Project Reconnect Mission Reunites Alumni on Two Continents

This Spring, Project Reconnect, the United Synagogue alumni program for youth-related initiatives, sponsored a mission to Israel in an effort to renew friendships among the many graduates and friends of USY, KOACH, ATID, NATIV, and the USCJ Conservative Yeshiva. The trip, dubbed “Kesher L’Yisrael,” did that and more.

The over 200 alumni who participated in the Mission – hailing from both North America and Israel -- enjoyed concerts, lectures and informal reunions. Highlights of the trip included an opening dinner with Minister Natan Sharansky, an intimate meeting with President Moshe Katsav, and a closing dinner with US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer. As part of the Mission, professionals in the group, including doctors, lawyers, and those engaged in technological pursuits, came together to exchange information and pool their knowledge in their respective fields.

To enable Israeli participants to fully share in all aspects of the Mission, anonymous donors paid for a number of Israeli soldiers and their families, as well as Israeli alumni of USCJ youth programs, to stay in a hotel in Jerusalem over Shabbat. One guest – an Israeli soldier and former USYer – enjoyed not only the Shabbat hospitality but an unexpected reunion with his former youth director. Also present at the hotel were the donors who made the weekend possible.

In a letter intended for his benefactor and conveyed through Project Reconnect, the soldier – a sergeant first class in the Israeli Air Force – wrote the following: “I can't tell you how much it means for a soldier in Israel with no family here to have someone like you jump into our lives for a few short days and bring us back to the community we came from with open arms… I hope you come back and I hope you share the wealth of your trip with your friends when you return to your other home…. Wherever we Jews hang our hats, Israel is the place where our souls are truly at home. So come home soon. I'll be here protecting it.”

According to North American Project Chair Jackie Saltz, a resident of California, the group is already planning its second mission, to take place in June 2006. She notes that “at least one donor has already agreed to once again sponsor what he now refers to as ‘his soldiers.’”

Commenting on the soldier’s letter, Ms. Saltz added: “The words of this young Israeli soldier leave us with a very special message, reinforcing the slogan of Project Reconnect: ‘We Are One.’ We have already reached thousands of individuals through this program, and our goal remains to reunite them as individuals and build on their energy to revitalize our communities here at home while strengthening our bond with our graduates in Israel."

USCJ International President Judy Yudof, initiator of Project Reconnect, points out that the project “allows us to reach out to our alumni and then to reunite them with the friends and mentors who helped shape their attitudes about Judaism. It has been heartwarming to read notes saying ‘Thank you for finding me.’ This reassures me that we are on the right track.”