June 30, 2004

A Dinner of Thanksgiving With Survivors of Terrorism Will Be a Highlight:
Diaspora/Israel and Community Needs to be Focus of OU National Convention in Jerusalem; Priorities for Next Two Years to be Determined

The Orthodox Union will convene its Biennial National Convention in Jerusalem Thanksgiving weekend, as the OU installs its new leadership and determines its priorities and agenda for the next two years. Convention themes will be “The Israel-Diaspora Relationship: Opportunities for Strength and Inspiration,” and “Meeting Synagogue and Community Needs.”

Convention 2004 will meet from Wednesday, November 24-Sunday November 28 at the Renaissance Jerusalem Hotel, with Israeli dignitaries, rabbis and scholars presenting fascinating and up-to-the minute presentations and briefings, in an atmosphere of holiness that only being present in Israel can provide. Participants are encouraged to arrive early or stay on for special programming and touring options. There will be a substantial early bird discount rate for those who register before August 16.

On Thanksgiving Day, the OU will install its new Officers, including the successor to President Harvey Blitz, whose second two-year term will conclude at the Convention. The OU Nominating Committee is finalizing its proposed leadership slate.

Mr. Blitz emphasized that the Convention will include substantive and far-reaching discussions on both the future of the OU and on Israel/Diaspora relationships.

“The Convention will do much to determine what the OU will be like over the next two years, what our priorities will be, and the new programming that will be developed to achieve our objectives,” said Mr. Blitz. “We believe that every OU synagogue across the United States and in Canada has a voice in OU policy. We encourage synagogue leadership and membership to participate and to express the needs of their synagogue and community at the Convention.”

The needs of smaller Jewish communities will be given particular attention, declared Stephen J. Savitsky, OU Chairman of the Board. “The OU feels a special connection to the smaller Jewish communities. Our goal is to create meaningful programs to help them provide services for their constituents,” he said.

Regarding the theme of the Israel-Diaspora relationship, Mr. Savitsky declared, “The Convention will be a learning experience for participants on multiple aspects of this relationship. Sessions will be devoted to Israel advocacy, aliyah, reciprocal twinning programs, and planning how to bring successful OU programs to Israel. We are going to Israel to show our support and love, but just as significantly, we are going to Israel to explore how OU synagogues in North America and the people of Israel can work together most effectively for our mutual benefit.”

The decision to bring the OU National Convention to Israel was made in recognition that the organization’s daily involvement with Israel – centered around the programs of the Seymour J. Abrams OU Jerusalem World Center -- and emotional support for its people in this time of terror make a Convention in Israel not only appropriate, but mandatory.

Special guests at the Melava Malka following the conclusion of the Sabbath will be survivors of terrorism and their families. “With heartfelt emotion and thanksgiving for their survival, we will salute these victims of terrorism and their families together with the entire people of Israel for their courage in the face of cowardly evil,” said OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb.

In a joint statement, Convention Chairs OU Vice President Stanley Weinstein of Miami Beach; Board Member Dr. Benzion Krupka of Far Rockaway, NY; and Yitzchak Fund, President of the Seymour J. Abrams OU Jerusalem World Center and National Vice President for Israel, noted that the Convention’s presence in Israel will enable the OU to assemble a list of speakers and presenters not possible anywhere else; that an extraordinary Shabbat program is being planned; and that the Convention is a perfect opportunity for synagogues to organize missions to Israel.

“We heartily encourage OU synagogues to put together their own missions to attend the Convention,” they said. “We can think of no more memorable synagogue activity than to come as a group to Jerusalem, to experience the kedusha (holiness) of the environment and the extraordinary opportunities for learning, while at the same time playing a role in planning the immediate future of the OU.”

According to Rabbi Moshe D. Krupka, OU Executive Director for Programming, the synagogue/community theme will include:

• Strengthening OU synagogue and community programs;
• Developing the synagogue as a center for family education;
• Developing new and committed synagogue leadership; and
• Synagogue outreach programs for singles, seniors, the unemployed and other target groups.

Optional pre-Convention touring will include “Hevron and Gush Etzion,” led by Rabbi Weinreb, the OU Executive Vice President; “Historical Tour and Perspective of Jerusalem,” led by historian Rabbi Berel Wein; and “Israel and the Diaspora: A View From Jerusalem,” led by Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Additional touring opportunities will include visits to Gush Katif/Givat Brenner, and Masada, Eretz Breishit, and P’til Techelet.

According to OU Director of Special Projects Frank Buchweitz, the Convention will feature numerous opportunities to perform acts of Chesed (loving-kindness) through volunteering opportunities among terror victims, the elderly or special needs children. It is anticipated, he said, that many parents will combine participation in the Convention with visits to their children studying in Israel; in addition, the OU Israel Center will schedule appointments with Israeli yeshivot for parents who are planning their children’s year of study in Israel.

Throughout the Convention, all thoughts will be on Israel. “OU Biennial National Conventions always have as their themes strengthening the relationship between the OU, its membership, its synagogues and Israel, regardless of where the Conventions are held. But bringing the Convention to Israel makes it clear how truly interconnected our lives are,” declared Rabbi Weinreb. “Speaking in one voice, OU members and synagogues will make the Convention a vehicle to create an even deeper partnership with our people in Israel than has existed to this day,” he said.

“Three times a day,” declared Rabbi Weinreb, “we pray for the rebuilding of Jerusalem: ‘May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in compassion. Blessed are You, God, Who restores his Presence to Zion.’ Jerusalem is always in our prayers. At Thanksgiving, OU members will say those prayers in Jerusalem.”

For information about costs and packages and discounts, contact Mr. Buchweitz at 212-613-8188, or log on to www.ou.org/convention for the latest information and on-line registration.

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