UJA-Federation has formed an ad hoc committee to assess the levels of funding for programs in Israel of both the Reform and Conservative movements.
Morton Kornreich, chairman of the Board of Directors of UJA-Federation, said the committee was formed following a recent meeting between rabbis and lay leaders, sponsored by UJA-Federation. Reform and Conservative leaders have expressed concern that their programs and institutions receive inadequate funding from the Jewish Agency.
Campaign contributions are allocated through the UJA-Federation Overseas Affairs Division to the Jewish Agency. The Jewish Agency gives financial aid to various humanitarian programs in Israel, including immigrant absorption, youth aliya, education, rural settlement, and neighborhood rehabilitation.
Rabbi Saul Teplitz, of Congregation Sons of Israel, in Woodmere, N.Y., and chairman of the Rabbinical Advisory Council of UJA-Federation, will head the six-member committee, it was announced. Members include Rabbi Jerome Davidson, of Congregation Beth El in Great Neck, L.I.; Billie Gold, chairman of the UJA-Federation Jewish Information and Referral Service and vice president of the Board of Jewish Education; Ira Kellman, vice president of the Board of Jewish Education; Rabbi Binyamin Walfish, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America; and Robert Goldman, a captain in the Vanguard Club of UJA-Federation and a member of its board of directors.
An all-day meeting with Jewish Agency and UJA officials and representatives of the three movements is planned for January 12 in New York.
The committee will then fly to Israel in early February on a seven-day fact-finding trip. Members will hold discussions with Jewish Agency officials as well as leaders of the Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox movements. They will also visit various institutions associated with the three movements.
The committee will report its findings to UJA-Federation leadership. A follow-up meeting will take place between rabbis and presidents of the three movements and UJA leadership.
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