Looking Back, Moving Forward

WeWork and WLI? Attorney Esther Pilpel-Paz, WLI’s CEO, discusses the organizatio’s vision – then and now – and the plans for the near future

Esther, what is going on in WLI nowadays?

“In the last decade, WLI focused on cooperating with ‘Birthright’ and ‘The Israeli Experience,’ sponsored by the Jewish Agency and the State of Israel, by bringing young (18-30) Jewish men and women from around the globe to Israel, for three months-one year. Throughout this time, they live in WLI’s home in Tel Aviv, learn Hebrew, listen to lectures about the Israeli history and tour the country.

“We have about 150 beds in our complex, spread out between single, double, and triple rooms. We do our best to make the tenants’ time here enjoyable, and that is why we also renovate the rooms and make them meet the demands of young people. We put a lot of effort into making this a beautiful place. It’s not a youth hostel, it’s a home, and we do our best to make it feel like one.”   

What brings these young men and women here?

“Work and internships – in hospitals, schools, hi-tech companies, music schools. We wish that everyone who lives in WLI’s home would make Israel their permanent home. We offer them a temporary home hoping that some would return as Olim, and those who don’t would become ambassadors of the State of Israel around the world”.

And what about other fields of interest? Education? Health?

“WLI has been assisting students for decades. The story of our cooperation with the Hebrew University in Jerusalem goes back to the 1950s. In 2008, we founded a 1.5-million-dollar fund to award scholarships to outstanding BA students. In 2017, we founded another 1.4-million-dollar fund to award scholarships to outstanding graduate students. This year, we chose to focus on the Faculty of Environmental Studies. It’s a fascinating discipline. These students do remarkable things. Each year, WLI grants approximately 40 full scholarships to students.

“We also fund Ofek – the Jewish Agency’s pre-military academies.

“In the field of health, we cooperate with Rambam Hospital. In the Second Lebanon War, it became clearer that a children’s emergency medicine and trauma room is required, and we have donated 1.5 million dollars for that purpose.

“We have made a significant donation to the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.”

How do past activities – helping pioneer woman starting their lives in the Land of Israel – correspond with current ones?

“The organization’s activities have evolved and expanded, but its creed, to ‘help a person help him/herself’ – remained the same. Funding higher education is a natural extension of the help we provided to women pioneers in the pre-state days. In the old days, we put a roof over these women’s heads, nowadays, we build dormitories and deepen the connection with young Jews from all around the world who find their home here. We see this as coming a full circle and a manifestation of our original vision – supporting education and providing a home to potential Olim.”

What are your plans for the near future?

“We have just completed renovating 27 rooms, in which 58 beds are located. We plan to keep on renovating the entire building and to renew the ground floor, the lecture halls, and the office. We also wish to make WLI’s home a place of intersection between young Olim and startup entrepreneurs, to connect these young people with this country and to present them with different ways of making a living here. I wish to see our home reembracing its social role and become a center of attraction to young men and women from around the world – I want to see our rooftop active again and our garden blooming. I intend to discuss all of these in the upcoming board meeting.”