The Assistant US Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, Mrs. Julia Taft will tomorrow visit the absorption center at Mevaseret Zion, which is operated by the Jewish Agency, accompanied by the Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Sallai Meridor and the Director General of the Jewish Agency Aaron Abramovich. Taft arrives in Israel within the framework of her current visit to the Middle East.

During her visit to the Mevaseret Zion Absorption Center where 1,187 new immigrants from Ethiopia are housed, the Assistant Secretary of State will learn firsthand about the process of immigrant absorption in Israel; she will be hosted in the home of a new immigrant family from Ethiopia; she will meet with Mahareta Baruch an actor from the Cameri Theatre and a psychology major from Haifa University, who immigrated to Israel during Operation Moses in 1984.

At the conclusion of the visit to Mevaseret Zion, Sallai Meridor will host Taft for a luncheon at "Beit Shalom" in Jerusalem. Among those participating in the luncheon will be Minister for Immigrant Absorption, Professor Yuli Tamir; Member of the Jewish Agency Executive, Rabbi Richard Hirsch; and Jewish Agency Director General Aaron Abramovich.

It must be noted that the Jewish Agency, the Ministry of Absorption and the JDC are continuing to study opportunities for a concerted national effort to improve the condition of new immigrants from Ethiopia. This project was presented before the Overseas Needs Assessment and Distribution (ONAD) Committee of the United Jewish Communities in North American, which met at the beginning of the week in New York.

Appearing before the ONAD committee on behalf of the Jewish Agency, were Chairman of the Board of Governors, Alex Grass; Chairman of the Executive, Sallai Meridor; and the Director General, Aaron Abramovich. Also appearing before the committee were Director General of the Ministry of Absorption, Borris Maftsir; and the Executive Vice Chairman of the JDC, Michael Schneider. The Jewish Agency and the JDC agreed to establish a joint committee to advance the treatment of new immigrants from Ethiopia.

"The recent revival of Russia's Jewish community," said Putin at the opening ceremony, "is an integral part of a general revival of spiritual and religious values among all the peoples living in Russia. The merge of cultures and preservation of traditional values enrich our lives and turn Russia into a strong, self-confident and rich country. I would like to wish you that here, in the home of the Jewish community in Russia, you will always conduct a vibrant life," said Putin. In the presence of Russia's President Vladimir Putin, and with the participation of thousands of Moscow Jewry, this week a new Jewish community center was inaugurated by the Association of Jewish Communities in the FSU, under the auspices of the Chabad movement.

Construction of the seven-story center, which is the largest in Eastern Europe, has taken four years. It was erected in the Marina Rosche district, on the site of the famous Moscow synagogue that burned down in the early 1990's.

A large number of Jewish leaders from all over the world attended the ceremony, including former Interior Minister MK Natan Sharansky, former Minister of Education, MK Yitzhak Levy, Jewish Agency Treasurer Chaim Chesler, Israel's former Chief Rabbi Mordecai Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of the Chabad movement in Russia, Rabbi Berel Lazar, Israeli businessman and president of the Jewish Communities Association in the FSU, Lev Levayev, and many others. At the end of the ceremony, Chaim Chesler thanked President Putin on behalf of the Jewish Agency's name, for his support for the Russian Jewish community. After the warm words of welcome, there was a varied artistic performance in which Russia's top Jewish artists appeared: from modern rock groups to choirs singing Jewish songs.

Karol Ungar, head of the Jewish Agency's delegation in Russia reports "that the center occupies an area of more than 19,600 sq. ft . A kosher restaurant and social hall will be located on the first floor of the building. The second and third floors will house the largest synagogue in the FSU, with room for up to 2200 worshippers. There will also be a large auditorium for screening films and other performances, sports hall, study and computer rooms, a library and offices".

The Maria Rosche district, in which the community center has been built, has a long Jewish history. Throughout the period of Communist rule a synagogue operated in this area, which kept the flame of Judaism alive for the Jews of Moscow. The synagogue was established in 1927 in a small wooden building. The older members of the community relate that during that period the synagogue played a key role in the religious life of Moscow Jewry and regular visitors included the Lubavitcher Rabbi Joseph Schneerson. Despite the severe oppression of Jewish culture by the Soviets, the synagogue's doors were always open. Notwithstanding the threat of arrest, the study of Jewish culture and history continued here in underground conditions.

