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Email this pageIssue # 317
Issue #317 – 19 June 2008 / 16 Sivan 5768
IN THIS ISSUE:
SECOND IMPJ CONGREGATION DEDICATES STATE-FUNDED BUILDING
NORTH AMERICAN REFORM SUMMER CAMPS TO HOST COUNSELORS FROM ABROAD
RABBINIC COUPLE ON SABBATICAL STRENGTHENS PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM IN CHILE
SECOND IMPJ CONGREGATION DEDICATES STATE-FUNDED BUILDING
The Progressive congregation in Ma’alot Tivon, near Haifa, recently dedicated a prefabricated structure for use as a synagogue, making it the second non-Orthodox congregation in Israel to be given a building by the state (see WUPJnews #312). The ceremony, held on May 29, saw the congregation move its two sifrei Torah in a joyous half-kilometer procession from its previous location – a municipal bomb shelter – to the new structure.
“This breakthrough for the Progressive movement was no miracle: It was earned through hard work by the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), which fought a groundbreaking case in Israel's high court,” says Rabbi Uri Themal, a member of the congregation. As a result of this legal struggle, the state authorized the delivery of six prefabricated structures to both Progressive and Masorti (Conservative) congregations.
Paula Edelstein, chair of IRAC, spoke of a building with windows, one that “allows the congregants to look outside and see light, hope, recognition and the future, but that also allows the outside to look in – and hopefully join the wonderful Jewish rejuvenation of this community.”
Representatives from many communities attended the ceremony, and speakers included the rabbi, community president, several of the founding members, a teen member of "the next generation," leaders of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism and the local community choir.
“Whilst these are not elaborate buildings,” said Themal, “the congregations accepted them with a great sense of gratitude and joy. Moreover, they are celebrated as a symbol that the non-Orthodox streams of Judaism are moving towards better acceptance [in Israel], that the government can't afford to ignore the needs and aspirations of these movements anymore, and that a greater sense of justice must prevail in all strata of Israeli society.”
The World Union was represented at the ceremony in Ma’alot Tivon by its vice president for operations, Shai Pinto. He presented the congregation with a mezuzah containing parchment prepared by Progressive women scribes, who learned their craft as part of an ongoing World Union project in the former Soviet Union. “I told them the story of the project,” says Pinto, “and stated that the mezuzah represents the strong link between Reform communities worldwide and their own – and [that it] strengthens everyone.”
In remarks to the congregation and assembled dignitaries, IMPJ Executive Director Iri Kassel noted: “The community is emerging from an underground bomb shelter to the surface, to a presence above ground level. What great symbolism! This will bring visibility and recognition for the community and enable it to reach out to the public. May it be that this house will soon fill up with Jewish and communal activities, may the shecinah (God’s presence) dwell in this home. Amen."
January: A tractor begins preparing the lot in Ma’alot Tivon. Late May: Rabbi Corrie Zeidler leads the dedication ceremony inside the new building.
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NORTH AMERICAN REFORM SUMMER CAMPS TO HOST COUNSELORS FROM ABROAD
In what Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, has called “a very exciting initiative,” the Reform movement will bring university-age Progressive youth leaders from the former Soviet Union and Argentina to serve as counselors this summer at movement camps in North America. Polina Abdullina from Omsk, Russia and Yuliya Yakusheva from Minsk, Belarus, are both active in Netzer Olami, the international Progressive Zionist youth movement, and will work at Camp Greene in Texas and Camp Harlam in Pennsylvania, respectively.
The initiative resulted from a meeting late last year between Alex Kagan, the World Union’s director for the FSU, and Paul Reichenbach, the URJ’s director for camping and Israel programs for youth. “We agreed that it would be beneficial for all involved to welcome university students who are part of the movement from other countries to staff URJ camps this summer,” writes Reichenbach. “They will experience Reform Judaism in North America (from a camp perspective) and learn valuable skills to invest in their programs at home. In addition, our campers and staff members would have meaningful personal interactions with young Reform Jews from abroad.”
Florencia Diment, 18, from Buenos Aires, will also work at Camp Greene. She is affiliated with Congregation CIRA and has trained as a youth leader in informal education and recreational activities. According to Camp Greene director, Loui Dobin, “This is the first summer that we have been lucky enough to have staff members from Progressive Jewish communities around the world. Florencia, from Argentina, and Polina, from the FSU, are both bunk counselors in two different units. They are bringing a new and personal view of global Jewry to the campers and especially the staff. Most of our camp community would have had no other way to learn about Florencia’s and Polina’s worlds were it not for their presence here this summer. They are a real asset in so many ways.”
WUPJnews will provide further coverage of these stories at the end of the summer.
Scenes from a North American Reform summer camp (left), and Florencia Diment from Argentina, who will be working this summer at Camp Greene in Texas.
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RABBINIC COUPLE ON SABBATICAL STRENGTHENS PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM IN CHILE
Rabbis Jonathan Rubenstein and Linda Motzkin, spiritual leaders at Temple Sinai in the upstate New York town of Saratoga Springs, recently spent four months of a joint six-month sabbatical in Valparaiso, Chile, a port city declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. The city is home to Sociedad Israelita de Instruccion y Benificencia Max Nordau de Valparaiso, a recent World Union affiliate (see WUPJnews #262).
Motzkin and Rubenstein were ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati in 1986 and arrived at Temple Sinai one month later. They are the first rabbinic couple to have jointly assumed a single pulpit position. They have three children: Rachel Sophia, Ari Shalom and Shira Bracha.
The American rabbis were warmly welcomed by Rabbi Roberto Feldmann, who leads the Valparaiso congregation – Chile’s oldest – and by members of the community. Rabbi Motzkin, who is one of the world’s few women scribes, recently gave a presentation to members of the congregation on "El Mundo de Safrut" (The World of Scribal Arts). While in Chile, she completed some of the panels of a Torah scroll she is currently writing. Rabbi Rubenstein led challah baking workshops for the community. Since 2004, he has been operating a non-profit bakery out of Temple Sinai – Slice of Heaven Breads – whose revenue supports congregational projects, as well as anti-hunger and other charitable programs. You can read more about their Chilean experiences on a blog they have been keeping.
The World Union is always happy to facilitate placements for rabbis who are either on sabbatical or retired and wish to volunteer their services in helping develop Progressive congregations around the world. For more information, contact Rabbi Joel Oseran, vice president for international development, at joseran@wupj.org.il.
Rabbis Linda Motzkin and Jonathan Rubenstein
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CONDOLENCES
It is with deep sorrow that the World Union for Progressive Judaism announces the passing of Patricia W. Tanenbaum, beloved wife of Jerry Tanenbaum, member of our Executive Board, former senior vice president and chairman of the Yad B’Yad Task Force for Latin America.
Pat was a dedicated Reform Jew, an active member of Congregation House of Israel in Hot Springs, Arkansas and a leader within Women of Reform Judaism at local, district and national board levels. She frequently joined her husband on World Union missions and programs. We extend our deepest condolences to her entire family.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
July 4-6, 2008 – Biennial conference of the British Movement for Reform Judaism in Leicester, UK
July 10-13, 2008 – Biennial conference of the World Union’s Latin America Region in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
July 10-13, 2008 - Annual conference of the Union of Progressive Judaism in Berlin, Germany (information currently in German only)
October 30-November 2, 2008 – Biennial conference of the Union for Progressive Judaism (UPJ) for Australia, Asia and New Zealand in Melbourne, Australia
March 17-23, 2009 – CONNECTIONS 2009 – The 34th international convention of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
