You Are Cordially Invited...

MISSION TO ISRAEL

June 3-7, 2012

We are delighted to offer this exclusive opportunity to members of the JDC Ambassadors Circle to join JDC's Board of Directors on this unique Israel experience.

Through exclusive visits to JDC programs, you will have the opportunity to gain new insight into JDC's cutting-edge work empowering Israel's most vulnerable citizens. 

Mission highlights:   (subject to change)

• See JDC's work firsthand and meet participants whose lives have been changed because of JDC and your support
• Meetings with senior government officials, security experts and key business people to discuss the most pressing challenges facing Israel today
• Join Nir Barkat, Mayor of Jerusalem for a walk along the walls of the Old City at sunset
• Dinner with the US Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact Rachel Rosenthal at rachel.rosenthal@jdcny.org or 212-885-0876.

We hope you will join us. 

Survivors Garner Strength from Each Other and New Generation

Modi’in Café Europa members engaged in artistic
activities and holiday celebrations with local youth.
Photo: JDC Website

Tzvi W. is haunted by visions from Dr. Joseph Mengele’s torture chambers, where he and his twin were sent at age 14. “From the minute I entered the camp and had a number tattooed on my arm until I finally made it out of there, I lost my humanity,” says Tzvi. There aren’t many people he can share this trauma with, and as he gets older and his coping mechanisms decline, the grief and pain of what he witnessed during his time in Auschwitz can be overwhelming.

That’s why Tzvi’s participation in Café Europa is so critical. He is one of over 2,200 elderly Holocaust survivors in Israel who find social and emotional support through this unique JDC program that also preserves their legacy for future generations.

The Café Europa activities in each location are driven by the participants themselves, reflecting their unique interests and sensibilities. For example, one group that meets regularly in Modi’in is comprised of Russian-born survivors who savor the intimate, social group environment at their sessions. As new immigrants to Israel, these Russian-speakers especially enjoy social activities in their native language, which include excursions with Russian-speaking guides, workshops on Jewish holidays and traditions, and a lecture series in Yiddish on Jewish and Israeli art. What’s universal is that Café Europa brings survivors warmth and community, and empowers them to create fulfilling experiences to share together. Together they form touring choirs; establish libraries with books in their native languages; organize lectures, workshops, and literary evenings; celebrate Kabbalat Shabbats, holidays, and birthdays; create musical performances; and plan field trips throughout Israel, giving Café Europa myriad forms throughout its 30-plus locations.

In each location, the program provides a critical forum for aging elderly survivors to share their experiences not only with each other but also with the youth in their communities. Local high school students join the seniors as volunteers and take part in joint activities like arts and crafts, hikes, and excursions. This next generation learns the survivors’ stories and together they forge an intergenerational community and contribute to the collective memory of this important historical era.

Tzipora, a 77-year-old Café Europa participant in Karmiel, has shared her recollections of walking through deep snow from Romania to Ukraine when she was seven, living for three years in near starvation in a labor camp, and overcoming Typhoid fever on a loaf of moldy bread. After the war her family moved to Israel and she worked for 25 years at a health clinic and raised three children. She is now a proud grandmother of five.

“The feeling of a common destiny unites me with the other survivors I’ve met here,” she says of Café Europa. “It allowed me to open up emotionally and to become socially active for the first time. I sincerely hope it will continue to provide a home and a social network for survivors.”

'What Does It Mean To Give?'

JDC Jewish Service Corps Fellow, Elizabeth Fine, who is based in Moscow, has written a wonderful piece on her blog about the recent visit to Moscow by participants on the Jewish Federations of North America Campaign Chairs and Directors mission. 

Read her post at 'What Does It Mean To Give?'

In Blessed Memory: Myra Kraft, z"l

To:       JDC Board of Directors

From:   Irv Smokler, President

            Steve Schwager, CEO

Re:       A Loss in the JDC Family

Date:    July 20, 2011

It is with sadness and a deep sense of loss that we share the news that JDC Board member Myra Hiatt Kraft passed away early this morning after a long battle with cancer. She was 68 years old.

