The result is a “crisis of meaning” among Israeli youth. These young people, on the brink of adulthood, are spiritually lost and disengaged from the Jewish people and their cultural heritage.

Over the past few years, Hillel Israel has positioned itself as a leading force in enriching and influencing the future Jewish character of Israel’s young generation.

Hillel’s unique programs enable thousands of young people to undertake meaningful journeys that inspire them to explore, strengthen and celebrate their own distinctive Jewish identities. Along the way, they become agents for social change toward building a more just, democratic and pluralistic Israeli society.

Machanaim, was established in the Soviet Union in the 1970’s as an underground educational center.  With the move to Israel in the late 1980’s, after years of refusal, the leadership of the organization recognized that their experience in Jewish education and that their open minded attitude would be crucial in creating a vital link between the hundreds of thousands of Russian immigrants pouring into Israel and Israeli society.  Over the years, Machanaim has created a variety of programs that address issues of Jewish and Israeli identity in Israel, as well as a series of programs and materials aimed at assisting Russian speaking Jewish immigrants around the world to connect with their Jewish identity.  Our aspiration is that these immigrants will be connected to their Jewish heritage, and the Jewish community wherever they are and to the State of Israel.

photo by: Mona Ostby Beck

Born in Kharkov, Ukraine, Ariel was involved in the Bnei Akiva Youth Movement after the fall of the “Iron Curtain”.  For Ariel, the emissaries who came to the Ukraine from Israel and the US were his earliest role models and a source of inspiration. It was clear to him that he would follow in their footsteps – working in Jewish Zionist education both in Israel and in Diaspora Jewish communities.

Ariel made aliya in 1992 at the age of 16 with his family.  The family first lived in Kfar Adumim and a few years later moved to Jerusalem.  Ariel finished high school in Jerusalem, and then continued his studies in the Hesder program of Birkat Moshe Yeshiva in Ma’ale Adumim, serving in the paratroopers in the IDF in the framework of the program.

From the age of 17, Ariel began serving as an emissary and continued to do so for years to come.  His first trip back to the FSU was to work in a Jewish summer camp.  This was followed by participating in the interview committee for Na’ale for the Israeli Ministry of Education, taking part in Zionist Seminars through the Jewish Agency, working for Bnei Akiva, serving as summer camps coordinator in the Ukraine and finally serving as the central Bnei Akiva “shaliach” in Argentina.

Ariel studied Education and Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University and continued to serve as an emissary.  During his studies, he traveled for a variety of Jewish organizations such as the Lauder Foundation, Bnei Akiva and the Jewish Agency to many different communities worldwide – Spain, Germany, Costa Rica, Mexico, etc. in diverse roles and capacities.

In 2002, Ariel met Rachel, a nurse who had made aliyah from the United States in 2000.  They were introduced by a common friend, and already on the very first date, Ariel mentioned to Rachel that as soon as he finished his degree he was planning to take a position as a “long term shaliach”. From 2005, the couple spent 3 years in Uruguay where Ariel was the rabbi of the local Sephardic congregation and the coordinator of Jewish studies in a local Jewish school.

Upon Ariel’s return from Uruguay, he began to work as the CEO of Machanaim, a veteran Russian Jewish Education Network. Machanaim works to promote Russian Jewish education in both Israel and the Diaspora.  Its wide range of programs includes formal and informal education for all ages as well as distributing educational materials, both on and off line.

While serving in Uruguay, as the rabbi of a non-observant community, but one that is deeply connected to its culture and tradition, Ariel realized that the “community” in Uruguay had a lot in common with Russian-speaking Jews in Israel and worldwide. Just as the “community”, in its wide meaning (not only a synagogue), is a framework for maintaining Jewish life for the Jews in the Diaspora, in Israel it can be a supportive framework and a link to the Israeli society, its tradition, culture and actuality.

Due to their historical background, many of Russian-speaking Israelis lack a clear Jewish identity; they have little if any Jewish education and feel little connection to Jewish values and Israel. The result is that many of them have had serious hardships integrating into Israeli society and that they have difficulty identifying themselves as Israelis and even as Jews. Tens of thousands of these immigrants have left Israel – either to the US, Canada or Germany or back to the FSU.  According to research conducted by the Israeli Institute of Democracy in 2009, only 28 percent among FSU immigrants gave a positive answer to the question “Would you want your children and grandchildren to live in Israel?”.

Through the Supportive Communities Project, Machanaim proposes to build on and create new community centers for Russian-speaking Israelis – both new and veteran immigrants and their families. Members will have the opportunity for learning and experiencing Israeli and Jewish values and Israeli culture, which will be the base from which they can grow and develop as full and committed citizens of the State of Israel. The project  supports Russian-speaking Israelis in a manner which helps them to form a strong sense of identity as Jews and Israelis and develop a sense of belonging and shared values.

Activities offered include:

Formal and informal classes on Jewish subjects, Israeli history and current events, as well as in music, theater, cooking, etc.; preparation for Bar-/Bat-Mitzva classes; preparation to wedding for young couples; experiential and learning workshops; preparation to the army service for youth; festival celebrations, including preparatory workshops for every Holiday; Kabbalat Shabbat with families, once a month; educational tours; Shabbat seminars; cultural events (concerts, performances, etc.); and more.

The project was initiated in September 2010 thanks to the generous support of Cyril Stein z”l, whose family and friends are continuing to carry on the project and its vision. Since then, the program has expanded from one community center to four, and now involves thousands of people.  Plans are currently underway to expand to additional communities.  The project has been successful in involving new partners including the Ministry of Absorption, municipalities and local and foreign-based foundations.

Ariel believes that the Community Project can serve as a model for creating a more inclusive Israeli society, not just for Russian speakers, but for people of all backgrounds as well.

