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OU ISRAEL
A PLACE WE CALL HOME
Since 1979, OU Israel has enriched the lives of children, adults, immigrants, native Israelis, visitors and residents, soldiers and civilians, throughout Israel.
6,000+
questions answered by OU Israel’s Gustave and Carol Jacobs Center for Kashrut Education
4,300+
people attended OU Israel’s annual musical tefilla and celebration for Leil Yom HaAtzmaut
3 million+
copies of OU Israel’s Torah Tidbits distributed
HEBREW-ON-THE-GO: ACCLIMATING OLIM FAMILIES
This practical program familiarizes young olim families and their school-aged children with the Hebrew language and Israeli culture. Visits to places like a matzah bakery, the Jerusalem Aquarium, the Old City, a mezuzah workshop, the Bloomfield Science Museum, and other popular sites provide a fun way for new olim to improve their Hebrew and accustom themselves to the social cues that are so unique to Israel.
Young singles make up a high percentage of olim each year. These new immigrants are often without family or community.
Project ATID offers single women in their 20s a place to socialize where they can make new friends, eat dinner, attend shiurim, and have fun. Knowing they’re not alone empowers these young women to thrive and succeed religiously and socially.
TOP: More than 7,000 people joined OU Israel’s signature community events.
LEFT: Young women who are part of OU Israel’s Tochnit Project ATID for young single olot display their artwork following a paint night and shiur about Yerushalayim during the Three Weeks.
THE BAIS AND SAFRUT
One of the unique components of OU Israel’s The Bais, an evening men’s Beit Midrash program in memory of Mrs. Charlotte Brachfeld a’h, is the in-depth course in safrut taught by expert sofer Rabbi Tzvi Mauner. It’s now in a fourth cohort of participants learning to write their own Megillat Esther. In addition to writing the megillah, participants learn the relevant halachot to begin to write mezuzot as well.
Stuart Pilichowski, left, with grandson Moshe Pilichowski. Both are participants in the safrut course.
I’m taking a course in Jerusalem in safrut (holy calligraphy) with my grandson, Moshe, age 13. He’s the youngest in the class, and you guessed it — I’m the oldest! It’s at night, and when I nod off, Moshe wakes me with his quill! What pure joy and bliss, I wish it on everyone!”
OU ISRAEL
SIGNATURE EVENTS
Yom HaAtzmaut
TOP LEFT: More than 4,300 people celebrated at OU Israel’s Tefilla B’Tachana in Yerushalayim.
Yom Yerushalayim
BOTTOM LEFT: Yeshiva students join OU Israel’s festival and musical davening on the Tayelet (Haas Promenade).
Torah Yerushalayim
RIGHT: A day of Torah learning with more than 25 outstanding lecturers and teachers including Rabbanit Shani Taragin.
OU ISRAEL GUSTAVE AND CAROL JACOBS CENTER FOR KASHRUT EDUCATION Expanded Kashrut Educational Resources
Shemittah shiurim were given for beginners, experienced learners, and rabbinic groups.
Three guides were published to help English speakers in Israel better understand and keep kashrut: OU Israel Kosher Guide, Yeshiva & Seminary Guide for gap-year students, and OU Israel Passover Guide.
A kashrut course offered to students from Sha’alvim for Women had 35 participants.
OU Israel Youth Centers by the Numbers
6,390
youth participants in 21 OU Israel Youth Centers (Oraita, Makom Balev, and Zula) from Kiryat Shmona to Dimona
92%
of OU Israel Youth Centers’ participants develop positive relationships with their families and friends
83%
of OU Israel Youth Centers’ participants do community service volunteer work
ORAITA AND NCSY JOIN HANDS
This summer, the Jack E. Gindi Oraita Program in Dimona collaborated with NCSY Summer TJJ Action campers. Together, they renovated the Youth Center in Dimona. The mayor of Dimona, Benny Bitton, personally came to thank them for their efforts.
On July 14, OU Israel held a momentous groundbreaking event for the Toni Kohn House Sderot. Jeff and Wendy Kohn and family generously donated $1 million to establish the Toni Kohn House Sderot in memory of their daughter Toni. The Toni Kohn House Sderot will provide traumatized youth with a safe haven where they’ll receive unconditional love and enjoy a reprieve from the chronic stress of terrorist attacks, while receiving support in managing their trauma.
Left to right: Tessa Kohn, Rabbi Moshe Hauer, Asher Gottesman, Jeff Kohn, Wendy Kohn, Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph, Rabbi Avi Berman, Jordan Kohn. The Kohn family generously donated $1 million to establish the Toni Kohn House Sderot in memory of their daughter Toni.
THE PEARL & HAROLD JACOBS ZULA OUTREACH CENTER
Reclaiming Herself at The Zula
Daniela, 20, first connected with the Pearl & Harold Jacobs Zula Outreach Center when she was 15.
“It was a very uncertain time in my life,” she recalls. “I would drink a lot and just hang out. I was barely able to attend school and at home I had problems that didn’t allow me to stay there. As soon as I walked into the Zula, I got a good feeling - a feeling people call a sense of home, a feeling I never knew.”
“The Zula helped me with a lot of things,” Daniela adds, “especially with feeling a sense of belonging and that there was a place where people truly cared about me.” At the Zula, she was seen for who she truly was.
When Daniela matured she attended the Zula’s Midreshet Zusha program - the Zula’s Midrasha program for young women. She now plans on studying nursing and building the Jewish home she always dreamed of.
What’s Daniela’s biggest takeaway? “The feeling that I’m important, to believe in the good that’s in me, that I can deal with my difficulties and to know that I can ask for help.”
OU ISRAEL FINANCIALS
21% 18%
36%
FUNDING SOURCES TOTAL FUNDING: $6,619,000
25%
OU Contribution $2,409,000
Program Fees $1,659,000
Donations $1,373,000
Government, Jewish Agency, and Grant Support $1,178,000
11%
EXPENSES TOTAL SPEND: $6,658,000
89%
Programming $5,896,000 Admin $762,000
The financial information (unaudited) here includes the total communal impact of OU programs worldwide. In addition, the OU provides significant support for all of its programs through facilities, management, and administrative services—e.g., IT, Finance, HR, and Communications. Those expenses are not reflected in the program’s financials.
