USCJ eNews: The United Synagogue Electronic Bulletin
In This Issue:
Today’s Israel - United Synagagogue’s Israel Commission wants all of us to know what the real Israel, the country where real people live, actually looks like. To that end, the commission offers Israel Today.
Project Etgar - Project Etgar, a joint project from United Synagogue and the Melton Research Center at the Jewish Theological Seminary, has developed a middle-school curriculum for sixth- through eighth-graders, using a variety of learning activities and techniques as it encourages students and their families to live Jewishly outside as well as inside the classroom. Project Etgar also offers support to educational directors and trainers. To learn more, email Debbie Kerschner.
Summertime Always Returns: USY Plans Ahead - This summer, like every summer, USY offers a range of programs for teenagers. For the summer of 2008, programs include Classic USY on Wheels; USY on Wheels, Mission: Mitzvah; USY on Wheels, East; Summer in the City; Israel Adventure; Eastern Europe/Israel Pilgrimage; Israel Pilgrimage/Poland Seminar; Spain/Israel Pilgrimage; and Etgar! Outdoor Adventure, Israel are all open for registration. Registration is now open and spaces are limited. Information and applications are available now.
Nativ - As this year’s Nativ students – the largest group ever – continue their studies in Jerusalem this semester, living at the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, our youth department is accepting applications for the 2008-09 academic year.
USY High - USY High, the youth department’s joint program for high students, run in conjunction with Ramah Programs in Israel, is accepting applications for the spring semester. Students spend two months living and learning in Israel, using the country as their classroom and receiving high school credit for the experience.
Your Child - The fall issue of Your Child, the education department’s newsletter for parents of young children, is available on line.
2007 Congregational Survey Is Out! - By now, all congregational presidents should have received the link to this year's congregational survey; the data we collect and pass on to them will help them make informed decisions. The more participation we get, the more valuable the results will be, so please make sure that your congregation is included. If you have any questions about the survey, email Faye Gingold.
Planning Schechter Schools’ Future - In October, 19 professionals spent two days in rural New Jersey strategizing ways to help the members of the Solomon Schechter Day School Association grow and thrive, and inculcate their students with a love of Jewish learning. The group was made up of educators from both within and outside the association as well as Jewish professionals, including rabbis, from others organizations representing the Conservative movement. In the photo on the right, from left you see Judith Lax, who is on the SSDSA board; Cheryl Finkel, a senior consultant at the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education; Jane Taubenfeld Cohen, head of school at the South Area Solomon Schechter Day School in Stouton, Massachusetts, and Rabbi Robert Abramson, director of United Synagogue’s education department.
Metny Cosponsors Interreligious Dialogue - United Synagogue’s Metropolitan New York region joined other Jewish organizations, including the local Rabbinical Assembly chapter, in an interreligious dialogue with Bishop William Murphy of the diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island. In the photo at left, the bishop is flanked by Metny’s president, Irwin Scharf, left, and by the region’s executive director, Bruce Greenfield.
New School in Chicagoland - On one of the days of chol hamoed Sukkot, Chicago’s Conservative Jewish community celebrated as the Chicagoland Jewish High School moved to its own brand-new state-of-the-art building. Supporters of the school, a member of the Solomon Schechter Day School Association, carried the Torah scrolls from their old home in the old school to the new one, nine and a half miles away. United Synagogue’s Dr. Elaine Cohen, education department associate director and the association’s lead professional, at left, marches with student Avi Coven, the USY region’s religion/education vice president; Joel Warshawsky, USY regional executive/Israel Affairs vice president; and Julie Marder, USY regional youth director. Each participant wears a label with the name of a Holocaust victim.
Young Leaders in Seaboard - Our Seaboard region held its first Young Leadership Awards program in mid-October, where 34 emerging leaders from 24 regional congregations, together with 250 friends and admirers, gathered for a reception and awards ceremony at Congregation Ohr Kodesh in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The award included a substantial subsidy from the region for expenses at United Synagogue’s biennial convention, where these and other young leaders will be recognized. Some of those emerging leaders pose together in this picture.
