MERCAZ Newsletter —Summer 2006

News From Around The Conservative Movement

MASORTI OLAMI “YAD” PROJECT
Masorti Olami/World Council of Conservative/ Masorti Synagogues has initiated an exciting project to assist emerging Jewish communities in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (FSU). Through this joint venture — between Gary Rosenthal, a world-renowned Jewish artist and sculptor, and the Conservative/ Masorti Movement — hundreds of teens throughout North America are linked as part of their bar and bat mitzvah experience to budding Jewish communities in cities like Kiev (Ukraine), Wroclaw (Poland), Budapest (Hungary) and Moscow (Russia). The goal is to enlist 1000 teens in this project with 100% of the $100 cost of each Yad (Torah pointer) to go to tzedakah — the Gary Rosenthal Collection has donated the full cost of the Yad kit materials. For information, contact project coordinator Rebecca Hammerman at Rebecca@hammerhoff.com or 202-686-2265.

TRY & USY REACH NEW “HIGH’S”
A further sign that youth travel to Israel is returning to pre-Initifada levels: 59 enthusiastic high school students have been spending their second semester of 10th, 11th, or 12th grade on one of two Conservative Movement academic programs in Jerusalem: TRY (Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim) or USY High.

Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim (TRY), the Ramah Jerusalem High School at the Ramah campus in Jerusalem, currently offers 10th and 11th grade students a four month second-semester program each spring. USY High (11th and 12th graders) provides students the opportunity to participate in two months of the Jerusalem High School experience, and then return to finish the Spring semester at their home schools. TRY & USY High are fully accredited academic programs, providing all students with a continuation of their required courses of instruction in all subjects, as well as an outstanding program in Israeli and Jewish history, all within a Ramah setting of joyful Conservative Jewish living.

For more information about TRY & USY High, contact Liz Gitlin, Coordinator of Israel Programs, at 212-678-8883 or by email at RamahIsrael@jtsa.edu, or visit our website at www.ramah.org.il. Scholarship assistance is available.

MAKING A “PASUL” SCROLL “WELCOME” IN ISRAEL
The Rabbinical Assembly-Israel Region is looking for Torah scrolls, even “pasul” (disqualified) scrolls, for fledging Masorti congregations. One of the leaders of the Masorti havurah in Kiryat Gat, an ordained rabbi, is a trained “sofer” who can combine parts from several “pasul” Sifrei Torah and fix other letters that may need attention. Give your scrolls a new life in Israel.

For further information, contact Rabbi Andrew Sacks: Tel: 011-972-2-624-6510, ext. 30 or e-mail: raisrael@masorti.org.

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR SUMMER STUDY IN ISRAEL
The United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva invites Jewish communal workers — Jewish Community Center, Federation, and Hillel personnel, synagogue administrators, youth advisors, and synagogue officers — to apply for a “Legacy Heritage Jewish Communal Scholarship” for use on one of the Yeshiva’s summer sessions: July 2-20 and July 23-August 10.

The Legacy Heritage Scholarships cover tuition and provide $2000 towards flight, housing and living expenses for the period of study. For more information and detailed course descriptions, visit the Yeshiva’s website at www.ConservativeYeshiva.org, or contact Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb at yeshiva@uscj.org.