The Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel passed a resolution that calls on the Knesset and the Israeli government not to change the Law of Return. By doing so the Board of Governors re-affirmed the long standing position of the Jewish Agency on maintaining the Law of Return intact. Furthermore the Board of Governors stated that it is a fundamental law of the Jewish State and is essential to the unity of the Jewish people throughout the world.

Similarly at the closing session of this Board of Governors meeting which took place this week in Jerusalem a resolution was adopted to immediately implement the program for strengthening Jewish identity among the new immigrant population in Israel, in ulpanim, within the educational framework of the Israel's Defense Forces, and to increase the budget of the project for enhancing Jewish studies among candidates for aliyah in the former Soviet Union.

Since the opening of the gates of the former Soviet Union, a little over a decade ago, some 845,000 immigrants came to Israel, among them 67,000 who arrived in 1999 alone.

This evening, a spectacular TV special saluted the new immigrants who arrived from the former Soviet Union since perestroika. Produced by Israel's Channel One and the Jewish Agency, the program included the Jerusalem Philharmonic Orchestra - 80% of whom are new immigrants from the FSU; immigrant performers; Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Sallai Meridor; Treasurer of the Jewish Agency, Chaim Chesler; Minister of the Interior, Natan Sharansky; and Minister of Immigration Absorption, Yuli Tamir; as well as others who fought for the opening of the gates and the aliyah from the former Soviet Union.

Mrs. Alla Levy, head of the Jewish Agency delegation to Russia and the Baltic States said, during an interview on the program, that there are currently 300 ulpan classes in session throughout the former Soviet Union, and they are all filled to capacity. Potential immigrants are no longer waiting on long lines in front of the Agency's offices, she reported. However, she believes that most of the Jews in Russia are still interested in coming to Israel, but have adopted a "wait and see" attitude pending the upcoming presidential elections in Russia next month.

Sallai Meridor, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, praised the immigrants from the former Soviet Union, noting their contributions to high tech, medicine, science, art and culture and their contribution to the prosperity of Israel. He said that the next challenge is to attract aliyah from the West by offering a high quality of life, pluralism and tolerance.

Chaim Chesler, Jewish Agency Treasurer, reminisced about the time he served as head of the Agency's delegation in Russia, during the war in Chechnya in 1994. "Once the Nazis went from house to house searching for Jews to transport to death camps," he said. "We went from house to house and shelter to shelter in Chechnya searching for Jews to bring out to safety and to Israel."

Minister of Interior, Natan Sharansky noted that immigrants from the former Soviet Union are often criticized for failing to integrate into Israeli society. "They go to Israeli schools, they serve combat units in the Israeli army, and they are involved in Israel's major economic achievements. The days of the melting pot mentality are over. Today we recognize the value of maintaining one's culture, while participating fully in the society in which we live. When all is said and done, we are one people with one destiny living in our country." said Sharansky.

Minister of Absorption, Yuli Tamir spoke about the absorption process, and praised the hard work, time and effort made by the Ministry's staff to help the newcomers feel at home.

The TV special included performances by new immigrants: "Musica Eterna," an Acapella choir from Jerusalem; a children's ballroom dancing troupe from Ashdod; a senior citizens choir from Ariel; Jazz players and opera singers.

The State of Israel looks different from Kfar Shmaryahu. The roads look less crowded through the windows of a chauffeured limousine, and Tel Aviv's parking problems seem irrelevant. But when waiting on endless lines at government offices or trying to negotiate the competitive employment market alone, even the blue mid-eastern skies don't make up for the humidity and parking problems.

Michael Farfel personally experienced such a transformation. The native of a small village in Belarus, Farfel's talent and successful record led to his appointment as his country's ambassador to Israel. "The friction in Israel detracts from its beauty," he says, "but Israel doesn't have to be a beauty queen. Israel is like a mother whom you want to remain alive and for this we have to thank God daily."

At the end of his service, he decided to remain in Israel as a new immigrant.

