CINCINNATI, OH:---For five years, the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati has brought two Israeli teen ambassadors to infuse our community with modern Israeli culture and Israeli life. Called “Chaverim M’Israel”, or “Friends of Israel”, the program promotes a positive and realistic view of Israel through education and personal interaction between Israeli teens—who come to live here for a year—and members of the Cincinnati community. Unfortunately, earlier this year, the Jewish Federation announced that the program would have to be eliminated due to the economic decline.
The announcement came as members of the senior class of Mercaz High School—Cincinnati’s Conservative supplementary Jewish high school—were deciding upon their senior project. They unanimously agreed that they would take on the challenge of raising the necessary funds—$40,000—to keep the program alive.
“We would like to keep this valuable program going so that current and future high school students will have the opportunity to learn and grow as much as we have,” said the students in a letter to the community.
“Each and every Chaver, or friend, that has come to Cincinnati has made a lasting impact not only on our senior class, but on our community as a whole. We are all graduating and moving on to the next phase of our lives, but we realize the importance of this program to our community and are working to keep it here.
” Each student in the class made a personal contribution to the effort prior to reaching out to the community. The students approached the Mayerson Foundation, which responded with a contribution of $10,000. Class members also designed and sold 100 T-Shirts to fund the project; and then fanned out into the community to seek donations large and small.
“These teens have done something that is completely selfless,” said Dara Wood, Director of Mercaz High School. “ They have brought this program back. They understood the necessity of the Federation’s cutbacks; but at the same time, they believed they could make a difference—and they did.” “Like many organizations in these times, the Jewish Federation has had to make some very difficult budget decisions,” said Shep Englander, CEO of the Jewish Federation.
“This program has excellent impact. We would have loved to keep this outstanding program in our budget, but we needed to re-direct available funds to support critical lifeline community services. The students asked us if we would support their independent fundraising effort to restore the program. We wholeheartedly stood behind them, and we could not be prouder of their amazing success. These young people have demonstrated that with commitment and collaboration, communities can thrive even in challenging times.
These high school students stepped forward and took personal responsibility for a community asset. This shows how Cincinnati leads on Israel connections. The investment in Jewish education and Israel teen experiences has truly paid off.” The 2008 Jewish Community Study revealed that one of three (33%) of Cincinnati Jewish respondents reported they are “very connected to Israel”.
This is five percentage points higher than the national average. Additionally, 52% of Cincinnati Jewish respondents had been to Israel— compared to 35% of NJPS (National Jewish Population Survey) national respondents. Though the students have raised over $35,000, they are focused on reaching their fundraising goal of $40,000. “The Chaverim M’Israel program impacts over 3500 kids, teens, adults, and seniors every year,” they said. “We now want to give back. As a community, we can come together and make this dream a reality.” The Mercaz High School students include Michael Hoffman, Arthur Kurtzman, Jenna Rubin, Eric Schwartz, Zachary Sosna, Jeremy Spiegel, Erik Stillpass, Melanie Swartz, Adam Weber, Aliza Weinberger, Tammy Winkler, Freddie Wolf, Rachel Wolkoff. Amber Feldman is their teacher.