Founded during WW1 when US Ambassador to Turkey, Henry Morgenthau Sr. wired New York philanthropist Jacob Schiff to ask for aid to help Jews suffering in Ottomon Palestine, JDC was the first Jewish organisation in the U.S.A to provide large-scale funding for international relief. Today, JDC is the leading humanitarian organisation, working in 70 countries to lift lives and strengthen communities.
Here in Australia…The Joint Australia, which launched in September 2012, is the first official branch of the organisation outside Israel and North America. The Joint Australia was formed to promote the work of The Joint and raise funds to support its ongoing mission of rescue, relief and renewal of Jewish life across the globe.
Our Story
1910s
In response to the onset of World War I and the devastation it wreaks on thousands of Jewish communities in war-torn regions, the newly-formed American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee initiates massive relief projects in Palestine to sustain fragile communities and across Eastern Europe to support communities devastated by the war.
1920s
JDC expands its postwar relief efforts in Eastern Europe, including establishing Jewish health and welfare societies in Poland and the Soviet Union and funding public health programs in Lithuania and Romania. In Palestine, JDC begins to extend subsidies to public health organizations and promotes economic and agricultural development.
1930s
Under the threat of imminent war, JDC’s multi-faceted support to the German Jewish community becomes even more critical as restrictions passed by the Nazi government render German Jews unable to continue their education or earn a livelihood. In response to this catastrophic situation, JDC draws upon its resources to rescue and aid refugees in their flight from Nazi Europe to locations across the globe. JDC
1940s
As World War II ends, JDC marshals its forces to meet a crisis of staggering proportions for world Jewry. Its vast relief and rehabilitation programs serve hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors worldwide, whether in Displaced Persons camps in Europe or forming the first waves of immigration to the new State of Israel. In Israel, JDC forms a unique partnership with the fledgling government to
1950s
Grappling with the trauma of the aftermath of the Holocaust and the unprecedented needs in Israel, JDC is extensively involved with supporting every facet of immigration to the new state, from financing dramatic rescue operations to operating programs that facilitate immigrant integration into Israeli society. Amid these dramatic developments for world Jewry, JDC continues to assist Jewish communities in Muslim countries and to help with
1960s
JDC’s partnership with the Israeli government to develop strategic interventions in social service programs for a broad spectrum of populations continues to expand, enabling Israel to meet the needs of its diverse communities. JDC in Europe helps communities to welcome Jewish refugees from North Africa and Poland and to develop social services to assist in their absorption.
1970s
JDC provides relief in Vienna and Rome for Soviet Jews in transit and is able to respond compassionately to a backlog of thousands of Soviet Jewish émigrés awaiting visas. JDC changes its mode of operation in Israel, establishing JDC-Israel, and continues to work in partnership with the government to address social needs. JDC continues to respond to non-sectarian emergencies and is a founding member of
1980s
Permitted to re-enter East European countries to respond to the needs of Holocaust survivors and other vulnerable populations, JDC partners with local Jewish communities to strengthen communal infrastructure and to help the needy. JDC’s long history of providing non-sectarian aid culminates in the formal establishment of its International Development Program in 1986.
1990s
The fall of Communism and the dissolution of the former Soviet Union galvanize JDC in efforts to rebuild and reinvigorate Jewish communities throughout the region, and to assist Soviet Jewry in rediscovering their Jewish heritage. JDC responds to emergency situations in the Balkans and helps to rescue Jews from Ethiopia and elsewhere. JDC works extensively in Vienna and Rome to support a comprehensive relief program
2000s
JDC assists the Argentine Jewish community devastated by the economic collapse and quickly develops a comprehensive emergency program. JDC Open Mailboxes fuel a massive relief response to the 2004 South Asia tsunami and other natural disasters. With the formation of the European Community, JDC works to connect Jewish communities across Europe and globally.
JDC are reviving Jewish values all around the world
From Africa to Armenia and as far as Australia, we have been working to rekindle what was nearly extinguished for over 100 years.
Meet the team
Eva Fischl OAM
PresidentEva Fischl is President of Joint Australia (JDC Australia) and is on the International Board and Executive of JDC. Prior to The Joint, Eva was President of Jewish Care Australia and Jewish Care New South Wales. In 2011, Eva stepped down as President and was appointed Patron of Jewish Care.
Previous positions and memberships also include, Board of Governors of Jewish Communal Appeal (JCA), NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, Federal Executive of National WIZO and Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
David Werdiger
Vice PresidentDavid is a family enterprise advisor with a focus on intergenerational wealth and family governance, business strategist, a technology entrepreneur, and speaker. He holds bachelor degree in science, and a masters of entrepreneurship. David has a long history of community involvement in a variety of roles, and has been Vice President of the Joint in Australia since February 2021.
Brett Kaye
National DirectorBrett Kaye is the Director of The Joint Australia (JDC) Victoria. Brett, who is the Cantor at the St Kilda Hebrew Congregation, and brings to the role close to 30 years of experience in Jewish communal engagement through his varying roles in Jewish Educational Leadership and Synagogue involvement. He has led many trips to destinations around the globe, highlighting the life-changing work that the Joint undertakes in each of the locations that are visited.
Karen Firestone
Director, NSWKaren is a highly skilled and respected fundraising professional with over a decade experience working with some of Australia’s top charities and major philanthropists in a leadership capacity. She initiated and developed Australia’s first professional development body for philanthropy specialists and has personally raised over $35 million dollars to date. Her prior career in academia (she has a PhD in conservation genetics/molecular ecology) took her to many remote and wild areas of Australia and New Guinea where she studied carnivorous marsupials and worked with traditional owners and hunter/gardener communities.
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