היהודית

THE JERUSALEM POST
How Jewish Agency emissaries are
encountering new challenges and teaching
both Israel and the Diaspora what it means
to be a Zionist in the new millennium

JEWISH AGENCY Shlichim take
to the streets at New York City's
Israel Day Parade. (Raphael Rice)
Table of contents
The necessary emissary
An interview with Natan Sharansky 3
A 'shaliach' for life
An interview with Alan Hoffmann 4
Jewish Agency Shlichim in numbers 6
Campus communicators come through 8
French connection: We'll always have Zion 12
South Africa: Agents of change 14
Brazilian breeze 18
Australia: Recovering a lost identity 20
United Kingdom: Mind the gap year! 22
Ukraine mantains top ranking with aliya 26
Midsummer Camp’s Dream 28
A shaliach's work worldwide 30
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE JEWISH AGENCY
Supplement editor: Noa Amouyal
Strategic Marketing Manager: Reut Levy Laursen
Copy editor: Yakir Feldman
Graphic designers: Noam Elisha, Vanina Aelion
and Daniela Gleiser
Cover and back page image: Raphael Rice

The necessary
emissary
Although they share a common identity,
there is much misunderstanding between
Israel and the Diaspora.
Jewish Agency chairman Natan
Sharansky explains why it is crucial
to have shlichim as interlocutors
representing both sides
(Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
• By NOA AMOUYAL
Since the creation of the State of
Israel, world Jewry has become
more fragmented, nuanced and
complex, making the role of an
Israeli shaliach (emissary) coming to
the Diaspora a complex and multi-faceted
one.
Today’s shaliach must be able to do
two very important tasks: to explain the
dream of Zionism to the Diaspora and
to help Israelis understand why Diaspora
Jews believe that there are many ways
to be Jewish.
It is no easy feat, but under Natan
Sharansky’s leadership at The Jewish
Agency, the shlichut program has been
revamped to cater to this specific need.
“It became clear to me that there is no
better way to strengthen Jewish identities
of Israelis than by encountering
world Jewry,” Sharansky said.
Sharansky sat down with The Jerusalem
Post and explained the reason why a
shaliach is necessary in our modern era.
This magazine, which focuses on key regions
around the world, demonstrates
how Sharansky’s dream of a shaliach
has become a reality.
“There is more than one way to work
with the Jewish community in the Diaspora:
you can work through federations,
a youth movement, as a summer
camp counselor, on college campuses
or synagogues,” he said.
As such, this magazine will give readers
insight into how shlichim fulfill all
those different roles.
Worldwide, these shlichim are embraced
by their communities, as they
are not only teachers of Israel but also
representatives of the Diaspora.
“They want Israelis to bring more of
Israel into their lives,” Sharanksy said.
It is a shaliach’s presence on college
campuses, though, that is most critical
in Sharansky’s view.
“It was my idea that the main battlefield
for young Jews is in the campuses,”
he shares.
“It is there that they are tested for the
first time. They are torn between their
family on one hand and their peers on
the other. They’re told you can’t be a
proud member of the liberal world and
also be proud of your Jewish family.
That tension lends itself to confrontation.”
On a larger scale, though, a shaliach’s
significance can potentially be to wield
influence in the strained relationship
between Israel in the Diaspora.
The latest two controversies – egalitarian
prayer at the Western Wall and
the conversion bill – have placed the
two entities at odds. The one influencer
who has a foot in both worlds is a shaliach,
the one able to cut through the
deeply entrenched arrogance and condescension
on both sides, Sharanksy
believes.
“The latest crisis reminds us yet again
that there is arrogance and condescension
regarding basic things. For example,
Jews in the Diaspora say, ‘Why can’t
you be a democracy like us?’” he explains.
“Israelis then will say, ‘Why do
you need all this pluralism? There is religious
and secular, and that’s simple.”’
“Both sides have a lot to contribute
to their mutual identity,” he said diplomatically.
Sharansky knows of what he speaks.
Drawing from his experience as a refusenik
in the Soviet Union, the Jewish
Agency chairman has spent most of his
career advocating for both Diaspora
Jews and Israelis, and he hopes every
shaliach feels the obligation to do the
same.
“Personally, all my life I have still felt
connected to my Diaspora identity. I’m
a voice for Diaspora Jewry. I want them
to feel like this,” he said.
“Shlichim come to represent Israeli
society, but when they go back, they are
unique ambassadors for Diaspora Jewry,”
he said. “Things that are difficult
for me to articulate to our own government
ministers are easily understood by
our shlichim because they’ve seen the
Diaspora with their own eyes.”
“A successful shaliach is one who is
able to integrate the message of Zionism
with his or her own individual experience
of what it means to be Jewish
and Israeli,” he said.
In this magazine, you will see examples
of young men and women who
have done just that.
•
NOVEMBER 2017
3

(Yoav Keren)
A ‘shaliach’ for life
The new generation is now younger, ambitious,
and looking for innovative ways to engage with the Jewish world
• By NOA AMOUYAL
A
Jewish Agency emissary used to fit a certain cookie-cutter
mold, Jewish Agency director-general Alan Hoffmann
tells The Jerusalem Post. Typically, they were established,
middle-aged educators who came from a remote
kibbutz, culled from a relatively small pool of candidates.
In the past decade, under Hoffmann and Jewish Agency
chairman Natan Sharansky’s leadership, the notion of what
a shaliach is has changed dramatically. Today, they are typically
in their late 20s, unattached, hail from all over the
country and a variety of backgrounds and are eager to learn
about the Jewish world and want the Jewish world to learn
from them about Israel.
“These are very talented people,” Hoffmann says of the 2,000
young Israelis who dedicate a summer, a year or more to serving
the Jewish people through the Jewish Agency.
“One of the things we have come to know is that as much as
these fantastic young people are bringing Israel to the young
people they meet, they are also undergoing a learning experience
when it comes to the Diaspora Jewish community.
Suddenly, they understand what it’s like to be a minority,” he
explains.
It is that understanding, acquired by going from a majority-Jewish
country to live in one where Jews can be few and far
between, that impels many emissaries to continue their engagement
with the Jewish world when they return to Israel.
Hoffmann encourages people to think of the shlichut experience
as a cyclical one where the experience never quite ends. For
example, through the myriad of shlichim programs the Jewish
Agency offers, in one lifetime a person can become an emissary
before the army, then again after the army by enrolling as agency
emissary to one of the many summer camps across North
America, then can serve on college campuses when they reach
4

