ESRA for me

ESRA for me is about volunteering. It’s a great feeling to help make events happen; to contact a speaker, to organize a venue, and then watch the excitement and happiness on the faces of our audiences. Each event brings incredibly diverse groups of people together, and at the same time creates funds for our many projects.

ESRA for me is a challenging routine. It’s knowing that each day I have people to speak to, emails to write, and decisions to make. I am having fun meeting new people and making the most of my time. After working hard all my life, I am enjoying my so-called ‘retirement’ to the full. I would recommend ESRA to anyone who is about to finish working or who has recently made Aliya.

ESRA for me is about stimulating my mind. I came into ESRA looking for activities and wow, did I find plenty to choose from.  I quickly discovered an incredible range of things to do and what was even more exciting was that if I had an idea there was always help and advice available.  I was given as much backing as I needed to take my ideas forward.

ESRA for me is all about celebrating this amazing country together. Merle Guttmann, our founder and life president, had the wonderful idea 40 years ago of offering information, social events and activities to the English speaking community of Israel. I feel blessed to have found ESRA when we made Aliyah around ten years ago, and since then it's been an honour, a privilege, and a joy to be part of this wonderful organization.

We are in the process of organizing a one day event to celebrate ESRA’s 40th year together with all our incredible members and volunteers.  And we are not standing still, ESRA needs experienced, smart, vibrant, creative people with fresh ideas to take us into the future. Come join our celebration and even better, find out what ESRA can be for you. 

Glenis Bertfield

Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

This is what ESRA means to me.

What an amazing organisation we are with more than 1,000 registered volunteers working in so many areas of Israeli society, each in their own small way contributing and improving our country. In ESRA's 40 years we have grown from the embryonic idea of our founder, Merle Guttmann, into a national organisation with branches from the far north to the extreme south of Israel.

ESRA is servicing the needs of the English-speaking community by providing a huge variety of social activities while at the same time offering opportunities to volunteer in the wider community. There are ESRA volunteers absolutely everywhere – more than 300 tutoring English in schools nationwide in our ETP program which is recommended by the Ministry of Education. Over 200 volunteers are involved in production and distributing our unique ESRAmagazine and many many others are effectively concerned in initiating and operating our social events and activities; running our offices and administration; fundraising and working to create, maintain and improve our wonderful and extensive program of more than 40 projects. In total ESRA recorded almost 95,000 volunteer hours during 2018.

Mention of ESRA’s projects is a special source of personal pride. The sheer joy of seeing the good that our dedicated workers and volunteers are bringing to those in need provides a huge sense of satisfaction. In ESRA it is not just a matter of providing the funds. It is about finding new opportunities. It is about day-to-day, hands-on involvement on the ground, working within the communities, getting to know the people and providing for their needs, and making long-term commitments.

So here we are ‘doing the impossible’, and offering a real contribution towards making Israel an even greater country. As so many people have told me, it really is an honour to be a part of the ESRA organisation.

Join us. Support ESRA. Support Israel.

Terry Morris

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

"I have a dream" were the words once said by Martin Luther King. ESRA  has a dream too: to create a better tomorrow for Israeli society and I'm proud and privileged to be a part of that dream.

Seeing tears fill the eyes of a volunteer on reading "Couldn't succeed without you" written by a child, feeling a mother's hug of gratitude for a donated Shabbat dinner, and sharing the excitement with an student graduating as a lawyer, are only some of the things that drive me “to want, be and do more”.

We focus our work both on running education and welfare projects for those less fortunate, and on providing a wide spectrum of social and cultural activities. Through these projects and programs, we are building sustainable volunteer value and growth for our ESRA English speaking members.

ESRA is a dynamic, a pluralist and a learning organization led by values of professionalism and humanity. We are continually constructing appropriate facilities and creating the best opportunities for others, while keeping administration costs to a minimum.

Based on our Strategy Plan 2019 and leveraging on our core capabilities and strengths, we are moving forward, to expand our community projects nationwide and to develop ESRA's next generation.

We also seek to support immigrants from English speaking countries prior to their aliya. Our newly established ESRA UK is the first step in our goal of becoming a global NGO, to empower and enrich Israeli society.

As we look ahead, I encourage you to join us today. Let's talk 052 993 4277  | Linkedin | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ESRA is YOU!

Sunny Marshansky 

שלום,

עליתי לישראל בצעירותי מארה"ב והקמתי פה בית. למדתי חשבונאות, כלכלה וניהול, וצברתי ידע וניסיון בהנהגת ארגונים במשך 23 שנים במגזר הפרטי והחברתי.

הלב הפועם של החברה הישראלית, מורכב מגלים של עליות לארץ. כל עלייה מתמודדת עם אתגרים שונים אבל דומים. גם חוויית העלייה שלי הייתה מלאה באתגרים. הצלחתי להתגבר על הקושי, למצוא בו הזדמניות להצלחה ולפתח ערכים ומיומנויות שמתורגמים לחזון ומשם למציאות.

ב ESRA, אנחנו פועלים לתת הזדמנות שווה לילדים, נוער וצעירים בפריפריה לפתח חלום ולהגשימו, ומסייעים לעולים לבסס את עצמם אישית, מקצועית וחברתית בישראל.

ESRA's Impact on Israel's Next Generation

• AGM 2022
• Get it Right in Israel - פלטפורמת תמיכה לעולים חדשים

• ע.ז.ר.ה באנגלית חוצה מגזרים

  בכירים בהיי-טק מתרימים למניעת נשירת בני נוער למצוקה

ESRA means Giving Back... to the Future

We would all like to leave a legacy, and not necessarily a monetary one. Being a volunteer or member of ESRA means you are party to leaving a very big legacy indeed. It means you help promote ESRA's Education and Welfare projects, improving the future for others in our society. What better legacy could there be than improving the future of our children, or setting those in need back on their feet?

For nearly four decades, ESRA has been helping English-speakers be a contributing part of Israeli society, providing then with cultural events, volunteering opportunities, and an extended family. Our projects have developed, offering help wherever needed, be it with education, financial assistance, food, or guidance. Before embarking on a project, we identify a need, devise a solution, and ensure that we have the ESRA volunteers to run it and local partners to work with us and share the cost.

I became active in ESRA because I wanted to spend my retirement years doing something worthwhile and giving back to the country I love. Why ESRA? Because ESRA provided the vehicle that I was looking for, with people who hold the same values without being bound to a political or religious structure. Also, I checked ESRA’s financial statements and found that expenditure on administration is kept to a minimum, and all the funds go to causes which I hold dear. So, I joined ESRA’s over 800 volunteers and several thousand members.

Why don’t you join us?

ESRA – your way of giving Back… to the Future.