O Jerusalem! - Three United Synagogue regions – Pacific Southwest, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic – were able to show the new movie O Jerusalem, based on the book by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. The screening was courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films; at the theater in Pacific Southwest, the audience also had a question-and-answer session with the company’s president, Meyer Gottlieb.
Mediating Congregational Disputes - United Synagogue’s new joint program with the Rabbinical Assembly has trained mediators to intercede before diagreements between rabbis and congregations heat up.
Koach Shabbat - On November 2 and 3, Jewish students across North America will learn about the hekhsher tzedek, United Synagogue’s look at ethical kashrut, on their own campuses, using materials provided by Koach. Last year, nearly 4,000 students on 82 campuses shared Koach Shabbat; on more than 30 of those campuses teachers supplied by Koach added to the experience.
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. Click here for more information. Please plan to be there with us!
USY Convention - United Synagogue Youth’s 57th annual international convention, set for December 23 to 27 in Anaheim, California, is selling out quickly. Registration soon will close. Hurry if you want to share in five days of social action projects, summer program reunions, education programs, a Disneyland visit, and more, tied together by the theme of tzedakah. For more information email usyconvention@uscj.org.
Hazak in Israel - United Synagogue and Hazak, for people 55 and over, join to offer a trip to Israel next winter. Spend February 12 to 24 in Jerusalem; celebrate Shabbat at the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, and take day trips around the country. For more information, click here.
Koach Kallah - From February 28 to March 2, Northwestern University in metropolitan Chicago will host the Koach Kallah. College students from more than 60 campuses will gather for a weekend of fun, study, friendship, and worship.
Sulam - United Synagogue’s 2008 program for new synagogue presidents and vice presidents, Sulam, meets in Newark March 6-9 and in Chicago March 27-30. For more information, email Rabbi Moshe Edelman at Edelman@uscj.org.
Imun – United Synagogue’s 2008 intensive 9-day workshop for synagogue skills is set for July 6 to 14 at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires in upstate New York. For more information, email Rabbi Paul Drazen at drazen@uscj.org.
Virtual Hevruta from the Conservative Yeshiva - Anyone who is interested in furthering his or her Jewish education is invited to join the winter semester of the online hevruta program, “Fourteen Sugyot Every Jew Should Know,” offered by the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center’s Conservative Yeshiva. The 14-week course, which will begin the week of January 6, will provide students with Talmudic texts that offer insights into minds of the rabbis who debate in its pages.
As the days get shorter and we look forward to the candlelight and warmth of Hanukkah, Book Service offers a way to help celebrate the season.
Hanukkah – The Family Guide to Spiritual Celebration, by Ron Wolfson and Joel Lurie Grishaver, is part of the Art of Jewish Living series. It offers ideas and resources for creative ways for the entire family to celebrate Hanukkah. $18.95
In Taking Hold of Torah: Jewish Community and Community in America, Dr. Arnold Eisen, the new chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, presents a personal mediation on the meaning of Judaism and his vision for revitalizing the American Jewish community. $17.95
Planning to visit Jerusalem? Bring along a copy of Jerusalem: A Neighborhood Street Guide. Chanoch Shudofsky’s work is an updated, easy-to-use guide to Jerusalem’s 150 neighborhoods, including an alphabetical listing of 2,500 streets, squares, thoroughfares, boulevards, and alleyways in the city, and has an illustrated map. $18.95
Convention Update - This is it! Time is running out. United Synagogue’s biennial international convention will begin on November 29 in Orlando, Florida. But it’s still not too late to register. Read about the convention and make your plans to join us!
- Take advantage of free Internet hosting services to affiliated synagogues, USY chapters and afternoon/day schools
- Get suggestions for building a Jewish home library; great ideas for gift giving as well!
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Rapaport House
155 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
212.533.7800, ext. 2601
info@uscj.org
