On August 2, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger hosted a webinar on how Israel’s political situation is impacting their work.

“We at MAZON are deeply concerned about food insecurity in Israel,” Naama Haviv, vice president of community engagement, and the moderator of the webinar told the Journal. “We know that many of our supporters are devastated by the Israeli government’s actions to dismantle the nation’s democratic foundation.” 

Inspired by Jewish values and ideals, MAZON is a national advocacy organization working to end hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds in the United States and Israel. 

According to MAZON’s experts, if any of the ongoing judicial overhaul proposals in Israel’s Knesset weaken Israel’s democracy, it will deepen the already alarming rates of food insecurity in Israel. Currently, 1.5 million Israelis from all faiths and backgrounds struggle with food insecurity.

MAZON Board Chair Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky kicked off the conversation by underscoring MAZON and its partners’ dedication to advocate for the rights of all Israelis. “We know that a weakened democracy in Israel will make the already vulnerable even more vulnerable, especially those already experiencing hunger, who always suffer most during times of economic and social turmoil,” he said. “These Israelis, regardless of ethnicity, religion or background, must not be dismissed or ignored.”

After Pitkowsky set the stage, MAZON’s Vice President of Programs, Mia Hubbard, and Israel Director, Dr. Ishai Menuchin, dove a little deeper into the struggles of Israelis dealing with food insecurity. Providing context, Hubbard explained how, unlike in the U.S., the Israeli government does not have an overarching food security policy nor a set of programs. “Several years ago, MAZON reframed our work in Israel to focus on building an advocacy infrastructure to compel a greater government response to hunger,” she said.

Part of MAZON’s efforts were to bring Menuchin on board; he discovered that there was little public awareness of food insecurity in Israel.

Part of MAZON’s efforts were to bring Menuchin on board; he discovered that there was little public awareness of food insecurity in Israel. There is also a lack of political will to address this issue among Israeli policy makers. He realized that the members of the anti-hunger community were operating in isolation from one another; there was no ongoing communication, coordination and collaboration. Menuchin set out to address those issues by “selecting and helping us to support strategic partners who were positioned and ready to do a better job at promoting this issue,” Hubbard said.  During the webinar, Menuchin explained that amid the ruling coalition’s ongoing efforts to overhaul Israel’s judicial system, MAZON and these partners are “fighting right now against the [Netanyahu government’s] proposal to eliminate the National Council for Food Security, to cut some of the budget for a new food initiative.” He continued, “Addressing food insecurity is the responsibility of government, not of people facing hunger, charitable organizations and private foundations.”

In July, MAZON issued a statement on the Knesset’s passage of legislation striking down the “reasonableness standard.” This would strip the courts’ ability to review and regulate various government decisions. 

Earlier this year, the Knesset also passed a two-year national budget that included significant increases in funding for food security programs. MAZON and its partners are demanding that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government keep their promises to address Israel’s hunger crisis by applying fair and equitable standards in determining the distribution of food assistance cards to all Israelis, including Arab citizens. “MAZON is proud to be leading an incredible coalition of advocates fighting against hunger in Israel,” Abby J. Leibman, president and CEO of MAZON, told the Journal. “During the last election, we heard promises that the new government would fight hunger, and the current threats to Israel’s democracy only heighten our concern that all Israelis, no matter their background, must be able to put food on the table. We will continue to hold Israel’s leaders accountable and defend the basic rights of all Israelis to have enough to eat.” 

Added Haviv, “We are committed as ever to building and maintaining a strong advocacy infrastructure to ensure that no one in Israel faces the pain and indignity of hunger.”

Watch the full conversation at mazon.org.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shirin Galili was taking care of her three small children — a three-year-old, one-and-a-half-year-old and a newborn — and feeling perpetually frustrated by what she perceived as irrelevant or unhelpful parenting advice.

“There’s no guidebook for parenting,” she told the Journal. “We spend so many years in school to further our careers, so many hours researching cars and devices, but there’s very little for us as new parents. You can get a Master’s in engineering or education, but not in parenting.” 

