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YOU ARE HERE: eNews >> Archive >> eNews August 06USCJ eNews: The United Synagogue Electronic BulletinAugust 2006
In This Issue: We Stand With Israel - As the crisis in Israel continues, we suggest ways in which we can help and we offer a prayer for Israel. As part of the Conservative movement, we join in signing a letter detailing our support of Israel in its struggle against Hezbollah. Rally for Darfur - The crisis in Darfur continues. United Synagogue encourages everyone who lives close to New York City to join us at a rally there on Sunday, September 17. We will keep you posted as we get more information. Project Isaiah - Heeding Isaiah’s call to feed the hungry, every year United Synagogue’s Project Isaiah collects packaged food before Kol Nidrei services, which will be October 1 this year. For information on the project and how your synagogue can participate, call the education department at 212 533-7800, ext. 2500. Tzohar Biloxi - There are many years' worth of cleanup work to be done in Biloxi; to help repair Biloxi is to help repair the world. Learn how United Synagogue can help you with its new program, Tzohar Biloxi, a window of help and hope. Come Home for the Holidays - As it did last year, Project Reconnect, United Synagogue’s alumni association for everyone who has been a member of any Conservative movement youth group, is matching people up with synagogues for the High Holidays. If you will be away from home this holiday season, or if you have just moved to a new town and have not yet joined a synagogue, visit Project Reconnect’s website or go directly to Home For The Holidays. There is likely to be a synagogue near you that would love to welcome you home. Lists for Koach - Koach, United Synagogue’s program for college-age students, sends students the monthly Koach eNews, which links them to the group’s award-winning website, gives them access to Koach’s ezine, and provides them with a wealth of information and resources. All Koach needs is a list with the email addresses of college students from your synagogue. Email koach@uscj.org for more information or to send your list. 5768 Calendar Art Contest - This year, as every year, we are asking our affiliated synagogues to send us entries for our calendar photo contest. But this year we’re trying something a bit different. We would like the 5768 (2007 - 2008) United Synagogue Calendar to feature photographs of architectural or structural elements from Conservative synagogues. So if your building is particularly old, unusual, or striking in some way, either inside or out, please send us a photograph. We’re looking for photos of facades, walls, windows, stonework, brickwork, roofs, or any other architectural feature; interior woodwork, paneled walls, coffered ceilings, carved bimahs, or anything else that is unusual and beautiful. It also should photograph well -- the higher quality the photo, the more likely it will be to win the contest. USY Convention - The 56th annual USY international convention is set for December 24 through 28 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. It offers USYers five days of social action projects, summer program reunions, educational programs, and more. For more information, go to www.usy.org/ic or email us at usyconvention@uscj.org. Shabbat Hazak - On January 6 – that’s 16 Tevet – synagogues across the movement will celebrate the achievements of members of Hazak, the group for people 55 and older. To learn more about the program and about Shabbat Hazak, call Dr. Morton Siegel at 212 533-7800, ext. 2234, or email him at siegel@uscj.org. Sulam - Sulam, the training program that helps new synagogue leaders climb the ladder of Jewish knowledge and practice, will be held twice in 2007. Mark your calendars and plan to join us – March 8-11 in Newark, New Jersey, and March 15-18 in Toronto, Ontario. United Synagogue’s Conservative Yeshiva Year Program - The Conservative Yeshiva at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center offers Jews of all ages and backgrounds the opportunity to study classic Jewish texts in a vibrant, open-minded, egalitarian community. Study can be full-time or part-time, on a short or long-term basis; some scholarships are available. For more information and an application, email Yeshiva@uscj.org, call 011-972-2-622-3116, or click here for more information. [ Back to Top ]
United Synagogue’s Audio and Video Links - We have added a section with links to audio and video clips and podcasts to our website. To learn more about it, read a discussion with our director of information technology, Martin Kunoff. [ Back to Top ]
Giving Blood at Fuchsberg - Both students and visitors at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center wanted to help Israel at the outbreak of the fighting in Lebanon. Here, Patricia Werschulz, vice president of United Synagogue’s New Jersey region and a past president of Temple Beth-El Mekor Chayim in Cranford, New Jersey, gives blood to the Magen David Adom blood bank. Two Weeks at Fuchsberg - During the first two weeks of July, the director of the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, Rabbi James Lebeau, reported on the statistics so far that summer. More than 500 USY Israel Pilgrimage participants, divided into 11 groups, stayed at the Center. More than 120 members of United Synagogue-affiliated congregations registered for the two Conservative Yeshiva summer programs; 85 people studied at the first session and 65 had registered for the second. That’s the highest enrollment the program’s had yet. About 60 percent of the registrants are in their 20s and 30s. Almost 100 people come to Project Oded’s weekly classes, 40 to 80 are there for the Monday Night Forum, and 20 to 30 attend Consensus, which is presented in Russian. On July 3 the Center hosted about 60 members of United Synagogue-affiliated congregations at a reception, and on July 4 it held the first concert in the newly completed outdoor Temple Zion Israelite Center Amphitheatre. On July 6 hundreds of people flocked to a show in which 30 artisans displayed their wares. During that week, 12 United Synagogue affiliated visited the Center; that Shabbat nearly 200 USY Pilgrims and 175 congregants from four synagogue missions ate lunch together. And on July 11, the Center hosted a reception for Masorti and Conservative rabbis. More than 50 rabbis and their spouses – both Israelis and visitors – were there.