A teacher by profession, Farfel became the principal of an elementary school. He was elected to the new parliament after Belarus' broke away from the Soviet Union in 1990.

During his two years in parliament, he sought to represent the interests of Belarus while remaining faithful to his Jewish roots. He helped the Jewish Agency achieve official recognition in Minsk, and was instrumental in setting up direct flights to Tel Aviv - something that facilitated the aliyah of thousands of Jews. He also helped Chabad bring a group of children who were victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster to Israel.

Farfel was appointed as Belarus' first ambassador to Israel. Both he and his non-Jewish wife, Natasha, were enthralled with Israel. Their daughter, Dina converted to Judaism and married an Israeli; their two sons, Eli and Robert, were also successfully absorbed.

When Farfel's term of service was over in 1996, he couldn't bear to leave Israel. Despite the status and rank that awaited him back in Belarus, he chose the long lines at government offices, the humidity, the modest rented apartment, and parking problems in Tel Aviv.

"The test of the new government in Teheran will be in its actions, and the first indication of change will be the immediate release of the 13 Jews falsely accused of espionage," says the Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Malcolm Hoenlein.

Hoenlein says that if the trial nonetheless takes place, it must be an open trial conducted under proper international supervision with the accused receiving proper defense counsel.

From the votes counted up till now, it appears that the reform camp, headed by Mohammad Khatami won some 70% of the seats to the Iranian Majlis (parliament).

Jewish Agency professionals do not believe that the victory of the reform camp will necessarily increase the pace of aliyah from Iran. They believe that it is still too early to assess the influence of the elections. It is possible that the Jews will see in the victory of the reformers, a window of opportunity, and will want to leave Iran. On the other hand, the election results may give them a sense that the situation is improving, and they might therefore wish to remain in Iran and wait for further developments.

There are some 25,000 Jews living in Iran today. The majority of them are concentrated in the capital city, Teheran, with the rest living in Shiraz, Isfahan, Karmensha, Karmen and Iyazd, and small towns. During the Pahlavi dynasty, the Jewish minority was well treated. Immigration to Israel was open and direct flights took place between the two countries.

With the outbreak of the Islamic Revolution, tens of thousands of Jews left Iran. Some 10,000 came to Israel. The majority of the immigrants, who are located throughout Israel, were absorbed, primarily in Holon and Bat Yam.

Formally, an Iranian citizen who wishes to emigrate is free to do so. In reality, the Iranian authorities carry out a very stringent selection process regarding emigration, primarily vis a vis the Jewish minority. Thus, for instance, an Iranian citizen who has visited Israel will not be able to obtain a passport and leave the country.

Despite severe discrimination, Jewish communal institutions abound in Iran. They include dozens of active synagogues, 16 of them in Teheran, an old age home, and a hospital. The official Jewish community organization is involved primarily in providing humanitarian assistance to needy individuals in the community, rather than representing the community to the Iranian government. The community has not had a chief rabbi for several years.

Jewish educational institutions were closed after the revolution and Jewish students were forced to attend Muslim schools. Since the Iranian institutions do not recognize Saturday as a holy day for the Jewish minority (Friday is the Muslim holy day), Jewish students are forced to attend school on Saturday. The situation is the same with regard to places of employment.

Admission to institutions of higher learning and universities is restricted for Jews. It is virtually impossible for a Jew to obtain a civil service position. The word, "k'limi," a pejorative for Jews, is written on all identity cards of Jews.

Out of the 290 seats in the Majlis, five seats are set aside for recognized minorities (Christians, Zoroastrians, and Jews) - one for Jews.

Members of the Jewish community are permitted to vote for either the Jewish candidate or another candidate. The minority candidates, like their Muslim counterparts, who undergo a stringent selection process, do not constitute an opposition. The newly elected Jewish representative, Morris Motamed, who will replace Manouchehr Eliasi, is also obliged to support Iran's foreign policy.

