Israel Center Flipbook

JOIN US October 27–November 4, 2019

Also: an optional pre-trip to explore more of Israel and post-trip extensions to Petra and Amsterdam.

Join the Jewish Federation of St. Louis on Show Me Israel 2019 Participate in one of four unique, customized tracks, and see Israel through your preferred lens.

• A Culinary Taste • Hi-Tech & Innovation • Politics & History • Arts & Culture New this year! Stay on the same track for the entire mission or switch between tracks.

Itinerary and pricing available at JFedSTL.org/Show-Me-Israel.

For more information, contact Karen Rader at KRader@JFedSTL.org or 314-442-3756.

What some 2017 trip participants have to say: “All the pieces of this amazing trip came together beautifully! The speakers and the tours tied the religion, the politics, and the economics of the country together in a most intelligent and interesting way.” – Essie Rochman “It was truly a trip of a lifetime, and we are so glad we were able to go and experience the many wonderful things to do in Israel.”

– Terry & Bruce Safron “As part of the Business and Innovation track, I got to witness firsthand the creativity and innovation taking place in Israel.”

– David Chervitz

This trip is generously subsidized by the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and the Lubin-Green Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.

INTERFAITH COUPLES MISSION TO ISRAEL May 12-21, 2019 Jewish community members and their spouses/partners who identify as interfaith couples are invited to experience Israel through a unique lens. Create community with your fellow participants as you learn from each other and navigate what it means to be an interfaith couple in St. Louis.

This trip is designed to engage couples with Israel and understand the importance of the land, culture, people and economy from the perspective of each other’s faith.

Supported by the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, this highly subsidized trip is open to eight couples between the ages of 27 and 45. (Applications will be accepted from those over 45 with children 12 and younger.)

The land cost is fully subsidized. There is an optional group ight available for $995 per person.

APPLY NOW: Applications are due by November 9, 2018, and should be submitted online at JFedSTL.org/events/Interfaith-2019.

For more information, contact Karen Rader at KRader@JFedSTL.org or 314-442-3756.

Picture Yourself...

In Israel NEXT SUMMER

June 3-25, 2019 $6,250 All-Inclusive (including flight from St. Louis)

Early-bird pricing $5,850 through January 11, 2019 8

Open to teens in

#IsraelBound2019

10th-12th grade • Explore ancient Jerusalem and modern Tel Aviv • Climb Masada at sunrise • Float in the Dead Sea • Connect with Israeli teens • Raft the Jordan River • Snorkel and swim in Eilat • Ride a camel in the Negev Desert and sleep in a Bedouin tent • Reflect at the Kotel, the Western Wall • Surf in the Mediterranean $750 travel grant available to all St. Louis teens!

2 0 1 9

Join us for an informational meeting on December 13 at 7 pm at the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.

For more information, contact Jody Gerth at 314-442-3881 or email JGerth@JFedSTL.org.

To view videos from last year’s trip, please go to JFedSTL.org/Local-Trips.

PASSPORT TO ISRAEL IS OPEN TO ALL ST. LOUIS JEWISH 3RD-8TH GRADERS. SAVE UP TO $3,500 FOR YOUR CHILD TO EXPERIENCE ISRAEL AS A TEEN OR YOUN G ADULT.

!

L E A R L S I ISRAE

TO O T R D O P SS A ’s P H T r child WI

ou y r o ay f d g o t n i e v a enc i r e p Start s x le e a ish r s w I e J e r e u th fut m o r f nd a p l s i e u h o .L t with S f o ns. o n i t o i a t g a gre n Feder o c g atin p i c i t r pa

For more information, contact Karen Rader: KRader@JFedSTL.org, 314-442-3756 or visit JFedSTL.org/Israel-Center.

!

L E A R L S I ISRAE

TO O T R D O P PASS H T I W PASSPORT TO ISRAEL IS...

An investment opportunity to help your family accumulate designated funds from outside sources for your child to have an Israel experience as a teen or young adult.

• Additional gift deposits can be put into a participant’s account by family and/or friends.

