We commend this eighteenth edition of the Jewish Charity Guide to our growing number of readers and users in the knowledge that the Jewish community - and the charitable institutions on which it depends - has in no way been exempt from the effects of the economic slowdown and unemployment.
If this is true for the UK, the story in Israel has been equally dramatic. Throughout the country, charitable agencies large and small have been battling valiantly to combat poverty, malnutrition and educational disadvantage. We are featuring many new charities in this edition, thus broadening our service to the philanthropic community, but also as an indication of how urgent the demand for funding has become. The development of all charitable activity demonstrates a heartening response by individuals to social and communal responsibility.
It is now almost universally accepted that the voluntary sector can perform tasks that statutory bodies have neither the initiative nor the resources to undertake. The unique Jewish concept of charity as justice, tzedakah, needs to be translated into practical action by everyone who believes that the well-being of our fellow Jews, whoever and wherever they may be, is our responsibility.
In the time honoured words of Hillel, if not now - when?
Editors: Sharon Graham and Alan Gold
Please note: The editors accept no responsibility for any information given to them by individual
charities about their work or charitable status, which is accepted in good faith, as are the opinions voiced by the authors of the extended editorials featured at the front of the Guide.
