REGIONAL ACTIVITIES
Israel
Jewish Agency Objectives

  • To strengthen Israeli society and enhance Jewish solidarity by means of comprehensive community-building programs, and meaningful partnerships with individuals, communities and organizations in Israel and worldwide.
  • To strengthen ties among Jews in Israel and worldwide.
  • To help communities in Israel's periphery, including the Confrontation Line and Seam Lines, prosper and expand (emphasis on developing human resources through higher education and leadership development programs).
  • To bridge gaps in Israeli society (emphasis on new immigrants, including education, vocational training, economic development and social integration).
  • To promote democracy, tolerance and social justice
  • To support religious pluralism
  • To undertake a special solidarity campaign to support Israel in its current crisis

The Ethiopian Community

  • Special educational programs for preschoolers
  • Network of after-school centers
  • Kedma: New program for Ethiopian-Israeli high school graduates to enable them to study at university/college

Youth Aliyah
Residential education for 1,100 students, both native Israelis and new immigrants.
Four villages:

Ben Yakir
Kiryat Yearim
Ramat Hadassah Szold
Hadassah Neurim

In addition, Nitzana offers short and long-term programs for immigrants and for junior and senior high school students from Israel and abroad. Nitzana specializes in scientific and ecological programs as well as aliyah absorption programs.

The Israel Education Fund (IEF)
The IEF processes all requests for project information from outside organizations. Over the past 35 years, the Jewish Agency, through the Israel Education Fund, has constructed more than 1,300 community buildings serving more than one million Israelis.

The Allocations Program
The Allocations Program provides funding to organizations outside the Jewish Agency / WZO framework. The Program funds projects involving youth and young adults that promote:

  • Jewish Identity
  • Jewish Unity
  • Mutual Respect

The 2002 budget of over $7.5 million has been allocated to a total of 198 projects, as follows:

  • 135 innovative & creative projects run by local non-profit organizations
  • 63 projects run by organizations of the Religious streams (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist)

Fund for the Victims of Terror
Since its inception, the Jewish Agency's Fund for the Victims of Terror has distributed over $2 million to 230 terror victims and their families, complementing government assistance.

This includes:

  • Financial assistance
  • Mobility assistance
  • Educational help and additional assistance to help improve victims' quality of life

    • The Fund for The Victims of Terror is supported by the Israel Emergency Campaign which was officially launched in March 2002 by the UJC, Keren Hayesod, UJIA and UIA Federations Canada, with major funding from Federations, foundations and private donors.

    The Former Soviet Union

    • Total Jewish population: 462,000
    • Up to 870,000 people are eligible for aliyah according to the Law of Return.

    Jewish Communities: Russia 275,000 (524,000)
    Ukraine 112,000 (204,000)
    Belarus 25,000 (46,000)
    Latvia 10,000 (18,000)
    Azerbaijan 7,500 (16,000)
    Uzbekistan 7,000 (15,000)
    Moldova 6,000 (11,000)
    Georgia 5,500 (7,900)
    Kazakhstan 5,200 (8,000)
    Lithuania 4,000 (8,000)
    Estonia 2,000 (4,000)
    Kyrgizstan 1,100 (1,300)
    Tajikistan 1,100 (300)
    Turkmenistan 700 (400)
    The figures in parentheses represents a conservative estimate of the numbers eligible for aliyah according to the Law of Return.

    • Despite the remarkable achievements of Jewish renewal throughout the FSU, no more than one quarter of the Jews of the region are in any way involved in Jewish life.
    • The pool of potential olim from the FSU is shrinking, by definition, every year.
    • Jewish Agency activities reach out to unaffiliated culture and community events.
    • The Jewish Agency holds intensive Jewish Identity seminars, including hours of study recognized towards conversion in Israel.

    Aliyah
    Since 1989, more than 900,000 Jews from the former Soviet Union have come to Israel, as follows:

    1989 - 12,700
    1990 - 185,000
    1991 - 148,000
    1992 - 65,000
    1993 - 66,000
    1994 - 68,000
    1995 - 65,000
    1996 - 59,000
    1997 - 54,600
    1998 - 46,000
    1999 - 67,000
    2000 - 50,700
    2001 - 33,500
    2002 - 18,000 (estimate)

    Jewish Agency Activities

    • Jewish education and Jewish culture: Ulpan classes (40,000 participants in 2001), courses on basic Jewish literacy, the Open University program, summer and winter camps, and youth clubs.
    • Professional development: Training for some 2,000 local Jewish teachers, youth leaders and Aliyah coordinators each year.
      Jewish Agency activities are implemented by 75 emissaries from Israel and over 1,700 local staff.
    • Aliyah encouragement: Aliyah fairs, aliyah clubs, weekend seminars, and pilot tours to Israel.
    • Special absorption programs: Municipal absorption, Aliyah 2000, 'First Home in the Homeland' ('Bayit Rishon Bamoledet')
    • Special programs for young adults: Na'aleh and Selah

    Argentina
    Total Jewish population: 260,000

    Largest Jewish communities: Buenos Aires 200,000
    Rosario 12,000
    Cordoba 10,000
    Tukuman 2,000
    Bahia Blanca 2,000
    Mendoza 2,000

    • Most Jews are second or third generation Argentinean.
    • Only 30% of the Jews are affiliated in any way with the Jewish community.
    • Community organizations:
      1. The DAIA is the political representative body of the Jewish community
      2. The AMIA deals with social, welfare and cultural issues
    • Two major terrorist bombings:
      1. 1992: the Israeli Embassy
      2. 1994: the AMIA building
    • The Jewish community has been badly hit by the country's economic and social difficulties (inflation, unemployment, crime and homelessness). Many Jewish schools, synagogues and community centers have been forced to close.

