MERCAZ Newsletter — Summer 2007

NEW OPTIONS FOR CONSERVATIVE OLIM

Despite the drop in overall aliyah figures to Israel to their lowest level in nearly 20 years, with less than 20,000 olim in 2006, the number of North Americans olim continues to rise, surpassing 3,000 immigrants. New programs being developed and marketed by the Conservative Movement's Aliyah Shaliach Itamar Kremer have the chance to increase dramatically the number of Conservative Jews moving to Israel.

Although the common perception is that the vast majority of North American olim are Orthodox or Ultra-Orthodox, it is estimated that 20% of all North Americans making aliyah are connected in one way or another to the Conservative Movement. For this reason, the Jewish Agency's Aliyah Department is investing in programs targeted at Conservative Jews to encourage seeing aliyah as not only theoretically possible but a practical option as well.

Three new initiatives have recently been announced by our shaliach on behalf of the Aliyah Department. The first program, "Klita Kehilatit — Community Aliyah", is being made available to Conservative olim in Ariel, Jerusalem, Maale Adumim, Modi'in and Modi'in Ilit. A program of the Aliyah Department and the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, Klita Kehilatit was initiated a few years ago to provide enhanced immigrant benefits to Western immigrants willing to move as a part of a group to designated communities.

Of special interest is the designation of Maale Adumim as a site for community aliyah. Located just east of Jerusalem, there is already a Masorti havurah in the community, and one of its members, Shelley Brinn, is the Director of the city's Community Aliyah project.

The Klita Kehilatit program is designed for families planning aliyah over the next twelve months. Special benefits include extended Hebrew ulpan, free stay in an absorption center and six-month rental stipend. There are also special one-time grants for employment or entrepreneurship for adults and subsidies for extra tutoring for school-age children.

A second program that our movement's Aliyah Shaliach is marketing is the special Conservative track within the Jewish Agency's "Careers" Program. "Careers" (or "Stagerim" as it is known in Hebrew) is a program for young adults who have completed their undergraduate education to come to Israel for a period of several months during which they have an opportunity to work or intern in their field in an Israeli workplace.

While internships in a number of different fields have been made available, the Jewish Agency and the Masorti Movement have now begun the new Conservative track program for young adults, ages 19 to 35, interested in volunteering to work within the Israeli institutions of Masorti/Conservative Judaism, such as synagogues, TALI schools, NOAM Youth Groups, the Conservative Yeshiva, after-school programs and day care centers.

Participants in the "Stagerim" program will receive housing at Jewish Agency absorption centers for a nominal fee. Interns will also enjoy monthly social and educational programming, including tours, lectures, seminars, shabbatonim and aliyah information days. In addition, financial support is available for those who agree to work 20 hours a week for a minimum of two months, as well as MASA grants for those staying a minimum of five months.

Finally, through the involvement of our Aliyah Shaliach and Rabbi Paul Freedman, the Jerusalem-based Director of the United Synagogue's new Israel Commission, participants in both the Klita Kehilatit and Stagerim programs, plus any other Conservative Jew participating in any long-term program in Israel, will now have the opportunity to be connected to a Masorti Movement "Big Brother" or "Big Sister" through the Jewish Agency's "Babait Beyachad/At Home-Together Program.

Although Babait Beyachad has been in place for some time to connect new immigrants with veteran Israelis, what has now been developed is a new track to help establish social contact between Conservative new immigrants and participants in long-term programs, on the one hand, and Masorti Jews — native Israelis and veteran immigrants — on the other, to offer the newcomers a support system with the special common connection of both sides to Conservative/Masorti Judaism.

As Itamar Kremer notes: "It is well known to us all that the face of Conservative aliyah is changing. While much is made of the fact that most American olim are Orthodox, current statistics show that 600 of last year's olim, 20% of the total number of 3,000 North American immigrants, came from Conservative backgrounds, even if not all are still connected today with the Conservative Movement. The young idealists coming to Israel now will take part in shaping the country's future, and we must give them the best chances to succeed in their aliyah."

For more information about Klita Kehilatit, "Stagerim" or Babait Beyachad or other aliyah-related matters, contact Itamar Kremer by telephone at 212-533-7800 ext 2021 or 212-339-6079 or by email at shaliach@mercazusa.org. Also visit the Aliyah Committee's website, www.linktoisrael.org, for general aliyah information.