Religious Pluralism Mission to Israel

Commencing Erev Shabbat/Friday evening, March 11, 2005 members of the Religious Pluralism Committee of the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest, New Jersey will participate in a mission in Israel. We will conduct a shabbaton on Shabbat followed by four days of visits to programs sponsored in part by our Jewish community.

MetroWest is located in the New Jersey counties of Essex, Morris and Sussex. It also includes the northern tier of Union county. These counties are located in the north/central section of the state due west of NYC. Historically it is the area of Jewish migration from Newark to the suburbs although today its residents come from a wide variety of areas.

The MetroWest United Jewish Communities (MW/UJC) is the operational arm of the Jewish community's communal charitable distribution. The United Jewish Appeal of MetroWest, NJ (UJA) is the fundraising arm. MW/UJC distributes funds raised in an annual UJA to local Jewish services agencies (Eg.. Jewish Family Services, Daughters of Israel (geriatric and rehabilative extended residential care), Jewish Vocational Service), to national Jewish agencies and to agencies which are in Israel and overseas.

In 1996, in response to the "who is a Jew" controversy that arose in Israel, MW/UJC responded by creating a Religious Pluralism committee, allocating funds to that committee and directing the committee to fund agencies and programs which would advance religious pluralism in Israel. Over the course of those years the committee has provided millions of dollars to further its mission. During the 2004-2005 fiscal year the committee has or will allocate $400,000.

This blog will journal the coming visit to the agencies and programs funded by MW/UJC by members of the committee and guests. Since I will be staying in Israel a few days after the mission I may also add observations and reflections on my travels after the mission. I hope to entice other members of the mission to enter their thoughts as well.

Participants
Gary Aidekman
Debbie Brafman
Barbara Drench
Dan Drench
Marty Fox
Hannah Goldman
Ellen Goldner
Joyce Goldstein
Rosalyn Hollander
Sandy Hollander
Ava Kleinman
Eric Robbins
Marvin Rosenblum
Jane Susswein

Staff
Mandy Kaiser-Bluth
Arthur Sandman
Amir Shacham


Those who view the blog are welcome to comment. However, I control the blog and will remove comments I believe are inappropriate, superfluous or in bad taste.

Gary A


Rabbi Tamar Kohlberg - Kehillat Ra'anan in Ra'anana (R)
Hannah Goldman - Chair, MW Religious Pluralism Comm. (L)


Officer Candidates participating in IDF Jewish Identity program (Nov. 2003)