However, the synagogue, which survived the Communists, was severely damaged after the fall of the USSR. In 1991 the wooden structure burnt down entirely for reasons which have never been clarified. Community members believe that the fire was in fact arson but this has never been proved. After extensive renovations, a bomb exploded in 1993 close to the synagogue, destroying the building once again. In 1996 there were two further attempts to blow up the synagogue at the climax of the presidential election campaign. This resulted in the community deciding to include a new synagogue as part of the large community center on an adjacent site.

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the opening of the new Jewish Community Center in Moscow

• 1383 olim arrived in Israel this week, 1226 of them from the FSU and Eastern Europe. The rest came from France, Switzerland, Belgium, England, South Africa, Germany, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Colombia, the US and Canada.

• 121 olim from India arrived in Israel during the first seven months of the year, compared with 76 during the same period last year.

• 329 Jewish tourists are currently participating in long-term programs for the encouragement of aliyah run by the Jewish Agency. This is an effort to expose Jewish youngsters from all over the world to absorption possibilities in Israel, reinforce their ties with Israel and enhance their Jewish identity.

• $12,000 - Jewish Agency support in the year 2000 for a special Akim (Israel Society for the Mentally Handicapped) project which runs joint football teams for fully-able and mentally-challenged children.

• $305,000 - Jewish Agency support for the year 2000 at the WUJS Institute, designed to encourage aliyah and the absorption of young academics, particularly from the West. The curriculum is made up of five-and-a-half months of study and six months of work in Israel.

• $225,000 - Jewish Agency budget in the year 2000 for cultural and Jewish heritage programs for students at Hebrew ulpans and absorption center residents all over the country.

The first monument in Europe dedicated to the memory of Righteous Gentiles was inaugurated last week in the city of Poroehye, in the Puhovichi province near to Minsk, capital of Belarus. During the Holocaust, residents of the town saved 40 Jewish children who managed to escape death in the Minsk ghetto. During the ceremony, Holocaust survivors met with the families who had hidden them in their homes when they were children, thus saving their lives.

The ceremony was attended by Baruch Kamil - head of the Jewish Agency delegation in Belarus; Hurst Winkelman, German ambassador to Belarus; Leonid Levine, president of the Belarus Jewish Communities Association; leaders of local Jewish communities who worked to erect the monument; Holocaust survivors and local government representatives. The German ambassador refused to speak at the ceremony, and after the event acknowledged that he was ashamed by the behavior of his fellow countrymen.

Freda Reysman, one of the group of children who escaped from the ghetto and now heads the GILF Society, said that of the 40 children only 5 are still alive - 4, including herself, in Minsk and one in the US.

"At the end of October 1943 the Nazis were about to exterminate all the Jews in the Minsk ghetto," said Reysman. "We decided to make a final effort to survive. In the middle of the night, we crawled under the barbed wire of the German fence and ran to the nearby train station in Minsk. For three days we hid in the station's sewers until one of the children, Yosef Levine (who now lives in the US) said that he could lead us to a place where we would be saved from the Nazis. We reached Porochye, told the local residents who we were and where we had come from and they took us in to their homes."

"Porochye was under Nazi occupation and if someone had so much as hinted to the German soldiers that Jewish children were being hidden in the town both the children and those who had hidden them would surely have been murdered. The townsfolk cared for us and when there were Nazi searches and checks they would take us to a nearby marsh that was inaccessible to the German army. Both I, and dozens of other Jewish children owe our lives to them," said Reysman.

According to records at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, about 300 Righteous Gentiles currently live in Belarus.

A festive celebration in Bombay last month marked the first anniversary of the first Jewish community center in India, and the only Jewish Community Center on the Indian subcontinent. According to the Jewish community's leadership, the center serves as a principal gathering place for its 400 members as well as for what community leaders believe is the start of a Jewish renaissance.

Eliahu Jacob, JDC's representative in India and a member of the ancient Bene-Israel community, is convinced that one of the good things about the JCC is its location, convenient to the suburbs, where many of today's young Jewish families live. According to him, many young families who otherwise would be lost to Judaism now have the opportunity to come together. The children get involved, at the same time that their families get involved in the JCC.