university age and, finally, can continue
to serve the Jewish World when they
come back to Israel.
The returning shlichim experience
is a diverse one and there is no one
way to continue a person’s commitment
to connecting with
the Diaspora.
Ella Bokobza, for example,
was an emissary in St. Louis,
Missouri, and has just graduated
from the Mandel Social Leadership
MBA Program at Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev in
Beersheba. This is not to be confused
with the Mandel Program for Leadership
Excellence at the Jewish Agency,
which focuses on the “selection, training,
placement and advanced training
of young shlichim serving throughout
the Jewish world.”
For Bokobza, who grew up in Beersheba,
this translates into working for Tzipor
Midbar (“Desert Bird”). The program offers
a support mechanism for discharged
lone soldiers (in Israel without close family
that can help them), to make them
feel like home despite the loneliness and
bureaucracy that often bogs down their
experiences in Israel.
“While I was an emissary I understood
I want to be more active in the Jewish
world while back in Israel,” said Bokobza,
who also works for the Jewish Agency as
a partnership coordinator who recruits
emissaries from the periphery. She established
Tzipor Midbar with Yakir Daniel
a year ago, with funding from Natural
Intelligence, a Tel Aviv-based hi-tech
company, and under the sponsorship of
Boharim-Mahar, a Jewish Agency social
activism program for students.
“We found out that 50% to 70% of
olim hadashim [new immigrants] who
were lone soldiers leave the country,
mostly because they are lonely, don’t feel
connected enough to Israel and are annoyed
by its bureaucracy,” she explains.
“This community is the second family
for them, a platform for personal and
professional development,” said Daniel,
who recently joined Viral Security
Group as chief operating officer after
being co-founder and vice president of
sales at Cloud Startup for two years.
For Daniel it was his emissary experience
that helped shape him into the successful
businessman he is today.
“I learned a lot of from the shlichut
experience. I served in the IDF for 10
years, and it was not equivalent to the
real-world experience I got as a shaliach
during my time at Hillel at George Mason
University in Virginia,
I had to reach out to new organizations,
make connections and learn how
to fund-raise,” he explains.
Although the emissary program is
popular, with more than 12,000 Israelis
applying each year, the Jewish Agency is
constantly searching for ways it can do
more to support its young ambassadors
of Israel.
“We constantly create an ever-growing
universe of young committed Israelis,”
Hoffmann says. “I want this to be a major
piece of the identity of young Israelis.
“I think there’s something that’s
been lost as well,” Hoffmann
laments after talking about his experience
as an oleh coming from South
Africa 50 years ago, when he volunteered
during the Six Day War.
“What we’re trying to do with the
young Israelis is a return to the core principles
that are at the heart of being part
of a Zionist society.”
While Hoffmann of course does not
RETURNING SHLICHIM Yakir Daniel and Ella Bokzoba
pose with participants of their Tzipor Midbar program
during a seminar in Mitzpe Ramon. (Tzipor Midbar)
yearn for the days when Israel was in the
midst of an existential crisis, he hopes to
bring back into fashion the notion that
Israel, Zionism and the Jewish people are
worth a lifelong commitment. •
ALAN HOFFMANN (Courtesy)
NOVEMBER 2017
5

JEWISH AGENCY
SHLICHIM IN NUMBERS
*These figures do not include hundreds of local Jewish Agency employees around the world.
6

10 300
YEHUDA SETTON (Courtesy)
The Jewish Agency emissary
program is well-known
throughout the Jewish
world: it stands as a perfect
fulfillment of our mission, which
is to connect the young to their
heritage and their people through
a strong bond to the Israel.
There are currently 2,000 Jewish
Agency emissaries posted in 150
countries. This life-changing experience
is in such strong demand
that we’ve gone up 500 (a 33%
increase) emissaries in the last five
years.
Shlichim (emissaries) come
in “all shapes and sizes”: from
young adults who attend summer
camps in North America and in
the former Soviet Union, to posthigh-school-pre-army
teens who
go to communities as mentors
and Israeli peers (shinshinim).
From youth movement shlichim
and graduate students working on
college and university campuses
(Israel Fellows), to experienced
communal professionals who relocate
with their families and take
on leadership roles (community
shlichim).
Shlichim go abroad as ambassadors
who teach, inform and sere
as role models for a life lived in
Israel. They inspire communities
and are, in turn, inspired by them.
We have recently designed
programs that allow them to
apply lessons learned in Jewish
communities to Israeli society,
thus building a new generation of
leaders who feel committed to the
entire Jewish people.
At a time when assets are
increasingly scarce, shlichim
are the most beneficial asset the
Jewish people has. With growing
numbers and impact, we make a
difference 365 days a year, always
creating new experiences in connecting
Israel with Jewish communities
worldwide.
YEHUDA SETTON
Director, Shlichim
& Israel Fellows Unit
The Jewish Agency for Israel
NOVEMBER 2017
7

Campus
communicators
come through
How young Israelis reach out to peers on
college campuses and learn something
unexpected
• By DANIELLE ZIRI
An ambassador’s son on a mission, Yonatan Millo says representing
Israel abroad was always part of his life. He had watched his
late father, Yehuda Millo, speak out for Israel as ambassador to
Italy and Turkey and felt his own vocation burgeoning early on.
“I grew up in a diplomatic family,” he told The Jerusalem Post.
After serving in the IDF for five years, obtaining a degree in government
and conducting a range of projects involving Israel’s outreach to
the world, Millo follows in his father’s footsteps. He serves as one of The
Jewish Agency’s 80 Israel Fellows working in Hillel centers on campuses
in North America and around the world and is in charge of Israel education
at Yale University in Connecticut.
Millo’s main goal, he told the Post, is to bridge Israeli and American
Jews, the “two main parts of the tribe,” he says.
“I always had connections with young Americans,” he said. “The
more I grew up, the more I thought that the connection between American
Judaism and Israeli Judaism is paramount for the Jewish people,
but today, we are growing further and further apart.”
Millo, who is in his third year serving at Yale, also learned much from
watching his dad work for the foreign ministry as a child.
“The main thing it made me see is the ability just to explain the complexity
beyond the stereotype,” he told the Post.
“Growing up abroad gives you a very different sense of what people
know and can understand. I grew up in a very international setting and
that’s why I have much less of a stereotype of different people and I
bring that experience, my personal experience, to my work.”
Now in its 14th year, the Israel Fellows program is a joint initiative of
The Jewish Agency for Israel and Hillel International. The Fellows, who
are typically between 25 and 30 years old, spend two or three years on
the campus to which they are assigned, working as that campus’s link
to Israel.
“Israeliness” is crucial
Participants go through a “very vigorous” screening process involving
a series of tests, interviews and workshops to “earn their position on
campus,” explained Shelley Kedar, who until recently served as director
of The Jewish Agency Israel Fellows program.
“These young Israeli professionals, who have completed their army
service and have at least an undergraduate degree, are leaving everything
behind. It’s a very un-postmodern thing to do,” she told the Post.
8

JEWISH AGENCY Israel Fellows at a seminar in St. Louis,
Missouri. (Hillel International)
NOVEMBER 2017
9

SHELLEY KEDAR (Courtesy)
YONATAN MILLO (Courtesy)
“They are putting everything on hold and they come. Some of
them are leaving important positions: We have a few lawyers, we have
accountants, software engineers, educators,” she said.
Kedar insists the selected Fellows are “a different type of people”
and highlights their dedication.
“They really think about the greater good of the Jewish people and
they care about what’s going on in the world, in general and with respect
to Israel,” she said.
“After they return to Israel, they usually become influential individuals
in Israeli society. We see our alumni now serving in the public
sphere, in NGOs, doing really meaningful things across the country.”
Kedar explained the Israel Fellows are focused on three areas: The
first, Israel engagement, involves cultivating relationships with Israel
advocates and allies on campus, in order to build coalitions with diverse
student groups. Secondly, they are in charge of Israel education,
teaching Israel’s history, culture and society through original on-campus
programming. Lastly, they encourage Israel experiences through
programs like Birthright, Onward and Masa, which offer trips and internships
to discover Israel.
“They’re very important I think for two reasons,” Kedar said. “One
is that usually they will be the only Israeli that has this role on campus.
Secondly, they are professional, they know what they are doing
and are strategic about what they want to be achieving on campus so
that also makes them very valuable.”
In recent years, an additional mission has been put in front of the
Israel Fellows: fighting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement
on their campus.
“On campuses, most of the time [dialogue about] Israel is black and
white: it’s either good or it’s bad,” Kedar said. “So you need an Israeli
to understand that actually there is a complexity to it in the good
sense of the word. Their Israeliness is crucial.”
“The program has grown so big because the field necessitates it,”
she added.
Each campus requires a different, tailor-made approach when it
comes to the Fellows’ work for Israel.
Yonatan Millo explained that although the BDS movement and
anti-Israel rallies are not much of a problem at Yale, the challenge he
faces with his students is even greater.
“What the Yale students expect and want is to have much more
intellectual, pluralistic, in-depth conversations about Israel,” he
explained. “It means that as an educator I have to raise my level to
match that and really run programs that are not superficial.”
“The all-too-common pro-Israel/anti-Israel noise, which sometimes
pervades activities elsewhere, doesn’t work here at Yale at all.
Students just don’t buy into it,” he noted.
From Jezreel to Africa to Sacramento
Daniela Amir just began her 2nd year of service as an Israel Fellow at
the shared Hillel center of UC Davis and Sacramento State.
Born in the US to Israeli parents, Amir was entering first grade when
she moved to the Jezreel Valley in Northern Israel. Her household, she
told the Post, has always been a very Zionist and pro-Israel environment.
After a three-year service in the IDF’s home front command, like
many Israelis, Amir took a long backpacker’s trip and chose to spend
it volunteering in Africa.
“It came from that feeling that I want to give of myself,” she said.
10

