USCJ eNews: The United Synagogue Electronic Bulletin
In This Issue:
Here’s the latest on what’s going on at United Synagogue from our international president, Richard Skolnik.
Teleconferences to Help Synagogues - Three teleconferences in February are focused on ways to help strengthen our shuls.
On Wednesday, February 10, at 3 pm and again at 8 pm eastern standard time, Lisa Harris Glass, our Mid-Atlantic district director, will suggest (at least) 10 ways to raise $10,000. On Thursday, February 11, the focus will be on marketing your shul, and the presenter will be Jewish media guru extraordinaire Steve Rabinowitz. This conference call, like Wednesday’s, will be at 3 pm and again at 8 pm eastern standard time. And then on Tuesday, February 16, Metny district director Rabbi Charles Savenor will explore the benefits of a midyear review of a synagogue’s lay and professional staff. This call is set for 3 pm eastern standard time.
These calls are for any interested leader of our affiliated synagogues. To register, email Ariella Brody; her confirmation to you will include the call-in number.
How to Apply for a Homeland Security Grant - David Pollock, associate director of the JCRC of New York, led a webinar where he explained how representatives of U.S. nonprofits – including synagogues and other Jewish institutions – can apply for security grants from the U.S. department of homeland security. The deadline, which varies by state, is soon. To learn more, look either at the basic PowerPoint presentation or the Rashi – the PowerPoint is included in a larger file as part of the Webinar that explained it.
Helping Haiti - When the monstrous earthquake struck Haiti, members of our affiliated shuls wanted to help and many of them turned to us. So far, we have collected more than $100,000 in checks and online and sent one hundred percent of it to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, which distributes it to groups on the ground in Haiti.
Hot Off the Presses - The next issue of CJ: Voices of Conservative/Masorti Judaism is rolling off the presses and will hit mailboxes in the middle of the month. You’ll find stories about Pesach, special needs, Jewish divorce, and outreach, among others.
This Year in Florida (or Las Vegas) - Tired of changing all your dishes, hunting down every last crumb, and then trying to figure out what else to make with matzah? Do it differently this year. Join us for a luxurious Passover vacation retreat at the Westin Diplomat Hotel and Spa on the beach in Hollywood, Florida, or at the Ritz Carleton Resort and Spa in Las Vegas. The food is kosher for Pesach, the sedarim are Conservative, the (optional!) lectures and classes are intellectually challenging, and the facilities, views, beaches, pools, spas, and services are superb.
Building Healthy Relationships - A sourcebook that offers teenagers clear-eyed advice on forming healthy relationships provided the backbone for the USY convention, which drew about 700 teens to snowy Chicago during the last week of December. The sourcebook, Summer Loving, was a joint venture by United Synagogue Youth and Jewish Women International.
New Directors’ Institute - United Synagogue’s program for new education directors and principals at schools affiliated with Conservative synagogues will run from Tuesday, June 22, to Thursday, June 24. New this year, the program will meet at the Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center in Reisterstown, Maryland, and it will cost only $450 if you share a room ($500 if you do not). Email our education consultant Susan Wyner for more information and to register.
What Is Koach? - We might think it’s our program for college students, but apparently there are other possible answers.
Leadership News - Our three-times-a-year newsletter for synagogue leaders, ne The Next Step, has been renamed Leadership News. The inaugural issue is now online. It’s in PDF format and can be printed out easily; it’s also available as files that bulletin editors can use for their own publications.
Home for the Holidays - Kol dichfin, the haggadah tells us. Everyone who is hungry should come and eat. Through Project Reconnect, and working together with NAASE, Women’s League,and Koach, we offer college students, unaffiliated young adults, and alumni of our programs who find themselves away from home help in finding a seat at a seder table. If you need a place to go or represent a shul that has room at a community seder or at members’ home, please let Project Reconnect know.
North American Jewish Day School Leadership Conference - Almost 600 people came to New Jersey for a conference about day schools; it was extraordinary not only in the numbers of people it attracted and the high levels of intellectual commitment and passion they brought to it but also in that it was a joint effort by Conservative, Reform, and Orthodox Jews, as well as leaders of community schools. One of the organizers was our own Dr. Elaine Cohen, who leads the Solomon Schechter Day School Association.
Hazak Goes to Israel - In January, 72 Hazakniks from across the continent went to Israel. Most of the travelers were between 60 and 72 years old, and some were in their 80s.
The trip was educational and fun, and there was a component of tikkun olam as well. Hazakniks visited Kibbutz Hannaton, where they learned about pluralism in Israel and gave tzedakah to help the revitalization going on there. They also donated to A Package From Home, which gives toiletries to IDF members.
As these photos make clear, the trip was a huge success. The next Hazak jaunts to Israel are planned for November 7-18, 2010, and March 3-14, 2011.
Olympic Shabbat - If you plan on being at the Olympics in Vancouver, now you have someplace to go for Shabbat. Beth Tikvah Congregation in Richmond, BC, home to the speed-skating races, invites you to Shabbat services on February 13, followed by a kiddush lunch and a talk by former Olympian Karen James about the 1972 Munich games. Reservations are due by February 5. Do you want to share Shabbat with other Conservative Jews? Congregation Beth Israel in Vancouver invites you to Shabbat dinner on February 19. Reservations are due by February 15.
