Help Us Meet Our $100K Challenge Grant By 12/31

Shalom Chaverim,

My name is Naomi Solkowitz, I’m from Bethesda, Maryland and I hold the great privilege of serving as Young Judaea’s National Mazkira (president) this year.  I’m also a senior at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, and am looking forward to being a part of Year Course 2014-2015.

As National Mazkira, I do more than just participate in Young Judaea… I live it. As Young Judaea begins to rise on its own two feet, independent from Hadassah and blooming with new life and new blood, I’m writing to you, Judaeans of past and present, friends, and family for your help in ensuring that others like me can continue to see the world through the Young Judaea lens that has shaped me into a the leader I am.

Young Judaea has brought me around the world and around the United States.  I have worked in the Lower 9^th Ward in New Orleans and traveled to conventions and events all over the country; I have been a camper, and I’ve participated on Machon in Israel.

Through these programs, Young Judaea has taught me the difference between passive care and active change, and because of Young Judaea I refuse to do any less than the most I can do.

When I was 12 years old, my madricha at Camp Young Judaea Sprout Lake stood me in front of a mirror and said, “See there?  Meet an incredible Zionist.”  With that one sentence, my life was changed. 

Because of my experiences with Young Judaea, I am an activist and a conduit of change.  My presence and being are committed to the values I learned at Young Judaea and Young Judaea has consistently been committed to me.  I’m looking forward to Year Course, and to becoming a madricha at Camp Tel Yehudah and I’m looking forward to continue giving back to the movement that has given me so much.

I’m sure you are, too.

Thank you for your support,

B’ahava,

Naomi Solkowitz
National Mazkira, Young Judaea

 

If you’ve already donated, thank you very much!

PS. As an independent organization for the first time in more than 50 years, we rely on your generosity. Please consider a gift of $180 or more to support a Judaean in need at camp or in Israel.

PPS. This is the year we need ALL our alumni, families and friends to step in. No one else will. You can give online at  www.youngjudaea.org/donate or contact Director of Development and Alumni Relations Jeffrey Cahn at jeffrey.cahn@youngjudaea.org or (646) 292-2394 with your offer of support or to volunteer.

Young Judaea Global, Inc. is a tax-exempt charity under the IRS code section 501c3.

Help Us Meet Our $100K Challenge Grant By 12/31

Shalom Chaverim,

Young Judaea changed my life.  And, if you’re reading this letter, I suspect it’s also true for you or someone you know.

Young Judaea programs – from club meetings to conventions, camp to Year Course – shaped me into the person I am today. My morals, my understanding of the world around me and my family would all be different had Young Judaea not influenced me during the most important times of my life.

Now, Young Judaea is at a crossroads. After 45 years under the wing of Hadassah, we have become an independent organization. The future of YJ, America’s largest and most successful Zionist youth movement, is now fully in the hands of our alumni, families, and friends.  

For decades, Young Judaeans have been singing, “Ani v’Atah Neshaneh et Ha’Olam, You and I will change the world.” Along with those words we have, in fact, also changed the world. As a movement and as individuals we have influenced and shaped some of the most important trends and institutions in Israel and the American Jewish Community.

But will we continue to change the world? Will future generations of Judaeans have the opportunity to explore their own Jewish identities and relationships to Israel with the same burning passion that drove previous generations to ask, “If not me, then who?”    

In order to survive and thrive as an independent organization, we need your support like never before. We need everyone to pitch in to help with scholarships like the ones that allowed me to go to camp and Israel when I was a kid, and with funds to keep growing our award-winning Israel programs. Thousands of teens and young adults between the ages of seven to 35 depend on this support each year.

If you gave a gift last year, thank you. Please consider increasing your gift this year to help fill in the gap. If you were waiting for the right time to include Young Judaea in your generosity at year-end, please wait no more. All donations will be matched by a generous Judaean donor up to $100,000.

The future truly is in our hands, both yours and mine.

Thank you for your commitment.

Mike Berman
President, Young Judaea Board of Directors

 

PS – As an independent organization for the first time in more than 50 years, we rely on your generosity. Please consider a gift of $180 or more to support a Judaean in need at camp or in Israel.

PPS – This is the year we need ALL our alumni, families and friends to step in. No one else will. You can give online at  youngjudaea.org/give or contact Director of Development and Alumni Relations Jeffrey Cahn at jeffrey.cahn@youngjudaea.org or (646) 292-2394 with your offer of support or to volunteer.

Young Judaea Global, Inc. is a tax-exempt charity under the IRS code section 501c3.

Sharon Schoenfeld, Director, Year Round Programs, on a recent YJ event in New Jersey.

This weekend, I had one of the more inspirational and thrilling experiences in my YJ professional career.  Over over 60 teens, young alumni staff and shlichim gathered together for an exploration of Israel beyond the headlines.

The energy in the room was electric and the sense of peer education and peer leadership was obvious.  Led by the phenomenal NJ teen leadership of Ethan Gertzman, Adina Gitomer, Tamar Arenson and Sander Miller with the support of some of YJ’s best staff, Joel Srebrenick, Alli Rovensky, Yael David and Ruby Welkovich, the weekend went off without a hitch.  After a moving Havdala service, the teens were brought together to work with Niro Taub, the YJ Northeast Shaliach, to explore a side of Israel that most of us do not know, Street Art and Graffiti.   This is not the kind of graffiti that you might see here in the US on underpasses and walls.  This street art is an expression of some of the deeper and humorous sides of the country, telling stories of culture and current events with a sense of humor, with sarcasm, but also expressing the beauty and uniqueness of Israel.  The teens had the opportunity to create their own images.  After snacking on pizza and some of the best Israeli snacks available (parents, don’t be surprised if your teens don’t ask you for some “Krembo”) the teens then settled into an exploration of technology and innovation in Israel.

We were joined by guests, YJ Southeast Shaliach Neta Shani and local community Shaliach Matan Sidi.

Other Year Round Programming News: LionFest, YJ’s gathering in February (an upgrade and twist on National Convention) is taking place from February 14-17^th 2013 at Camp Young Judaea Texas in Wimberly, Texas. See your camp friends from around the country, meet new friends, learn and help move YJ’s mission to the next level.  AND!  Take part in the first ever YJ Winter Games. The first 75 registrants pay only $280.

If you are interested in getting more involved in Young Judaea to help support our teens, please contact me at sharon.schoenfeld@youngjudaea.org

Learn more about events in New Jersey by joining the Ganei Yehudah Young Judaea group on Facebook. Learn more about national events on the general Young Judaea Facebook page.