ORT America is the leading fundraising organization for World ORT, whose Kadima Mada educational network in Israel & worldwide schools, colleges & international programs enable over 300,000 students to develop careers and lead fulfilling lives. Over a Century of Life-Transforming Work Benefiting Millions
ORT was established in Russia in 1880 to help the Jewish population of 5 million in the Pale
of Settlement by providing educational opportunities to lift people out of poverty, transforming their lives with dignity and purpose. Zemledelcheskovo Trouda (the Society for Trades and Agricultural Labor), ORT was a pioneer in teaching, forming farming, tool and industrial cooperatives and using new techniques to train Jews as artisans in everything from sewing and hand-weaving to mechanics and furniture design. After World War I, the objectives and focus of ORT shifted from exclusively helping Russian Jews to an organization that linked Jews across the globe – first in Europe and later on other continents. When the State of Israel was declared in May 1948 and the country accepted Jewish refugees as immigrants, ORT began operations to create workshops in Jaffa and Jerusalem to rehabilitate and train the new citizenry. World ORT was established in London in 1921, followed by Women’s American ORT in 1922 and American ORT in 1927. World ORT administers an international network of ORT schools and programs in 53 countries, constituting the largest non-governmental educational initiative in the world. In 2006, ORT in the United States consolidated to become ORT America. Everywhere ORT has set down roots in its 135-year history, people and communities have flourished. Support for ORT spans decades and generations, with contributors blending their deep Jewish admiration of education with the moral imperative of tikkun olam – repairing the world. World ORT is the largest non-profit,non-political educational and training organization in the world, lending support and helping communities cope with circumstances like terror, economic decline, and political upheaval. ORT lives by the old adage....give a man a fish, he eats for a day...teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. ORT empowers lives, one student at a time.
