National Convention Agenda Looks Ahead

“The aim of this Convention is to give direction to the OU for the next term,” according to Convention Chairman Elliot P. Gibber. “The program has been fine-tuned to reflect the needs of our various constituencies and what they want the organization to provide,” he added.

Sessions will be divided into four tracks—Community and Synagogue, Political Advocacy, Families and Children, and Limud Torah—each of which reflects the varied activities the Union is engaged in. Plenary sessions will include a Keynote Address from Dr. Karen Bacon, who is the Monique C. Katz Dean of Stern College for Women, as well as input from representatives of large and small communities around North America. Stephen Hoffman, President and CEO of the UJC will address the interface of Orthodox Jews with the Jewish community at large. Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, will speak on the challenges we currently face. Major presentations and shiurim will be given by Israel Chief Rabbi Harav Yisrael Meir Lau, OU President Harvey Blitz, and OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb.

Those in the area who do not plan on attending the entire Convention but would like to be at some of the sessions should visit www.ou.org or call 212.613.0792 for details. Sunday morning’s program, devoted to commemorating the 100th birthday and 10th yahrzeit of Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik, zt”l, is expected to draw large crowds. Presentations will be given by Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, Rabbi Hershel Schachter, Rabbi Kenneth Brander, Rabbi Menachem Genack, Rabbi Dr. Aaron Rakeffet, Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld and Dr. David Shatz, with OU Honorary President Julius Berman chairing the session.

The Convention will take place from Thursday, December 26 through Sunday, December 29 at the Rye Town Hilton, Westchester, NY. For last minute reservations, or for more information, call 212.613.0792, email malkal@ou.org, or visit www.ou.org.

West Coast

The Annual OU West Coast Torah Convention will take place from Thursday, December 19 through Wednesday, December 25. This uniquely structured
convention brings the programs to the community by holding them in various OU Synagogues in the Greater Los Angeles area. Among many others, the stellar faculty includes Efrat Chief Rabbi Shlomo Riskin; YU Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Mordechai Willig, and Teaneck, NJ Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, as well as two California Congressmen, Henry Waxman and Howard Berman. Representing OU headquarters will be Harvey Blitz, Rabbi Weinreb, Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld of OU Kashrut and IPA Director Betty Ehrenberg. For more information, visit www.ou.org/west/convention63 or call 310. 229.9000, ext. 3.

Also this weekend, Rabbi Steven Burg and the West Coast NCSY staff will host the largest West Coast regional convention in recent history. More than 400 teens are scheduled to be in attendance, coming from as far south as El Paso and as far north as Vancouver.

White House Hosts OU Leaders and Rabbis

Not only were Harvey Blitz and Rabbi Weinreb invited to President and Mrs. Bush’s annual Chanukah gathering at the White House this year, they were also
asked to provide a list of rabbis as representatives of OU member shuls. From this list, the White House selected approximately twelve rabbis, who enjoyed the President’s hospitality together with their wives. Each one had a private moment and their photo taken with the President and the First Lady. The President was eager to learn about the manifold activities of the OU, and has sent a video greeting to be shown at the Convention prior to the Motzei Shabbat session. This will also be available on our website, www.ou.org after that time.

Earlier in the day, the President invited Mr. Blitz, Rabbi Weinreb, RCA President Rabbi Herschel Billet and a smaller group of rabbis for a private discussion of matters of mutual interest. The situation regarding Iraq and terrorism in Israel were the lead topics, and Mr. Bush repeated his commitment not to meet with Yasser Arafat. The discussion also ranged to the President’s Faith-Based Initiative and in general to the role of religion in a democratic society.

There was also an informal gathering for the group at the IPA’s new Washington offices, at which Mr. Blitz, Rabbi Weinreb and IPA Director Nathan Diament briefed the rabbis on the work of the IPA and discussed with them how it could assist them with the work they do in their own communities.

Teleconference for OU Shul Leaders

A recent teleconference briefing session for synagogue leadership featured remarks by Adam Goldman, a Special Assistant to President Bush, who reported on several foreign policy issues, particularly with regard to Israel and the Iraq situation. He also particularly thanked the OU for its involvement in many of the items on President Bush’s domestic agenda, such as the CARE Bill (see OU/IPA Director Nathan Diament’s article on this topic in the November 29th Forward).