• All contributions to your Passport to Israel account will be invested by the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.

• Families will receive reports annually on the status of their account.

WHERE DO THESE OUTSIDE MATCHING SOURCES COME FROM?

WHEN CAN PASSPORT FUNDS BE USED?

• $200 per year for eight years from the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.

Students are eligible to use their Passport funds for an educational peer-based Israel program upon the conclusion of 9th grade through age 26.

• Partial or matching funds from participating congregations.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE? All St. Louis Jewish students in grades 3-8 are eligible to enroll in Passport to Israel.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

WHAT HAPPENS IF... ...we withdraw from the program? Families may withdraw at any time without losing their initial investment. Upon withdrawing, the family forfeits its rights to the contributions of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis congregation and all accrued earnings.

• Jewish Federation of St. Louis will earmark $200 a year, up to a maximum of eight years, when families and participating congregations contribute a combined minimum total of $200 to a special Israel savings fund.

...we discontinue congregation membership and join another congregation? The previous congregation’s contributions from the previous years remain in the child’s account. You may continue in the program pursuant to the terms agreed upon by the new congregation.

• Families that participate for the full eight years will save approximately $3,500 to help pay for an educational trip to Israel for their child.

...we move out of town? The account can remain open until the participant is ready to go to Israel. No additional matched funds can be added to the account.

• Families who participate for the full eight years will receive an additional $360 tward their child’s educational trip to Israel from the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.

Savings cannot be transferred from one family member to another family member.

JFedSTL.org/Israel-Center

The Rubin Israel Experience The Rubin Israel Experience TAKE THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME The Rubin Israel Experience is a no-cost trip to Israel for St. Louisans 35 to 50 years old who have never been to Israel.

BE A PART OF THE 10TH GROUP OF RUBINITES

• Make a deep and meaningful connection with Israel • Become inspired to engage in our local community in new ways • Develop leadership skills to become an Israel Advocate

OCTOBER 28NOVEMBER 7, 2018 Applications are due by April 10.

Download at RubinIsrael.org.

Contact Mindee Fredman at MFredman@JFedSTL.org or 314-442-3734 for additional information.

The Rubin Israel Experience is made possible by the generosity of Pam and Ron Rubin and The Rubin Family Foundation.

Photo credit: Neshama Roash/Firefly Universe Fine Portrait Photography

RubinIsrael.org

RubinIsraelExperience

2 0 1 8

Picture Yourself...

In Israel NEXT SUMMER

June 10-29, 2018

Insert Pricing

$5,595 All Inclusive (including flight from St. Louis) Earlybird pricing $5,250 through December 1, 2017

8

#IsraelBound2018

Open to teens in 10th-12th grade.

• Explore ancient Jerusalem and modern Tel Aviv • Float in the Dead Sea • Climb Masada at sunrise • Raft the Jordan River • Ride a camel in the Negev Desert and sleep in a Bedouin tent.

• Surf in the Mediterranean • Join a coexistence program with Arab and Israeli Teens • Reflect at the Kotel, the Western Wall

For more information, contact Karen Rader at 314-442-3756 or email KRader@JFedSTL.org. Visit JFedSTL.org/Local-Trips to see a video from last year’s trip.

$750 travel grant given to all St. Louis teens!

KEY NOTES IN ISRAEL Jewish Federation of St. Louis (Federation) has established key initiatives that support the people of Israel and create strong partnerships between our region and the Jewish state.

Since its inception in 1901, Federation has been the key partner of the local St. Louis Jewish community with global Jewry. Our leadership played a central role in the founding of the state institutions. Today, we exist in St. Louis to “preserve and enhance Jewish Life in St. Louis, Israel and around the world.” We currently raise in excess of $20 million per year to support our work. While most of these funds stay within our region, a significant portion are invested to help communities in Israel and, as important, strengthen ties between the State of Missouri and the Jewish State.

Our funding focuses on social service programs, maintaining a sister-city relationship that strengthens person-to-person connections and education about Israel, and building support for economic and political leaders in the region.