Galili had many questions, including what to do when her kids had arguments with each other or threw tantrums. “I would ask people I looked up to, such as pediatricians, therapists or other parents, or I would read books, but I wasn’t receiving answers that sat well with me.”

 For Galili (née Meraj), most of those answers sounded like “regurgitated information,” with experts seemingly circulating the same traditional methods for disciplining children. “Everyone told me to just do time-outs,” she said. 

Galili began to draw inspiration from her own childhood. “My parents raised us well. They connected with us. And although we made mistakes, they raised our consciousness so that we wanted to make good decisions,” she said.

Today, motivating children to make good decisions on their own, without shaming or forcing them (think yelling, “What’s wrong with you?” or forcefully pulling a toy out of their hands when they’re not listening) is one of the foundations of Galili’s work as a parenting specialist. 

Galili founded NŪVŪ (pronounced “New View”) Parenting in January 2023 because she believes parents “shouldn’t have to just try to figure it all out as we go along.” Her aim is to help parents improve behavioral issues, as well as day-to-day interactions with their children. As it turned out, her work as a parenting specialist was a natural progression of her own background. 

Her parents, including her then-pregnant mother, escaped Iran on the eve of the Iranian Revolution and settled temporarily in France, where Galili was born. It was a traumatic experience due to the painful shock of realizing they would not be able to return home to Iran. Soon, the family arrived in Los Angeles and joined what would become the country’s largest Iranian Jewish community.

As a young adult, Galili studied at UC Santa Cruz, where she majored in art and minored in legal studies. There, she learned about the criminal justice system and began working with incarcerated youth. It was a far cry from the types of professions other Iranian American Jews were pursuing, such as law, medicine and real estate. Galili volunteered at a juvenile hall and for two other programs that were alternatives to juvenile hall. She was shocked to observe that one teenager who was on probation was wearing an ankle monitor.

Her experience working with incarcerated youth taught Galili the critical importance of learning about the person’s underlying triggers. “There’s always something going on,” she said. “One time, I met a 17-year-old who exhibited a lot of rage in the classroom, especially when his teacher asked him to read aloud. As I observed him, I realized that he couldn’t read. Amazingly, the teacher was unaware of the boy’s illiteracy and simply believed he was misbehaving.” 

Galili began to connect the dots: Many youths were “going in and out of juvenile hall and it was a cycle,” she said. “I decided I wanted to positively influence kids before they got to that point (juvenile hall), which is why I decided to become a teacher.”

After graduating from UC Santa Cruz, she participated in Birthright and then extended her trip to live in Israel for six months, studying in an ulpan (Hebrew language) program for four months and serving as a childrens English tutor. Galili moved back to L.A. to attend UCLA, where she received her Master’s in Education in 2004. Her thesis focused on bullying: How to minimize it, stop it and to help kids through it as a community. 

“Thank G-d my parents were supportive,” Galili recalled, “but many in the community asked me, ‘Shirin, you have so much potential. Why do you want to become a teacher? Go into something where you’ll make money. It’s such a waste.’”

But Galili was passionate about improving the lives of youth. Her program at UCLA was geared toward working with inner-city schools and changing the way we think about education as a whole. Galili was also able to observe teachers. “I was able to see some great teachers,” she said, “But also some teachers who represented problematic systems within the schools.” Eventually, she was offered a chance to teach her own classroom. For several years, she taught second and third graders.

“Kids need tools, and they need to be given the time and opportunity to practice those tools.”

Galili began to understand that yelling or harsh discipline may temporarily stop a child’s actions, but doesn’t actually teach them how to replace wrong actions with better behavior. “Kids need tools, and they need to be given the time and opportunity to practice those tools. I know all of us parents are exhausted, overwhelmed, and stretching ourselves thin, but having limited tools is a big factor in reaching our goals.”  

