Welcome to our ESRA website!
I know that after browsing through the site, you will feel - as I do - that we have something in ESRA for YOU!
You will discover that ESRA is a dynamic, pluralistic, multi-faceted community organization - and it is run by English speaking volunteers. Its flexibility and innovativeness allow it to pinpoint and respond quickly to the current needs of the people that ESRA serves.
Participation in ESRA's activities enhances the integration of English speakers into Israeli life, and gives them an opportunity to express their own unique abilities and interests. Thus, the talents and culture that they bring with them from their native countries find fertile ground in Israel, and result in ESRA's broad range of cultural, social, educational, and support programs in English, which the volunteers both create and enjoy.
Furthermore, ESRA's caring and humanistic philosophy translates into the belief that helping others is meaningful for all involved - those doing the helping, as well as those being helped. This philosophy is implemented by reaching out to immigrants from distressed countries and others in disadvantaged sectors of the Israeli society, and in the tens of community projects we have developed.
ESRA’s credo, that volunteers are capable of creating and carrying out projects in a professional manner, offers encouragement and empowerment to the 1000 versatile and talented people who accept the challenge eagerly.
Come join us in this exciting and fulfilling enterprise. Together, we can help ourselves and others - and enjoy and grow in the process.
MERLE GUTTMANN
Honorary Life President of ESRA
Education & Welfare Projects
ESRA, founded in 1979 as a non-profit, is Israel's largest English-speaking community, aiding the integration of olim while working toward equality in Israeli society. ESRA aims to help diminish educational and social gaps, especially in the socio-geographic periphery, focusing on education and excellence programs and enhancing personal and social skills in a safe and supportive environment. We also integrate English-speaking immigrants into these projects, helping them feel useful and contributing members of society, thereby serving our two significant aims.