“I really believe that everyone has the ability to give something
from themselves to others. It could be money or so
many other kinds of support.”
When she came back from Africa, it was clear to Amir
that social work was her way of becoming what she calls “a
meaningful member of the community.”
Amir obtained a BA in social work at Hebrew University
in Jerusalem and got a job at a Jewish Agency absorption
center for Ethiopian immigrants at the same time. That experience
inspired her to apply to the Israel Fellows program
and represent Israel on campuses abroad, which she felt was
“the right thing to do.”
Amir notes that there is much to be done when it comes
to Israel education.
“Generally, I feel that Israel is some far country in the Middle
East for some of the students and there is not enough
knowledge,” she explained. “It shows when they need to
advocate for Israel or say something to defend Israel. Not a
lot of students know the right word or the exact historical
fact.”
Amir recently organized a trip to Israel with Jewish and
non-Jewish student participants where for ten days they travelled
to Israel and had direct encounters with both Israelis and
Palestinians focusing on the geopolitical conflict.
Amir believes the key to bringing Israel to the forefront on
campus is through personal connections with the students.
As such, she organized cooking workshops with Israeli cuisine
of various ethnic backgrounds, and brought to campus a renowned
Israeli vegan chef to expose students to this aspect of
the Israeli scene growing in popularity.
But sometimes it’s more about food for thought. “A lot of
students come and ask about things they saw on the news,”
she explained. “For example, The UNESCO resolution about
Jerusalem, which caused a diplomatic stir. People wanted to
talk about it. I don’t perceive my role as a provider of official
answers, but it was important to facilitate a discussion and to
refer them to various news sources that treated the issue from
different angles.”
Other times, it can get personal.
“Quite often, they just see how things affect me, and they
come and ask how I feel about it or send me some sort of supportive
message. When Shimon Peres passed away, I got many
comforting messages. That was very touching,” Amir added.
“They get the connection,” she said. “Suddenly Israel has a
face.” It was a somewhat unexpected reckoning.
Yonatan Millo said that he has also learned a something
surprising at Yale. “This was a revelation for me: I learned that
Jewish Americans, no matter what their opinion about Israel is,
anything from pro-or anti- or disillusioned with or apathetic to
Israel, it still plays a part in their identity.”
“We haven’t found a way to really build that up, but if you listen
to the students, you’ll find that Israel exists in their Jewish
identity. They can’t deny it,” he explained.
“It’s something that I didn’t really realize before. It made me
understand my work goes way beyond just communication.”
DANIELA AMIR (third from left), who is in her
second year serving as an Israel Fellow poses
together with students. (Courtesy)
NOVEMBER 2017
11

French connection:
We’ll always have Zion
French delegation leader:
Our work is to make young people
feel part of a Jewish future
• By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
France’s 450,000 Jews have undergone a considerable
exodus from a country rife with tensions,
The Jewish Agency’s Daniel Benhaim
said. Aliya rates remain high in France, reflecting
the Jewish Agency’s outreach and education efforts.
Benhaim, who oversees the agency’s offices in
France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland and Spain, explained
that the Agency is involved in a multitiered
effort to educate a new generation of French Jews
about their history, protect the greater Jewish community
and provide the means for olim to come to
Israel.
“Our actions are presently focused in two directions,”
said Benhaim from his Paris office. “The first
one is all our activity toward aliya.”
To this end, Benhaim said numerous outreach
efforts, including fairs, lectures, a website and social
media platforms, are used to inform the Jewish
community about the variables involved in moving
to Israel and securing citizenship.
“We want to give all the people interested in making
aliya the answers to their questions and to help
them do it in the best way possible,” he said.
Outreach efforts have clearly paid off: Over the
last three years, some 20,000 French Jews, primarily
from Paris, have successfully made aliya.
“It’s a very big number, and for sure greater than
in previous years,” he said. Benhaim cited three reasons
for the spike in aliya.
“The first one is the concern about the Jewish
place in Europe as its identity changes and due to
increased migration from North Africa and the
Mideast,” he said.
“The second one involves security for people in
general and Jews in particular. The third involves
the economic conditions in Europe, which has remained
in a crisis since 2008. I think all of these
concerns together create a feeling of instability, and
when there is a lack of stability there is more [moti-
FRANCE’S JEWISH AGENCY employees and participants pose in
front of the Eiffel Tower. (Courtesy)
12

DANIEL BENHAIM (Courtesy)
vation] to make aliya.”
Moreover, Benhaim said, France’s forward-thinking
younger generation of Jews is increasingly
finding Israel to be a preferable option
over Europe.
“They see in Israel dynamic thinking and a dynamic
country,” he explained. “A key priority for
our delegation is to work with schools and youth
movements, [with those] between the ages of 13
and 35, to strengthen their relationship with Judaism
and connect them to Israel.”
Through their connection to Israel, he said,
they “find a new reason to connect to their Jewish
identity.”
Benhaim cited linking France’s younger population
to Israel as a key component in promoting
aliya, as well as Jewish identity.
“Building a connection to Israel can help the
Jewish youth population [in the Diaspora] to feel
better as Jews,” he said.
“For a lot of countries, to be Jewish was good
for their parents and in most cases their grandparents,
but now young people tell themselves:
’Maybe Judaism was for the past, and not something
that is modern.’
When they are connected to Israel, they can
discover a very modern Jewish society that reconciles
their identities as modern and Jewish
people. So, a part of our educational work is to
try to make these young people feel a part of Jewish
history, of the Jewish community and of the
Jewish future.”
Asked which regions of France most olim are
departing from, Benhaim said the vast majority
are Parisian.
“Most of the Jews in France live in Paris and the
suburbs of Paris,” he said. “So, something like
70% are coming from those regions.”
In terms of the present security climate for
Jews, Benhaim said, “People are now used to it as
a part of life. At the beginning, it [attacks against
Jews] was a shock, and now it is more normal to
have heightened security at synagogues and Jewish
schools,” he said, adding that the Agency has
worked directly with all Jewish institutions to improve
necessary safeguards.
“The fact that terrorists are targeting the general
population now has changed the game slightly,
but I’m not sure that the situation is better;
only that people are more used to it now,” he
said.
In the meantime, Benhaim said France’s volatile
geopolitical climate will likely result in ongoing
high rates of aliya, with nearly 5,000 this
year, as it has averaged over the last three years.
“I think that aliya will continue to be important,”
he emphasized.
•
NOVEMBER 2017
13

14
JEWISH AGENCY emissaries Aviad Sela (far right)
and Hagai Dagan (holding the toddler) pose for
a photograph after a meeting of shlichim in Cape
Town. (Courtesy)

