete.

Mick Davis, Chairman, UJIA