New director of UJIA ‘couldn’t really turn this opportunity down’
Jenni Frazer speaks to London-born Emily Pater, as she takes on her newest role at one of the community's longest-established charities
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
“I couldn’t really turn this opportunity down”, says Emily Pater of her newest job — Israel director of UJIA.
London-born and raised, Ms Pater went to live in Israel in 2001, but decided to work in the non-profit sector rather than continue in her UK career as a lawyer. “I wanted to make some contribution to Israeli society”.
She began working for Rikma, an educational organisation that develops community leaders to strengthen existing and establish new communities in Israel.
For 18 years after that, she was managing director of JDC’s (the Joint) global resource development team, responsible for strategy, planning and operations and working closely with funders, partners and stakeholders.
“It gave me a wonderful insight into what was happening in Jewish communities around the world. But when this opportunity opened up… I was always familiar with the work of UJIA and of course I was a beneficiary of it when I lived in the UK, through youth movements, summer tour, UJS. It was too good an opportunity to join them and I do see it as my way of giving back”.
The experience of the last six months, with both Britain and Israel under lockdown, has provided UJIA with “pivoting — how to provide much-needed assistance to people that UJIA are serving together with our partners, but doing it in a different kind of environment. In some cases, programmes have shifted online, providing counselling and support”.
In other cases, says Ms Pater, UJIA’s work has continued to happen “in person”, particularly in what it does to help children at risk. “We are heavily involved in the Karmiel Children’s Village. Schools closed in Israel in mid-March but there were quite a lot of children who either didn’t want to, or couldn’t, go back to their family homes. So they remained in the village and continued to receive the support services they needed”.
That, and another of UJIA’s children’s projects, received special dispensation from the Israeli government so that staff could remain on site, despite lockdown.
Ms Pater doesn’t envisage much changing now that there is to be a renewed lockdown in Israel. Instead, she says UJIA will continue to be flexible and monitor the situation with the hope that it can resume its normal programming after Succot.
She is very aware of the fragile state of part of Israeli society. “We are spoken of as the start-up nation, but we are not a start-up nation for everyone. We have some of the highest levels of inequality and poverty in the OECD, and so for me UJIA’S work] is really about levelling that playing field. Unemployment has shot up in the wake of the pandemic, and families who were living close to the edge before, but who managed to get by — we are going to see many more in need”.
She is upbeat about future engagement by British Jews with UJIA, not least because the pandemic has forced online involvement. “People have the opportunity to connect with the work of UJIA without having to go to a dinner. And because we have such a long history of working in Israel, we are able to do a really good assessment of what’s wanted on the ground. And we can ensure that every penny provided is spent in the way that it should be”.
Ms Pater, who is married with two sons and twin daughters and lives in Jerusalem, has arrived at UJIA in time for its centennial, which it is celebrating online on September 30 with a performance by musician Idan Raichel and a message from President Reuven Rivlin.
She added: “One of the things that UJIA does, and which goes to the heart of our mission, is building deep and lasting connections between UK Jews and Israel. When I look at how engaged with Israel the British Jewish community is, I’m proud of the role UJIA plays in that. Those deep connections have come into play during this crisis, allowing us to support our partners on the ground in Israel better, and keep our work with vulnerable Israelis going — even in these difficult times.”
Now, declares Emily Pater, “we need not just to survive, but thrive”.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