The resulting discussions involve complex Jewish and democratic values.  In order to aide these discussions Yesodot has developed materials aimed at high school students to help them understand:

What is the discussion about?

What are the Rabbis talking about?

Is this racism?

Is there a conflict here between Judaism and democracy?

The materials developed to be used in the classroom are designed to help students understand the issues at stake and assist them in forming their own opinions.

From our internet statistics we know that over 200 educators opened all of the materials in a fashion that indicates their intention to use them.  This hit level (over 200 out of 750 subscribers) is considered very high in terms of internet usage.

Please follow the links to the Yesodot website to see examples taken from the educational kit.

According to Shlomit Solomon, the initial idea for this project was based on the numerous phone calls received by the Itim hotline from families (mainly of olim but not only) and hospital staff members who were in a state of great confusion in the day following the death of their loved ones/ patients. Families were overwhelmed by the horrible combination of the desire to drop everything and surrender to their grief- and the need to make many decisions- some of them involving huge sums of money- instantly. Hospital staff members simply didn’t have the crucial information and therefore couldn’t help and give advice.

Again and again we received calls from people saying:

“We thought that burial is for free but are asked to pay 12,000 NIS! Is that ok?”

Or : “The chevra kadisha is telling us we have to make up our minds right now whether to purchase a burial plot for the spouse of the deceased. It’s very expensive! Do we have to make that decision right now?”

And: “Our father is not Jewish according to halacha. What are our choices? Where will he be buried?”

We’ve helped people on a one-by-one basis until we realized that in order to really help, we should help train the staff at the hospitals- mainly social workers who are the ones that are in charge of helping the family when a death occurs- but also nurses and other staff members. When it comes to burial costs and expenses, on many occasions money was spent unnecessarily and can’t be reimbursed, so prevention is crucial. It may seem like a horrible thing to think about at these moments, but for many families these are sums that they don’t have and unfortunately there are many people out there who take advantage of families at these very moments.

During our seminar we cover topics such as: whose liable for burial in Israel, what are the costs of purchasing a plot in advance, what’s covered by the National Insurance Institute and what isn’t, what are the different types of burial used in Israel today, the options for burial available for non-Jews and those who wish to be buried in a civil ceremony, contact numbers in case the family/staff feel they have been given wrong information- and more.

To date, the seminar funded by anonymous donors, was presented to the social workers of the oncology ward at Rambam Medical Center and to the entire social work staff at the Sha’are Zedek Medical Center. On both occasions, the staff was very eager to learn and quite surprised to learn many facts they were unaware of. Itim is working on preparing additional seminars in hospitals and for organizations.

ITIM is also involved in advocating for individuals who encounter difficulties related to the Jewish life cycle such as problems with their marriage registration and proving their Jewish status, problems concerning the conversion process, and much more. In order to do this ITIM is in touch, on a daily basis, with members of the religious authorities as well as government offices, different organizations and contact people related to these topics.

In Israel today there is a trend towards extremism in the religious community and the isolation of the religious camp from the mainstream of society.  Many contemporary rabbis and educators tend to ignore difficult educational issues while Halachic authorities avoid important social questions relating to life in a modern world. In current religious Zionist education, and in the colleges for teacher training, the tendency to adopt Haredi educational models is spreading: the values of democracy are pushed aside, and human rights are trampled, all in the name of religious values.

In the last several years there has been a growing trend to separate boys and girls in religious elementary schools; sometimes as early as kindergarten.  This trend is another expression of religious Zionist education’s break with the modern world.  Gender segregation is becoming more and more common in religious educational settings; the process is currently occurring in many youth groups and is already complete in settings such as high schools, colleges, etc.

This segregation has educational, psychological and social implications which will be discussed during the conference.  Segregation is seen as a means of forcing conservative and modern orthodox families out of the religious education system.  Those in favor of segregation will point to the many studies showing its benefits, however, most of the studies relate only to older children and one cannot compare what is happening with second graders or pre-schoolers to tenth graders.  Nor do trends in other developed countries reflect the need or desire for gender segregation from such a young age.

In addition, the evening will look at how Jewish religious law views the need for gender segregation in education.

The conference in Hebrew will be held in Givat Shmuel

For more information: http://toravoda.org.il/he/node/2509

Located in Yeroham but serving the entire Negev region,   ATID BAMIDBAR works to empower the local community, connects diverse Negev communities around Jewish and Israeli culture, and promotes communal, cultural, educational, and tourism initiative.

It is our mission to bring Jewish tradition in its widest sense to diverse populations, break down stereotypes, bridge gaps, and create a focal point of tolerance and pluralism in practice that sends its message out to ever wider audiences: during the 2007/8 school year, over 1500 children and adults participated each week in BAMIDBAR programs, and more than 10,000 participated in BAMIDBAR communal events and in programs for more than 60 visiting groups from Israel and abroad.

Affiliated with Limmud International, Limmud-Negev boasted more than 70 presenters, who gave workshops, lectures, and performances. There was a mind-boggling spectrum of topics in Hebrew, Russian and Yiddish, ranging from dance midrash and Jewish identity in films to solar energy in the Negev, and from halakhic rulings of North African rabbis to changing interpretations of Hannukah as reflected in songs through the ages. After a hot soup and couscous supper that warmed heart and body, more than 300 participants from the Negev, Arava, and well beyond, gathered together to light the third candle of Hannukah. The full program ended with a panel on culture in the Negev, highlighted by Kobi Oz singing some of his new songs. All participants cited the incredibly energizing and welcoming atmosphere.

To see additional photos and write-ups about this amazing event, go to the Limmud-Negev websitewww.limmudnegev.org.il or to Facebook.