WHO ARE WE

AT the moment The Voice of Concerned Optimists is still a small group of people, trying to do whatever it can to help turn Israel into a great little country that will live up to its legendary name, and that will be able to face the serious threats to its very existence as an independent state.

As an idea The Voice of Concerned Optimists has been developing for a few years, but as a group it is merely a few months old now.

We have spent a lot of time trying to understand why things are the way they are in Israel and how to forge the necessary changes. The pages in this website offer answers and make a clarion call to join the cause. We do not promote or support any official political or religious line. We have not registered as an amuta yet, but intend to start the process in the next few weeks.

In the rush to become an independent nation, fraught with mind-boggling challenges, and with a population made up largely of newcomers from hugely diverse backgrounds, Israeli society as a whole has evolved with a lack of certain necessary qualities which urgently need to be developed.

This is where we come in, hopefully without undue conceit and self-righteousness. A main activity of The Concerned Optimists is the promotion throughout Israeli society of the following qualities:

Integrity
Consideration for others
Personal responsibility
A quest for excellence in everything that we do
A quest for fairness in all walks of life
Being nice to each other
A deep awareness that Israel is not just any country, but an age-old dream that has come true.

We will promote these qualities through the following activities:

• Talks in different places − schools, work places, symposiums and to private groups in homes.
• Interviews on television and radio.
• Printing posters, leaflets, pamphlets and cards on relevant subjects, to be distributed as widely as possible.
• Letters and articles to newspapers and magazines.
• Personal approaches to politicians and other people in positions of influence.
• Being a decent individual − which means that I must simply be okay as a person, without cheating, lying, growling at others, etc and live according to the principles of integrity and consideration for others. Such an attitude − without self-righteousness, conceit or chauvinism − should have a positive influence on our immediate circle. Trends are created by more and more people doing the same thing. When this happens, leaders will also have to follow and begin to govern accordingly.
• Volunteering for good causes such as tutoring needy pupils.

There are hundreds of thousands of other people throughout Israel similarly working quietly on a individual basis to make Israel a better place. There are also scores of independent, non-governmental groups and organizations doing marvelous voluntary work in many fields. Our web page "Other Groups" lists a number of these groups.

By forming the Voice of Concerned Optimists in Israel we hope to lend some cohesiveness to all the good that is taking place in Israel. Our aim is to be a voice pointing out a clear direction and connecting people and organizations.

The fellow who started The Voice of Concerned Optimists in Israel is Ralph (Rafi) Dobrin, a former South African, who came to Israel in 1957 at the age of 20. He has worked in publishing most of his life. Now a pensioner, he supplements his income teaching English privately in Jerusalem, where he lives with his wife Hazel and their children and grandchildren.

He says: "Every day that goes by I am more aware of our nation's moral, social and educational needs and it's shortcomings. I have a pretty good idea why things are the way they are politically, socially and security-wise. I am convinced that the basic solution to all our problems lies in vigorous ongoing promotion of what The Voice of Concerned Optimists in Israel stands for − integrity, consideration for others and a deeper awareness that ... WOW!!! ... this is indeed Israel. Wow!!!"

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