When her own children were toddlers, Galili learned quickly that when she lost her temper, her children would “act out even more, as opposed to if I took a more proactive, calm approach.” Within a few weeks, she noticed improvements in her children’s behavior, as well as in their relationship with her and their siblings.  

In 2020, she began creating short videos, which she posted on social media, that offered scripts parents could use with kids in situations ranging from tantrums to needing them to put away their toys or get ready to leave the house. As a mother, Galili’s videos have been indispensable to me. In fact, they have taught me to use six seemingly magical words with my own kids: “Can I count on you to …?”

Galili has found that rather than threatening with punishment or yelling at children to complete certain tasks, asking, “Can I count on you?” puts the onus on kids in a way that helps them feel accountable, participatory and yes, even proud of themselves. That is why, in our home, I am often heard asking my kids, “I noticed your Legos are all over the floor. Can I count on you to put them back when I set this timer?” They often respond affirmatively or ask me for permission to play for a few more minutes. (Not mentioned are my various expletive-filled outbursts in Persian after having stepped on many Legos with my bare feet).

Most of Galili’s video content stems from what she herself has “done wrong” when attempting to change her children’s behavior. 

Interestingly, most of Galili’s video content stems from what she herself has “done wrong” when attempting to change her children’s behavior. Galili helps parents learn a better way, and many videos are responses to other parents’ questions. Her philosophy when it comes to offering parents tools is to keep the information in her videos short and absorbable. I’ve utilized many of Galili’s scripts and have found that, in general, they work. 

The brief videos, which may be found on Instagram (@shirin.galili) include topics such as “Instead of Using Control, Use Connection,” “Improving Afterschool Craziness” and “Safe vs. Unsafe Secrets.” She even created a video that advises parents about how to speak with kids about death. In each video, Galili offers a real-life script that parents may use to address their children.

Her clients are global, and Galili has observed that parents’ struggles with their kids have one common factor: “Whether it’s tantrums or bedtime battles, it all comes down to parents feeling that their children are not listening,” said Galili. 

Galili offers one-on-one sessions with parents, but she also has created digital courses through NŪVŪ Parenting, giving parents practical tools to help meet their family’s specific needs (the courses can be purchased and streamed on demand). Galili admits she is not a therapist and will not meet with parents for more than a few sessions. “I don’t want to replace the role of a therapist,” she said. “Some families need therapy as well, and some don’t. I’m very supportive of therapy, but some people just need practical, applicable tools they can implement with their kids.”

Galili’s NŪVŪ Parenting courses include topics such as “Improving Behavior,” “Resolving Sibling Rivalry” and “Managing Meltdowns.” In general, she asks parents to first acknowledge that their children are complete human beings. When clients try to explain to Galili that yelling at children is a normal part of child rearing, she pushes back. “Children should be raised with healthy boundaries,” she said. “It’s not about letting your kids do whatever they want; it’s responding to your child in a way that maintains a respectful relationship while still guiding your children with proper tools.” 

For Galili, those tools may also connect us to our children in the future. “It’s a process, and we’re in this together,” she said. “If we use yelling and control, as kids get older, we will need to yell louder. The tools I use are also for the future, especially for the teen years, when we will still want a relationship with our kids. In the end, we want them to be responsive to our guidance.”

The keyword, it seems, is raising children who are “responsive” to us. In one video, Galili demonstrates that parents who “shoo” their kids out of the kitchen as young [but messy] children when they express curiosity about cooking should not be surprised if, as teens, those same kids ignore their parents’ requests to help with preparing food. 

“It’s still not always easy for me and I still make a lot of mistakes,” Galili admitted about raising her three children with her husband. “I mess up, see that how I responded didn’t help, self-reflect and try to act differently next time. Sometimes I accomplish more, sometimes less.” 

And then, Galili shared one goal that all parents should consider when thinking about parenting, both for themselves and for their children: “I’m aiming for improvements,” she said, “not perfection.” 

For more information, visit www.nuvuparenting.com

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Tabby Refael is an award-winning writer, speaker and weekly columnist for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @TabbyRefael