This interview is part of a series highlighting NIFC supporters and their stories.
Joey and Elaine Steiner
For our readers’ benefit, when did you and Elaine first become supporters of NIFC and why in recent years did you choose to join the board?
We began financially supporting NIFC about 35 years ago. I chose to join the board because I think what NIFC does is fundamentally important to the future of Israel, and I believe the future of Israel is fundamental to Jews in the diaspora. The situation in the Middle East is becoming increasingly fraught. When I retired from my legal practice in 2019 and wanted to stay active as a volunteer, I saw that NIFC was strongly aligned with my political positions.
Looking back, what was your relationship to Israel growing up and do you have any special connections to it?
I grew up in a non-religious but very Zionist household. Both my parents were in the Labour Zionist movement, and my father was president of its Canadian branch. If memory serves me, my mother chaired the Toronto women’s section of this movement. My parents took us to Israel with my older brother when I was not quite eight and it left a tremendous impression on me. Even for a young child, it was a very formative experience. Since then, I visited with friends from university just after the 1967 war. Elaine and I have visited Israel many times. For a number of years, I was an associate member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel and that took me to Israel two or three times a year, accompanied by Elaine when her teaching duties permitted. While Elaine has family in Israel, I do not, but you develop friendships over the years that bring you back.
Currently, I also sit on the board of the Shalom Hartman Institute of Canada and that takes Elaine and me to Israel once a year for a board meeting and a week-long study program for lay people. The Hartman Institute is a combination of a think tank and informal educational institution doing programs for lay people including a study session in Israel. It runs programs for Jewish professionals, rabbis, academics, Hillel leaders and other community groups.
Looking at today’s Israel, how would you describe your connection to Israel and its society at this current moment, after two years of war and finally a ceasefire and return of the hostages?
Joey Steiner
My relationship to Israel I think is very close. I distinguish between the country and people on one hand and the government on the other. Needless to say, I find the current government abominable in terms of its policies and its futile approach regarding Israel’s relationship with the Palestinians, and so the positions for which NIFC advocates — including a two-state solution and equality for Israeli citizens of Palestinian descent and Israeli Jews — are close to my heart.
I understand that both yourself and Elaine are involved in Jewish education, including the Bialik Hebrew Day School (where you sat on the board), and Elaine was also a teacher at what is now Robbins Hebrew Academy, the Solomon Schechter school in Toronto. What is important to you about young people, their education, and especially their education about Israel?
I believe Israel is a fundamentally important part of Jewish identity, particularly for non-Orthodox Jews. I have doubts as to whether the non-Orthodox movements would survive if Israel did not exist as a Jewish and democratic state. But children should be taught honestly about both Israel’s achievements and its issues that must be addressed, in particular relations between Israel and the Palestinians. Jewish education has too often painted a rose-tinted picture of Israel and when graduates of Jewish day schools reach college, they’re confronted with issues with which they’re not prepared to deal. That’s a serious shortcoming of Jewish education.
What was the reason that you and Elaine included NIFC in your will? What do you hope this endowment will help achieve in the future?
We included it in our wills as we’re getting on in age and we’d like our financial support for NIFC to continue. We see that as the purpose of setting up an endowment. At the same time, we recognize that the constrained terms of gifts can be a serious issue, so we’ve built in some flexibility to our planned gift. We want to ensure that NIFC can carry on its work in Israel indefinitely. Even as – hopefully – the political situation improves, it’s always necessary for civil society organizations on the ground to be robust and well-functioning.
What or who inspires you to believe that NIFC’s work can make a difference on the ground in Israel? What gives you hope?
I follow all the updates from NIFC and NIF and the work their funded partners and grantees do. I think this work is fundamentally important and is also demonstrating achievements in terms of building a larger progressive movement in Israel to address the ongoing issues in Israeli politics and society. Groups like Bimkom and B’Tselem are truly grass-roots organizations dealing with people on the ground and their problems on an ongoing basis, working to improve the quality of life for all Israelis, be they Jewish or Palestinian citizens, or residents of the occupied territories.