Agents of
change
Jewish Agency emissaries practice
‘Tikkun Olam’ in South Africa
• By STEVE LINDE
Jewish Agency shlichim in South Africa see them selves as agents of both
aliya and social change. Not only do they aim to help strengthen the
country's Jewish community (which numbers an estimated 70,000 in
a country of over 50 million) and boost their connection with Israel,
they also seek to contribute to the welfare of the local non-Jewish community,
especially those most in need.
“We absolutely consider ourselves agents of change, and not only because
of the Project TEN Center in Durban, but because of the impact that
the Jewish Agency delegation has in South Africa as a whole,” says emissary
Aviad Sela, who heads the Johannesburg-based Israel Center.
“Project TEN is an opportunity to connect Israeli and Jews around the
world, to learn to understand each other and the practice of tikkun olam,
the Jewish value of repairing the world.”
Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky officially opened the Project
TEN Center in Durban last February, although it has been operating since November
2016. Project TEN, dubbed “the Jewish Peace Corps,” brings together
young Jews from Israel and the Diaspora to volunteer in underprivileged areas
around the world. Its new centers in Durban and Namulanda, Uganda (which
Sharansky visited on his way to South Africa) join existing ones in Winneba in
Ghana, Oaxaca in Mexico and Kibbutz Harduf in northern Israel.
“Project TEN Centers are operated by The Jewish Agency in the most underprivileged
areas in the world,” says Sela. “They are run by Israelis and Diaspora
Jews and local volunteers."
Sela says the center in Durban is unique, compared to other centers around
the world.
“We operate it in partnership with the South African Zionist Federation
and with the support of the local Jewish community,” he says. "First and foremost,
we are engaged with local NGOs and volunteers to provide a range of
services to poor and needy people in Durban and the whole KwaZulu-Natal
area.”
“Every morning the volunteers go out to townships in the area to help out.”
Together with local NGOs – the Denis Hurley Center, the Victor Daitz
Foundation, the Domino Foundation and I Care – the volunteers have already
started working on several projects in the fields of formal and informal
education, youth empowerment, public health and sustainable agriculture.
Sela has been The Jewish Agency’s top emissary in South Africa since August
2014 and expects to stay in the job until 2018. He is married to Naomi,
who works at the Israeli Embassy, and they have two daughters, one in 12th
grade at a Jewish school in Johannesburg and the other studying at IDC Herzliya.
“My shlichut [mission] has been an opportunity for me to understand that
NOVEMBER 2017
15

Israel is not the whole story,” he says. “There are Jews and Jewish
communities around the world with needs and challenges.
I feel fortunate to have been chosen to go to South Africa,
and we feel that we are in the right place, in Johannesburg, at
the moment. We also have a branch in Cape Town, and now
of course in Durban too.”
Sela says The Jewish Agency operates on three levels.
“The first level is strengthening the local Jewish community.
Our shlichim take part in a range of programs in
Jewish organizations, schools, youth movements, etc.,” he
says. “We also work to better connect the community to Israel
in terms of their Zionist beliefs and Jewish identity, and
encourage those interested to make aliya. The third level of
changing in The Jewish Agency is introducing members of
the community to Israel in the most meaningful way.”
“Rather than leaving Israel as an abstract idea, we try to
bring as many young people as possible to visit Israel and
spend meaningful time in Israel in a range of projects,”
he adds.
“For example, we run a project called Israel Encounter
in which every year around 170 to 200 11th-grade students
visit Israel. They are given the opportunity to see
and connect, but at the same time, they go to university
campuses to see the opportunities that Israel can give
them during a gap year or as students.”
Sela notes that there has been a marked rise in enrollment
in a range of programs under the umbrella of
Masa and P2G (Partnership2gether) to introduce young
South Africans to Israel, together with a rise in aliya.
“We have seen an increase in young Jews doing their
gap year in Israel and going on Masa programs to Israel,
students who study in Israel, and many young families
interested in information about Israel,” he says.
“We have also seen an increase in the number of olim
[immigrants] from South Africa by about 50%. In total
numbers, it doesn’t sound like a lot, from 170 in 2014 to
272 in 2016, but it is significant.”
Sela is concerned about rising antisemitism and BDS
in South Africa.
“Part of the new face of antisemitism is the BDS
groups on campuses and on social networks. It’s very
worrying. There were two recent occasions in which
people affiliated to ISIS were arrested, with plans to attack
Jewish facilities in South Africa. The Jewish Agency
NATAN SHARANSKY dances with
children at the opening of the
Project TEN Center in Durban in
February. (Courtesy)
16

is doing all we can to better understand this phenomenon
and ways to safeguard the community and its facilities,”
he says.
As a result of perceptions of rising crime and corruption,
Sela expects aliya from South Africa to increase in
the future.
“I think in the short- and medium-term, we will see increasing
challenges in South Africa that will affect the Jewish
community,” he says. “The situation brings many people
to my office with sentences like, ‘We don’t see a future
here,’ or ‘We don’t see hope for our kids in South Africa
and we want to explore the options for them in Israel.’”
Hagai Dagan, who served until recently as the Jewish
Agency emissary to Cape Town together with his wife,
Anne, and three young children, is particularly concerned
about anti-Israel activities on university campuses, which
climax in the so-called Israel Apartheid Week in March.
“It’s a very aggressive week on campuses. The Palestine
Solidarity Forum basically bashes Israel in a very vicious
way,” he says. “Their members are perceived as human
rights activists who fight for freedom, democracy and justice,
which unfortunately they aren’t.”
Dagan came up with an idea to counteract the phenomenon.
“We realized that most people don’t know the facts, and
it’s very hard to interact with students on campus, even
Jewish students, and tell them our side of the story,” he
says. “So we created a new three-stage platform, where we
invited people to engage and hold a dialogue about Israel.”
In the first stage, with guidance from the Jewish Agency’s
educational arm, Makom, Dagan conducted five evening
workshops in private homes for 13 student leaders to
discuss the situation in Israel.
In the second phase, he invited seven of them to travel
to Israel and learn about it firsthand.
“Their tour wasn’t about riding camels or floating in the
Dead Sea or hiking on the Golan,” he says. “They went and
met with interesting people who live in Israel, people who
deal with social change and work for a variety of NGOs, as
well as visiting our partnership region in Mateh Yehuda.
Through all this, they were exposed to the complexities and
challenges of Israeli society. At the same time, they were
exposed to passionate people who care about Israel and do
something about it. So it was very informative and inspiring
at the same time.”
Upon their return to South Africa, they began the third
phase, in which each of them conducted workshops at
homes, schools and universities.
“They engaged in a dialogue with a variety of people about
Israel, talking to them about their experience and exposing
them to the real Israel, and that went very well. We got really
good responses, and people wanted to engage and wanted to
hear and learn about the real situation. Students at the university
invited their non-Jewish friends, Christians and Muslims,
and we thought that this was a very healthy platform to
speak about Israel.”
“I think we need to create more platforms for discussion
about Israel,” he says.
“Sometimes Jewish people around the world are very cautious
to ask tough questions, or criticize or express their opinions
across the board. I think this is not a healthy thing. People
who care about Israel need to engage, and in many cases,
I compare it to a family. You love your family, you care about
the family, you are part of the family, but you also have issues
and problems, and the best way to solve these is to talk about
them.”
While young adults are a very important part of this dialogue,
Dagan believes the older generation should be involved
as well.
“I think one of the challenges in South Africa is to engage
the older generation, because there is a gap between what the
older generation – the parents and grandparents – thinks,
or would like their kids or grandchildren to think, and the
younger generation, which sometimes has a completely different
opinion. We need to create this intergenerational dialogue,
and speak about Israel in an open way.
At the end of the day, I think people still find Israel fascinating
and inspiring, and they want to hear more and connect
to the country. I say, let’s do more of that.”
Like Sela, Dagan has witnessed “an increasing interest in
Israel” among the local Jewish community.
“The numbers aren’t very high, but the trend is clear,” he
says.
“More and more people are making aliya, more and more
people are interested in studying in Israel and looking for opportunities
and investments in Israel.”
Dagan sees his task as a shaliach in South Africa as multifaceted.
“As someone who worked for the Jewish Agency, I think we
are doing a lot of good stuff,” he says. “I think we need to expose
Jews to the opportunities in Israel, and encourage whoever
is keen to make aliya, and at the same time, to strengthen
the local community and its institutions. It’s not either/or;
it’s both.”
He says that the Jewish community in South Africa is extremely
supportive of Israel while being concerned about
their own future.
“South Africa is a complicated country. We have seen everything
from riots at the universities to water shortages;
people are thinking about their future and considering the
idea of moving to Israel,” he says.
“When people sat in my office and I asked them, ‘Why do
you want to make aliya?” many told me, ‘I want to go home. I
have lived all my life in South Africa, but I still don’t really feel
that I belong here.’ Some of them who visit Israel come back
saying they feel they belong there. So there is a very strong
connection, which works both ways.”
Back in Johannesburg, Sela comes to the same conclusion.
“This is the time for us to be prepared for people who are
looking for a fresh future and give them the opportunity to
move to Israel,” he says.
“The Jewish community is very dedicated to Jewish values,
very warm and very Zionist. For most of them, Israel is and
should be their future home.”
•
NOVEMBER 2017
17