Jacob says that the move of young Jews to the suburbs reflects a breakdown of the extended family system. "The whole concept of family as we perceived it growing up does not exist today," he says. "From my early childhood I vividly remember the Jewish atmosphere at home and in the synagogue. Celebrating Shabbat and the festivals as an extended family was a unifying factor. The JCC can be a substitute for this," said Jacob, who hopes to attract 1,000 people to the center's activities.

The JCC opened with the support of the United Jewish Communities through the JDC and the Weinberg Foundation. Twelve years ago, the JDC began sending its Jewish Service Corps volunteers for one year stints to live and work with India's Jewish community. The programs they organized included youth groups, summer camps, a women's program, and a Jewish newspaper.

After the establishment of the State of Israel, many of India's 25,000 Jews made aliyah. Others immigrated to the US, England and Australia. The Jewish community today numbers some 5,500, 80% of whom are Bene-Israel. Most Indian Jews live in and around Bombay, particularly in Thane, a suburb 35 kilometers from the city. According to their tradition, the Bene-Israel community is descended from oil pressers in the Galilee. They arrived in India before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. Eventually, they became the largest Jewish community in India.

Smaller communities include the Jews of Malabar, centered in Cochin, whose forefathers arrived in India from Europe and the Middle East as early as 1,000 years ago; and the Iraqi Jews, called "Baghdadis," who began settling in India at the end of the 18th century. Bombay still maintains eight functioning synagogues, including a Conservative synagogue and a Reform Temple.

Nizhny-Novgorod in central Russia celebrated the opening of the first Jewish school at the beginning of the week since the days of the Bolshevik revolution. 70 pupils will attend the school, which will operate under the auspices of the "Or Avner Habad" fund and with the approval of Russia's Ministry of Education. The curriculum will combine subjects taught at ordinary government schools with traditional Jewish education.

Participating in the opening ceremony were Olga Levayev, wife of Israeli businessman Lev Levayev, who is a substantial contributor to the "Or Avner" fund, Yosef Yovel - Jewish Agency emissary in Nizhny Novgorod, Eduard Chuprak - chairman of the Nizhny-Novgorod Jewish community, Rabbi David Mondstein - senior representative of "Or Avner" in New York, and local community rabbis and activists.

Yosef Yovel reports that he is acting to establish a number of joint projects with the school: "We are considering using the school's computer rooms for educational activity within the framework of the Jewish Agency's youth club. Most of the school's pupils already participate in our activities and some of them have registered for the Jewish Agency's youth programs. Next week we will open the study center which prepares the youngsters for studies in Israel", said Yovel.

Habad representatives noted that the new school is one of 50 Jewish schools inaugurated recently by the "Or Avner Habad" fund all over the FSU. In addition to combining Jewish and secular studies, the Habad shools provide a hot, kosher meal and some times provide additional help to the families of the children.

Yovel noted that recently Jewish life in Nizhny Novgorod has been extremely vibrant. The local community was very pleased when vandals who had desecrated graves in the Jewish cemetery were apprehended. Following an intensive investigation by the police, 11 local lads were recently arrested, admitting to destroying the Jewish graves and even describing their actions as a "prank". Since all the vandals are minors, they were released on bail and their parents were charged the full cost of repairing the damage.

Nizhny-Novgorod (formerly Gorky) lies on the banks of the River Volga and is Russia's third-largest city. According to estimates prepared by the Jewish Agency's FSU Department, some 8,000 Jews live in the city that has an overall population of 2.5 million.

The Jewish Agency runs a variety of aliyah clubs in the city, which prepare the olim for their absorption in Israel, Hebrew ulpanim with 170 students, a youth club with 200 regular members, summer and winter camps where hundreds of Jewish children from Nizhny-Novgorod and the surrounding area spend their vacations. Since the beginning of the year, the Jewish Agency has brought 600 olim from this area to Israel.

The Combined Jewish Appeal of Montreal kicked off its annual campaign at the end of August with a special million dollar campaign for Jews Ukrainian Jewry. Avi Pazner, world chair of UIA-Keren Hayesod, was present at the launch. The overall goal is a record $37 million.

