WUJS Arad, Still Making News
Central New Jersey Jewish federation executive vice president Stanley Stone, who lobbied to prevent WUJS’ departure and the absorption center’s closing, said losing both was a “psychological blow to the morale of Arad and the entire Negev region.”
Stone said he was willing to raise funds to keep WUJS in Arad, but WUJS (Israel) and Hadassah decided to leave nonetheless.
Read the complete story along with more PR spin from Hadassah to “justify” this move. eJP understands that not only was there a specific commitment from Arad’s Partnership 2000 communities, but up until the very last minute, local Federation leaders had promises from the most senior leaders in Hadassah the program would remain in Arad.
For an organization that excels in so much, their belated PR approach (at least coming from their Jerusalem office) is so very lame.
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I think this is a really judgmental approach to a situation you probably don’t know much about. The Merkaz Klitah which housed the WUJS Arad program for so many years is shutting down. The WUJS Arad program was forced to move.
Besides, let’s be real. This generation of Israel program participants wants to explore Jerusalem as well as Tel Aviv. The world is more connected and Israel is more westernized: Program participants don’t need such a soft landing in the middle of nowhere, they want to dive right in. Don’t believe me, look at numbers to which programs post-college participants are attending. Career Israel, a program which focuses on living and interning in either tel aviv or Jerusalem, has tripled its growth in its first year and a half.
If you want to bring more young jews to Israel, you must adapt. Let’s also be real: if the goal is eventual aliyah, or long term commitment, most anglo-Jews are looking to move to more urban areas like Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. That’s just the nature of the new oleh.
Trust me, there are plenty of volunteer placements for them in the merkaz or near Jerusalem. With 1/3 of Israel’s youth in poverty, I’m sure the soup kitchens in Bat Yam will be just as happy to receive the WUJS volunteers. Just because they aren’t on the periphery, doesn’t mean they’re not neglected.
Go do a bit more research as to why WUJS Israel left Arad and is expanding its program offerings, and then re-post something about how judgmental your post was.
I am not sure who your judgmental comments are addressed to. However, as the author of several other posts (this article is largely from the New Jersey Jewish News) on the WUJS closing, I will respond.
Not only do I know a great deal about why the program is closing, and when these decisions were made, I was also personally involved in the hand-over from an independent WUJS to Hadassah Young Judaea several years ago. I am also personally aware of promises from the most senior leaders in Hadassah (June, 2008) that the program would remain in Arad.
If YOU were familiar with the background, you would know that expanding the WUJS program and leaving Arad are two separate and distinct issues. The decision to expand to Tel Aviv was just that, to expand and hopefully reach a new and different audience.
The decision to leave Arad and relocate to Jerusalem is a separate issue. Yes, the Merkaz Klita is closing this December, but WUJS had other alternatives. That is not to say the program will not be improved and thrive in Jerusalem; it may. But the program in Arad has had difficulty reaching numbers for the past few years, despite the ownership by Young Judaea Israel. And, it is a bit naive to believe this is solely due to the Arad location. It remains to be seen if moving to Jerusalem will turn that situation around.
You hide behind the moniker of a WUJS alumn and are not even willing to identify yourself or explain why you have such intimate knowledge we should accept. Whether you are an alumn or not, or even a Hadassah - Young Judaea employee, be like the hundreds of others who have commented on WUJS; tell us who you are and your connection to WUJS. Your credibility can only increase.