New Programs Assist Doctors With Aliyah

Israel has a doctor shortage and as a result a new series of initiatives has been launched – spearheaded by the Jewish Agency (JAFI) – to facilitate the aliyah and absorption of doctors into the country’s health system. Within the framework of one of the programs, 30 doctors made aliyah this week and headed to JAFI’s Beit Canada absorption center in Ashdod. During their first year in Israel they will learn Hebrew and take a preparatory course for the Israeli medical licensing exam. Those who pass the exam will begin working in hospitals connected to the Clalit health fund and the Ministry of Health. A second group of 16 doctors will be arriving at Kibbutz Merhaviya in October as part of the “First Home in the Homeland” project. This program is aimed at doctors with more... Continue Reading

Happy Birthday Ralph!

Today, Ralph Goldman turns 96. And he can still be seen, as active as ever, bustling around Jerusalem, Blackberry in hand. Here in Israel, Ralph’s achievements are part of legend. He is the father of its JCC movement and founder of the Brookdale Institute and The Israel Center for Social Policy Studies, (now named the JDC Myers Institute and the Marilyn and Henry Taub Center for Social Policy Studies, respectively) and ESHEL. Before that he was a guiding spirit behind Malben, the program that gave Israel its first, rudimentary social services infrastructure in the early days of statehood. And before even that, he was the advisor to Prime Minister Ben-Gurion on relations with the U.S. Jewish community and the founder of the Israel Education Fund. Prior to statehood he was a member of Teddy Kollek’s... Continue Reading

Jewish Camp: Forget Color War; It’s Time to Build Robots

For campers at the JCC Maccabi Camp Kingswood in southern Maine, a very hot summer just got very cool. The camp invited a team of Israeli high school students and their teacher to bring their technical and scientific expertise in robotics to the camp and teach campers between the ages of 12-15 how to build small programmable robots that follow commands and complete assigned tasks. Working in two and three person teams with their Israeli student teachers, campers use computer software to develop and program their robots and construct motors that propel them toward a set destination. Based on the computer programs the students create, the robots “learn” to respond to light, ultra-sonic and touch sensory commands so they can follow a color-coded path, anticipate obstacles in their path, change direction,... Continue Reading

From Tashkent to Israel and Back Again

by Abigail Pickus Growing up in Tashkent, Bella Lvovich would have never guessed that one day she would return to her childhood home – only this time as an Israeli emissary. But that’s exactly what happened. “I grew up here and now I’m back as an Israeli who teaches and works for the Jewish Agency. It’s like coming full circle. It’s very emotional,” said Lvovich. There are an estimated 20,000 Jews in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. While Lvovich grew up identified as a Jew, there were no other Jews in her neighborhood and Jewish life was difficult to find. At the age of 17 she participated in a Jewish Agency sponsored youth club in Tashkent, where she met her future husband, Yonatan. At 18 she left Tashkent for Israel on Na’aleh, a joint government-Jewish... Continue Reading

Poverty: A Key to Israel’s Economic Future

Making Israel Work an editorial from The Forward Ephraim Guttman illustrates both the face of poverty in Israel and a solution. Dressed in the uniform of the ultra-Orthodox – the requisite black suit and white shirt, which makes no concession to the scorching summer heat – he does not appear destitute in the classic sense. But like most men in his community, he was utterly unprepared for the modern workplace when he married two years ago at 18, with only a rudimentary education beyond the religious curriculum of a Jerusalem yeshiva. While Israel is eagerly joining the elite club of developed nations, and luxury buildings rise above the modest Bauhaus landscape that once defined Tel Aviv, and while stock offerings and real estate prices and the number of start-ups continue to soar, economic... Continue Reading

Developing the Israeli Third Sector: NP Tech Launches GuideStar Israel

In early August, NP Tech launched Guidestar Israel. It took almost five years to make GuideStar Israel a reality, and it is an incredible resource for Israeli nonprofit organization. The GuideStar project was established as an unique cooperative venture by the Ministry of Justice, JDC-Israel, and Yad Hanadiv with the objective of developing civil society in Israel. NP Tech (established by JDC-Israel and Yad Hanadiv) is the operating organization behind GuideStar Israel. It provides services and activities designed to help social organizations make information and communications technology (ICT) more accessible to social organizations to reach their goals. NP Tech wants to create a “socio-technological market” in which different providers offer their products for social activity advancement, internet... Continue Reading

Alexander Muss High School in Israel Names New CEO

The Alexander Muss High School in Israel has announced that Jonah Geller will assume the position of CEO beginning October 4, 2010. Geller is a veteran of the Jewish educational world, having most recently served as Executive Director of Tamarack Camps since 2002. Gideon Shavit, AMHSI’s outgoing CEO, says Geller comes to the position at a time of remarkable growth and potential for the organization. “High school programs in Israel, especially AMHSI, are undergoing a tremendous surge in popularity and we know that Jonah is the right person to take our school into the next generation,” Shavit said. Geller, who served as an AMHSI madrich (counselor) during the summer of 1995 and again during most of 1997, said he is looking forward to reconnecting with the organization. “I feel very fortunate... Continue Reading

NIF Considering New Funding Guidelines

New Israel Fund Considering Red Lines by Nathan Guttman The New Israel Fund, the target of attacks by right-wing organizations accusing it of supporting anti-Zionist groups, is discussing the possibility of specifying in its guidelines that grants will be given only to groups that accept the idea of Israel as a Jewish homeland. The discussions have been taking place in recent months in Israel and in the United States, where NIF’s headquarters are located and most of the group’s donors reside. Initially, the discussions were set as a regular review of funding practices as part of structural changes the fund has experienced this year, with the appointment of new executive directors in the United States and in Israel. But according to three sources who have either seen the new proposed guidelines or... Continue Reading

Rotem Strikes Again; NGO Funding Bill Advances

from The Jerusalem Post: Knesset Law Committee okays controversial NGO funding bill After an emotional two-hour debate, the Knesset Law Committee on Monday approved a bill for first reading in the plenum calling for greater transparency on donations by foreign states and foreign state-funded institutions to Israeli NGOs. The bill, which was initiated by a group of right-wing MKs headed by Ze’ev Elkin (Likud), was primarily aimed at human rights and political organizations such as Peace Now, which critics accuse of supporting the Palestinian cause and being anti-Israel. Committee members including Elkin, Uri Orbach (Habayit Hayehudi) and Avraham Michaeli (Shas) said the bill would increase transparency by compelling NGOs to report all funding received from foreign state entities once every three months.... Continue Reading

Polish Young Adults Explore Their Jewish Roots

A group of 22 young Poles who recently discovered their Jewish roots arrived in Israel Sunday, for a special three-week educational seminar organized by Shavei Israel. The participants, most of whom were raised Catholic and are now in their 20’s, came from an array of cities throughout Poland, primarily Krakow, Katowice, Warsaw, Tychy, Gdansk and Cieszyn. For some of the participants, this marks their first time visiting Israel. The seminar will take place in Jerusalem and will be held entirely in Polish. As part of the program, the participants will travel throughout Israel, studying Hebrew and learning Jewish culture, religion and the history of the State of Israel. Shavei Israel has arranged for Polish-speaking Israeli educators to teach the young group and guide them on their visits to various... Continue Reading

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