The "Kieskaya Project" is intended to alleviate poverty and to enable youth to emigrate to Israel. Money raised will support home care as well as food and medical packages for homebound seniors, meals at soup kitchens; equipment, such as wheelchairs and hearing and visual aids, for the disabled; Shabbat and holiday celebrations; and scholarships for study in Israel.

Jews in Ukraine, particularly outside the urban areas, generally live in substandard conditions: they often lack sufficient food and medical care and many live in inadequate housing.

Project co-chair Mark Gold stated that although during a visit to Ukraine last year he was shocked by the appalling living conditions, he found room for optimism for the youth. He noted that many youth have discovered their Jewish heritage through the work of the Jewish Agency, and with help, will be able to better their lives in Israel.

He added that conditions are particularly bad outside Kiev, where JAFI and the JDC run humanitarian and educational programs.

Twenty year old Barbara Malov, currently a student at Ben-Gurion university, who was brought to Israel by the Jewish Agency to finish high school as part of the a Na'aleh program, related that JAFI had changed her life. "I learned that being Jewish is not something to be teased about. That means having a language and tradition and Jewish friends."

There was considerable excitement this week at the Jewish Agency youth club in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, when 30 local teenagers talked about their "Israel Experience" last month during a celebratory evening. More than 120 people gathered at the club for this special evening, including the teenagers who went to Israel, their parents and other Jewish youth from towns near the capital.

Shlomo Azrov, Jewish Agency emissary in Baku, said that the youth considered their visit to Israel "an unforgettable experience" and said they would gladly visit Israel again. Their parents thanked the Jewish Agency and the Rishon LeZion municipality for hosting the children: "You saved my son from a boring, hot and insignificant summer here," said one of the mothers.

Azrov said that the Jewish Agency will create a special club for the youth who visited Israel and their families, exposing them further to Jewish Agency educational programs, and enabling them to maintain contact with the families of youth already studying in Israel.

The 15-17 year olds visited Israel in the context of a project run jointly by the Jewish Agency and the Rishon LeZion municipality. They stayed at the Nahalat Yehuda WIZO Youth Village, traveled all over the country, visited museums, army bases and educational institutions. The project was initiated by Meir Nizan, mayor of Rishon LeZion who, at the beginning of the year visited a Jewish Agency winter camp in Baku while on a Voyage of Discovery visit to the FSU, organized by the United Jewish Communities of North America. He was so impressed by Jewish youth activity there that he invited the teens to visit his city.

At the beginning of the week hundreds of visitors, Jewish and no-Jewish, came to the Jewish Street Fair that took place near the Jewish Community Center in Berlin, and got a taste of the Jewish culture and traditions. Many of them were exposed to Israel and Israeli foods as well as to traditional Jewish foods, for the first time. At the souvenir booths, one could buy T-shirts, books, and Jewish slogans. In the background music groups sang in Yiddish and in Hebrew and a Kleizmer Band played Jewish soul music that many responded to, by dancing in the street.

Anat Carmel-Kagan, JAFI emissary in Berlin, reports that the information booths operated under the auspices of Jewish and Israeli organizations, including the Jewish Agency, the Jewish National Fund, local religious groups, WIZO, the Jewish Hospital, "Maccabi", the Jewish newspaper "Jewish Weekly" and others. The Jewish Agency booths provided information in English, Russian, and German, regarding various employment, educational and residential possibilities in Israel. They also provided information on Ulpanim at various Kibbutzim, volunteer programs such as "Sarel" and the "Na'ale" program for high school students.

The Jewish Agency emissary was surprised with the tremendous interest for Israel and the public's openness towards the Jewish culture: "No visitors were embarrassed with the Jewish music or singing" said Carmel-Kagan.

One must point out that the Fair took place in Berlin's east side near the new synagogue Tocholski. This is the synagogue that was inaugurated in the Bismark's presence in 1866 and destroyed by the Nazis in 1938. In recent years, its fa?ade was restored in an effort to maintain the synagogue's old style.

