‘Tis the season and all that. The end of the tax year approaches. Giving Tuesday just passed. There’s a final push for charitable giving.

But in the Jewish world, I’m proud to say, every day is Giving Tuesday (except Shabbat). It’s stunning how disproportionately charitable Jews are. Three out of four American Jews donate to charity, averaging $10,588 in donations, while non-Jewish donor households average $8,025. Jews — who make up 2.5% of America’s population — constitute nearly half of America’s megadonors. Among lower-income Americans earning under $50,000, 60% of Jewish households donate, compared to 46% of non-Jews.

Imagine what your community would be like without Jewish generosity. Imagine how Israel’s war would have played out without Jewish generosity and selflessness. Imagine how much harder it would have been to build the Israel we have if Jews around the world hadn’t contributed their money, their expertise, their love.

But now, most importantly, let’s imagine what Israel can be with some big game-changing post-war projects.

During the recent war in Gaza, I participated in a brainstorming exercise with megadonors imagining “Zionist moonshots.” We discussed big resets that could change Israel, projects as ambitious as JFK’s push to land on the moon by end of the 1960s — projects that some philanthropists could make happen with one big check, or a few close friends

I wanted to think outside the box, so I avoided the obvious needs in the Hamas-ravaged south, the Hezbollah-emptied north and various Iran-bombed targets, especially Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. Many generous donors have rushed to help there already, and our mandate was to be creative. That’s why we also didn’t discuss already successful mega-projects that deserve massive support, like Birthright, camps and Jewish day schools.

I began with my area of expertise: Zionism.

We need a global Zionist think tank, generating articles, books, histories, children’s books, videos and user-friendly Instagram and TikTok content while also spreading what’s out there but sits on shelves (or in Amazon warehouses) accumulating dust.

We need a three-pronged Zionist agenda: A Liberal Zionism seeking true justice for all (which includes fighting bigotry against us and others); a Responsibility Zionism focused on fixing Jewish communities worldwide, including Israel; and Identity Zionism celebrating our roots, traditions and potential.

If people know who they are and what Zionism is — and isn’t — they won’t need to be coached or guilt-tripped into defending it. They will defend that position as naturally as they would defend themselves or their loved ones. Instead, big money keeps going into anti-antisemitism not positive identity-building. It seems that every week someone launches a new initiative — despite 850 organizations already fighting Jew-hatred. Meanwhile, the number of Jew-bashing incidents keeps spiking, and too many Jewish communities are so busy investing in “hardening targets” (security!) that they’re not securing the loyalty of the next generation by stretching their minds and souls.  

I then reached out to my favorite focus group, my family, asking what they and their Israeli peers, so many of whom have served hundreds of days in reserves, need. The answers were grounded and pragmatic.

“Housing,” said one. “None of my friends can afford to buy a house, anywhere in Israel, not just the Jerusalem neighborhood where they grew up.”

We need developers building mass middle-class housing that is geographically desirable, high-quality and affordable. Buyers need down-payment help and more American-style, homeowner-friendly mortgages with economic incentives to buy homes. Donors can get a kick in their patriotic adrenals by starting with reservists and soldiers, G.I. Bill-style. After World War II, the American government gave “the Greatest Generation” the greatest economic boost with a building boom and house-buying support.

“Transportation and tax relief,” said another. “By the time my friends arrive at work every morning, they’re so stressed about the traffic tie-ups and commuting snafus. Then, after a full day, they feel burdened by paying such a high percentage to the government.”

Both kids’ proposals honor Israel’s burden-bearers, both those serving and working, benefiting the most patriotic givers and not ultra-Orthodox takers. That’s a welcome political position, too. Philanthropists should redirect money to reward good citizenship; and those who join the government in blindly subsidizing defiant draft-dodgers should reconsider their giving strategies. I don’t oppose Torah study. But “Torah v’avodah,” learning and working, while defending your country, are programmed into Judaism’s DNA — and Zionism’s too.

“Mental health” and “post-trauma therapies,” proposed a third. We keep reading statistics about soldiers and civilians still reeling from October 7, the war, the stress, the injuries, the family dysfunction and separation. I would also invest in an Israeli Happiness Project. Identity programs to keep Israel scoring so high in the Happiness Index, which requires rootedness in a rich tradition, a strong sense of community, being family-friendly and having a sense of purpose.

Finally, one friend proposed another big, practical project. “If five megadonors wrote five billion-dollar-checks creating five new medical centers with medical schools, they could revolutionize Israeli health care,” he said. Well-placed hospitals can fill in the medical coverage gaps throughout Israel. Nationwide, this mega-initiative would boost the number of beds, and reduce the spiking patient-to-nurse and patient-to-doctor ratios. It would also end Israel’s self-destructive export of many superstars overseas by making it so hard to secure a rare spot in Israeli medical schools.

Israel could then expand medical tourism while pitching Israel as a Zionist Florida for the 55-plus set, a launching pad for meaningful second acts in one’s golden years. Retirees “ascending” to Israel don’t feel put out to pasture. They avoid Miami’s decades-long “Which is better, herring or gefilte fish?” debates and are energized as old-young pioneers joining the Zionist project, while a beefed-up medical infrastructure would improve their quality of life, too.

Next year, 2026, could be Israel’s rebound year. Defying mass death and destruction, we came out stronger and so inspired by our young people. Our older generation of givers, in Israel and abroad, can thank these young heroes who saved Israel, the Jewish people and Western civilization. The best way is by thinking big, deploying their resources, wisdom, ingenuity, love and Zionist vision to make post-war Israel even better than ever.   

Gil Troy is an American presidential historian and a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute. Last year he published To Resist the Academic Intifada: Letters to My Students on Defending the Zionist Dream and The Essential Guide to October 7th and its Aftermath. His latest e-book, The Essential Guide to Zionism, Anti-Zionism, Antisemitism and Jew-hatred was just published and can be downloaded on the JPPI website.