Brazilian breeze:
A spike in aliya from the southern giant
• By STEVE LINDE
While nearly 700 Brazilians immigrated
to Israel this year, the head
of The Jewish Agency’s delegation
to Brazil, Revital Poleg, said the
jump in aliya is not for political reasons.
“Certainly the economic crisis in Brazil has
been a catalyst, but Jews are not leaving for political
reasons,” Poleg told The Jerusalem Post from
São Paulo, ahead of the Jewish community’s annual
conference.
“The Jewish community is very Zionist and
very connected to Israel, and their decision to
make aliya is a combination of different factors,
including the economic situation, issues of personal
safety, educational opportunities in Israel,
and of course, the possibility of living among
your own people.”
Brazil, a country of more than 200 million,
has a Jewish population of 120,000, with about
55,000 Jews living in São Paulo and 30,000 in Rio
de Janeiro, while the rest are spread out in smaller
communities.
Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky
was recently the guest of honor and keynote
speaker to some 300 members of CONIB (Confederação
Israelita do Brasil), the umbrella body
representing the 14 Jewish federations in the
country.
“Aliya from Brazil has risen dramatically in recent
years,” Sharansky said.
“Three years ago, we registered 200 olim from
Brazil. Today, we can boast 700 from the beginning
of the year, and by the end of 2017 the final
number will be around 800, with reasonable basis
to forecast yet another increase next year. To
this you have to add the rising number of young
participants in Israel experience programs such
as Masa, for example, with over 300 young Brazilians
this year alone.”
Sharansky also attributed the aliya increase to
a variety of causes, especially the fact that members
of the Jewish community choose Israel over
other countries.
“The Jewish community here in Brazil is at its
core strongly connected to Israel and Zionist at
heart, so that when local socioeconomic and
political circumstances bring people to look for
alternatives, Israel is their natural choice. Many
Brazilian Jews could have opted for another place,
yet chose Israel, because this choice has great added
value for them,” Sharansky said.
Poleg said that Sharansky’s participation at the
CONIB event was “an expression of honor and
also an act of appreciation for all that The Jewish
Agency is doing here.”
“I think the very fact that Sharansky was invited
here is the sign of the growing relations and
interchange between Israel and Brazil. The Jewish
Agency's activities here in Brazil are also very
much connected to CONIB,” Poleg said.
“One of the things I am very happy about is the
good relations I have developed with the heads
of CONIB over the past four years. They consider
us a strategic partner, and that makes The Jewish
Agency’s presence here very important.”
She also saw it as an opportunity to “enhance
our relations, maybe with more shlichim [emissaries],
maybe with more projects together, Jewish
educational projects for example, or the activities
that we have initiated with the smaller communities
in the north and northeast of Brazil. It is
important to reinforce those small communities,
and The Jewish Agency provides us with the tools
to do that.”
The aliya from Brazil is considered “a quality
immigration” by The Jewish Agency, because it
is composed of mostly young families and young
singles looking to expand their education and
develop their professional careers in Israel, Poleg
said.
“The moment the Brazilian olim community
grows, other factors become relevant,” she said.
“Your daughter or sister is making aliya, and
you consider doing it yourself. Brazilians are very
18

A GROUP of new immigrants
from Brazil arrive at Ben-Gurion
Airport this year. (Nathan Roi)
family-oriented, and we are seeing a process in which they
are, slowly but surely, joining each other in Israel. At the same
time, the bonds between the Brazilian Jewish community and
Israel are growing stronger all the time, and are very much evident
in their life. People may be living in Israel, but still have
businesses or relatives here in Brazil.”
While Poleg is the primary emissary, there are five others,
one to São Paulo’s Bais Yaakov community and the Netzach
Movement, three others to the youth movements – Habonim
Dror, Hashomer Hatza’ir and Chazit Hanoar – and one to the
northeastern city of Recife.
Lea Tbul, 27, who was born in Brazil and made aliya with her
family at the age of six, was dispatched by The Jewish Agency
to Recife, where she worked closely with the leadership of the
community, the local Jewish school and young adults.
“My function as a shlicha in the community allowed me
to create integration between organizations to strive for full
cooperation and strengthen the community’s sense of belonging
and connection to Judaism and the State of Israel,”
said Tbul. “I have discovered a community that is open and
welcoming to a new side of Judaism.”
Recife, known for its beautiful beaches, is home to a relatively
young and liberal community of some 300 families. It has
the country’s oldest Jewish school, established 99 years ago,
which today has 70 pupils from kindergarten to fifth grade,
and the first synagogue built on the American continent, Kahal
Zur Israel Synagogue, established by Jews from Spain and
Portugal in 1636, which now houses a Jewish museum.
The majority of Brazilian Jews are Ashkenazi, identify as
secular Zionist and belong to Reform or Conservative synagogues,
although there are significant Orthodox and Chabad
congregations, especially in São Paulo, and kosher food is
available in the two big cities.
In São Paulo, home to a powerful Syrian-Lebanese community,
the Orthodox Bais Yaakov community led by the Safra
family runs the biggest Jewish school and the biggest youth
movement, Netzach.
The new mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Marcelo Crivella, elected
just last year, is an evangelical leader who strongly supports
the Jewish community and Israel, which he has visited three
dozen times.
In addition, the appointment of centrist Michel Temer as
the country’s president on August 31, after the impeachment
of his predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, has been welcomed by the
Jewish community. Among other things, Temer named José
Serra, who is considered close to the Jewish community, as
foreign minister, and Ilan Goldfajn, an Israeli-born economist,
as president of the Central Bank of Brazil.•
NOVEMBER 2017
19

Recovering
a lost identity
The Kangarusski program helps Russian speakers
Down Under reconnect to Jewish roots
• By NOA AMOUYAL
How do you tap into someone’s
identity when he feels parts
of it are missing? This is a conundrum
The Jewish Agency
faces in attempts to connect with Russian-speaking
Jewry around the world.
And there are a lot of them: approximately
three million worldwide, with
more than 1.1 million in Israel, nine
hundred thousand in the former Soviet
Union.,700,000 to 800,000 in the US,
300,000 in Germany, and more than
100,000 in Canada.
Down Under, the Zionist Federation
of Australia has implemented its Kangarusski
program, aimed at the country’s
40,000 Russian-speaking Jews.
“The name was a joke that just caught
on. Now everybody calls themselves
Kangarusski,” Rami Teplitskiy, who just
recently completed his role as Jewish
Agency and ZFA emissary for the Russian
Jewish community of Australia,
chuckled while discussing the program.
Teplitskiy has spent nearly two years
in Australia interacting with the Jewish
community and focusing his efforts on
its Russian speakers.
“They’re mostly unaffiliated Jews,” he
said of most Russian Jewry worldwide.
“They’re not really associated with anything.”
In Australia, Teplitskiy aimed to make
Israel a priority for them, and as an immigrant
from the FSU himself, he hoped
to formulate an authentic connection
with them based on shared backgrounds.
“Russians see their identity in terms
of nationality and culture, not religion,”
he said, noting that the Communist way
of life left no room for religious freedom.
“I can easily understand seeing the
world through that lens because I grew
up thinking the same thing.”
Kangarusski mostly targets the second-generation
Jews born outside the
FSU, children of the migrations of the
1970s and 1990s who don’t know exactly
where they belong.
“They are very confused about their
identity,” he said. “‘Am I Russian? Am I
Jewish? What does it mean to be Jewish?
Can I be both Australian and Russian?’”
are just some of the crucial identity questions
these Jews ask themselves on a regular
basis.
That’s where Kangarusski steps in – its
programs help them answer these questions
and build a stronger connection to
Israel.
Although they are largely religiously
unaffiliated, Russian Jews have a strong
affinity for the Holy Land.
“The place of Israel is in the hearts of
Russian-speaking Jews,” Roman Polonsky,
director of the Russian Speaking
Jewry Unit at The Jewish Agency, explained.
“They want a feeling of belonging
to a great nation. Our way to Jewishness
started from Israel. Israel had a
very important and special part in Russian-speaking
Jews – it was a common
denominator. It was our anchor.”
As a program, Kangarusski manifests
itself with Birthright trips, events for
young adults at the Moishe House in
Melbourne (the first one to be established
in Australia – a second has since
opened in Sydney) and weeklong day
camps and Jewish learning programs,
such as the very first Limmud FSU in
Sydney, which took place last years.
At the day camps, some 40 Russian-speaking
Jewish children learn
about Jewish holidays and customs.
There is also the Kangarusski leadership
mentoring, which engages young
adults looking to be active in their community.
Speaking of a young woman
who had never visited Israel before,
Teplitskiy said, “We took her to Israel on
Birthright.
“She didn’t know what Shabbat was,
what it means to have a Shabbat din-
20

