Ze’ev Jabotinsky: Public Relations work is a legacy from the Prophets of Israel

It is rare that Israel or Jewish institutions do a good job in public relations and marketing, but this week there were two good ideas which deserve kudos for positive good programs from a PR standpoint:

• The Israeli Foreign Ministry announced a major program to bring thousands of  North American non- Jewish campus influential’s to Israel to counter the negative concepts they hear in the mainstream media. The program aims to allow these people to see the truth about the only democracy in the Middle East with their own two eyes – and it’s undoubtedly a good idea which will succeed in changing minds.  According to Gideon Meir the ministry director-general for public diplomacy, similar plans for Europeans influential’s will also soon be unlaunched.
• Yeshiva University who has had their share of negative attention over the last few weeks has a great idea – a PR stunt – which has attracted a fair share of national positive media coverage this week. They have launched “The YU Torah Halftime show” which is a series of three brief, exciting and inspiring presentations on “Torah and Sports” topics which will be available during halftime of the Super Bowl at http://yu.edu/half-time/ Apparently, the whole production cost about $6,000 – and will undoubtedly earn the school a lot of public attention, and hopefully also do some good in educating some in the Jewish world. Unleashing some Jewish pride – Great public relations idea.

As the Zionist prophet Ze’ev Jabotinsky said about the importance of Public Relations: “The work of the publicist is a legacy from the Prophets of Israel…Our passion is to speak, to proclaim—“Shouting” is what the same audience calls it, ‘we have no need for words, give us actions.’ One thing that audience forgets is that speech is also an action – Perhaps the most authentic of all other actions. Cities have been destroyed, and more will fall, but what was shouted in the wilderness thousands of years ago is alive and still relevant. The world was created by the Word. The world will be mended by the Article.”

Congrats to the Foreign Ministry and YU.