In an example of the traditional Israel-Diaspora relationship being turned on its head, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres was solicited for a contribution when he concluded addressing the United Jewish Appeal here this week.
UJA Executive Vice President Brian Lurie made a quiet pitch for $10 million, to be allocated by the Israeli government to help send 50,000 American Jewish teens to Israel each summer.
The $10 million would constitute a third of a $30 million “megafund,” Lurie said in his opening address to the UJA National Campaign Conference, held here this week.
The other partners of this nascent fund would be the Jewish Agency for Israel — the major recipient of UJA funds in Israel — and Diaspora Jewry.
In launching the idea of a $30 million fund, the UJA is upping the ante in its effort to make a trip to Israel a universal rite of passage for every American Jewish teen-ager.
“This would be like a beacon, a galvanizing force to bring this Jewish continuity issue to the fore,” said Lurie.
At the same time, it reflects an era when UJA leaders feel that the relationship between American and Israeli Jews has moved from one of donors and recipients to one of partnership. And in that case, the question is shifting from what American Jews can do for Israel to that of what Israel can do for American Jews.
“Fifty years ago, Israel needed us. Today, we need Israel,” said Richard Pearlstone, UJA’s new national chairman.
Currently, the UJA is in the middle of a three-year, $750,000 commitment, together with the CRB Foundation and other Jewish organizations, to promote local pilot programs encouraging Israel trips for American Jewish youth.
One such local program held its first event Sunday night near Washington, as 750 seventh-and eighth-graders showed up for an “Israel Fest.”
BUMPER CARS BECOME TEL AVIV TRAFFIC JAM
Held at a local amusement complex — the bumper cars were transformed into a Tel Aviv traffic jam — the program hopes to generate continuing excitement about Israel trips.
It is hoped that excitement will pay off in three or four years’ time, when the teens travel to Israel as 10th or 11th-graders.
Known as Israel Quest, the program is sponsored by the UJA Federation of Greater Washington, together with local synagogues and youth groups.
The goal is to portray Israel as a “high-adventure” opportunity. The program’s logo, as printed on colorful T-shirts, describes Israel: “It’s Hot. It’s Cool. It’s Yours!”
Organizers of the Washington gala were excited about the large turnout.
And in New York, Lurie and other leaders of the national program are excited by the several million-dollar gifts received to sponsor such events, and provide trip subsidies, in cities across the country.
“It’s an opportunity for givers interested in the youth arena,” Peter Gefen, director of the CRB Foundation’s Israel Experience program, said at the UJA conference.
Lurie said that discussions of the $30 million fund are only at a preliminary stage. While the Jewish Agency share represents UJA money, the Diaspora share might come from other earmarked philanthropic gifts.
Lurie described it as a “renewable” fund. Whether it would be designed to last one year or five is something not yet decided.
Luric has already had several discussions with Israeli leaders about the fund. His brief conversation with Peres at the campaign conference was only a reminder, he noted.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
