Expanded and intensified new programs of Jewish education both in Israel and the diaspora are required to combat the “surging problems of assimilation and intermarriage” confronting Sephardi Jewry, according to Nessim Gaon, president of the World Sephardi Federation.
Addressing a joint meeting of the American Zionist Assembly and the American Sephardi Federation here earlier this month, Gaon warned that “lack of modern educational, cultural and religious facilities” was threatening “the continuity of our traditions and heritage. If we do not involve our generation of young people, if we do not inculcate them with an appreciation of their culture and their roots, Sephardi Jewry will become an historic memory.” Of 12 million Jews living outside Israel, approximately 1.2 million, or 10 percent, are of Sephardi heritage.
TASK FORCE APPOINTED
Gaon told the conference that he had appointed a special task force to study the dimensions of the problems and to determine how best to “realistically” deal with them.
He said the World Sephardi Federation, in conjunction with local Sephardi community leaders and educators in Israel and the diaspora, would evaluate existing programs for reaching the younger generation and “in concert with the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency, launch a vigorous outreach program to instill this generation with traditional values of worship, learning and sacred deeds.”
He said the new programs would require “larger budgets” and expressed confidence that they would be secured.
Gaon called on the American and other Sephardi federations to work closely with the World Federation, the WZO and other Zionist groups “to provide the means and facilities for reaching out to our youth with innovative educational concepts.”
ASSAILS CUTS IN ISRAEL’S SOCIAL WELFARE BUDGET
He asserted that Sephardi Jewry in the diaspora had “a responsibility to insure the gains achieved for our people through Project Renewal in Israel are not lost through cuts in social welfare budgets and new taxes on families now living a marginal existence.
“It would be tragic if new social problems develop that would diminish the gains made through Project Renewal,” he declared.
In this connection, the Sephardi leader said that new student taxes and higher tuition costs in Israel are already having a “major impact” on the Federation’s scholarship program for youth from development towns, which he said had enabled more than 5,000 young people to attend universities in Israel.
Gaon also announced that the World Sephardi Federation expects to expand its program of seminars in Israel for young Sephardi leadership from the diaspora. He cited a recent seminar conducted in Jerusalem with the WZO that brought together young Sephardi leaders from 12 countries.
“No better learning tool exists than to experience the land and the people of Israel,” he said, adding: “Mere self-preservation of our communities is inadequate. If there is to be a renewal of Jewish life, and if we are to recapture the minds and the hearts of our marginal youth, Israel is the starting point.”
Gaon, who resides in Geneva, is one of the architects of Project Renewal and an international chairman of Israel Bonds and co-chairman of the United Israel Appeal-Europe.
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