Going Nativ - Eighteen high-school graduates from United Synagogue’s Pacific Southwest region have chosen to spend their gap year in Israel on Nativ, reports the region’s director, Joel Baker. Pacific Southwest, home to USY’s largest region, Far West, has sent the largest contingent to Israel on Pilgrimage this summer, and has great number of regional programs each year, including its own Wheels program. “Far West is growing, and it works!” he says.
New Directors’ Institute - In June, 24 new religious school directors came from places as various as Maine and Florida, California and Kansas, Nevada and Virginia, to spend five days together at the New Directors’ Institute. The program’s leaders, Serene Victor and Wendy Light, will follow up with them during the year, and will hold another institute next year. For information, email victor@uscj.org. Honoring volunteers - At the Mid-Atlantic region’s recent Ateret Hakavod dinner, the honorees, from left in the photo above right, are Hersh Muchnick, Charlotte Muchnick, Jack Belitsky, Dr. Jack Porter, Harris L. Devor, Ira Pogachefsky, and Jane Greenberg. At the Midwest region’s annual dinner, the president, Mindy Botbol, presented an Israeli artwork to lay leaders Fred Katzenstein, Jack Knopoff, George Platt, and Bob Tecktiel. [ Back to Top ]
Learning at and about our Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center - The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism is immensely proud of its Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, Conservative Jews’ home in the homeland.
The Conservative Yeshiva at the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center offers three online learning opportunities. Rabbi Mordecai Silverstein, senior teacher of Midrash and Talmud writes a Haftarah commentary every week. Yeshiva cofounder and Mishna and Talmud teacher Dr. Josh Kulp produces the online Mishna Yomit (Daily Mishna) study program for United Synagogue. The Yeshiva’s rosh yeshiva, faculty members, and students all contribute to the Divre Torah page on the Yeshiva’s website. And if you are planning a trip to Israel, be sure to look to the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism's Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center for travel help, learning and volunteer opportunities, help in planning bar and bat mitzvah services and celebrations, learning and volunteer opportunities, accommodations, and more. Learn more about the center's programs and services. USY’s website - Has a great resource for USY and Kadima chapters, the Online Program Bank, which features a searchable database feature and program ideas. Schechter On Line - Check out the Solomon Schechter Day School Association's new website for the latest news about affiliated schools, as well as information about the overall education policy behind the movement. [ Back to Top ]
Approaching the New Year - As the summer days get shorter and the shadows lengthen, we begin to think about time passing, and about the new year that will begin sooner than we might like to think. The Book Service and the education department both offer a few ways to help us structure our time. From the Book Service:
For more information, call United Synagogue’s Book Service at 212 533-7800, ext. 2003, email booksvc@uscj.org, or go to www.uscj.org/booksvc. The Department of Education offers:
For information about Make A Lulav Shake A Family Activity Guide for Sukkot, or the High Holiday Junior Congregation Curriculum, email eduation@uscj.org or call 212 533-7800, ext. 2500. [ Back to Top ]
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USY Convention - So far more than 1,300 people are expected at the 56th annual USY international convention, which is set for December 24 through 28 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. During those five days USYers will talk and think about social action projects, summer program reunions, educational programs, and more. This year’s theme will revolve around the Jewish calendar; as always fun and fellowship are on the agenda. For more information, visit www.usy.org/ic or email us at usyconvention@uscj.org. SSDSA Meeting - The Solomon Schechter Day School Association’s lay and professional leaders meet for the group’s biennial conference in Boca Raton, Florida, from December 10 through December 12. The conference theme will be Commitment, Covenant and Community; the conference will include a discussion on recruiting and supporting new heads of school. At the conference, at the Boca Raton Renaissance Hotel, participants will have the chance to network and learn fromeach other as they look at the challenges that face Schechter day schools. For more information about SSDSA, go to its website, www.ssdsa.org.
Save the Date - Mark your calendars, update your PDAs, fill in your datebooks. United Synagogue’s next biennial convention will be held from Thursday, Nov. 29 - Monday, Dec. 3, 2007, at the new Rosen Shingle Creek Resort and Golf Club in Orlando, Florida. We look forward to seeing you there. The convention will be chaired by Carole Korowitz and co-chaired by Rochelle Baltuch.
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