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Issue #301 – 28 February 2008 / 22 Adar I 5768
IN THIS ISSUE:
FSU RABBIS GATHER IN JERUSALEM FOR ANNUAL SEMINAR
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY PARTNERS WITH PROGRESSIVE KIBBUTZ
SOUTH AFRICA’S NETZER YOUTHS HOLD SUMMER CAMP IN THE CAPE
FSU RABBIS GATHER IN JERUSALEM FOR ANNUAL SEMINAR
The six members of the Rabbinic Council of the former Soviet Union gathered earlier this month in Jerusalem for their third annual conference for professional, spiritual and personal renewal. With generous funding from the Schusterman Foundation - Israel, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion conducted the conference for Alexander Dukhovny (Kiev), who chairs the council, Grisha Abramovich (Minsk), Leonid Bimbat (Moscow), Mikhail Kapustin (Simferopil), Alexander Lyskovoy (Moscow) and Stas Wojciechowicz (St. Petersburg), who are all based in the FSU on behalf of the World Union.
According to Rabbi Alona Lisitsa, director of HUC-JIR’s FSU Project, the annual conference allows the participants to augment their rabbinic and organizational skills while providing them time for professional reflection far from their daily responsibilities.
“The main goal,” she says, “is to provide FSU rabbis - who work almost alone under much pressure, leading many congregations and coping with the many challenges of the post-Soviet reality - with quality time for Talmud Torah, reflection and entertainment as a group of colleagues.”
The rabbis attended study sessions led by scholars from the HUC-JIR staff. These included Rabbi Dr. Michael Marmur, dean of the college’s Jerusalem campus, and Rabbi Professor Yehoyada Amir, director of its Israeli rabbinic program, both of whom led sessions on Jewish texts. Rabbi Dr. David Levine, professor of Talmud and Halachah, led what Lisitsa called “a most amazing historical tour” of Qumran, site of the Dead Sea scrolls discovery. Rabbi Naamah Kelman, associate dean of the Jerusalem campus, was the lead conference staff member, and was joined by Lisitsa and fellow HUC-JIR FSU Project staff member, Rabbi David Wilfond.
The FSU-based rabbis also met with Israeli colleagues, starting with Rabbi Ada Zavidov, who chairs MARAM, the association of Israeli Progressive rabbis. In addition, they spent time with Rabbi Meir Azari of Congregation Beit Daniel in Tel Aviv and Rabbi Maya Leibovic of Kehillat Mevasseret Zion, near Jerusalem. Rabbis Azari and Leibovic lead congregations that recently opened new buildings, and their guidance was deemed important in light of the two new buildings purchased through the World Union in St. Petersburg and Moscow (see WUPJnews #269 and #290, respectively).
The conference participants also met with staffers from the World Union, including Rabbi Joel Oseran, vice president for international development, and Alex Kagan, director for the FSU, and spent time with Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism and the Israel Religious Action Center staff members.
Closing dinner at the third annual Jerusalem conference for FSU rabbis.
Standing. l-r: Rabbi Grisha Abramovich, Rabbi Alexander Dukhovny,
Rabbi Alexander Lyskovoy, Rabbi Alona Lisitsa, Rabbi Mikhail Kapustin,
Rita Fruman, Netzer’s FSU Director, Debbie Pulik of the World Union’s
FSU staff, and Alex Kagan. Seated, l-r: Rabbi Leonid Bimbat, Rabbi
David Wilfond, Rabbi Joel Oseran and Rabbi Stas Wojciechowicz.
FSU rabbis outside the caves at Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls
were discovered.
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AMERICAN UNIVERSITY PARTNERS WITH PROGRESSIVE KIBBUTZ
The Center for Creative Ecology at Kibbutz Lotan, an affiliate of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, has partnered with Neve Shalom, a unique Jewish-Arab village near Jerusalem, to offer a 15-week course called Peace, Justice and the Environment for academic credit for students at the University of Massachusetts in the United States.
The program, based in part on an expanded version of Lotan’s Green Apprenticeship Permaculture and Ecovillage Design curriculum, will take place during UMass’s fall 2008 semester. It will be coordinated by Living Routes, a Massachusetts-based organization that has already designed sustainability education programs on numerous continents for some 500 college students.
Lotan is located in the southern Arava Desert and has long promoted sound environmental living through numerous education programs. In the summer of 2006, it was recognized by the Global Ecovillage Network for promoting sustainability and for building bridges among ethnic groups (see WUPJnews #226). Highlights of the 11 weeks to be spent there include hands-on experience with organic gardening and the use of recycled materials, adobe bricks and straw bales in construction projects.
The two-week Neve Shalom segment of the program will feature seminars, films and guided discussions on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute in order to promote dialogue between groups in conflict. An additional week will be spent undertaking a hands-on eco-building project at a Bedouin village in the Negev that remains unrecognized by Israeli authorities and therefore lacks many basic services.
For further information on Peace, Justice and the Environment, go to: www.livingroutes.org/programs/p_lotan.htm.
Building an adobe-straw bale solar-powered geodesic dome for student
housing at Kibbutz Lotan.
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SOUTH AFRICA’S NETZER YOUTHS HOLD SUMMER CAMP IN THE CAPE
Some 95 South African members of Netzer Olami, Progressive Judaism’s international Zionist youth movement, recently gathered at Glencairn, near Simonstown in the Cape region, for their annual summer camp. It is the culmination of Netzer/South Africa’s annual activities, and where it creates the region’s future Progressive leaders. The campers ranged in age from six to 18 and came from throughout the country.
The theme of this year’s camp was “Kol Koreh - A Voice Sounds.” The “voice” was social justice, and the approach was motivated and inspired by Jewish texts and sources. Tikkun olam projects, tailor-made for each age group, included work at an animal shelter, an AIDS awareness center and an orphanage. Other activities focused on topics ranging from Judaism and Zionism to social issues and current affairs.
All camp activities allowed staff members to place Judaism within the context of the campers’ daily lives, and to expose them to the wealth of wisdom in Jewish traditions. Even arts and crafts activities, such as mezuzzah decorating, were opportunities for informal Jewish learning. Other basic elements of Jewish prayer and ritual were portrayed in fun and creative ways, allowing campers to express themselves Jewishly. Shabbat was the climax of each week, with the entire camp coming together for Kabbalat Shabbat, a special meal, an inclusive Torah service, seudah shlishit and Havdallah.
As always, Zionism was a strong component of the camp experience, and enthusiasm for Israel permeated even the dining hall, from the conversation to the music and activities. The incredibly successful 2007 counselor seminar in Israel only served to strengthen this established Netzer norm. Campers bid a sad farewell to Ishai Aloni, Cape Town shaliach (emissary), who has now returned to Israel.
Summer campers from eighth and ninth grades volunteer at an
orphanage as part of their tikkun olam program.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
March 6-16, 2008 - Second URJ Adult Study Program in Israel at the World Union's Anita Saltz International Education Center
March 13-16, 2008 – Biennial conference of the World Union’s European Region, Vienna, Austria
May 15-19, 2008 – World Union mission to St. Petersburg, Russia for the dedication of Sha’arei Shalom Synagogue-Center
May 23-24, 2008 – Biennial conference of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism
June 13-15, 2008 – Biennial conference of the South Africa Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ) in Cape Town
July 3-13, 2008 – World Union mission to Brazil and Argentina, culminating in the biennial conference of the World Union’s Latin America region, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
March 17-23, 2009 – CONNECTIONS 2009 – The 34th international convention of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
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