(Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Krivoi Rog, Donetsk, and Kyiv) Report of a ...

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left behind. Hillel also has its own Taglit trip, she noted, as does the Chabad STARS
program.
About 60 percent of Taglit participants subsequently enroll in Masa programs, almost all
of them in preparation for aliyah, Ms. Landberg stated. In response to a question about
the most popular Masa programs, Ms. Landberg said that these include a Beershebabased
program in computer science and photography, a medical science course, a
Beitar program in Jerusalem (which includes an ulpan, Jewish history course, and
volunteer opportunities), and a sports program. Local participants were very sensitive
to co-payment requirements, Ms. Landberg noted, and find certain Masa programs
effectively closed to them because of mandatory fees.
The writer met with a group of approximately 20 local students and other young adults
who were participating in a training course to become JAFI madrichim (youth
leaders). They readily answered questions posed by the writer. Their fields of
university studies or work include engineering, architecture, radio electronics,
psychology, teaching, and law. All of them had attended JAFI summer camps. (One
girl said she had participated in various JAFI programs over a period of nine years.)
Half of them had already been on a Taglit trip to Israel, and the rest said that they
wanted to go on a Taglit trip in the near future. Some of the students said that they
have relatives in Israel. None had yet participated in a Masa program, but several were
exploring various Masa possibilities;
the architecture student wanted to
enroll in the Masa architecture program,
but it is too expensive for her
and, thus, she is considering other
Masa options.
Some of the JAFI Kharkiv madrichim
candidates are seen at left. George
Faingold, husband of the director of the
JAFI office in Kharkiv, is at far left.
Photo: the writer.
Asked why they had enrolled in the madrichim course, a young man said that he
wanted to be part of the Jewish community, and a young woman responded that she
wanted to learn leadership skills. A peer leader of the group said that the various JAFI
programs prove that a person can be Jewish without going to a synagogue, a comment
that elicited general agreement from many of the other young people. In response to a
question concerning possible parental objection to their participation in JAFI activities,
all of them said that their parents were aware of their involvement in the Jewish Agency
and approved of it; a young man added that even his non-Jewish father endorsed his
JAFI activism. Several other participants indicated that they also are offspring of mixed
marriages in which the non-Jewish parent supports JAFI involvement. Because a large
number of the participants had indicated interest in future aliyah, the writer asked the