Moishe House, in partnership with the Carlsbad, CA based Leichtag Foundation, is set to open a house in Jerusalem. This visionary funding plays a key role in enabling the first Moishe House house in Israel.

The Moishe House model empowers young adults to become facilitators and leaders of their own Jewish community. At Moishe House Jerusalem, three to five residents will live together and host five to six diverse programs every month for their peers. Typical programs at Moishe Houses around the globe include Shabbat dinners, Jewish holiday celebrations, sporting events, book clubs, social events and community service opportunities. Moishe House builds strong, peer-based communities that have enough quantity to enable a wide variance of programming. By opening Moishe House Jerusalem, the Moishe House network will grow to include houses in 15 different countries.

“We are thrilled by the Leichtag Foundation’s commitment to bringing Moishe House to Israel. We have seen the success in their local support for Moishe House San Diego, so the ability to build that connection with Jerusalem is even more fulfilling,” Moishe House CEO and co-founder, David Cygielman, notes. “Jerusalem is an amazing city where we hope Moishe House will have a very strong positive impact on building pluralistic young adult Jewish life. We know that there are Jewish young adults, both Israeli-born and immigrants, who do not feel connected to a Jewish community. Moishe House will work to effectively answer the needs of this critical demographic.”

The Leichtag Foundation is one of Moishe House’s largest partners and supporters, funding Moishe House San Diego as well as providing a multi-year challenge grant to help incentivize communities around the United States to open Moishe Houses with strong local support. The Leichtag Foundation focuses its Israel funding on supporting renewal in Jerusalem. The Foundation is particularly focused on building opportunities for young people in Jerusalem including strategic investments in programs that promote social activism, quality of life, culture, service and affordable housing. As Moishe House Jerusalem becomes a hub of vibrant Jewish life for young adults in the city, it will fulfill these priorities.

Commenting on the Foundation’s plans for Moishe House Jerusalem, Charlene Seidle, Leichtag Foundation Vice President and Executive Director told eJP, “Jerusalem is a city that combines the cutting-edge with the ancient and where sacred traditions are infused with new meaning and relevance. Throughout history, Jerusalem has been a city of firsts, an incubator for new ideas. In continuance of this tradition, it is appropriate that the first Moishe House in Israel will be established in Jerusalem. We are particularly excited about furthering the partnership between San Diego and Jerusalem. We will even have a resident exchange to share cultures and activities.”

Moishe House is now accepting applications for potential residents in Jerusalem. Qualified residents for Moishe House Jerusalem may come from a wide range of Jewish backgrounds and all should be passionate about creating a unique Jewish community in return for a modest rent subsidy, programming budget, educational resources and training. The residents will ultimately choose the location of Moishe House Jerusalem, in a central area, close to where young adults live and spend time. Potential residents are encouraged to apply as a group and to direct any questions to Joel Stanley, Director of International Programming, at Joel@moishehouse.org.

Moishe House anticipates that Moishe House Jerusalem will open in the summer of 2012.