A GROUP of Russian-speaking Birthright participants from Australia listen
to their counselor while in Tel Aviv. (Rami Teplitskiy)
ner. Bit by bit, this identity was built
for her. Then she became leader in our
camps and now she’s living the whole
Shabbat experience in her house,”
Teplitskiy marveled.
These programs are not, however,
designed to get young Russian Jews to
become religious, rather for them to
understand the significance of each custom
and to realize that it is part of their
heritage.
At the Moishe House in Melbourne,
young adults gather in this home and
learn what it is to lead a Jewish life, and
cultural events such as Lag Ba’omer bonfires
are held.
“I gave them access to knowledge of
what being Jewish is in a very pluralistic
way,” Teplitskiy explained. In some
ways, it’s an uphill battle, since these
Jews have parents who remember clearly
the rampant antisemitism in the Soviet
Union and its disdain for all things religious.
Polonsky is all too familiar with
this challenge of building something
from nothing.
“Everything was destroyed,” he
lamented. “In no other Jewish community
do you see this detachment and the
severe outcome of this detachment.”
Unlike other Jewish communities,
the Russian-speaking Jews didn’t
have institutions like synagogues or
a movement to attach themselves to.
Their “Jewishness” was not inherited
from their parents, and the fact that
the second generation is showing interest
is nothing short of a miracle,
Polonsky argued.
“It’s a miracle. The revival of a Jewish
community from FSU Jews is a phoenix
rising from the ashes,” he said.•
NOVEMBER 2017
21

HILA LEVIZON (top right), seen during her shlichut in the London commune. (Courtesy)
Mind the gap year!
High school graduates bring Israel
to Jewish communities abroad
• By CARMIT SAPIR WEITZ
is coming in. I went to synagogue
for Kabbalat Shabbat and then to a family
for Friday night dinner. One of the amazing
‘Shabbat
things we had in our community in London
is that everybody wants to host us. So we have opened
an online page where families can register before Shabbat,
and that way we end up meeting new families every
week.
“I suddenly had a picture in my mind of kiddush at
home in Israel, where my father blesses the children
and sings 'A Woman of Valor' to my mother, and I was
flooded with feelings of yearning for them as I hear the
familiar prayers being said in the background.
22

“Shani and I embraced and wished each other
Shabbat Shalom, and I understood that I have
made the right decision to come here. This is exactly
the reason I came to London on the Jewish
Agency’s shlichut [emissary] program.
The connection between all Jews is so important,
and this is the most wonderful way to preserve it.”
These are the words of Shaked Weisner, 18, who
grew up in an Orthodox home in Petah Tikva and
is the second of four siblings. Growing up, she enjoyed
going to a dance group and attending the
Bnei Akiva youth movement.
When she heard about The Jewish Agency’s
Shnat Sherut (Year of Service) program, which allows
young people to defer their army service and
serve as an emissary abroad, she knew she wanted
to do it.
“I come from a liberal and open family, and my
parents shared my enthusiasm,” Weisner, who recently
completed her emissary service, said.
Ever since arriving in London, her daily agenda
has been dynamic and intensive. She lived in “a
commune” of Shnat Sherut emissaries for The Jewish
Agency in an apartment block in North London,
which is adjacent to a synagogue and community
center.
Weisner volunteered at four primary schools and
high schools as a Hebrew and Jewish studies educator,
spent her afternoons running activities with a
SHAKED WEISNER (right): ‘One of the amazing
things we had in our community in London is
that everybody wanted to host us.’ (Courtesy)
local Jewish youth group, and attended regular
leadership and volunteer program meetings and is
involved in a range of social welfare activities, such
as collecting clothes for the needy.
Weisner is one of 114 high-school graduates who
packed their suitcases in the summer of 2016 to be
emissaries for The Jewish Agency around the world,
volunteering in Jewish communities and making
an impact on hundreds of thousands of young people
and their families.
“As a result of the growing need for such emissaries
in Jewish communities worldwide, their
number has doubled over the past five years, and
it appears that this trend will continue in the years
to come,” said Tzachi Levy, former director of the
program.
The Jewish Agency has already made it clear that
it plans to expand the program according to the
needs of the various communities. Weisner and
her colleagues were chosen after a careful selection
process and underwent intensive training.
“Today they are spread out in some 30 cities
around the world in an operation that is coordinated
with the Defense Ministry, Jewish youth movements,
Jewish federations and local communal organizations,”
Levy said.
During their year of service, they stay either with
local Jewish families (in the US and Canada), or together
in communal arrangements (in Britain, the
Netherlands, South Africa and South America).
The emissaries inject a young and vibrant Israeli
spirit into their chosen communities. They become
involved in educational activities, teaching
Hebrew, leading youth movements, and helping
Jewish communal organizations and federations.
“We set out on shlichut with a sense of purpose
of serving the communities and with the aim of
imparting our knowledge of and love for Israel,”
said Rael Goodman, the outgoing head of the Jewish
Agency’s Delegation in the UK.
“In fact, it’s a win-win situation. While we impart
our Israeli way of life, we learn the language and
cultures of different communities in the Diaspora.
We then return home with a strong feeling that we
have made a lasting impression, and ‘import’ our
newly acquired values back home as well, hoping
to create a positive influence on society and raise a
future generation of leaders sensitive to the needs
and concerns of communities around the world.”
For Weisner, her time in London was gratifying.
“It is the most amazing experience,” she says. “[I
began as] a high-school student in Israel, and suddenly
I [became] an educator abroad, working as
part of a team. As time passed, I find that I had a lot
in common with kids of my age here. When you’re
NOVEMBER 2017
23

RAEL GOODMAN, outgoing head of The Jewish Agency’s Delegation in the UK. (Courtesy)
not in Israel, you suddenly understand what it is to be
Jewish. Nothing is taken for granted. I now understand
the importance of going to synagogue, and the existence
of the State of Israel.”
What questions are you most
often asked as an Israeli?
“For many children, it’s strange that I want to go to
the army, and how excited I am by the prospect of joining
the IDF as a soldier. I was often asked what we learn
in school, and how the teachers were. Mostly they were
interested in our daily lives in Israel. What do we do with
friends? What do we talk about? Most of them also don’t
know Hebrew, and it’s magical for them to discover the
meaning of our names in Hebrew.”
How did you cope with missing home?
“I told myself that this is part of the experience and
part of the idea. At home, they really strengthen and
support me, and they’re proud of what I’m doing. It’s
all part of growing up. The moment I understand that
I am a person standing on my own two feet, everything
is okay.”
HILA LEVIZON, 18, from Moshav Hadar was another
emissary in the London commune who volunteered
and trained others in youth movements in Israel over
the past three years.
“I decided to do a year of service as early as ninth
grade, because I wanted to be more exposed to the
world,” she said.
“I went to The Jewish Agency in the end because I
think this is the program to which I can contribute the
most, and get the most out of at the same time. [After
being in London], I really feel that I made the right
choice. I have met new and different kinds of people
with interesting ideas and lifestyles, but there is one
24

