Jewish residents and vacationers in this Catskill Mountains community have something new in their midst. An Israel aliya center was opened here last week in a store front on Main Street and the center’s spokespeople, Shifra Hoffman, executive director of Shuva, and Jay Shapiro, an emissary from Israel have been busy buttonholing Jews with literature urging emigration to Israel.
According to Mrs. Hoffman, the center is being operated in conjunction with the Israel Aliya Department, the Jewish Agency and the North American Aliya Movement. The literature available at the center explains “everything you wanted to know about living in Israel, but were afraid to ask,” she said.
The center, which shares the premises with the Jewish Identity Center, will show films and hold seminars and lectures throughout the summer. In addition, there is a Holocaust exhibit and literature dealing with the proliferation of hate groups and anti-Semitic activity in the United States. Mrs. Hoffman noted that in addition to the local Jewish population of some 200 an estimated 15,000 Jews vacation in the Woodbourne area.
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