7. Bridges Need Foundations

“A bridge is not built in the air.
It begins with the ground beneath it.”

One observation stayed with me long after the trip ended. In the United States - and especially within American Jewish life - community plays an enormous role. People belong to synagogues, volunteer groups, nonprofit boards, cultural organizations, and educational initiatives. There is a strong culture of building communities and supporting them philanthropically.

• People donate.
• People volunteer.
• People organize.

In Israel, I sensed something different. Israelis certainly have strong families and close circles of friends. Social life exists everywhere - cafés, homes, and workplaces. But the kind of voluntary community-building infrastructure that American Jews often take for granted seems far less central (mostly, invisible) to daily life.

That difference might matter more than we realize. Because when people talk about “building bridges,” those bridges often depend on civic spaces - community organizations, volunteer initiatives, cultural programs - places where people choose to meet each other. If those spaces are limited, the work becomes harder.

So, one question that keeps returning to me is this: Can we talk about building bridges across different groups when the broader culture of community-building is still evolving?