Myra came onto the Board in 1994.  She chaired JDC’s Rescue Committee from December 2002 through December 2007.  Then she focused on needs in the country that she loved:  Israel.  She was the Vice Chair of the Israel Committee from January through December 2007 and then stepped up as Chair of the Committee from December 2007 through December 2010.

But as most of you know, JDC was just one piece of Myra’s remarkable world of caring and philanthropy, a world she embraced even as a young girl.  She inherited her passion for philanthropy from her late father, Jacob Hiatt, who escaped the rise of Nazism when he emigrated from Lithuania in the mid-1930’s.

Aside from JDC, she supported a myriad number of foundations, organizations, charities, and programs – always with a simple philosophy that she described in the following way:  “I’m not looking for earth-shattering ideas, but good programs that you know whatever you give them is going to be used well and that it’s needed.”

Barry Shrage, in his announcement of her death to the Boston Federation, commented that “her acts of gimilat chasadim (individual, anonymous, personal acts of loving kindness) were an essential part of who she was as a person.  No one in need was turned away.”

Both the Jewish and secular global families have lost a remarkable and loving friend and benefactor.  We extend our heartfelt condolences to Myra’s beloved husband, Bob, to her four sons – Jonathan, Daniel, Josh, and David – and to her eight grandchildren.  May her memory be for a blessing; we will remember her always and know without a doubt that the world is surely a better place because of her.

Woman of Valor Brings Hope to Struggling Jewish Families in Uruguay

Miriam has been a dedicated volunteer with Montevideo’s Jewish community for years because, she says, “our people should know that there is always a heart and hand to help each other in our time of need.” She spends hours each week giving dignity back to hundreds of poor Jewish families through the Tzedaká Uruguay Foundation (a Jewish social services organization established with help from JDC) where her husband is currently president.

“I am very honored and thankful to have the
chance to restore dignity to so many Jewish
families and to show them that there is always a
Jewish heart and hand to help,” says Miriam,
one of the founding members of the Tzedaka
women’s commission in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Photo: JDC Website

In fact, Miriam is one of the founding members of a Tzedaká women’s commission that supports programs for children and families struggling to rebuild their lives since the country’s economic crisis earlier this decade. These are families like the Grinbergs, whose financial situation became so desperate that the five of them were sleeping between washing machines in the back of their laundromat business.

Poor and vulnerable Jewish children like the Grinbergs receive food, health care, and educational support thanks to the work of Miriam and her commission. The Jewish daycare center she helped launch offers a nurturing place for these kids to spend after-school hours so their parents can search for work and earn a living to support them. Beyond the financial help, youth at risk of dropping out of school or hanging out on the streets participate in Jewish activities that integrate them into their caring community.

But for Miriam and others, the transformation into an effective women’s volunteer group required overcoming obstacles—challenges that JDC’s Leatid training experts are uniquely qualified to help them tackle. A leadership training program pioneered by JDC, Leatid works to develop Jewish lay and professional leaders to better serve the needs and challenges of their communities.

According to Miriam, Leatid has been no less than transcendent in raising the professionalism and coordination of her group. With coaching over the course of a few months, the women reconnected with the Jewish values of mutual responsibility and compassion that inspire their work and began collaborating with other community groups.

Since the commission began working with Leatid, it has grown significantly— both in spirit and numbers. “Hundreds more women have joined us because we are successfully and meaningfully addressing needs in our community,” Miriam shares. She and this team of committed volunteers have assumed responsibility not only for delivering the programs, but fundraising for them as well. Today these women of valor are giving struggling Jewish families in Uruguay the opportunity to thrive, reinforcing the strength and viability of the entire community.

STRIVE: Support and Training Result in Valuable Employment

JDC'S STRIVE program helps chronically unemployed young adults find gainful employment – their only path to self-reliance and financial security.

At 23, Yael found herself divorced, unemployed and caring for her two small children alone. She was unable to hold down a job. Having moved back into her parents' home with her children, she was ready to give up.

Yael learned about STRIVE when she became a client of the local welfare office. She'd sat with the social worker for two hours going through every possible job opening to which the welfare office could refer her, but she did not seem to fit any opportunity. Most of all, she was afraid of failing.

That is when the social worker gave her a STRIVE Jerusalem brochure and told her that if she "survived" the program’s intensive, month-long "boot camp" the program’s staff would find her gainful work and help her develop new skills towards a career path. They would guide her the whole way.