The campaign against Haider continues. The Jewish Agency Board of Governors, which convened this week in Jerusalem, condemned the inclusion of the Freedom Party, headed by Joerg Haider in the Austrian Government, and voted to activate public opinion in Israel and around the world against this government. The Board of Governors congratulated the forces for freedom in Austria, who are active against this coalition that includes Haider's Freedom Party.

The Jewish Agency's emissary in Toronto, Offer Isseroff reported that at the beginning of this week a demonstration took place outside the Austrian Consulate in Toronto to protest Joerg Haider's visit to Montreal. Over 200 members of Zionist Youth Movements from Betar, Young Judea, Habonim Dror and Hashomer Hatzair took part in this demonstration together with members of the Canadian Jewish community, the Canadian Jewish Congress, Bnai Brith Canada, and the Zionist Federation.

This demonstration received wide coverage in the local and national press and media.

Amos Hermon, Co-Chairman of the Jewish Agency Education Department added that this demonstration was organized by emissaries of the Jewish Agency's Education Department in accordance with the decision adopted by the World Zionist Executive to begin an international offensive for the exclusion of Haider's Freedom Party from the Austrian government.

During the demonstration the Mayor of Toronto, Mel Lastman, called upon the Austrian government to eject Haider. "You are not wanted in Toronto and you are not welcome in Canada" he declared in an open message to Haider.

Limor Twena, representative of the youth called upon the entire Jewish community to unite against the threat to democracy posed by the Freedom Party and reminded everybody that one must not wait until the threat reaches one's front door in order to stand up and stop this evil plot.

Toronto enjoys a vibrant Jewish life. The Jewish community numbers some 180,000 individuals, about 20% of whom are Holocaust survivors. Holocaust Memorial Day is marked not only in the Jewish community but also in Canadian public schools. Close to 50% of the 35,000 Jewish children of school age attend Jewish schools. By coincidence, just two hours before the demonstration began the local preliminary stages of the International Bible Quiz for Jewish youth, which is organized by the Jewish Agency's Education Department, took place.

Jewish Agency Chairman, Sallai Meridor and Jewish Agency Treasurer, Chaim Chesler decided to exempt settlements on the confrontation line and settlements in national priority region 'A' from payments for expansion and changes in the designation of land. This resolution was passed at the Board of Governors meeting which took place in Jerusalem, this week.

A total of 131 settlements are involved and the financial implication is a renunciation of 140 million shekels. The Jewish Agency Treasurer, Chaim Chesler called on the Israeli government to renounce its demand for payments for expansion in these regions. According to Chesler, if the government were to agree the Jewish Agency would give up on its demand for compensation from the government as a result of expansion.

The Jewish Agency has rights in many settlements in regions of national priority within tripartate agreements between the Jewish Agency, the Israel Lands Authority and the Settlement Associations. Within the Shklar, director the Competitive Sports Department at the Jerusalem Municipality, who also serves as Advisor to the Mayor on Absorption Issues. He himself was an Israeli fencing champion in 1990, the year he immigrated to Israel from Leningrad.

Recent champions have included 25 year-old Vadim Alexeiyef from Almaty, who was a swimming finalist in an international competition in Atlanta; 22 year old Svetlana Cherkaz and 15 year old Nastia Tsim, who were both finalists in European swimming competitions; 17 year-old Alexandra Shiklar, who won third place in the world swimming championship in Venezuala; and 22 year-old Anton Krupkin who was the 1999 Israeli fencing champion.

Marty Davis does it. He is the first person who is not an orthodox Jew to be a member of an official political body of an Orthodox Party. The Meimad movement also did it. It is the first orthodox Jewish movement which is prepared to accept to its governing body an individual who is not an orthodox Jew.

Marty Davis is Director of Special Projects in the Israel Department of the Jewish Agency. He also serves as Treasurer of the Masorti Movement.

Ten men and women from the Masorti (conservative) movement as well as some twenty secular Israelis competed for election to the 120 member council of Meimad.