    Jewish Agency Objectives

    • To encourage aliyah
    • To help the community rebuild and strengthen its educational institutions.

    Jewish Agency Activities
    Aliyah Encouragement:

    Aliyah fairs, telephone hotlines, programs for students, aliyah support groups, pilot tours to Israel.

    • Special absorption programs: Aliyah 2000, Direct Municipal Absorption (i.e. Kiryat Bialik), special absorption centers.
    • Programs for young adults: Zohar (modeled on Na'aleh), Atid (modeled on Selah).
    • Increased benefits for Argentinean olim in 2002: Higher mortgages, special grants, professional training courses.

    Jewish Education:

    • Core assistance to Jewish schools through the Chayil program, including curriculum development, teacher training and educational materials.
    • Scholarships to Jewish schools.
    • Support for local Jewish youth movement.
    • Intensified Jewish studies programs in Jewish schools.
    • Basic Jewish literacy for Jewish school drop-outs (Lomdim for high schools; Chalamot for elementary schools).
    • Programs for students with Hillel.

    Israel Experience: birthright, Institute for Youth Leaders from Abroad (Machon) long-term programs for high school students

    In 2002, in response to the crisis, the Jewish Agency sent five additional shlichim and 30 additional field workers to Argentina. An 'emergency task force' was set up in Jerusalem to coordinate efforts to encourage aliyah and develop effective absorption solutions in Israel.

    France
    Total Jewish population: 600,000

    Major Jewish communities:
    Greater Paris 350,000
    Marseilles 70,000
    Lyon 40,000
    Nice 25,000
    Toulouse 25,000
    Strasbourg 20,000

    • 75% of French Jews are of North African origin.
    • Only 50% of the total Jewish population is involved in any Jewish institution.
    • Intermarriage stands at about 75%.

    Anti-Semitism
    The number of anti-semitic incidents has risen greatly since September 2000. Incidents include firebombings and desecration of synagogues, schools and community buildings, desecration of Jewish cemeteries, physical assaults, hate mail, death threats and anti-Semitic graffiti.

    (Note: 6-8 million North African Muslims reside in France.)

    Jewish Agency Objectives

    • To encourage aliyah
    • To strengthen Jewish Zionist education (formal and informal)

    Jewish Agency Activities

    • Aliyah Encouragement:
      Aliyah fairs, municipal absorption fairs, information evenings, ulpan classes, pilot tours to Israel.
      Increased benefits for French olim: 'Absorption basket', preparatory programs for students, employment programs, municipal absorption programs (i.e. Jerusalem, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ramat Beit Shemesh)
    • Support for Jewish day schools
      (110 Jewish day schools in France): In-service training programs for teachers, school-based 'Zionist Seminars.'
    • Support for Jewish youth movements:
      A network of Jewish Agency shlichim, 'Israel Experience' programs for teenagers.
    • Activities for Jewish students:
      Support for the UEJF (French Union of Jewish Students), leadership development seminars, student study trips to Israel.

    No. of olim in 2001: 878
    Expected no. of olim in 2002: 2,500

    North America
    Total Jewish population: 6,000,000

    Largest Jewish communities:
    New York 1,970,000
    Los Angeles 621,000
    Miami 504,000
    Philadelphia 276,000
    Chicago 261,000
    Boston 227,000
    San Francisco 210,000
    Toronto 175,000
    Washington, DC 165,000
    Montreal 95,000

    • The North American Jewish community is vibrant, dynamic, high profile and politically powerful.
    • Three main streams: Orthodox, Conservative and Reform.
    • Assimilation and intermarriage continue to rise at alarming rates.

    Jewish Agency Objectives

    • To encourage aliyah
    • To promote Jewish identity and involvement in Jewish life
    • To strengthen Jewish education
    • To bring the centrality of Israel into Jewish life

    Jewish Agency Activities

    1. Aliyah Encouragement:
      Eleven Israel Aliyah an Israel Program Centers supplemented by ten aliyah information desks throughout the US and Canada provide information and counseling.

    2. Support for Jewish schools:
      In-service training programs (both local and in Israel) for Jewish educators
      On-line educational resources for teachers
      Israeli educators teach Jewish studies in Jewish day schools and Sunday schools
      Zionist seminars

    3. Support for Jewish education:
      Shlichim for Jewish youth movements and student organizations as well as counselors for summer camps.

    4. Israel Experience programs:
      Project Otzma, Sherut La'am, WUJS, leadership development programs for youth movement counselors and student activists, Kibbutz Ulpan, internship programs, Magen David Adom volunteers program, MARVA.

    5. Partnership 2000 (P2K):
      Link members of over 550 Jewish communities around the world - the vast majority in North America with 37 regions in Israel.

    6. Bringing Israel into community:
      Organizing missions, youth programs, and Israeli community events; coordinating P2K activities.

    Jewish Agency shlichim are currently serving in 50 communities throughout North America.
    In the summer of 2002, 1,200 Jewish Agency short-term emissaries worked in summer camps and other programs.

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    Updated January 29,2003