Shuls from coast-to-coast, and from Canada to the deep South, participated in this call through their Rabbis, presidents, and other leaders. There was an opportunity for questions to be asked of Mr. Goldman and of Harvey Blitz, senior vice president Stephen J. Savitsky, Rabbi Weinreb, and Rabbi Moshe D. Krupka, whose Department of Community and Synagogue Services coordinates these regular teleconferences and invites all OU member synagogues to participate.

Support for Israel

• The OU's Israel Task Forces recently published an eight-page brochure listing dozens of ways people can help Israel, including twinning programs, solidarity missions and buying Israeli goods. Available in bulk to organizations that request it, the brochure was also included as a special-pull-out section in the most recent edition of Jewish Action, the OU's family magazine. This information can also be readily accessed at www.ou.org/israel, or by contacting Task Force coordinator Tobey Herzog at herzogt@ou.org.
   
• Just off the press is a run of 100,000 credit-size cards featuring the MiSheberach Lema'an Hachayal—the prayer for the Israel Defense Forces, for use by individuals. According to Howard Rhine, OU senior vice president and chair of its Israel Task Force initiative, who spearheaded this project, “We needed to find a way for Diaspora Jewry to go beyond expressions of solidarity with the people in Israel.” The idea of the mass distribution of the prayer on handy cards,” adds Rhine, “is to enable each one of us—adults and children alike—to say the prayer every day.” The card project has elements of tzedakah (charity) and of direct assistance to the soldiers, as well as prayer. The cards will be sold for $1 each, with the entire proceeds of $100,000 being donated in its entirety to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces to aid injured and needy soldiers
  
  To order cards or for more information, call Elisheva Wallace at 212-613-8226, e-mail her at wallacee@ou.org, or visit www.ou.org/israel.
   
• Missions to Israel continue to be a major focus. Writing in the Minneapolis American Jewish World, Rabbi Asher Zeilingold tells of leading a group from his shul, Adath Israel in St. Paul, MN. As part of an OU mission, he reports, they spent a full week “being part of everything happening in Israel. . . . A tourist bus filled with visitors is the strongest statement we can make that we will not be intimidated.” A Tekoa resident wrote to “personally thank the OU for having the courage and dedication to visit us here.” For information on the next mission during yeshiva intersession week, January 18-26, or to arrange customized trips for your group, contact Richard Stareshefsky at 212-613-8171 or richard@ou.org.

NCSY Nationwide Staff Training is Ongoing and Effective

A series of intense and productive Advisor Training sessions was recently conducted nationwide under the leadership of NCSY's Interim Director of Operations Shira Reifman, and its steering committee. Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, himself a well-known psychologist, participated in a training session for close to 70 NER (New England) region advisors held in Stamford, CT. In the Etz Chaim New Jersey region, advisors received “a battery of comprehensive and thoughtful presentations,” with issues regarding relationships with NCSYers “addressed head-on in a serious, professional manner by top-notch mental health professionals,” according to Oversight Committee chair Roy Spiewak. Advisors received a full set of NCSY's guidelines and other training manuals.

The Union Society

November 11th marked the Orthodox Union’s first special dinner for The Union Society, comprised of those generous individuals who support the Orthodox Union, or any of its programs such as NCSY or Yachad, with an annual gift of $5,000 or more. The programs are aimed at bringing together the Union’s most important supporters for informal discussions with key national and international leaders. Professors Richard and Suzanne Stone hosted the first program in their elegant Manhattan home. The highlight of the evening was an off-the-record dialogue with Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. His remarks on the situation of world Jewry combined great insight and passion.

Howard Tzvi Friedman of Baltimore has been named Chairman of the Union Society. He and the OU staff are planning another special program this spring. For more information call 212.613.8140, or email society@ou.org.

NCSY Summer Programs Attract Large Early Enrollment

Interest in NCSY’s ever-popular Summer programs is growing and growing. Among the new programs for 2003 is Volunteers for Israel, a unique and exciting summer experience that will enable young men to help Israel in as direct a manner as possible. In conjunction with Sar-El (the Israeli branch of Volunteers for Israel), boys aged 16 to 18 will spend three weeks volunteering on an army base, repairing and upgrading facilities, stuffing parachutes and other such tasks—some important, some menial, but all significant. By doing so, they will relieve the daily burdens of soldiers serving in the Israeli army, “The time and effort that each NCSYer contributes,” said Rabbi Daniel Schonbuch, NCSY’s National Educational Director, “means that one more Israeli may not have to do milu’im (reserve duty).” Interspersed with their daily work, the NCSYers will also spend time each day on Torah studies. Shabbatot will be spent off-base in a different host community around Israel. They will also enjoy tiyulim (trips) with their new Israeli friends and some well-deserved recreation time. Finally, after their three-week stint on the base, they will spend a week touring in northern Israel, taking in the sites and learning much more about the country.