“I really feel that I made the right
choice. I have met new and
different kinds of people with
interesting ideas and lifestyles,
but there is one thing that
connects all of us: our love for
Israel and Judaism.”
- Hila Levizon, Jewish Agency emissary
thing that connects all of us: our love for Israel and
Judaism, with the whole spectrum of ideas that
these two concepts present.”
Levizon feels part of “the magic” of the diverse
local Jewish community.
“I volunteered in the Israeli house in the Israeli
Embassy,” she says. “We organize events for Israelis
throughout Europe, special events in Hebrew for
the various Jewish festivals, and their purpose is to
introduce the holiday spirit and connect Israelis
with one another, and with Israel. When you’re so
far away from home, to suddenly feel the power of
that connection to Israel and its people is just incredible.”
At London’s Rosh Pinah School, Levizon taught
Hebrew, including songs, Israeli dancing and games.
At the LJYNetzer youth movement, which is committed
to the ideals of Liberal Judaism, she planned
programs and organized activities.
Every week she sent out emails and posted activities
on Facebook about historic events being marked
in Israel and shared Israeli slang. Once a week she
traveled to Wimbledon, where she supervised seven
Israeli children in the Scouts movement.
“It’s very important to me and my colleagues to
try and expand our mission to include Israeli children,”
she says.
“It’s also important to their Israeli parents, who
really support us.”
What have you learned about
yourself during your shlichut?
“I have never had so much extended time away
from home. It’s strange to say this, but one of the
things I have realized is how much I missed my own
school. Here I [was] in London, trying to maintain
my relationships with friends in Israel and of course
my close contact with my family in all ways I can
– WhatsApp, telephone and video conversations,
Facebook, etc.
After receiving my training, I flew abroad feeling
that the other shlichim with me were like my family.
We meet regularly, and the two weeks of concentrated
activities together with professional assistance,
contributed to our feeling of being safe and together.”
In general, Goodman says, The Jewish Agency’s activities
focus on building a connection between Jewish
youth and Israel as a way of strengthening Jewish
identity and Israel as a cornerstone of their identity.
“Aliya is at the heart of The Jewish Agency, we believe
that our educational approach will ultimately
lead to a growth in aliya. The more Jews are connected
to Israel, the more are likely to take the next step.”
What is the greatest challenge facing you?
“The challenge is how to keep Israel a central and
important part of the self-identity of a young Jew
growing up in Europe and reverse a situation in which
Israel becomes increasingly irrelevant, perceived
through the media, which contradicts the liberal,
democratic values they have grown up with.”
In today’s ‘flat’ and virtual world, the physical
presence of hundreds of Jewish Agency emissaries
around the world is of vital strategic importance,
and one of the local Jewish community’s best tools
in facing these challenges.
“The British Jewish community totals some
300,000 people, and is considered a well-organized
and professional community with solid institutions
and good schools. It is a very welcoming and warm
community, and strongly Zionist.
“There is also the marginal view that says: ‘I can be
a good Jew, but my connection with Israel is not necessarily
part of my Jewish identity,’” says Goodman.
“We see this especially among the younger generation.”
This is where the emissaries become so important.
The Jewish Agency delegation to Britain has 28 emissaries
of different ages, including 13 on the Shnat
Sherut program, who are dispatched to dozens of
organizations – youth movements, schools, communal
organizations, university campus groups and
others.
“We work closely with the UJIA, our strategic partner
in the UK and many local organizations,” Goodman
says. “They appreciate the value of dedicated
educators with an amazing sense of purpose, enabling
delivery of high-quality Jewish identity and
Israel engagement activity.
“The emissaries work hard, but when they look
back on this experience, they feel that it was an exceptional
opportunity. When they return home,
they are independent, travel the country, hop on a
train or plane to deliver imaginative projects to diverse
communities. What they are experiencing will
stand them in good stead for their whole lives.” •
NOVEMBER 2017
25

Ukraine mantains
top ranking with aliya
Roman Polonsky, director of The Jewish Agency’s Department for Russian-speaking
Jewry, says aliya from Ukraine has actually tripled in the last three years
• By STEVE LINDE
it is hardly reported in the media, two or
three and sometimes up to 10 people are killed
every day in clashes in the region of Donetsk in
‘Although
Ukraine,” says Jewish Agency emissary Max Lurye.
“People who live in that area constantly hear explosions, and
this has contributed to an unstable situation for all residents,
including Jews.”
Donetsk has come under heavy shelling from the Ukrainian
Army since it was taken over by pro-Russian separatists in April
2014.
While aliya from Ukraine was down to 6,000 in 2016 from
over 7,500 the year before, Lurye says, he expects it to go up
again. “After the war broke out in 2014, many Jews just fled and
wanted to go to Israel immediately,” Lurye says in a telephone
interview from his home in Dnipro (previously Dnepropetrovsk),
the country’s fourth largest city almost 400 kilometers
southeast of the capital, Kyiv. “Now thanks to our partnership
with the Ofek Israel Public Company and Immigration and
Integration Ministry there are more options of doing seminars,
learning Hebrew, meeting with Israeli representatives
and planning for their future aliya more effectively. So I think
the decrease in aliya is temporary.”
No one knows exactly how many Jews there are in Ukraine
today, says Lurye. “We think that there are about 200,000, but
we are still receiving new requests from people who were not
listed in our system before. In 2016 alone, we received 13,000
such requests for information on Israel from individuals eligible
for aliya, thanks to the cooperation of The Jewish Agency
with the Ofek Israel Public Company,” he says.
Born in Ukraine 34 years ago, Lurye himself made aliya 10
years ago, completed his MA at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
married Nataly Nabitovsky and had three children.
“I met my wife in Ukraine when she was sent here by the
Jewish Agency to work in its camps,” Lurye says. “That’s why I
always say I owe The Jewish Agency. We were sent together as
Jewish Agency emissaries two and half years ago to Ukraine.
I am the regional director, responsible for the eastern section
of Ukraine and areas on the border with Russia, while she is
responsible for other key areas. When we left, we had no idea
of the war that was awaiting us, and that we were going to be
doing our ‘shlichut’ (mission) under fire.”
They arrived in Ukraine two weeks before Passover in
UKRAINIAN OLIM prepare to fly to Israel. (Svetlana Mikhalchenko)
26