FUNDING SOCIAL SERVICE PROGRAMS IN ISRAEL • Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI): JAFI is a quasi-public organization that helps Jews from abroad immigrate to Israel and start new lives there. It was JAFI that airlifted Jews from Ethiopia and worked to get Jews out of the Soviet Union who were being persecuted. Continuing their focus on the lives of new immigrants, JAFI now also invests to ensure that Jews of all religious backgrounds have a place in Israel. Our Federation provides approximately $800,000 per year.

• Social welfare programs: Our Federation supports a number of other social welfare programs in Israel outside of our sister-city/region. These include the national food bank, Leket Israel; the food program at the Muzot School of the Arts; Therapeutic Vacation Camps for foster children at Orr Shalom; Bat Melech, a safe home for the victims of domestic violence; and a program for people with autism through the social service organization of Shekel. Finally, a grant is also made through the Hartman Institute to support a day care and learning center for African refugees from Eritrea and Somalia in Tel Aviv.

• Social justice and religious pluralism: Increasingly, there has been an effort to focus on issues of social justice and civil society in Israel. Grants in this area are made to the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism to fund a rabbi in Megiddo; ITIM, a modern Orthodox advocacy center which challenges the authority and control of the Chief Rabbinate in Israel; and the Center for Women’s Justice, which fights through the courts for the religious and civil rights of women. A grant to the Jerusalem College of Technology provides training to Haredi men to enter the workforce and helps reduce that population’s reliance on welfare services. Most recently, Federation has begun funding of the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance, which serves Jerusalem’s LGBT community.

• Jewish/Arab coexistence programs: Additional co-existence grants are targeted to Hand-in-Hand, the system of bilingual Jewish Arab Schools bringing together Jews and Arabs in one of the only elementary and secondary schools in the country. We also fund the Q School program for Arab Girls in Tirah, an Arab town near Tel Aviv, which partners with a high school in Ranana for a model United Nations program; a co-existence program between the high school in Megiddo and the neighboring Arab high school; and Road to Recovery, which transports Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza to Israeli hospitals.

SISTER CITY PARTNERSHIP AND PERSON-TO-PERSON CONNECTIONS St. Louis has a longstanding partnership of about 25 years with the community of Yokne’am and Megiddo (just southwest of Haifa). Together with the Atlanta Jewish Federation, we fund a range of programs that primarily target 50 identified Ethiopian Jewish families by providing holistic interventions to assist them to break the cycle of dependence on welfare services. In Megiddo, the funds target at-risk youth in the moshavim. In addition, grants are made to the senior programs in Yokne’am and Megiddo.

Federation has additionally invested to strengthen our community’s connection to Israel. These funds help local groups study and travel to Israel, and bring Israelis into our community. These grants have funded multiple young Israelis who are connected with local congregations and The J. Federation also funds Birthright Israel and a local teen Israel program called Israel Bound. We run a local Israel Center that helps our community plan and manage trips to Israel and other Jewish sites around the world.

BUILDING SUPPORT FOR ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL LEADERS IN THE REGION Since 2012, Federation has taken more than 20 state legislators from Missouri to Israel on bipartisan missions. The goal of these missions is to help create more lasting relationships that will be mutually beneficial to the State of Missouri and the State of Israel. Participants are introduced to Israeli culture, history and politics through visits to key sites and meetings with a range of leaders.

A significant outcome of this initiative has been the establishment of a trade office in Israel to promote strategic relations between Israeli and Missouri companies. After the trade office was opened, Federation leadership traveled with former Governor Jay Nixon and bipartisan leadership from the MO House and Senate to commemorate the economic ties between Missouri and Israel. Missouri currently has a trade representative based in Tel Aviv working toward strengthening our business relations.

Federation continues to support these efforts through its work with BioSTL, helping support their efforts to recruit and retain North American offices of Israeli companies here in the region.

Additionally, we have met with regional political and economic leadership in Southwest Missouri and Springfield to promote Israel as an important part of their development strategy.