LIFE IN ISRAEL

Ramah Experience Touches Israeli Staff (Summer Newsletter 2008)

For the past sixty years, the Ramah Camps have been employing Israeli staff to work during the summer season. Now, as both Israel and Ramah celebrate their sixtieth anniversary, one can look at the positive influence of this encounter between the Israelis and the North Americans as a two-way street.

This summer, more than 200 Israeli shlichim, are working at the various Ramah camps. As Rabbi Mitchell Cohen, Ramah's National Director, writes: "The presence of shlichim add tremendously to Ramah's Zionist mission. [They] give our campers and staff a personal connection to Israel, heightening our awareness of the real issues that face Israeli society today, and become extended family for 'Ramahniks' who visit Israel."

At the same time, however, Ramah has had a profound influence on the Israeli visitors. As Cohen notes: "Having been exposed, sometimes for the first time in their lives, to the powerful message of Conservative Judaism, many shlichim return to Israel after a summer at Ramah inspired in a new way Jewishly, often seeking deeper connections with Jewish religious life in Israel."

"As hundreds of Ramah shlichim experience the joy and beauty of Jewish religious life at Camp Ramah and return to Israel each year, we believe that their impact on Israeli society can be substantial, contributing to a more pluralistic view of Judaism and bringing more young men and women closer to Torah."

Neve Hanna Children Say "Todah" (Summer Newsletter 2008)

Earlier this year, MERCAZ members and supporters were encouraged to participate in the annual American Zionist Movement's Purim Campaign, which this year included among its beneficiaries the Masorti-affiliated Neve Hanna, a residential village for children from troubled family backgrounds located in the Negev city of Kiryat Gat. Donations received provided "mishloach manot" gift packages, delivered by a group of USY NATIV students, to the more than one hundred children living and studying at the institution.

Yoav Ende, a Schechter Institute rabbinical student and the Masorti counselor at Neve Hanna, writes: "The mishloach manot visit was a great success. The 'Nativnikim' came on Sunday which was the first day after our kids came back from their Purim holiday, helping the kids feel special and loved as they came back to the children's home. The mishlochey manot looked beautiful and were rich with sweets and games. Thank you - AZM, WZO, MERCAZ and NATIV - for making our kids feel special!"

For more information about the children's home, contact the American Friends of Neve Hanna: 212-533-7800 x 2018, board.america@nevehanna.org, www.nevehanna.org.

JAFI Receives Israel Prize (Summer Newsletter 2008)

In recognition of the importance of the bond that the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) has succeeded in building between Jewish communities around the world and Israel and the contribution that JAFI has made over its nearly 80 years to the creation and development of the Jewish state, the State of Israel chose to honor the Jewish Agency at this past Yom HaAtzmaut with the Israel Prize, the country's most prestigious award.

The Jewish Agency was established in 1929 by the World Zionist Organization as a partnership between the WZO and non-Zionist Jewish leaders, such as Louis Marshall, Leon Blum, and Felix Warburg. The Agency was set up in accordance with the stipulation in the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine (1922) that a "Jewish agency" comprised of representatives of world Jewry assist in the "establishment of the Jewish National Home . . . in Palestine."

As the de facto government of the state-on-the-way, JAFI was recognized as the official representative of the Jewish community and world Jewry vis-a-vis the League of Nations, the British Mandate government, and foreign governments. The Jewish Agency was also responsible for the Yishuv's internal affairs: immigration and resettlement of new immigrants, building of new settlements, economic development, education and culture, hospitals and health services.

Reorganized after the '67 Six Day War as a 50-50 partnership between the WZO and the Jewish community fundraising apparatus (the UJC in the United States and Keren HaYesod elsewhere), JAFI, with its annual budget of approximately $300 million, is the largest global Jewish partnership in existence, officially representing the Jewish community in Israel, together with the million or more Jews around the world who belong to Zionist organizations and/or contribute to the annual Jewish federation campaigns.

Ironically, the announcement of the Israel Prize came at the same time that rumors began circulating about impending reorganization plans at the Agency to deal with a $25 million deficit, about 10% of its budget, plans that could lead to a revamping of its aliyah operations and the merging of the Aliyah and Education Departments into a single "Diaspora operations" division.

Over the past decade, JAFI has been dealing with a slow but steady decline in revenues, a consequence primarily as American Jewish federations have shifted the ratio of funds from overseas needs towards local Jewish concerns. However, the current crisis has arisen suddenly as a result of the U.S. dollar's decline of nearly 20% in just one year against the shekel, from 4.2 NIS to $1 in April '07 to under 3.5 NIS to $1 today.

Discussions on restructuring the Aliyah Department also come at a time when the traditional "aliyah from necessity" from such places as the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia, an aliyah which saw tens of thousands of new immigrants needing to be moved and settled at once, ends and is replaced by a slower and smaller "aliyah from choice" from countries in the West, including the United States, Canada, Latin America and Western Europe.

As those in the field have contended, this latter type of aliyah requires a different kind of investment of resources, with greater attention to strengthening Jewish education and encouraging positive short and long-term Israel experiences as necessary stages towards eventual aliyah. Nevertheless, whatever restructuring may occur, the Agency is firmly committed to maintaining aliyah as one of the key pillars of its operations.

