JCF and Israel

2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel. To celebrate, the UJA Benefit Concert Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Foundation is planning an extraordinary Israel at 60 Concert at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on May 7. Continue to visit www.ujcnj.org and the New Jersey Jewish News for more information.

• Building Jewish identity and continuity through travel
  Many studies – including those based on the most recent National Jewish Population Survey – clearly show that travel to Israel has a profound and lasting impact on Jewish identity and continuity. Travel to Israel, like attendance at a Jewish day school and residential Jewish summer camping, increases the likelihood that Jewish children, as adults, will be affiliated with a synagogue, contribute to Jewish causes, and show a strong, lasting commitment to Judaism and the Jewish community. Because of this compelling data, UJC MetroWest and JCF are determined to insure our future by working with donors to develop, strengthen, and endow initiatives to bring these experiences to as many of our children as possible. Among those initiatives are:
   
  • Taglit-Birthright Israel. Taglit (“Discovery”) Birthright Israel provides the gift of first-time, peer-group, educational trips to Israel for young Jewish adults ages 18 to 26. Hailed as the most exciting, innovative, and successful venture in the modern Jewish community, the program has, since its launch almost eight years ago, brought 145,000 young adults from 52 countries to the Jewish State. Through these experiences, the program aims to diminish the growing division between Israel and the Diaspora, strengthen the sense of solidarity among world Jewry, and enhance participants’ personal Jewish identities and connections to the Jewish people.

    With only 70,000 North American Jews born each year, Birthright Israel is now attracting 50,000 applicants annually. Last year there were 29,500 spots for the winter and summer trips and more 59,000 applicants. In eight short years, Taglit-Birthright Israel has become a rite of passage for North American Jews – and funding is needed to build the capacity of the program.

    Funding Birthright Israel is a partnership between the people and Government of Israel, UJC, and leading philanthropists. The total expense of the trip for one young adult is approximately $3,000. A gift of $50,000 will insure that 20 young adults have the opportunity to experience Israel for the first time. For more information, log onto www.birthrightisrael.com
     

  • MASA. As the Birthright Israel experience has shown, short trips to Israel have a powerful and lasting impact on both Jewish identity and connection to the Jewish State. Research has shown that long-term trips intensify this effect dramatically.

    MASA is an historic partnership between the people of Israel, The Jewish Agency, and Jewish communities around the world to address declining Jewish identity and weakening affiliation with the State of Israel among Diaspora youth by encouraging tens of thousands of young Jews aged 18 to 30 to participate in semester and year-long programs in Israel. MASA’s goal is to bring 20,000 young Jews to Israel annually from all over the world, building tomorrow’s leaders, donors, and committed Jews. By 2010, 20,000 young Jews will be participating in a wide range of programs that will include Hebrew language instruction, lectures and field trips designed to provide students with an intimate knowledge of the Land of Israel, volunteer work in Israeli society, and encounters with Israeli peers.

    Significant scholarship assistance is needed to insure that all who need financial support can participate in this transformative experience. Needy student can receive up to $9,000 in scholarship funding – $4,500 from a donor or endowment fund set up locally for that purpose, and a $4,500 match from the Government of Israel. For more information, see www.masaisrael.org.
     

• Strengthening Israel and her people
  Strengthening the State of Israel is a key component of the work that UJC and JCF do with both local donors and our overseas partners. For a full menu of our work in Israel, see www.ujcnj.org. Current initiatives include:
   
  • Operation Atzmaut: an innovative approach to strengthening Ethiopian-Israeli families – In just 20 years, Israel has absorbed some 30,000 Ethiopian immigrants, bringing this unique community to over 100,000 members. Whereas some have succeeded in building their lives in Israel, the majority battle severe challenges that relegate them to the periphery of Israeli society. Challenges include high rates of unemployment and adult literacy. Only 41 percent of Ethiopian-Israeli children graduate from high school, and most graduates do not go on to university. Through Operation Atzmaut mentoring and programmatic intervention, Ethiopian-Israeli families learn to break down the social, economic and cultural barriers that block their integration into Israeli society.
     
  • The Frankel Challenge to Assist Wounded Soldiers – The Second Lebanon War posed serious challenges to Israel and its people, and JCF donors rose to the occasion. The Leah & Edward Frankel Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Foundation went one step further, issuing a challenge to MetroWest donors: It would match dollar for dollar $200,000 contributed by other donors. The funds would go to help Israeli soldiers and their families overcome the impact of war. Frankel’s support turned into a fund of $400,000 in aid that was distributed to 114 individuals and families.
     
  • Community Soup Kitchen in Israel – supplying daily hot meals to seniors, veterans and new immigrants at the Neve Eliyahu Community Center in Rishon Lezion.
     
  • Work with the Druze Community in Israel – UJC MetroWest has twinned the community centers in Rishon Lezion and Horfesh, a Druze community, to create ethnically diverse programming that brings together Jewish Israelis of Ethiopian and Russian backgrounds and the Druze of Horfesh. The goal: to promote understanding and pluralism in the region.