Jews and Public Policy - This year’s Koach kallah, for college students, is set for March 4-7 at the Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center in Reisterstown, Maryland. It will look at Jews and Public Policy.
Sell Your Chametz - And support Koach! The first Pesach seder is March 29! There really isn’t that much time left! Sell your chametz to Koach online.
Boot Camp for New Presidents - Sulam, our intensive training program for new synagogue presidents and vice presidents, will meet twice this year as always, but in new venues. Sulam 36 is set for March 4 through 7 at the American Jewish University Conference Center in Los Angeles, and Sulam 37, April 22 through April 25, will be at the Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center in Reisterstown, Maryland. In acknowledgment of the new economic realities, the price has been reduced. Email Rabbi Moshe Edelman for information.
Workshops for Educators - United Synagogue education consultants Wendy Light and Susan Wyner lead two workshops in Vancouver; on April 25 they’ll look at issues confronting teachers, and on April 26 they’ll tackle questions that bedevil education directors. Email Susan Wyner for information or an application.
Hazak Goes to Camp - Hazak, for people 55 and older, invites you to camp at Block and Hexter Vacation Center Center in Poyntelle, Pennsylvania, for a week of fun, friends, music, learning, and food, from June 30 to July 7. Email Jo-Anne Tucker-Zemlak for more information or a reservation.
Merrill Alpert in the Jewish Journal - The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles wrote a glowing article about Merrill Alpert, the much-loved youth director in USY’s Far West region.
Far West Visits the Israeli Consulate - Members of USY’s Far West region visited the Israel consulate in Los Angeles, where they got an in-depth lesson in Israel advocacy.
Register for 2010 Summer Programs - Early-bird registration for the summer has begun. High-school students can explore the spectacular natural wonders of the northern Pacific coast in our new four-week USY on Wheels, Pacific Northwest, spend five weeks exploring Israel in new ways on USY Israel Adventure Plus, or chose any of our other programs.
For new high-school graduates who want to spend a year in Israel before heading off to college, USY’s Nativ offers options – the classic program and Nativ Gesher, where students spend the first semester in Jerusalem and the second in Masorti communities in Europe.
Koach in Boston - Koach, our college program, is working with Hillel at Boston University to offer two half-day workshops for students who are youth advisers, camp counselors, and Hebrew school teachers. Koach’s associate director, Rabbi Elyse Winick, will facilitate several sessions.
Conservative Yeshiva and Koach – Perfect Together - Rabbis Daniel Goldfarb, Shmuel Lewis, and Jim Lebeau, all of the Conservative Yeshiva at United Synagogue’s Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, will visit the University of Rochester, Columbia, UC Santa Barbara, Binghamton University, the University of Delaware, and the University of Pennsylvania; the trips have begun and will go through March and were scheduled by Koach.
Summer Programs - Registration is open for summer programs at the Conservative Yeshiva; students can learn Hebrew or study Jewish texts. Synagogue officers and Jewish communal professionals can apply for Legacy Heritage scholarships. Applications are due March 5. Email for more information.
Share What You Know - Project Reconnect invites people with professional knowledge to share it with others. It is a wonderful opportunity to network, to befriend, to help, and to grow yourself. Become a mentor!
Seeking Pinwheel Alums - USY’s Pinwheel region is looking for alumni so they can get together for reunions and other special events. (All information will be stored securely and used only by Pacific Northwest regional staff.) Email Andréa Milman for more information.
Seeking New Frontier Alums - And if you were one region over, in USY’s New Frontier region, please send your memories to Mishkie Barnea-Smith. They’ll go up on a scrapbook or Facebook wall, and maybe even lead to a New Frontier reunion.
USY Love Connection - Project Reconnect is looking for couples who met in USY. Send us your stories! We’d love to know your names, the years you were in USY, your home region, and the story of how you met. Pictures would be great too!
Ma’alot Update - United Synagogue’s Israel Commission and Nefesh b’Nefesh have joined forces to create Ma’a lot, a program whose goal is to deepen connections between North American Conservative Jews and Israel. Now that a pilot program expanded into a three-year commitment, Ma’alot invites synagogues to submit proposals for expanded Israel programming. More details will be available soon; for now, email Rabbi Paul Freedman for more information.
United Synagogue Tallit - You can celebrate a simcha by giving your synagogue president – or treating yourself! – to a personalized United Synagogue tallit, with United Synagogue’s logo, your name, and, if you like, your synagogue’s logo.
Grant for Hebrew School Curricula - The Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary received a $250,000 grant from the Covenant Foundation. It will be used to plan a new curriculum for third to fifth graders in Conservative congregational schools.
- Take advantage of free Internet hosting services to affiliated synagogues, USY chapters and afternoon/day schools
- Got two minutes? Get some Torah! Enjoy our weekly podcast and sign up for email alerts. www.koach.org
