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YOU ARE HERE: eNews >> Archive >> eNews March 07USCJ eNews: The United Synagogue Electronic BulletinMarch 2007
In This Issue: Koach Birthright Israel Trips - Koach, our college-age program, is now joining with Taglit-birthright israel to send entering college students to Israel for 10 free days of growth, discovery, and community building in August; we are offering our regular midsummer birthright trip, for students already in college, as well. Registration opened in mid-February and is likely to close in early March, so if you are interested please move quickly. Sulam - Sulam, the training program that helps new synagogue leaders climb the ladder of Jewish knowledge and practice, will be held twice in 2007. The first session, March 8 to March 11 in Newark, New Jersey, is sold out; we can accept last-minute reservations for the second session, set for March 15 to March 18 in Toronto, Ontario. Pesach at the Ritz - Passover's a time to be at home with your family, but perhaps sometimes you and your family get the urge to have someone else change all the dishes. If that's your feeling this year, join us at the Ritz Carlton Grande Lake in Orlando, Florida, and relax in the sun this Pesach. Solomon Schechter Awards - At our biennial convention, we honor winners of the Solomon Schechter Awards for Synagogue Excellence. We urge our member synagogues to apply for the award. The application deadline is April 27. Go on Retreat with Hazak This Summer! - Conservative Jews 55 and older are invited to an eight-region retreat in Pennsylvania from June 13 to June 20.
Join Us in Washington on Joint Advocacy Day - United Synagogue teams with our Conservative movement partner, the Rabbinical Assembly, as we go to Washington DC for Advocacy Day. On Advocacy Day – actually two days, June 19 and 20 – we will listen to speakers, learn more about how to advocate effectively, and meet with our representatives to test our newly upgraded skills. Imun - Imun, the week-long retreat where newly emerging lay leaders can hone their synagogue skills, including layning and writing and delivering a dvar Torah, will meet at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires from July 8 to July 16. USY Invites Parents to Israel - Once again, USY offers parents the chance to see Israel the USY way. The Parents Pilgrimage to Israel offers parents a 13-day mid-July opportunity to experience Israel as their children do. USY Trips Filling Fast - Spaces in USY trips fill quickly, but there is still some room left in some programs. To see what’s available, and to register quickly, visit www.usy.org/escape. Next Year in Israel - Registration has begun for 2007 at Nativ, USY’s college/leadership program in Israel. Participants spend the year between high school and college in Israel. Half of that time they work on a kibbutz or volunteer in a development town; the other half is spent living in Jerusalem, studying at the Hebrew University or the Conservative Yeshiva at the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center. Throughout the Nativ program, students engage in special religious and leadership training experiences. Join Us in Orlando For Our International Convention! - United Synagogue’s international biennial convention is planned for November 29 through December 3 at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort and Golf Club in Orlando, Florida. Please plan to be there with us! [ Back to Top ]
Kol Dichfin: Finding a Seat at a Seder - All who are hungry, come and eat, the Haggadah tells us every year. Now, for the second year, Project Reconnect offers Kol Dichfin, where alumni of our youth programs can be matched with a seder in a synagogue or private home. Resources for Spring Commemorations - In April, we mark Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 16), Yom HaZikaron (Israel Remembrance Day, April 23), and Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israel Independence Day, April 24); May 16 brings us Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day.
Help Save Darfur - The desperate situation in Darfur slips in and out of the news; the people stuck there do not have that luxury. For updates about the situation and to learn what we can do to help, we suggest you go to section on Darfur on the American Jewish World Service’s website. [ Back to Top ]
Tzohar Biloxi - In February, 18 people went to Biloxi, Mississippi, with our Tzohar Biloxi project. There, they worked to help repair some of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. Lois Wolf from Congregation Beth Israel in Owings Mills, Maryland, works as a participant in United Synagogue’s Tzohar Biloxi. [ Back to Top ]
Koach Kallah - Koach, our program for college students, held its annual kallah at the University of Pennsylvania from February 22 to February 25. One hundred and fifty three students from 54 campuses across North America joined representatives from the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center’s Conservative Yeshiva, the Masorti community in the Czech Republic, Ramah camps, and our own youth department; 10 rabbis from Philadelphia also came to teach. Schechter Schools Name SREL Fellow - The Solomon Schechter Day School Association has named Moshe Schwartz, a fifth-year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary, as its SREL fellow. The program – formally the Schechter Residency in Educational Leadership – supports the professional development and field-based training of a rabbi who chooses to be an educator in a Schechter school as his or her career path. The school in which that newly fledged rabbi will teach receives $25,000 per year for three years and allows the school to present him or her with a more attractive compensation package. Moshe Schwartz has worked as a rabbinical intern at the Solomon Schechter High School of Long Island for two years, and that is where he will conduct his residency. He is a lifelong passionate Conservative Jew who already has shown formidable skill in connecting synagogues, USY, Camp Ramah, and Schechter.