Ten families from New Jersey recently concluded their two-week farming summer vacation in Israel. Thirty-six participants with hands-on experience in agriculture. They came to Kibbutz Kfar Hanasi in northern Israel as part of the Kibbutz Family Adventure, a program sponsored by the Israel Program Center of the United Jewish Federation of MetroWest, to work in the fields. This is the fourth year of the program, which combines tourism in Israel with study of Jewish sources and life on a kibbutz.

Many participants prefer this type of visit, as it gives them a chance to meet Israelis and to get to know Israeli society. "We don't like staying in hotels because there you meet only other tourists and not ordinary Israelis," noted Joe Eastern, a trip participant who arrived in Israel with his family.

"On this trip we really did get to go out and meet Israelies" Eastern was moved by the sense of kinship he felt with other Jews particularly when he recognized the same prayers that he is accustomed to. "Here you are, far from home and you find your own closest people," Joe said with excitement.

In addition to the kibbutz, the group also visited the city of Ofakim in the Negev, and nearby moshavim in the Merchavim region. Ofakim-Merchavim is linked to MetroWest within the Jewish Agency-UJC Partnership 2000 framework. The visit, led by Amir Shacham, Director of MetroWest's Israel office, enabled the participants to see first-hand how MetroWest's Partnership 2000 programs benefit the region. MetroWest sponsors a variety of projects including after-school programs for youth from underprivileged backgrounds; music and art programs; a tennis center; a computer-internet learning center; and other projects.

A salute to Romanian immigrants will take place tomorrow at Tel Aviv's Einav center, with the participation of Israel's top Romanian artists. The event is sponsored by the Jewish Agency, the Romanian embassy in Israel and the Association of Romanian Olim, together with Romania's international TV channel - Pro-TV, which came to Israel to prepare a program about the absorption of Romanian immigrants.

Since the establishment of the State of Israel, 274,000 olim have arrived in Israel from Romania - the second largest number of immigrants from any one country after the former Soviet Union. According to Tova Bin Nun, Jewish Agency emissary in Romania, over the last seven years 2,000 olim have come to Israel from Romania - 75% of them under the age of 45. 13,000 Jews now remain in Romania - 80% of them over 60 years of age.

Israel's top Romanian artists will be performing at the event, including Habima and Cameri Theater actress Rosina Cambos, Cameri and Yiddish theater actor Carol Marcovici who also stars in the musical Les Miserables , Yiddish theater actress Monica Vardimon, Gesher Theater actress Ady Lev, Beit Lessin actor and TV star Rafi Tavor, the famous violinist Mirel Reznik and his pianist sister Miriam, composer Dubi Zeltzer, saxophonist Peter Wertheimer and international guitarist Baldi Olier. Cameri Theater actor Moscu Alcalay will M.C.

The event will be documented by Romania's international TV channel, which is in Israel for a 10-day visit in order to prepare a program about the absorption of Romanian olim, as part of a series about Romanian expatriates all over the world. The program, which will be broadcast on Rosh Hashana Eve in Romania, will review the achievements of the Romanian aliyah and its contribution to Israeli society in the areas of politics, economics, culture and religion.

The TV crew will tour the country and meet with scientists, engineers, army officers, rabbis, academics, media personalities and politicians of Romanian origin. The crew will also document the lives of MK Collette Avital; Meir Ronen, former Israeli ambassador to the US; and former deputy police commissioner Sando Mazor. In addition to documenting the Romanian community in Israel, the Romanian TV channel will tour building sites and will do a program on foreign workers from Romania in Israel.

The salute will be held in the presence of Jewish Agency Treasurer Chaim Chesler, Romania's ambassador to Israel Marina Stoika, and former MK Yitzhak Artzi, father of singer Shlomo Artzi.

Allen Berezovsky of the United Jewish Federation of San Diego arrived in Israel last month to spend ten months volunteering within the Otzma Project, a joint program of the Jewish Agency for Israel, the United Jewish Communities of North America and the Israel Forum.

Berezovsky, born in the Former Soviet Union and a graduate of Georgetown Universith in Washington is one of 81 Jewish young adults between the ages of 20 - 24, representing 28 Federations, who have come to Israel for ten months of leadership development, service to Israel, and partnership.

