Print This Page
Email this pageIssue #378
Issue #378 – 4 March 2010 / 18 Adar 5770
IN THIS ISSUE:
WORLD UNION READY TO ASSIST CHILEAN AFFILIATES AFFECTED BY QUAKE
WORLD UNION HOLDS SEVENTH BEUTEL LEADERSHIP SEMINAR
PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM WELL-REPRESENTED AT UJCL ANNUAL CONFERENCE
HONG KONG CONGREGATION CELEBRATES TWO DECADES BY WRITING TORAH
UPCOMING EVENTS
WORLD UNION READY TO ASSIST CHILEAN AFFILIATES AFFECTED BY QUAKE
As this issue of WUPJnews was readied for publication, news reached us of the tremendous earthquake in Chile. The World Union has three communities there: one in Valparaiso and two in Santiago. Preliminary reports indicate that all of our people are safe, although the building that housed the congregation in Valparaiso was destroyed, and the others might have suffered extensive damage. In Valparaiso, the Torah scrolls, ark and other Jewish symbols, such as the Ner Tamid, were saved.
We await assessments from our community leaders as to what they might need from us. As soon as we hear, the World Union will send out a more complete report through this newsletter and/or other forms of communication. For now, our prayers are with our brothers and sisters in Chile and we pray that they are all on the road to recovery.
Back to In This Issue
WORLD UNION HOLDS SEVENTH BEUTEL LEADERSHIP SEMINAR
The World Union for Progressive Judaism held its annual Beutel Seminar for Progressive Jewish Leadership January 28 through February 7 in conjunction with the Anita Saltz International Education Center.
The Beutel Seminar is aimed at active lay members of Reform, Liberal and Progressive congregations around the world who have demonstrated the potential for leadership positions at the local, national and international levels and are recommended for the seminar by community leaders (rabbis, Jewish professionals or laypersons). In addition to strengthening leadership skills and techniques, it focuses on establishing close ties among the world’s Progressive Jewish communities and creating powerful individual bonds with the State of Israel.
This year, 27 participants from Australia, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden and the US took part in the 10-day gathering, which was based at Mercaz Shimshon-Beit Shmuel, the World Union’s headquarters as well as one of Jerusalem’s finest education and cultural centers. Leading the program were Saltz Center director Rabbi Rich Kirschen and staff educators Paul Lipst and Steve Israel, as well as Rabbi David Wilfond of the Jerusalem campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Afterwards, one participant – Marla Goldberg of Chicago, who proudly describes herself as “a lifetime Jewish learner” – wrote that the seminar staff had been “dedicated, dynamic, nurturing and impactful…. As a group, we had large amounts of information (breadth and depth) of which to sort through, process and digest. Our teachers were available always to help clarify questions, grapple with concerns and often deal with (or help us access) emotions.”
Additional educators and lecturers addressed such issues as Jewish and Israeli ethical dilemmas, various aspects of Israeli society. “Each modeled varied styles and approaches to issues while helping us ‘wrap our heads around’ the Jewish world we only hear or read about second-hand, at best,” Goldberg wrote. She added that the seminar did not overlook the spiritual angle in the least. “How lucky and inspired were we to pray together at two different Progressive synagogue services (and celebrate/study Tu B’Shevat), in addition to spending our closing Shabbat services quite literally in the desert, where reading Parshat Yitro was simply amazing.”
Finally, Goldberg wrote that her “passion to return to Israel on a regular basis was reignited immediately upon returning home and replaying this wonderful Beutel adventure — via social [media] – with wonderful new friends who literally span the globe.” She called the seminar “world Jewry at its very best,” adding, “I am certain that we will all benefit from this phenomenal and life changing experience (in ways we might not yet even know).”
2010 Beutel Seminar participants on a hike in Israel’s southern Arava region.
A desert timeout for Torah. Right to left: Rabbi Rich Kirschen and seminar participants Noam Giorno (France), Mallie Dubov (US), Andrew Workman (US) and Joshua Laurence (US).
Lynton Travis (South Africa) and Sara Cross (England), both Beutel participants, show off a pomelo in the citrus groves at Kibbutz Yahel.
Back to In This Issue
PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM WELL-REPRESENTED AT UJCL ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Over 200 people attended the 12th annual conference of the Union of Jewish Congregations of Latin America and the Caribbean (UJCL), held January 27-31 in Panama City. The conference participants came from Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and Uruguay, as well as from Israel and the US.
