Shalom! I am Judy Wallace, and I’m on a humanitarian mission as a heritage interpreter, and history scholar living, working, and studying in Israel. My sending organization is Yehudit Institute, the integrated auxiliary of Yad Moshe of Kentucky, Inc. (YMK), a 501c3 religious organization.
I have had the honor of serving as Service Team Leader since YMK’s founding in 2012. In this leadership role, this also means the behind-the-scenes work that enables three major expressions of loving-kindness to reach our sphere of influence in Israel, the USA, and beyond.
l advocate in my life’s work that a religion must be humane to the most vulnerable and not use religion as politics nor to bestow favor upon only the people who say perfect platitudes. Therefore I chose Orthodox Judaism and took on the yoke of Torah with pure motives because Hashem is One and He is the Creator of the world according to the first words of the first chapter of the first book of the Torah. That is where my journey began and that is where my beliefs are permanently entrenched. It is the impartiality of the halacha that lets me know that Hashem is not capricious lo alaynu in judgment nor in mercy.
Looking ahead to 2026, I have set a goal to perform a brand continuity audit so we can make the changes needed to increase good communication that promotes belief in the human spirit, a belief rooted in humane and faith-based ways of knowing.