Volunteers for Israel is one of ten outstanding summer programs that NCSY is offering in 2003. Also new is Outward Bound, an incredible three-week wilderness adventure including white water rafting and hiking in the magnificent scenery of Northern Ontario. All NCSY Summer Programs for young men and young women—which include Kollel, Michlelet, SEG, Sports, JOLT, Caravan West and Yad b’Yad— feature Jewish learning and a complete environment of Torah observance combined with a great summer fun experience.

For more information about the NCSY Summer programs contact Uriel Weisz at 888-Tour-4-You, via email at summer@ncsy.org, or visit our website: www.ncsy.org.

Meanwhile, NCSY’s twelve Regional Directors have resolved to hold their next meeting in Israel this January. Not only will they have the opportunity to visit NCSY’s summer program locations and meet with and recruit potential staff members, but they will also

hold a gala event to show solidarity with all the NCSY alumni who have made aliyah—probably the largest number from any diaspora youth group—as well as those currently studying in Israel.

OU Israel Center’s Activities Expand Around the Country

In addition to the many daily and weekly programs held in the Seymour J. Abrams OU World Center in Jerusalem, there are other remarkably successful initiatives that seek to help youngsters in deprived neighborhoods around the country. One such program, Makom Balev, has expanded three-fold in the last year, with new chapters opening up in Raanana, Kiryat Gat, Tzefat and Chadera, bringing the total to 14. The number of young people in the program is now close to 1000. Makom Balev provides a club-like environment where they can mingle easily with specially-trained madrichim who bring them in from the streets to a warm, social and spiritual environment. Another program, Gesharim, for Bar and Bat Mitzvah-aged youngsters, has more than doubled the number of its participants from 120 to 275. In a major breakthrough, this program is working not only through the religious schools but also with some regular municipal schools, reports Rabbi David Cohen, OU Director of Overseas Projects. These programs also receive receiving partial funding from the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Dinner Celebrates the Remarkable Work of Yachad and Our Way

A record crowd recently came together at a New York hotel to celebrate the work of NJCD, the OU’s National Jewish Council for the Disabled, and its Yachad and Our Way divisions. Honored at the event were Mark Honigsfeld, founder and chairman of Kulanu-Jewish Coalition for Special Services; long-time Yachad supporters and activists Ira and Rona Kellman, together with their daughter Jenny, a Yachad member; Esther Nadjar, of Brooklyn’s Magen David Yeshivah; and Sheila and Steven Lependorf, educators for the deaf. NJCD Director Dr. Jeffrey Lichtman appealed for employment opportunities that Yachad members could fill. “Hashem gave us each two hands,” he said, “one for helping ourselves, and one for helping others.”

NJCD’s recent national training programs and leadership conferences set the agenda for staff and volunteers alike to work through their local Yachad and Our Way chapters and to facilitate Inclusion Programs. For more information, call 212.613.8229, or email njcd@ou.org.

New Video Shows Work of the Chevra Kadisha

The Orthodox Union, in conjunction with the Rabbinical Council America and the Jewish Funeral Directors of America—which together comprise the Tri-partite Commission on Jewish Funeral Standards—has released a video describing the role of the Chevra Kadisha in preparing a body for burial in accordance with Jewish funeral practices. The 30 minute video, "The Ultimate Kindness," was written and directed by Rabbi Elchonon Zohn, Director of the Chevra Kadisha of the Va'ad Harabbonim of Queens and renowned halachic authority on matters regarding burial. Rabbi Zohn took particular care to target the script to the widest possible audience, highlighting the sensitivity and consideration with which Chevra members perform their task. Ricky Magder from the OU Media Department expertly produced the video, and Rabbi Mayer Waxman served as the narrator. Copies of the video, which provides an excellent introduction to the work of a Chevra, are available for $30 from the Jewish Funeral Directors of America at 781.477.9300.

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