Yael agreed to the terms and decided that she would stick out the course no matter what. She recalls it now as one of the most challenging periods of her life. But Yael completed the course and the program quickly helped her find work in customer service at Pelephone, one of Israel's largest cell phone companies.

She has been working at Pelephone for the last two years and now heads up a team in customer service. "STRIVE taught me that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to—fulltime work, children and childcare, even studying part time to finish a degree in Business Management! "

With centers in Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel-Aviv, STRIVE begins by focusing on attitudinal training and "soft skills" for workplace success, as well as technical skills, such as resume writing and computer use. This is followed by a closely guided job search process. Once they have begun working, STRIVE graduates continue to receive guidance and support, as well as advanced training options that help ensure long-term employment success.

Connecting to Jewish Roots, Young Leader Builds Peer Network

Knafaim participants benefit from a program
encompassing personal development, Jewish
education, and project management and are
empowered to design and implement their own Jewish
-themed projects that benefit the larger community

Tanya Kirzner was born in Bashkriya, Central Russia, and grew up in a small town of 50,000 in Siberia. But it wasn’t until she moved to Moscow at age 17 that her personal story really began to unfold.

When she arrived at Moscow State University of Lomonosov to pursue a degree in English and Italian, many of her new acquaintances inquired about her family and background, and some inquired whether she was German, based on her surname. She became interested in uncovering her family heritage and started digging. She learned from her grandfather that he originally came from western Ukraine, but he left when the war started, after he lost both of his parents. And then her mother revealed that she was Jewish. “I’d never been to the Jewish community before. I knew nothing about this part of my life.” She was now on a journey of self-discovery and it wasn’t long before she found JDC’s Knafaim program. “Knafaim helped me open the door to the Jewish community,” she beams.

Based in Moscow, the Knafaim program cultivates young, local Jewish leadership. The year-long program provides young adults (ages 20-30) with education and training to enhance their management abilities, improve their professional skills, and broaden their Jewish knowledge, all in order to deepen their connection to the Jewish community and nurture constant and continuous involvement in Jewish life in Moscow.

Tanya learned of the program through a friend and decided to apply, thinking it might be a good way to meet other young Jews. She joined the program’s first class, consisting of 21 of her peers who demonstrate the creativity, drive, and ability to become community leaders. The program encompasses components of personal development, Jewish education, and project management and empowers the participants to design and implement their own ecological, educational, or social Jewish-themed projects that benefit the larger community as a whole and the Jewish community in particular.

Tanya’s project—a Yeda seminar—was inspired by her own success in Russia’s booming energy sector and her desire to create educational and networking opportunities for young Jews in the business world. Because Knafaim participants take ownership of the development, funding, and implementation of their project, Tanya worked hard to get Jewish experts, sponsors, and participants onboard; in turn, she began to feel that she was becoming a part of an expansive community herself.

Following great feedback from attendees of her first session—who felt the program gave them access to valuable networking opportunities and job prospects for the future—Tanya is already at work designing the program for the next session.

“It’s difficult to attract the right people because there are a lot of different ways young people can spend their time in Moscow,” said Tanya, reflecting on the competitive nature of conducting successful programs in her city. But with the vision and commitment of young leaders like herself, it looks like JDC and Knafaim are on the right track.

“I’m very grateful to Knafaim because this program has enriched my life with a new understanding of who I am and helped me connect to my roots,” said Tanya. “It is hard to overestimate the importance of this connection.”

Jewish Renewal Goes Live

With help from JDC's new online educational

resource, Russian-speaking Jews of all ages

and knowledge levels can teach and learn

about Jewish tradition and customs in new,

creative, and innovative ways.

Photo: JDC Website

Anton, a Jewish youth group leader, lives in an Eastern Ukrainian city with few knowledgeable Jews, no Jewish school or library, and a community life that is more enthusiastic than substantive. Despite his eagerness to help local teenagers grappling with what being Jewish means to them personally, Anton struggled with his own rudimentary religious education to put together a program on Jewish identity that would “speak” to young people and involve them personally in the dialogue.

That was some months ago.

