Behind President Herzog’s Global Search for the Next ‘Voice of the People’ Cohort 

Voice of the People council member Deborah Apeloig and CEO Shirel Dagan-Levy speak to The Media Line about expanding global Jewish leadership and countering antisemitism 

There is a row of colorful pillows in the corner of Deborah Apeloig’s home studio in Mexico City. One reads: “Shaping our future together.” 

The pillows were made for an in-person Voice of the People gathering in Haifa in 2025. Apeloig, a member of the initiative’s inaugural cohort, brought several home. They have remained there as a reminder of a project she believes will outlast her formal term. 

Venezuelan-born and based in Mexico, Apeloig is a communications professional, content creator, and Jewish community advocate. She founded Tikun Talks, a communications and consulting platform that uses podcasts, digital content, workshops, and public speaking to address antisemitism and polarization, promote dialogue, and introduce audiences to people working for positive social change. 

Before establishing Tikun Talks, Apeloig worked in advertising, innovation, and brand strategy. The granddaughter of Holocaust survivors Musha Horenkrig and Andrés Abraham Apeloig, she has also used her work to preserve Holocaust memory and bring survivor experiences to younger generations. 

“They’ve been a part of me and my platform for all this time, and they will remain,” Apeloig told The Media Line. “Because Voice of the People is not only these two years that I have spent in the council—it’s going to be forever a part of me and my work.” 

That sense of continuity is central to Voice of the People’s next phase. The global Jewish leadership initiative, supported by President Isaac Herzog’s office along with the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency for Israel and philanthropic partners, has opened applications for its second cohort.

The new group is expected to include 150 participants: 50 from Israel, 50 from the US and Canada, and 50 from Jewish communities elsewhere in the Diaspora. Applicants must be Jewish, at least 21, able to work in English, and prepared to take part in collective leadership work. The application deadline is Oct. 12.

“The strength of the Jewish people has always come from our ability to remain connected across differences of geography, tradition and perspective,” Herzog said. “As we open applications for the second Voice of the People cohort, I invite Jews from around the world to bring their voices, experiences and ideas to this growing global network, and to help shape our shared future together.” 

The strength of the Jewish people has always come from our ability to remain connected across differences of geography, tradition and perspective

Voice of the People was created to bring together Jews with varied backgrounds and perspectives, build relationships, and develop practical responses to challenges facing Jewish communities. According to the organization, more than 20 initiatives developed through the first cohort and its partners have reached the proof-of-concept stage. 

For Shirel Dagan-Levy, the initiative’s CEO, the work starts with bringing together people who might otherwise never meet. 

Dagan-Levy is an Israeli lawyer by training whose career has included work in law, business, high tech, and startups. Before leading Voice of the People, she served as chief financial and operating officer of Maoz, an Israeli leadership organization, and held senior business-development and strategic-client roles at telecommunications company IBC. 

She also worked in global contracts and procurement at the Israeli technology company Verint and previously served in the Israeli Ministry of Defense’s procurement delegation in New York. Her experience building cross-sector partnerships now informs Voice of the People’s effort to turn dialogue among Jewish communities into practical cooperation. 

“We want to walk the talk,” she said. 

Some participants, she said, had never previously met a Jew from another continent, denomination, or professional world. Before trying to solve shared problems, they first had to learn who was in the room. 

“I believe that everything starts with trust and trust begins with knowing one another,” Dagan-Levy said. 

“Even if we share different opinions and we disagree, and that’s OK,” she said. “That’s our strength, you know, having disagreements.” 

At the initiative’s launch, more than 10,000 people responded to a survey in six languages about the issues the council should address. Antisemitism, Jewish-non-Jewish relations, polarization and dialogue, Jewish education and heritage, and the Israel-Diaspora relationship emerged as leading concerns. 

Working groups then assessed existing efforts, identified gaps, and developed proposals. Dagan-Levy said one focus has been antisemitism, particularly online, and the need to reach younger audiences and build relationships beyond Jewish communities. 

“We can’t just talk to ourselves when we talk about antisemitism,” she said. 

Council members range in age from 19 to 82, and the organization says 86% are under 50. For Apeloig, whose Tikun Talks project focuses on Latin American and Spanish-speaking Jewish communities, the challenge is not only to combat antisemitism but also to broaden the public story about Jews and Israel. 

“I specifically talked about not focusing on viralizing antisemitism, which is what happens and has been happening in social media, but viralizing philosemitism,” she said. “There’s so much love and admiration and bridges and people that actually love the Jewish people and love Israel.” 

Through Tikun Talks and Voice of the People, Apeloig said she has “been able to become a louder voice for the Jewish people in general and for the Latin American, Spanish-speaking Jewish communities in particular.” 

She said Latin American communities need content tailored to their own languages and experiences, even though many people also follow English-language Jewish media. 

“Latin American Jews often follow English-language content, and many are bilingual,” she said. “But we also need our own narrative and our own content in Spanish for Latin American communities.” 

Apeloig described a shifting regional landscape. At a forum organized by the Combat Antisemitism Movement in the Dominican Republic, she said, evangelical communities publicly expressed support for Jews and Israel. The event followed an announcement by the Dominican Republic’s president that the country would adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism. 

“What I saw there was beautiful,” she said. “They were there showing their support.” 

The gathering also drew two pro-Palestinian demonstrators who used a question period to make accusatory comments, Apeloig said. 

“You felt the love and the support,” she said. “But of course, there’s always both.” 

One of the council’s most visible projects is the Jewish and Indian Alliance, launched in April after roughly 18 months of planning. The initiative seeks to deepen ties between Jewish and Indian communities in the Diaspora. 

“We found that we have so many similarities,” Apeloig said. “We live within our bubble.” 