Sponsored by the United Jewish Federation of San Diego, Berezovsky will expand his deducation in Israel, will learn about Israeli society and will have the opportunity to do manual labor. Among other things, the Otzma Project aims at developing and inspiring young leaders who understand the history and importance of the Israel-Diaspora relationship.

Twelve years ago, before immigrating from the FSU to San Diego, Allan knew nothing about Judaism. He recalles that although the "nationality" line on his identity card in the former Soviet Union said he was a Jew, he could not tell the difference between himself and his "Russian," "Ukranian" or "Uzbek" friends. No Jewish customs were followed in his home.

This summer he helped kids connect with their heritage as a counselor on the Federation's six-week Scott Stone San Diego-Israel Teen Trip. Berezovsky

After arriving in San Diego, he enrolled in Chabad Day School where he began studying English and Hebrew for the first time, and began preparing to become a bar mitzvah. After completing two years at the Chabad school, Berezovsky transferred to San Diego Jewish Academy where he received a special scholarship.

"I believe that I have been deeply influenced by my parents and the members of the community who sponsored my through the Jewish schools," says Berezovsky "but at the same time my peers and classmates also showed me why they loved Judaism, and taught me how to enjoy Shabbat services, oneg Shabbat, and singing in the Synagogue."

After graduating from high-school, Berezovsky was accepted at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., where he majored in business finance and minored in religious studies. He soon was leading the Conservative minyan for Hillel there. Berezovsky honed his leadership skills by serving for two years as a counselor at Camp Ramah, where he had previously been a camper. Last summer, Berezovsky spent six weeks as youth leader for Jewish Federation of San Diego programs.

This month 21-year old Leonid Portnoy had his dream come true. While he was still in his native Ukraine Leonid dreamed of enlisting in the IDF and serving as a paratrooper. This month he completed the NCO course with flying colors and then returned to command at the unit in which he has been serving in recent months.

Leonid made aliyah from the Ukraine by himself in 1998, through a Jewish Agency ulpan program, settling at the Nitzana Youth Village. One Friday night the Division Commander stationed near Nitzana paid a visit to the youth village. Leonid spoke to him and said: "I also want to be a paratrooper. I'd like to wear a red beret". After some embarrassment the officer said - "With your motivation, and provided you fulfill the requirements, you certainly can serve in the paratroopers".

Leonid was drafted in March of last year, but was not placed in a combat unit. He refused to give up and after a fight, with the personal assistance of the division commander, he managed to join a paratroop unit, complete his basic training and parachute course with distinction, and earned his red beret. Leonid, who lives in Israel without his family, spends his weekends at his home in Nitzana.

This month Leonid completed the NCO course with distinction. "When his friend, Tanya, herself a graduate of the Jewish Agency's Selah course, told us that he was going to be given the title - outstanding cadet -- we decided to surprise him. All the new immigrants at the youth village, including the Selah students who arrived just a few days ago and the older ulpan graduates, came to the graduation ceremony. You had to see the young immigrants cheering for the graduate immigrant who integrated so successfully to understand the excitement," said David Palmach, director of the Nitzana Youth Village.

Intense efforts in Washington to work out a new bridging proposal between Israel and the Palestinians prior to a further Clinton - Barak - Arafat summit before Rosh Hashana. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced on Tuesday that he would halt the talks with the Palestinians, however, reversed his decision later the same day. Yasser Arafat told a delegation of leaders from the Anti Defamation League in the USA that even if there should be no agreement, there will not be violence.

This week the government approved the budget for the year 2001 to the sum of 240.137 billion shekels, with an emphasis on education, infrastructure and closing the social gap. The prevailing sentiment is that the loose coalition will prevent the government from garnering enough support for passing the budget in the Knesset.

Prime Minister Ehud Barak is accelerating the pace for carrying out his civil reform and has announced his intention to operate El Al and public transportation on the Sabbath and Festivals. Minister of Interior Haim Ramon, hopes to have the Nationality item on the identity card removed by next week.

At the beginning of the week, two Jews were stabbed in separate incidents in the Neve Yaacov suburb of Jerusalem. The police suspect a nationalistic motive behind the attacks.

A three month old baby was kidnapped this week while his mother was taking out a stroller from the trunk of her car. The thief who stole the car with the baby inside called the police after six hours and told them where he had left the car, by the Aram check-point between Jerusalem and Ramallah.