Now, with the click of an icon, a world of Jewish information and creative programming—including lessons, games, and activities for all age groups—is open to him. JDC’s Activi, a new 14-volume Russian-language anthology of Jewish knowledge and informal educational materials available online (http://activi.jdc.org.il/) and in print, is an invaluable resource for informal Jewish educators like Anton who are working today in hundreds of cities throughout the FSU, and in Russian-speaking communities worldwide.

Recently unveiled at a three-day JDC educators’ conference in Moscow, the comprehensive series provides the methodology to transmit information about Jewish culture and tradition in ways that are stimulating, engaging, and appropriate for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. It covers a wide range of Jewish topics, from Judaism in the modern world to Jewish holidays to the State of Israel, among many other themes. Articles are written in simple, accessible Russian and aimed at those who have only very basic Jewish knowledge.

The launch conference put Activi’s innovativeness into action. Using an exhibit stand to represent each of the anthology’s 14 volumes, JDC organizers showcased card games about Jewish shtetls, puppet shows on Jewish family life, holiday cooking demonstrations, a workshop recreating a traditional Jewish study hall, a Jewish literary coffee house, theatrical performances, comic strips on Jewish topics, and other creative ideas.

Almost four years in the making, Activi was authored primarily by the Chais Center at Hebrew University, Machanaim, and the Institute of Informal Education headed by Dima and Natasha Zicer. The website is the internet companion to the published 14-volume, 3,000-page compilation, which JDC is distributing to Jewish institutions throughout the former Soviet Union. Publication was supported by the Charles Hoffman Endowment Fund, among others.

Activi is part of JDC’s “Judaism without Walls” initiative, which aims to bring Jewish tradition and culture to people where they are, often in alternative spaces outside of conventional centers of Jewish life. Today, Activi is giving community activists in cities far from the FSU’s major centers of Jewish life the resources to educate, entertain, and inspire their fellow Jews.

Coming of Age: Hesed Helps Three Generations in Ukraine

Boris learns to play the recorder at Beitenu
social service center in Zhitomir, Ukraine.

Boris D. has not yet reached his bar mitzvah, but he has faced hardship that belies his age.

He and his mom Inna live in Zhitomir, Ukraine, in a 12 sq meter room in an overcrowded, rundown high-rise tenement building where they share their utilities with eight other families. Inna supports them on her nurse’s salary (only $160/month) from the city children’s hospital, where she often works extra long hours to bring home a little more money. When food prices soar and inflation doesn’t allow her to stretch her salary any further, Inna turns to JDC’s local Hesed social welfare center to get Boris clothing, shoes, and medications. He is one of more than 30,000 children who receive this and other critical support through the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ)-JDC Partnership for Children in the Former Soviet Union.

Boris has been coming to the Hesed since he was a baby when his mother joined the center's family club. His mom later enrolled him in the JDC-supported Beitenu program which, in addition to supplementing his food, medical, and clothing, helped care for his and his mom's emotional needs as they struggled to make a life for themselves on minimal income. Boris attended after-school activities where he received professional counseling and help with his studies, and participated in Jewish educational activities. Though he doesn’t connect to any of his neighbors or family members, Boris breaks out of his shell at Beitenu. “I love my computer class. I find refuge there,” he says.

Growing up in the reviving Jewish community in Zhitomir, Boris feels he has a bigger family to care for him. This feeling is reinforced by his grandmother, Beshiva, who has taught him that he is part of the Jewish people.

Beshiva is the family matriarch and attends the elderly day care center program at the same Hesed. Struggling to survive on a meager pension of barely $100 per month, Beshiva turns to the Hesed to avoid having to make the tough choice between buying food and medicine. Not only can she get medication and special winter relief here, she also regularly receives a JDC food card that she can use to purchase groceries at her local supermarket.

Beshiva teaches Boris about Jewish traditions and the importance of doing mitzvot (good deeds) and performing acts of Hesed (acts of loving kindness), which are all reinforced by his experiences at the Jewish community hub where he has found a second home. There Boris has even begun to perform in Jewish plays and show signs of leadership and becoming a young man.

“Thanks to Hesed, we know we will survive!” says Boris's mom. She is hopeful that despite the family's ongoing challenges, her son has the support and guidance to truly become a bar mitzvah.