December 2010, Newsletter #19

The Great Carmel Fire Following the national tragedy on the Carmel, JAFI appealed for support and its world-wide partners in the Jewish communities responded with vigor and compassion. Since the fire broke out on Thursday, representatives of Jewish Communities around the world have been calling, offering assistance, and expressing their condolences to the stricken families and good wishes to the security and rescue services.

Hundreds of children from communities in the North who were evacuated from their homes because of the fire on the Carmel range, will enjoy their Hanukka vacation this week in the framework of organized educational activities run by the Jewish Agency, which will take place in localities which are safe and distant from the fire, and will include outings and performances in the center of the country. The activities are being run in coordination with the relevant Government authorities and in cooperation with the Migdal Or (Lighthouse) Association and the Noar Ha'oved ve Halomed youth movement (Israel's equivalent to the Habonim Youth Movement). Click here for updates.

The Government's Resolution on the Falash Mura On November 14, the Government of Israel decided to give the Jewish Agency responsibility for completing within three years the Aliyah of the Falash Mura currently residing in Gondar. The Jewish Agency will have exclusive responsibility for the transit camp in Gondar which has been run up till now by the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry. The list of members of the Falash Mura community in the transit camp in Gondar waiting to be brought to Israel now stands at about 8,000 men, women and children. The Jewish Agency will allocate close to 27 million shekels to this cause. After all those eligible for aliyah are brought to Israel, the Jewish Agency will be responsible for closing the Gondar transit camp. In the transit camp, the Jewish Agency will increase the educational activity among the community in the areas of Judaism, Hebrew instruction and other measures aimed at easing the process of absorption of the olim in Israel and helping them better integrate into Israeli society.

GA 2010 The Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly of 2010 took place in early November in New-Orleans. As in previous years, much effort was put into organizing JAFI's role and input at the GA. The professional preparations for the GA were led by a professional steering committee comprised of representatives of all JAFI departments and units. Jewish Agency International Development, led by Dr. Misha Galperin, played a central role in all our preparations. This year's GA featured many components relating to JAFI's new mission and activities. The highlights were speeches by the Prime Minister of Israel, and the Chairman of the Executive, Natan Sharansky, at a special plenary, numerous panels arranged by JAFI - including a panel on Conversion moderated by Natan Sharansky, and a MASA evening event in collaboration with JFNA Young Leadership Cabinet. The 2010 International Lions of Judah Conference (ILOJC) was also held  in New Orleans, on November 8-10. Click here to watch Jill Goldsmith, of JAID, speak at the conference.

Partnership 2000 at the GA P2K continued to build upon its renewed vision and plan for the future at the General Assembly (GA) of the Jewish Federations of North America in New Orleans in early November. The well-attended GA workshop titled, “Scaling Success Program,” included a panel discussion featuring speakers who shared different P2K perspectives. The panelists included: Raya Strauss Ben Dror, P2K International Co-Chair and Co-Chair of the Northern New-Jersey-Nahariya Partnership, who shared personal examples of programming engaging different populations and different communal organizations and ultimately creating a network of ties between the partnership communities;  Jane Gelman, President of the World Confederation of Jewish Community Centers (WCJCC) and former P2K Co-Chair, who demonstrated how the P2K and WCJCC platforms have joined together in creative ways to engage the international constituencies of both organizations; Lisa Liser, P2K Co-Chair  of the Metrowest-Ofakim-Merchavim Partnership who spoke about the year-long renewal process that her Partnership has completed and how it created change in “how” and “what” is being done in the Partnership and how it transformed into a leading Jewish peoplehood partnership; Andrea Arbel, Director of the Partnership Division, Jewish Agency for Israel, who gave a general overview of how P2K serves as an international platform for strengthening Jewish Peoplehood. The panel was facilitated by Max Kleinman, Federation Executive of the United Jewish Communities of Metrowest New Jersey.

A P2K Post-GA Meeting was also held in New Orleans dedicated to “Advancing the Partnership Vision.” This meeting included an educational session and hands-on exercises to learn about the Partnership vision tools. These tools have been specially devised to assist partnerships advance along the strategic directions of the new vision. The Partnership mifgash was facilitated by Becky Sobelman Stern, Vice President of Strategic Planning in JFNA. The New Orleans meetings underscored P2k's commitment to revitalize ongoing engagement between Jewish communities across the globe. 

Jewish Agency for Israel Student Conference: From Herzl until Today - European Jewry and Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel sponsored a student conference for nearly 400 Taglit and Masa Israel alumni in Weimar, Germany, from November 25^th to November 28^th. The conference brought together German-speaking young adults from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland on the 150th anniversary of the birth of the founder of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl. The focus was on modern Israel, its centrality in the Jewish world and the global campaign to de-legitimize Israel. Conference speakers included senior journalists Ben-Dror Yemini, opinion-editor of the daily newspaper Maariv, Yaron Dekel, political commentator for Channel One, and Amit Segal, foreign correspondent in London for Channel Two as well as Anna Azari, Former Israeli Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Michael Brodsky, Director of Public Affairs at Embassy of Israel in London and historians, rabbis, and community leaders. Weimer is a significant location for the first German-speaking conference of this kind as it was not only the home of many outstanding cultural figures, including Bach, Goethe, and Nietzsche, but also the location of Buchenwald, the former concentration camp. This conference is part of a larger Jewish Agency strategy to cultivate an elite cadre of young leaders in Germany to positively impact on the unique and complex dynamics of Jewish communal life. The event also reflects the great importance the Jewish Agency attaches to nurturing Jewish life in Germany. As such, the Jewish Agency has launched a special task force for Central Europe and Germany under the direction of Dr. Michael Yedovitzky. Click here to view photos from the conference – Buchenwald photos, Panel photos.

Keshet The participants of the 38th Keshet group: 30 parents and 36 lone Olim soldiers from the FSU have just returned to their regular lives – the soldiers to their army units and their parents back to the FSU, where the memories of the past week will be something to cherish forever. Even with the complete support network provided by the IDF, the burden of military service is especially difficult for lone Olim soldiers and their families. Native Israeli soldiers return to their homes and families during leave on weekends and holidays and are able to feel the support and comforts of home. Lone Olim soldiers lack this crucial support system, and are forced to spend leave with adopted families or the families of soldiers in their army unit. Although this is a generous gesture on the part of these families, there is no replacement for being with one's own parents.

 "Keshet" (rainbow in Hebrew) gives parents of lone Olim soldiers who cannot afford to travel on their own the opportunity to visit their children in Israel and spend 10 precious days with them, allowing them to support their brave children in the military and to see them integrated into Israeli society. This past trip was made possible by the generous donations of Broward County and several private donors.

Editor: Sarit Sharfi