One of the principles of the Meimad movement is to promote understanding and connections between the various streams in Judaism. This is the reason that in spite of the fact that the majority of its members are orthodox Jews, it is not opposed to involving people with different outlooks on life.

Almost 40 young olim from the former Soviet Union have won top national and international sports competitions over the past few years, thanks to a special program conducted by the Municipality of Jerusalem in conjunction with the Ministry of Education at the Israel Goldstein Youth Village.

The Competitive Sports Excellence Center located at the Jerusalem residential high school provides intensive training in various sports including fencing, swimming, water ballet, and martial arts for youth and young adults age 15-30. Many of the athletes are students at the school; others spend long hours there training after school or work.

Although dozens of young Israelis participate in the program, the prize-winning athletes have all been from the FSU, possibly because of the value accorded to sports in that region, says Vladimir Shklar, director the Competitive Sports Department at the Jerusalem Municipality, who also serves as Advisor to the Mayor on Absorption Issues. He himself was an Israeli fencing champion in 1990, the year he immigrated to Israel from Leningrad.

Recent champions have included 25 year-old Vadim Alexeiyef from Almaty, who was a swimming finalist in an international competition in Atlanta; 22 year old Svetlana Cherkaz and 15 year old Nastia Tsim, who were both finalists in European swimming competitions; 17 year-old Alexandra Shiklar, who won third place in the world swimming championship in Venezuala; and 22 year-old Anton Krupkin who was the 1999 Israeli fencing champion.

An encounter of Jewish schoolteachers will take place in Marseilles from March 5 - 7. Specifically directed to primary school teachers, the main topics for discussion will be content, syllabus and teaching methods in Jewish schools.

The encounter participants will be able to create a network of exchanges on a regional European level, discover new professionals from the same area, learn about the pedagogical resources of the Jewish Educational Community of Marseilles, and develop a concrete project which can be established in each participant's school.

This encounter is the result of close collaboration between the "Fonds Social Juif" Unifie (Southern Region), the Neher Institute, Yavne and ORT schools.

At the beginning of February, the Jewish Agency opened a new educational center, "Gateway to Aliyah," in Kiev. It will be used for all the city's Jewish educational activities for teenagers and young adults.

Eli Yitzchaki, the Jewish Agency representative in Ukraine, reports that more than 3,000 Jews are expected to study in ulpanim and aliyah clubs this year. Young Jews will also be able to take various computer and art classes at the center, which will house advanced electronic equipment.

The Jewish Agency will conduct its traditional holiday celebrations for the local community at the center. "The three-story building will make it possible to hold a variety of activities simultaneously, thereby expanding our activities significantly," says Yitzchaki.

A new semester of an innovative workshop program designed to combat prejudice and encourage tolerance opened this week at Bar Ilan University's School of Education. "Bar Ilan's diverse student body includes Jews and Arabs, religious and secular Israelis, new immigrants and veteran Israelis, Sephadim and Ashkenazim, right-wingers and left-wingers," says Dvora Mann, who developed and edited the first curriculum: "Workshop participants are exposed to their own stereotypes and prejudices and discuss hot issues in Israel society."

The program was developed in cooperation with ADL, which also provided training for the facilitators. The curriculum is constantly updated and adapted to current circumstances.

The workshops are conducted under the aegis of the Dr. Joseph Burg Chair in Education for Human Values, Tolerance, and Peace, which was inaugurated in May 1995. The mission of the chair is to enable scholars to provide educators with insights and practical guidance on issues such as peace, mutual understanding, and tolerance in order to build a strong, healthy, and democratic society. The Chair's activities also include organizing teachers conferences and publishing educational materials.

Last weekend, the theater hall in Tashkent was packed with over 600 teenagers, both Jewish and non-Jewish, for a Uzbeki theater troupe performance of Fiddler on the Roof. The Jewish Agency representative in Tashkent, Drori Lamdan, reports that the play has become the leading hit among Tashkent youth.