Among those representing the World Union were Jerry Tanenbaum chair of its Yad B'Yad Task Force on Latin America; Miriam Vasserman, the newly-appointed president of the of its Latin American Region; Raul Gottlieb, newly-appointed regional vice president; Flavio Moreira, newly-appointed regional treasurer; Dora Brenner, president of the World Union-affiliated congregation CIP in Sao Paulo, Brazil; World Union COO Shai Pinto; and its vice president for international development, Rabbi Joel Oseran.
“The UJCL, an association of 11 congregations in the area, is a unique phenomenon in the Jewish world,” Oseran says. “It includes congregations affiliated with the World Union and the Conservative (Masorti) movement, as well as a number that are not affiliated at all. This rather unusual arrangement was born out of necessity given the small number of Jews in the area, the geographic isolation of the communities, and the modest resources available.”
The World Union has been working with the UJCL for more than a decade, Oseran continues. “We provide modest support to enhance regional communication and youth programming, and also provide consultation and programming advice.” One sign that this support has had an impact came in 2008, when Netzer Olami, the World Union’s international Zionist youth movement, sent a shaliach (emissary) to Panama to work with youngsters in that community and throughout the area.
The UJCL conference program included a diverse selection of keynote and workshop sessions that covered issues directly concerning affiliates (building Jewish communities, the value of youth programming and anti-Semitism), as well as topics of general Jewish interest (a museum project in Curacao, cemetery restoration in Aruba, and the work of HIAS, JDC, JAFI and other international Jewish organizations.
The conference’s closing banquet featured an emotional tribute to the late Pat Tanenbaum, who, together with her husband Jerry, was instrumental in steering World Union assistance to the UJCL and to all of Latin America. According to Oseran, her passing in 2008 left a deep sense of loss for everyone in the UJCL, which has now established the Pat Tanenbaum Foundation in her memory to help send youths to UJCL summer camps, as well as to trips to Israel.
A new board of directors will be led by incoming president Eduardo Moel of Guadalajara, Mexico (site of the next UJCL conference in two years). “It is interesting to note that this board represents individuals who joined the UJCL after its initial establishment 12 years ago,” Oseran says. “In other words, a whole new generation of leaders has now come on the scene, demonstrating in a convincing fashion that the UJCL is firmly established in the region with strong pillars of past and future leadership to rely upon.” 
The World Union’s Pinto (left) and Oseran recognize outgoing president Hilda ten Brink at the UJCL’s 12th annual conference in Panama City.
The UJCL remembers Pat Tanenbaum at the conference’s closing dinner. Left to right: Marvin Sossin, Jerry Tanenbaum and Hilda ten Brink.
Conference participants.
Back to In This Issue
HONG KONG CONGREGATION CELEBRATES TWO DECADES BY WRITING TORAH
To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the United Jewish Congregation of Hong Kong declared 5770 (2009-2010) “A Year of Torah” by commissioning the creation of a new scroll.
The Torah, 17 inches in height – making it light enough to be carried by most congregants, including b’nai mitzvah children – is being written by Canadian-born, Jerusalem-based sofer (scribe) Jamie Shear. It will be Shear’s sixth Torah scroll in the 18 years he’s been a certified sofer.
"The sefer Torah will be particularly meaningful to the UJC because it was created by and for us," said Rabbi Stanton Zamek, UJC’s spiritual leader. Each member of the congregation will have an opportunity to write a letter in the scroll, which is scheduled to be dedicated later this year.
The United Jewish Congregation of Hong Kong is a World Union affiliate and belongs to the Union of Progressive Judaism (UPJ) of Australia, New Zealand and Asia. The acquisition of the new Torah will allow the UJC to loan one of its existing scrolls to another Asian congregation that does not yet have one.
Sofer Jamie Shear begins work on the UJC's new Torah during a visit to Hong Kong last November as youngsters from the congregation look on. (Photo: Ellen Friedlander)
Back to In This Issue
UPCOMING EVENTS
March 14-18, 2010 – Riding4Reform – Seventh annual IMPJ countrywide bicycle fund-raising tour in Israel
March 18-23, 2010 – TaMaR international conference, Israel (click here to download a registration form)
April 16-18, 2010 – Liberal Judaism Biennial Weekend, England
April 29-May 9, 2010 – URJ Study Kallah, in conjunction with the Anita Saltz International Education Center, Jerusalem
May 14-16, 2010 – Biennial of the South African Union for Progressive Judaism, Durban
May 14-16, 2010 – Movement for Reform Judaism Biennial Conference, Manchester, UK
May 28-29, 2010 – Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism Biennial, Israel
November 25-28, 2010 – Biennial conference of the Union for Progressive Judaism in Australia, Asia and New Zealand, Canberra, Australia
February 7-13, 2011 – Connections 2011, San Francisco
Back to In This Issue