Poland’s Chief Rabbi Speaks to METNY Meeting - In February, Rabbi Michael Schudrich spoke to leaders of our Metropolitan New York region. Here, Rabbi Schudrich stands between our METNY regional director, Bruce Greenfield, left, and our regional president, Irwin Scharf. Early Childhood Joins the JEA - For the first time, 25 early childhood education directors from United Synagogue-affiliated institutions came from around the country to the Jewish Educators Assembly conference. At the conference, in Teaneck, New Jersey, the early childhood educators shared lessons and experiences with Conservative religious school and day school educators. At that conference, the JEA honored our own Temma Kingsley, a passionate early childhood educator who has pushed the field forward considerably in the Conservative movement, with the Keter Tov award. Kay Pomerantz, who retired from United Synagogue as assistant director of our education department, and Serene Victor, our consultant for synagogue education, were given honorary doctorates by the Jewish Theological Seminary as part of the conference. We are immensely proud of all three of them. [ Back to Top ]
Summer Programs at the Conservative Yeshiva - The Conservative Yeshiva at United Synagogue’s Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center is now accepting applications for the 2007 summer program. In the mornings, the program includes four levels of an intensive ulpan and both beginning and advanced levels of Talmud study on both beginning and advanced levels. In the afternoons, there are classes in Mishnah, midrash, Tanach, halakha, and tefillah. The program, for adults of all ages and backgrounds, has two three-week sessions, July 1 to July 19 and July 22 to August 9. For more information about the program, tuition, and scholarships, email yeshiva@uscj.org, call 972-2-622-3116, or go to the Yeshiva's website. On-Line Learning at the Conservative Yeshiva - Last month, the Conservative Yeshiva at United Synagogue’s Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center launched its first on-line course. Forty students from North America, Australia, Israel, and the Philippines are studying tehillim – psalms – with Rabbi Gail Diamond. For more information, including notification about the next on-line learning opportunity, email yeshiva@uscj.org or go to the Yeshiva's website. Study in Jerusalem this Fall! - The Conservative Yeshiva at United Synagogue’s Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center is now accepting applications for fall 2007. The Yeshiva offers Jews of all background the opportunity to study classic Jewish texts in a vibrant, open-minded egalitarian community. The curriculum focuses on teaching Tanach, Talmud, halakha, and Jewish philosophy, and includes the skills necessary for that study. Courses are taught at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels, and the program includes a daily minyan, volunteer projects, and trips. Students between 18 and 30 years old are eligible for scholarships from the Jewish Agency for Israel, and the Yeshiva is offering three full scholarships as well. For more information and an application, email yeshiva@uscj.org, call 972-2-622-3116, or go to the Yeshiva's website. [ Back to Top ]
Convention Update - Our international biennial convention is less than a year away, and preparations are ramping up. This convention will be held over Shabbat, letting us experience the beauty and wonder and joy of that day together. To learn more about the convention, which will be held from November 29 to December 3, 2007, in Orlando, Florida, take a look at our convention e-newsletter. As our plans develop, we’ll keep you posted. Nativ Offers New Option - Nativ, USY’s yearlong program in Israel, has added a track; now students can take the Ulpan/Community Service option in the fall. It joins the classic Nativ and full-year yeshiva options. [ Back to Top ]
Pesach is coming! - The first seder will be on the evening of April 2. Our education department offers a handbook for families with young children, from nursery-school age through fourth-graders. The book, Lyndall Miller’s A Family Activity Guide for Pesach, published by the Commission on Jewish Education’s Early Childhood Committee, is available as a master copy and can be copied. Congregations may add their own names and logos. $25. Send orders, including a prepaid check made out to the United Synagogue Department of Education, to that department at Rapaport House, 155 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. [ Back to Top ]
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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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