New challenges for new shaliachs

THERE will be fresh faces at the United Israel Appeal (UIA) office in Melbourne later this year, with two new Israeli shaliachs (emissaries) set to step into the shoes of Meir Buber, who left the organisation last month.

Representing Keren Hayesod, Amit Tzur-Tal and David Metzler, who are both in their early 40s with young children, come from differing backgrounds and believe their respective strengths will stand them in good stead to work together as a team.

“I look forward to representing Keren Hayesod and all we work for in the fields of aliyah, absorption, education, youth villages and the strengthening of Israeli society. And I look forward to working with Amit, everyone at UIA Victoria, as well as with the fantastic Jewish community of Melbourne,” American-born Metzler told The AJN. “I am expecting the work to be challenging and highly fascinating, and I can think of no finer job than to work for the betterment of Israel.”

Previously responsible for fundraising and development in Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom as director of the English-speaking desk at Yad Vashem, the father of four grew up in Stockholm before making aliyah in 2001. While living in Sweden, Metzler held various positions within the Jewish community, including as executive director of the Jewish Community Centre of Stockholm, for El Al and the Israel Government Tourist Office.

“I am very excited about joining Keren Hayesod. Having grown up with a dream of moving to Israel, and then having made aliyah a decade ago, I feel honoured and proud to travel to Melbourne on behalf of such a crucially important organisation. My family and I are obviously looking forward to experiencing life in Australia as well,” he said.

Tzur-Tal, a mother of three, dedicated the first part of her career to the Israel Defence Force, where she served in various positions for 23 years. While in the armed forces, she pursued her academic interests, completing a bachelor of arts in anthropology, sociology and psychology, as well as undertaking a master’s degree in business management.

“I would like to introduce the successful aliyah stories as well as the challenges of youth at risk and [the] elderly in Israel. By doing that, we can strengthen the relationship between the people of Melbourne and the citizens of Israel,” she told The AJN. “I would like to go to sleep every night knowing that together we bought school supplies for an Ethiopian child, renovated a classroom and built another library for the children from low-income, immigrant families.”

For Tzur-Tal, the greatest challenge will be developing innovative and exciting ways to engage the younger generations in UIA’s activities, as “Israel depends on multi-generational support”.

With a background in fundraising, Metzler believes the major challenge will be ensuring continued support for the organisation as “the way people choose to make donations, and approaches to philanthropy change.”

And they certainly have big shoes to fill, with Buber successfully raising $87 million for Israel.

DALIA SABLE