The Uzbeki producer, Mebby Abdurachmanov, translated the play into Russian and adapted it to local conditions. While their Jewish character is maintained, the fiddler, Tuvia, the rabbi, and other figures are dressed in traditional Uzbeki garb.

Throughout the three-and-a-half-hour play, the actors conduct a dialogue with the audience, and talk about Shalom Aleichem and his writings. A large picture of him and lit memorial candles in the lobby create a special atmosphere.

The head of the Jewish Agency delegation to the Asian Republics, Meir Tal, reports that last season the Jewish Agency arranged for the play to be performed in Samarkand. As a result of the play's impressive success, Tal is considering using the theater troupe for other JAFI activities in the region.

Mebby Abdurachma is scheduled to visit Israel this summer for the first time.

Machol Hungaria 2000, the second international dance seminar, will take place in Budapest from March 7 - 12. It will bring together young people from Jewish communities throughout Eastern Europe.

The seminar follows the method of the Lauder Joint International Youth Camp in Szarvas, in which a relevant Jewish topic is chosen and studied throughout the program. The topic for the seminar is the Jewish festivals and the role of dance in celebrations.

The dance seminar will consist of five educational sessions, each a half-day long, four dance sessions conducted by Israeli teachers, a celebration of Shabbat, a klezmer concert, and Israeli folk dancing each evening.

A group of young Israeli leaders who will be taking part in the “Washington 12 Young Leadership Conference” in mid-March is convening in Jerusalem this week for a pre-conference seminar, designed to familiarize them with North American Jewish life. The program is sponsored by the Jewish Agency's Israel Department.

Seminar participants will be welcomed by Paula Edelstein, Co-chair of the Israel Department; Meir Nitzan, Director General of the Department; and Naomi Patz, Director of Partnership 2000 for the United Jewish Communities.

The program will include a talk on the American Jewish Community by Dr. Danny Levine, Educational consultant to Melitz; Yigal Donyets, Director of the Israel Department's Planning Division, who will give an overview of Partnership 2000; Roberta Fahn-Schoffman, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Diaspora Affairs, who will speak on the role of the Jewish community in American politics, and Jodi Schwartz, Former Chair of the UJA's Young Leadership Cabinet, who will discuss young leadership and the American Jewish Community. The Mifgashim Center will facilitate discussions on expectations.

3000 young leaders from North America will participate in the conference, entitled “Right Place, Right Time.” The Israeli representatives will first go to their partner communities, and then, together with their North American counterparts, proceed to Washington DC for the conference. They will be addressed by top-level Jewish leaders including educators, industrialists, rabbis from the various streams, community leaders, and political leaders.

The Internal Security Service, in cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Police succeeded this week in capturing a cell of the Hamas terrorist organization which had planned to carry out a mass attack on a high rise building in Jerusalem and to place bombs on buses in Netanya and Hedera. The plan to blow up a high rise building in Jerusalem was based on successful terror attacks which took place recently on buildings in Moscow and Rostov. This terrorist cell which was caught had previously carried out attacks in Netanya and Hedera.

Close to 100 members of the Jewish community of Siktivkar, the capital of the autonomous region of Komi in Russia, were forced to interrupt a meeting organized by the Jewish Agency as a result of a bomb alert.

Last weekend, the Jewish Agency's northern region in Russia organized its first meeting with the Siktivkar Jews to introduce them to JAFI's aliyah and absorption programs. The meeting, which took place at the local cultural center, began with a short artistic performance and ended with communal singing of Hatikva.

Several minutes after the participants sat down, a local man burst into the hall in panic and announced that an anonymous warning had been received that a bomb had been placed in the building.

The Jewish Agency representatives, together with all the participants, immediately evacuated the building and moved to an alternative site. The security services closed off the entire area around the cultural center. After an hour of painstaking search of the area, the police determined that the alarm was false.

