New Web Site Facilitates Zionist Outsourcing

Ezra HaLevi
A new immigrant has launched a web site to help fellow olim as well as Jews worldwide who want to help on the direct, grassroots level.

JobShuk.com (“shuk” is Hebrew for “market”) was created by 28-year-old Modiin resident Zvi Landsman, formerly of Teaneck, New Jersey. The site matches up Israeli freelancers and businesses with overseas companies – melding the ideological desire of people worldwide to help Israel and the Jews who are part of the ingathering of the exiles with the mutually beneficial option of outsourcing to a foreign country filled with Western, highly educated workers. The way it works is that local freelancers and businesses post a profile advertising their product. At the same time, foreign companies post short or long-term freelance jobs, tagged with keywords for easy searching and browsing. The freelancers may then review the job description and place a bid for the cost of the job. The company then reviews the bids and bidders and selects the most desirable candidate to hire for that specific job. Credibility is bolstered by reviews from past clients and samples of past work. Postings on both ends are free of charge; revenue is made by providing choice positioning to clients wishing to purchase an edge.

“JobShuk aims for the niche market of Israeli freelancers for bidders, and Israel or American-based Zionist organizations or individuals,” Landsman explains. “But any budget-conscious employers would benefit from outsourcing projects to Israel.”

Landsman hopes the site will bring about a paradigm shift in the world of philanthropy and the charitable decisions of Jews worldwide. “Why are people so generous when solicited for a charity organization,” he asks, “but cheap when it comes to business dealings, often avoiding business with a Jew to get a better rate from a foreigner or non-Jew? And when we can do business with Israel, supporting Jews settling the homeland, and also get great prices, we'd be foolish to do anything else!”

The Grand Plan
“Almost 60 years ago, G-d gave us the opening that we'd been praying for,” muses Landsman on JobShuk’s blog. “After the most massive national punishment known to modern man, G-d proclaimed, ‘I've punished you enough - now I will return you to me, and you shall return as you were promised. Come back into your land, which I have given you. Comfort the fallen city with the sounds of children playing in the streets. Follow my commandments, and we shall restore the days of old, and be united like husband and wife once again.’”

Landsman said this reality led him to ask: “So what am I doing? I've taken my personal steps: moved to Israel, served in the army, taken a beautiful wife, began to have children. But as for the national responsibilities? What should I do to expand my circle of influence and help others return to G-d and Zion, so that this generation will be the one to rebuild the temple and not destroy it?

“The gift which G-d has given me is not in Torah or rhetoric: I am a computer nerd with sensitivity to my surroundings. In a ‘Super-size Me’ world, everyone is so focused on acquiring their sustenance that they don't recognize when it's doing more harm than good. The mission that I've taken upon myself is to close the gap of wealth between those living in Israel, and those outside. By demonstrating that people in Israel can work as hard as others, and be compensated on a similar scale so that they are as comfortable in Israel at the end of the day as anywhere else - by using finances, the modern international language and the most common reason why people don't move to Israel, I hope to restore this country to its glorious days of old.”

The uniqueness of Landsman’s grassroots tool is its natural bypassing of the Israeli government and major philanthropic organizations or Israel Bonds agents to aim for what Maimonides termed the highest level of charity: giving someone a livelihood. “[For] those Israel supporters whose mission is not to move to Israel, I'd like to give them the opportunity to support the country, not through donations, but through the highest form of charity, with a job and a profession, so that [the new Israelis] never ha[ve] to rely on charity.”

A viral email announcing the launch of JobShuk was passed around featuring a New Year’s resolution Landsman invited other to sign on to: “Despite my political efforts on Israel's behalf, the every-day lives of those courageous men and women living in Israel are unaffected,” he wrote. “I recognize that these people rely on their own indomitable spirits and belief in both G-d and the Jewish state to keep the pulse of Israel strong. In the coming year, it is my resolution to be more involved with the social and financial lives of the people in Israel, to learn from them and provide my whole-hearted encouragement and support.”

Recipients of the resolution were asked to sign on and forward it to their friends.

Already Happening
A perusal of the site shows the concept is already taking off. A Ben Bar-Eli from New York City is seeking to pay $10,000 - $50,000 dollars to bring a patent-pending computer-mouse project to the production phase. Two Israeli bidders have already responded with questions about the project – one offering to complete it for the low figure in three weeks’ time.

Other eclectic businesses are showcased as well. Baltimore, MD olah (immigrant) Miryam Heiliczer posted her Tov Maod Events business, offering to plan weddings, bar mitzvahs or any other events for Israelis, visitors or non-profits.

The site is not limited to olim. Even a business run by veteran Kibbutzniks (members of a socialist cooperative community) in the Galilee has posted to JobShuk. Galilee Silks markets its unique hand-painted silk garments from Kibbutz Beit HaEmek.

Upcoming Virtual Job Expo
JobShuk.com is holding the world's first exhibition of Israel's talented service providers and businesses – over the Internet.

The expo will take place Tuesday, April 8, from 5 to 8 p.m. Israel time (10 AM to 1 PM EST).

The Expo will be run via the Skype application, which can be downloaded free at Skype.com, and will feature hundreds of live business representatives in Israel. “Businesses run the gamut from tourist services (guides, masseurs, property managers) to outsourcing specialists (programmers, designers, virtual assistants),” literature for the expo says. Participation is free for both exhibitors and attendees. Exhibitors must complete a business profile and attendees are also encouraged to pre-register at JobShuk.com/expo.