The new Israeli Ambassador to Russia, Natan Meron and his wife; Jewish Agency Treasurer, Chaim Chesler; Director General of the Internationl Mikhoels Festival, Michael Gluz; and Director General of the Jewish Agency's Former Soviet Union Department, Amos Lahat pictured at the Moscow Children's Theatre during the Mikhoels Festival which opened this week.

A new search engine for Jewish websites called "Nu?" was recently introduced by the Jewish Agency for Israel in keeping with the Agency's goal to serve as a bridge to Jewish communities all over the world. Although the new Portal is non-commercial, with no advertising or banners, it is one of the fastest growing Jewish portals in the world with already over 1000 links

This week -- for the first time ever -- an Israeli swimmer reached the Olympic finals. 23-year old Eithan Urbach from Haifa qualified for the finals of the 100-meters backstroke at the Sydney Olympics. The gold medal in this championship was won by 24-year old Lenny Krayzelburg, a Jewish-American world champion in backstroke, who emigrated with his family from Odessa in the Ukraine to Los Angeles in 1989.

At a meeting in Sydney between Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert and the Jewish swimmer, Olmert invited Krayzelburg to participate in the 16th Maccabiah, to be held in Israel in July 2001. Krayzelburg thanked the mayor for his invitation and promised to make every effort to attend the games, even though the world swimming championships will be taking place at the same time. It is worth noting that this will be the first time that the opening ceremony for the Maccabiah Games will take place in Jerusalem. The ceremony will take place - in conjunction with the Jerusalem municipality -- on July 16th at the Teddy Stadium.

Michael Jankelowitz, liaison to the foreign press and media at the Jewish Agency, said that Australian Jewish tennis player Sacha Elterman, who was severely injured in the Maccabiah disaster in July 1997, has been invited to light the Maccabiah torch in Jerusalem. Elterman has yet not yet responded.

Slichot services started this week at the Jewish Agency's Ben Yakir Youth Village. The prayers which are conducted in the Sephardi tradition will take place daily at 6:30 AM and will continue until Yom Kippur.

According to Yossi Krotheimer, the director of Ben Yakir, the boys are not only taught to pray but are also incorporated into the actual prayer as Cantors and managers of synagogue affairs (Gabbai). He adds that on the eve of Yom Kippur they will visit the tombs of the Zadikim on the Meiron and in Zafed and their will conduct Slichot prayers, following which they will visit Kibbutz Manara and they will dip apple in honey.

The "Ben Yakir" Youth Village, which is located in Israel's Emek Hefer region, is home to boys, ages 12 to 15, 80% of whom are new immigrants - half of them from Ethiopia and half from the FSU. The remaining are born in Israel. The boys come from very difficult socioeconomic backgrounds and often suffer from a loss of self-esteem due to poor scholastic performance.

"It's important to me that they will grow-up to become good people, happier and better integrated in Israeli Society" says the Village director. Krotheimer points out that in addition to formal education, the boys receive enrichment in the areas of music, arts, communications, chess, sports and computer literacy.

Recently, a new science and computer center was made possible through a donation from Fall River United Jewish Appeal. It is equipped with 28 computer workstations donated by the Australian Pratt Foundation. The Youth Village is also sponsored by Canadian Hadassah WIZO, with previous assistance from the New York UJC Federation.

2/3 cup water (tea or coffee)
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup honey
2 cups flour
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 cup dried fruit - mixture of raisins, nuts, dried apricots, fruit peel or other in any combination
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil

Preparation

• Mix water, sugar and honey in small pan over heat.

• Mix flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Stir in dried fruit and spices. Make a depression in the center and pour in honey mixture and stir. Add eggs and oil and continue to stir until smooth.

• Bake in a 10 inch round baking dish or 2 small loaf pans lined with aluminum foil and greased well. Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 350⁰F for 45-55 minutes until cake is browned. Cake is ready when toothpick inserted in cake comes out dry. Bake in a 10 inch round baking dish or 2 small loaf pans

B'Te'avon! Bon Appetit!

As we approach Rosh Hashana next week, you will receive the "Global Jewish Agenda" by Thursday morning, on the eve of the Holiday.