The head of the Jewish Agency's northern region in Russia, Michael Golan, reported that this was the first large Jewish event in the Komi region, and details regarding the location and time had been widely publicized in the local media. The bomb alert evidently stemmed from anti-Semitic motives. A similar incident took place during a Jewish Agency aliyah fair in Kaliningrad two months ago.

Siktivkar is located between the Ural mountains and the Baltic Sea in northeastern Russia. The Jewish Agency estimates the Jewish population of Komi at some 1,500 individuals; about 400 of them live in Siktivkar. Last year, 83 Jews from Komi made aliyah.

Speaking at an "Aliyah Information Day" in Balfour House in London, Colonel Itamar Ya'ar, the Defense Attache at the Israeli Embassy, predicted the shortening of the length of compulsory military service from three to the two-and-a-half years, while discussing the evolving role of the Israel Defense Forces as the peace process progresses.

Over one hundred British Jews took part in the event that was organized by the Jewish Agency's Aliyah Department, the British Aliyah Movement, and Tehilla, the religious aliyah movement.

Frank Stein, Head of Aliyah and Absorption at the UJIA Israel, who was in the UK to promote aliyah, gave creative tips on ways to find employment in Israel. Guest speakers discussed various issues such as financial planning when making aliyah, opportunities in Israel for young people, and buying property in Israel.

Jewish Agency emissary, Danny Blumberg, noted the enthusiasm and seriousness of the participants. "Hopefully the event addressed some important questions about aliyah," he said, "and convinced people that it is not an impossible dream."

The Winter Tennis Party that recently took place in Holland, hosted by the Sjoeche Foundation in cooperation with Macabbi Tennis, was much more than a sporting event. There was also a band, music, and good food - essential ingredients to ensure a successful social activity designed to bring young Jews together. More than 1,300 Jewish young adults are affiliated members of the Sjoeche Foundation, an independent youth organization founded almost 15 years ago in Holland.

Dubi Bergman, the representative of the Jewish Agency in Western Europe, said that social-cultural get-togethers for young Jews, such as this one, are important for Jewish continuity and for combating assimilation.

The Sjoeche Foundation, which is not affiliated with any official religious organization, is headed by a board of nine volunteers in their mid-twenties. It offers a variety of activities for those between the ages of 18 and 35, including parties, social gatherings and sports events. It also offers "infotainement" - special lectures with interesting guests from Holland and abroad who discuss topics ranging from the missing pages of Anne Frank's Diary to the art of positive thinking to the best seller Kosher Sex by Rabbi Shmuely Boteach.

Muslim hostages on the hijacked Afghan plane last week join the list of customers of Reuben's kosher restaurant in London. Shortly after the plane landed at Stansted Airport, police contacted the West End eatery with an order for kosher food for the Muslims aboard the plane, due to their religious dietary needs.

The restaurant sent over Jewish soul food -- chopped liver, corned beef, eggs and onions, and latkes, accompanied by bottles of Israeli Spring brand nectars: passion fruit, peach, and mango. "Spring nectar is the best thing to drink when you're hijacked," says Reuben's manager, Channah Schwartz. "It's really good, it's special, and it's from Israel." Restaurant policy prevented Schwartz from disclosing any of Reuben's recipes, but she agreed to share the following tip with readers of the Global Jewish Agenda: when preparing salad dressing, replace white vinegar with malt vinegar for a very English salad!

Chicken liver became commonly used in England in the 1940s when calf liver became too expensive.

Ingredients
1 large onion chopped
3 tablespoons of chicken fat
1/2 lb. chicken livers
Salt & pepper
1-2 hard boiled eggs

Preparation
Fry onion on low heat in the chicken fat stirring occasionally.
Sprinkle livers with salt, rinse after a few minutes, and pass them through a flame.
Place them on aluminum foil and grill.
Chop eggs.
Chop onions and liver together.
Mix liver and onions with eggs.
Season.

Bon appetit - B'teavon!