2014, and on the second day of the holiday, when the
country’s fifth largest city, Donetsk, was taken over by
pro-Russian separatists, all members of its Jewish community
received written orders to register themselves with
the municipality and pay a fine of $50.
“Suddenly we understood that we were witnessing something
that was not okay, and could cause harm to the Jews living
in the communities in that area,” Lurye said. “So we began
getting involved in all kinds of activities that I think most Jewish
Agency shlichim [emissaries] are not involved in, including
getting Jews out of war-torn areas. It was at that time that
we also decided to set up a refugee camp in Dnipro for Jews
who wanted to go to Israel.”
He notes that the camp is still taking in about 30 to 100
new people every month. Jews from the war-torn areas
have undergone severe trauma, and this needs to be dealt
with before they go on aliya, he says. “We have to explain
to them as best as we can how to deal with this trauma and
prepare for their move to Israel,” he says. “It’s important
for them to have a contact in Israel, where they know they
can receive help. That’s why it’s important for the Jewish
Agency and Diaspora Jewry to show that we care and are
ready to provide a helping hand whenever we can.”
Roman Polonsky, director of the Jewish Agency’s Department
for Russian-speaking Jewry, says aliya from
Ukraine has actually tripled itself in the last three years.
“In 2013, there were about 2,000 olim, in 2014 it jumped
to approximately 6,000, in 2015 it was more than 7,000,
and in 2016 it was nearly 6,000 again.” This year, the Jewish
Agency expects 7,200 in 2017.
“The decrease last year is understandable,” he says. “The
situation there is quieter than it was in the years of revolution,
the annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of war
on the eastern border. People have become accustomed to
the situation. But if the economic situation does not improve,
this will be a major trigger for aliya from Ukraine.
Unemployment is increasing, prices jumped substantially
four months ago, and I know that the government is trying
to eliminate corruption, but it’s very difficult. At the
same time, the war in the east is continuing, and all this
creates a challenging situation, for all Ukrainian citizens,
and especially Jews, who have the possibility of making
aliya.”
The Jewish Agency has helped Jews fleeing the war zones
in the east by providing them with a secure passage and resettling
them, many of them in Dnipro.
“We then helped those who want to come to Israel to make
aliya, and provided them with appropriate tracks of absorption
after they landed,” Polonsky says. “Many Jews in Ukraine
were in a desperate situation, and we expanded the number
of our shlichim, seminars, Israel Fairs, Employment Fairs and
other activities, together with our partners, Ofek Israel Public
Company, the Immigration and Integration Ministry and The
Jewish Agency’s Aliya Unit.”
“Employment is the main concern of potential olim,” he
says. “Only if you can find your place in Israel professionally
can you be sure to have a home and raise your children
properly.”
Despite the country's antisemitic past, Polonsky does not
consider Ukraine an antisemitic country today.
“I don’t see antisemitism in Ukraine on the government level,”
he says. “There are undercurrents of antisemitism in the
country, but much less than countries like France. For Ukrainians,
their big fight is not with Jews but with Russians. Jews
are generally respected in Ukraine, and I have not seen any disturbing
incidents of antisemitism recently.”
Polonsky estimates that there are some three million Russian-speaking
Jews in the world today, about 20 percent of the
total Jewish population, with over a million in Israel, 800,000
in the US, 500,000 in Russia, 250,000 in Germany, more than
100,000 in Canada, and 30,000 in Australia.
He says The Jewish Agency provides Russian-speaking Jews
with four platforms to develop their Jewish identity:
1. Summer camps: In 2017, more than 8,000 youngsters participated
in Jewish Agency camps in 16 locations across the
former Soviet Union, while others attended camps in the US,
Canada and Australia.
2. Israel experience: More than 3,500 young Jews
were brought to Israel last year in the framework of
Birthright or Masa.
3. Young leadership: The Jewish Agency has programs
all over the world to develop leaders among the younger
generation. In the Russian-speaking world, it also has
5,000 Jews learning Hebrew in its ulpanim, and 3,000 participants
in Sunday schools.
4. Aliya: Immigration to Israel from Russia was up last year
to about 7,000 compared to 6,700 the year before and many
“hidden Jews” (whose existence was not known before) in the
former Soviet Union have registered with Jewish Agency activities
over recent years. The number is expected to reach 8,000
by the end of 2017.
“Our aim is to strengthen their Jewish identity, which is difficult
because they were detached from their Jewish roots for
almost 70 years, to connect them to Israel, bringing Israel to
them or bringing them to Israel, and to motivate them to be
involved in Jewish collective life, which is also not so simple,”
Polonsky says. “Russian-speakers perceive our Jewishness differently.
For us, Jewishness is first of all nationality, because it
was written in our passports in the former Soviet Union. It’s
easier with the second generation, but it’s still a challenge.” •
NOVEMBER 2017
27

Midsummer
Camp’s Dream:
A unique story
about Israel
Summer emissary program helps young Israelis and
North Americans get to know more about one another
• By NOA AMOUYAL
‘We want them to tell
their own story of
Israel,” Shaylee Cioban,
director of The
Jewish Agency’s Summer Shlichim
(“Emissaries”) Program, tells The Jerusalem
Post. “Through these personal
relationships, their story about Israel
is being told.”
For the 1,300 young Israelis descending
on North America this summer,
that story will vastly differ from
person to person.
That is because The Jewish Agency
cherry-picks young adults across
Israel and makes sure they vary in
background, religious observance,
economic status and interests. Many
of them arrive as they’re wrapping up
their military service and some a few
months before they leave the army –
with permission from the IDF. Others
participate in the program before they
enlist.
Thus, the American and Canadian
campers are exposed to a mosaic of
what life as a young Israeli looks like.
“While we do look for Israelis from
various backgrounds, the one thing
they all have in common is their ability
to be a team player. They all have
to have a good way with children. And
they have to have to be proficient in
English,” Cioban explains.
Gal Ben Shimol, head of The Jewish
Agency's delegation in North America,
agrees, saying, “Our emissaries
become superstars in these camps.
They contribute to the camps in a significant
way. People want to hear their
stories – about their army service,
where they live, their point of view.”
Each emissary has an area of expertise
– whether it be a certain sport, drama
or art – which they teach in these
camps.
Before their arrival, The Jewish
Agency explains that being a “vital
team member” is of utmost importance.
“Teaching about Israel is not their
first priority, their first priority is
teaching about their area of expertise,
and then establishing their personal
relationships,” Ben Shimol says.
The subject of Israel comes up, but
not in a forced way.
North American counselors and
kids learn about Israel through honest,
organic interactions with Israelis that
stem from shared experiences during
the summer. But this is far from a oneway
relationship. As their connection
with the local staff members and
children deepens, the Israelis learn as
much from the North Americans as
the North Americans do from the Israelis.
“We make the thousands of miles
separating the two communities seem
much closer,” Ben Shimol says of the
program.
“We want to deepen and enrich the
connection young North Americans
have with Israel and vice versa,” Cioban
adds.
The results are undeniable.
A 2011 survey by the Foundation for
Jewish Camp looked at the long-term
effects these camps have on young
American Jews, and one thing is clear:
Jews who enroll in them become much
more engaged as members of the Jewish
community into adulthood.
That translates into becoming involved
in Jewish causes on campus,
embarking on a Birthright trip and
volunteering for Jewish causes as a
young adult. For the Israelis, they are
exposed to a version of Judaism that is
rarely encountered back home.
“The American experience may
28

CAMPERS AND counselors smile at camp Tel Yehudah in Barryville, New York. (Maya Diwan)
seem completely trivial and basic on
the surface, but it’s new information
to our emissaries. They discover a new
world,” Ben Shimol marvels.
“Emissaries often compare the
American experience to their own,”
he explains. “As an Israeli, you don’t
have to do anything to be Jewish.
You’re born Jewish and it’s as simple
as that. In America, though, you have
to choose to be Jewish. You invest in it
– your time, money and energy – you
need to want it. Israelis really admire
that. They tell me, ‘These guys are really
being proactive about being Jewish.
They’re not like us.’”
Many young Israelis who enroll in
the program classify themselves as secular;
seeing how inclusive and pluralistic
Judaism can be in America opens
their eyes to the possibility that Judaism
can be practiced in myriad ways.
This relationship of mutual understanding
does not end when summer
is over and the kids, counselors and
emissaries pack their bags.
“Young American Jews and young
Israelis form long and enduring relationships
that extend well beyond
the eight-to-nine-week summer experience
they share together,” says Amy
Skopp Cooper, director of Camp Ramah
Nyack, north of New York City,
and national associate director of Ramah.
“What I’ve seen in more than 20
years of being a Ramah director is
that these two communities are
incredibly connected and share a
bond until their 20s and 30s. This is
a starting ground for something far
greater,” she says.•
NOVEMBER 2017
29

JEWISH AGENCY summer camp counselors get together ahead of their shlichut.
(Nathan Roi)
30

A GROUP of Jewish Agency shlichim pose as they complete their course prior to embarking on their service abroad. (David Shechter)
JEWISH AGENCY representatives gather with
schlichim in Khabarovsk, Russia. (Courtesy)
SHLICHIM GREET new olim from France at Ben Gurion Airport.
(Nathan Roi)
NOVEMBER 2017
31

THE JERUSALEM POST