Apeloig and fellow council member Shoshana Turkia have worked with the Indian Embassy in Mexico City, while another member has worked on the effort in Israel. The project has organized opportunities for people from both communities to meet. 

“So, we are creating events, moments for our two peoples to come together,” Apeloig said. “And it’s been fascinating and enriching.” 

Dagan-Levy describes this approach as “generous leadership”: sharing ideas, data and contacts rather than keeping them within a single organization. Voice of the People’s public hub allows organizations and individuals to review projects and explore possible partnerships. 

“If we know we have a report or data, use it,” she said. “It’s not ours.” 

That openness matters, Apeloig said, for communities that sometimes feel overlooked in global Jewish discussions. 

“Sometimes in Latin American Jewish communities, we feel like we are not being seen or taken into account enough in the global Jewish conversations,” she said. 

Political tensions in Israel and the US can complicate common work, Dagan-Levy acknowledged. Israeli elections and political debates often reverberate in Jewish communities abroad. 

“The tension here affects our brothers and sisters abroad,” she said. 

Still, the council offers a place to compare approaches. Participants from Europe, Australia, Latin America, North America, and Israel may confront similar antisemitic incidents or communal strains but pursue different responses through governments, neighbors or local institutions. 

“We might have the same problems, but we took very different solutions, and we can learn from one another what worked and what did not work,” Dagan-Levy said. 

We might have the same problems, but we took very different solutions, and we can learn from one another what worked and what did not work

The program’s active cohort work is expected to run for 16 months, including personal exchanges, working groups and an accelerator phase designed to turn proposals into collective action. Participants will then join Voice of the People’s continuing alumni and leadership network. 

The organization says it will use a custom algorithm, together with a multi-stage review process, to help select candidates across criteria including geography, generation, professional background, and communal affiliation. 

“As we build the next cohort, we are looking beyond titles and traditional definitions of leadership,” Dagan-Levy said. “We want people with local knowledge, lived experience, expertise, creativity and a willingness to work with others, including people who may never previously have thought of themselves as Jewish leaders.” 

For Dagan-Levy, the end of the first cohort is not an ending. 

“Deborah’s cohort is ending this year, but it’s not the ending,” she said. “This is the beginning. I mean, for me, that’s the commencement.” 

The first council began its work during wartime, forcing schedules and plans to change repeatedly. 

“Everything we scheduled needed to move,” Dagan-Levy said. 

The lesson, she said, was adaptability. 

“We have to be adaptive,” she said. “The only thing we control is how do we react to this reality.” 

As Rosh Hashana approaches, Apeloig sees a similar lesson in a family recipe. Her grandmother’s leikaj, a honey cake traditionally prepared for the Jewish New Year, repeatedly overflowed in Mexico City until she realized the city’s altitude required less baking soda. 

“It’s just a little metaphor to understand that sometimes you need to adjust,” she said. 

The recipe, carried from another place and another generation, worked once it was adapted to its new setting. Apeloig plans to share it, especially with non-Jewish friends, along with the tradition behind it. 

“It’s a tradition. It’s a honey cake, and it’s to wish for a healthy and sweet new year,” she said. 

For Apeloig, that small act is also outreach. 

“It’s the most beautiful hasbara that we can do. Just sharing our Jewish joy, our traditions.” 

The pillows in her Mexico City studio began as a detail from a gathering in Haifa. They now represent the larger purpose Voice of the People hopes to sustain: connecting Jews with different histories, languages, and convictions, and turning those relationships into shared action. 

Grandma Musha’s Honey Cake (Leikaj)
In honor of Musha Horenkrig de Apeloig, z”l 

Ingredients 

• 1½ cups sugar 

• 5 eggs, separated 

• 1½ cups honey 

• 1 cup vegetable oil 

• 1 tsp baking soda* 

• ¾ tsp ground cloves 

• 4 cups all-purpose flour 

• ¾ cup freshly brewed strong coffee 

• Juice of 1 lemon 

*High-altitude note: If baking in a high-altitude city such as Mexico City, reduce the baking soda. I use approximately ½ teaspoon. 

Instructions 

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). 

1. Separate the eggs. Beat the 5 egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside. 

1. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until well combined. 

1. Mix the honey and lemon juice together to thin the honey slightly, then add to the yolk mixture. 

1. Add the baking soda, ground cloves, and vegetable oil. Mix thoroughly, making sure there are no lumps. 

1. Add the freshly brewed coffee and mix until incorporated. 

1. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. 

1. Gradually add the flour, mixing until the batter is thick and homogeneous. 

Baking 

• Lightly grease a 9 × 13-inch rectangular baking pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Lightly grease the parchment as well. 

• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. 

• Bake for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. 

• Baking time may vary depending on your oven and altitude. 

• Once baked, remove the cake from the pan while keeping the parchment paper around it. 

• Wrap it in aluminum foil once cooled to help preserve its characteristic moisture. 

A Little Tikun to Take With You 

Eating and gifting leikaj is about more than wishing for a sweet year. Family recipes carry memories, migrations, traditions, and pieces of the people who came before us. 

So while you’re making this one, ask someone in your family about your recipe, the one that deserves to be written down and passed on. 

Sometimes l’dor vador, from generation to generation, begins in the kitchen. 

I feel compelled to share my grandmother’s recipe with you so that her memory may forever be a blessing. If you bake it, I would love to hear how it turned out—and whether you and your family loved it as much as we do. Please DM me on Instagram @tikuntalks and let me know. 

A very special thank you to my sister, Gaby Apeloig, for being the guardian and perfecter of Grandma Musha’s leikaj, preserving this piece of our family so that her great-grandchildren can enjoy it today, and so that we can continue carrying it forward for generations to come. 

Shana tova u’metuka!  

Deborah Apeloig
Tikun Talks