Masorti's Campaign for Ashkelon & Sderot (Yom HaAtzmaut Newsletter 2008)

Because of the expanded rocket attacks from Gaza against Sderot, Ashkelon and nearby areas, the entire Conservative Movement is getting behind a new emergency fundraising appeal being coordinated by the Masorti Foundation.

In Ashkelon, where the Masorti Movement has long had a large and active kehilla (community) with a kindergarten program involving about 200 children, the immediate need is to reinforce parts of the synagogue building, including putting shatter-proof glass on some large windows.

In Sderot, where the Masorti Movement has already arranged more than two-dozen day trips to take residents on excursions to Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv or other locations, more such trips are planned. In addition, Masorti's "MAROM" program for young adults, which has sponsored several lectures and films in Sderot, is expanding its program activities there.

All contributions for help for Ashkelon and Sderot may be sent to the Masorti Foundation, Suite 832, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10015, with a check payable to Masorti Foundation or paid online at www.masorti.org. Checks or online donations should be accompanied by notes that the funds are designated for the emergency appeal.

Fuchsberg Arranges Israeli Goodies (Spring Newsletter 2008)

Perhaps you'd like your Israeli friends and family to receive a holiday gift basket? The United Synagogue's Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center can arrange to send gift baskets within Israel to friends and family, as well as to immigrant soldiers without family support. Visit www.uscjisraelbaskets.com to place your order. A portion of each sale will be donated to scholarships for programs at the United Synagogue Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center.

Ramah Programs Seeks Sifrei Torah (Spring Newsletter 2008)

Ramah Programs in Israel is interested in acquiring one or two small Sifrei Torah, either as a donation or for minimal cost, for use throughout the year on various Ramah programs. Proper recognition will be provided to the donating congregation or individual. For more information, contact Rabbi Ed Snitkoff, Director, Ramah Israel Seminar, ed@ramah.co.il, Tel: 972-2-679-0243, ext. 203.

New Schechter Center in Tel Aviv (Spring Newsletter 2008)

With over $2 million having been raised, out of a total goal of $3.2 million, the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Tel Aviv Schechter Center for Jewish Culture was held at the end of 2007. The building project in the Neve Zedek neighborhood includes the restoration and transformation of the historic Lorenz House, which was built in the 1880's and served over the years as a cafe, wedding hall, soldiers' club and movie theater, into a Jewish house of learning.

When completed, the Center will be the home of the Midreshet Iyun program for pluralistic Jewish learning and Kehillat Sinai, both headed by the Rabbi Roberto Arbib, a graduate of the Schechter Rabbinical School. It will also house a TALI early childhood center as well as other Schechter-affiliated programs.

Masorti Celebrates 30th Anniversary (Spring Newsletter 2008)

The Masorti Movement in Israel celebrated its 30th anniversary this past December with a two-day public conference, capped by a gala dinner. Among the honorees at the festive event was Hershel Blumberg of Chevy Chase, MD, the founder and past Chair of the Masorti Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel and a former Vice-President of MERCAZ USA.

Since its founding, the Masorti Movement has grown to include some fifty centers throughout the country, from traditional synagogues to innovative projects, such as Rabbi Uri Ayalon's "Yotzer Or", the Masorti kehilla in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Talpiot which last Fall received a "Synagogue 3000" innovation grant funded by the Nathan Cummings Foundation.

MERCAZ Deputy Heads KKL Committee (Spring Newsletter 2008)

Orr Karassin, one of three MERCAZ Olami/Green Zionist representatives to Keren Kayemet L'Yisrael-Jewish National Fund Board of Directors, was appointed in July as the Chair of the Higher Education, Research Environment and Ecology Sub-committee of the KKL's Funds Committee. The Funds Committee manages some 70 endowment funds, dedicated to such varied purposes as education and research, social welfare and community development, which were left to the KKL as bequests.

Karassin's plans include radically changing the criteria for selecting projects to insure that all funded activities contain a clearly applicable and cutting edge environmental theme. She also sees her position as an opportunity to promote Masorti-inspired "green" social ideals by making grants available to students who have demonstrated proven leadership qualities and a commitment to environmental issues.

Ex-Chief Rabbi's Words Stoke Hatred (Spring Newsletter 2008)

Israel's Masorti Movement threatened legal action against former Sephardi Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu for saying during his weekly Torah lecture last November that "the reek of hell wafts" from Reform and Conservative synagogues, and it is therefore forbidden to walk by them.

In his lecture, Eliyahu related that he was once invited to a circumcision in a building that contained three synagogues, one Orthodox, one Conservative and one Reform. The Orthodox synagogue, he said, was on the top floor, "and I wondered how I would enter and pass by these synagogues, from which the reek of hell wafts...They told me that there was a sort of kitchen through which one could go up without passing those synagogues, and I told them that I would only go up via that kitchen, and only if I would not pass the entrances to those forbidden synagogues."

This is not the first time that the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi has made wild assertions against non-Orthodox Jewry. Last Spring, rabbi Eliyahu accused the Reform Movement, which arose in the 19th century in Germany, with angering God and thereby causing the Holocaust: "Those reformers of religion started in Germany, and because it is said that the wrath of God does not distinguish between the righteous and the evil ones — this was done."

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