450 Ethiopians Leave Gondar for Final Aliyah Flights

Thanks to critical funding from Federation, some 450 new immigrants from Ethiopia will board two Jewish Agency-chartered flights bound for Israel on Wednesday, August 27. Since 2010, thousands of Ethiopians have immigrated to Israel as part of Operation Dove’s Wings. Tomorrow’s flights will bring this historic effort to a dramatic close. Upon the flights’ arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, there will be a welcome ceremony webcast live at 5:00 a.m. EDT on The Jewish Agency’s website (www.jewishagency.org). A recording of the webcast will remain on The Jewish Agency’s website for later viewing and sharing.

The new immigrants’ relatives will be on hand to greet them as will The Jewish Agency partners in Completing the Journey of Operation Dove's Wings, Israel’s Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), and Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal (KH-UIA), among others. Speakers at the airport welcoming ceremony on August 28th will include: Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, Sofa Landver, Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Housing Minister Uri Ariel, IFCJ President Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, KH-UIA Chairman Eliezer (Mody) Zandberg, as well as KH-UIA member Airtom Clerman and JFNA member Danny Labin, among others.

Operation Dove's Wings began in November 2010 with the Government of Israel (GOI)’s decision to bring 8,000 Falash Mura in Gondar to Israel. The GOI tapped The Jewish Agency to prepare those eligible for entry to Israel and to facilitate their Aliyah in concert with immigration eligibility standards regulated by Israel’s Ministry of the Interior and in preparation for their resettlement in Israel by the Ministry of Absorption. Since Dove’s Wings’ inception, The Jewish Agency brought 7,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel, the majority of whom are members of the Falash Mura community, and several hundred of whom were eligible for Aliyah through Israel’s Law of Return.

To prepare these olim (immigrants) for a successful life in Israel, The Jewish Agency for Israel has run a community center in Gondar, Ethiopia for the past three years and with the support of IFCJ and JFNA. This center has provided a wide range of educational and social services. Upon their repatriation in Israel, The Jewish Agency housed these new immigrants in 17 absorption centers throughout the country that are run by The Agency and Israel’s Absorption Ministry.

Chairman Sharansky shared that “This is a moving historical moment, and upon the completion of operation Dove's Wings, we have come full circle with what started three thousand years ago."

Since 1948, with the founding of Israel, 90,000 Ethiopian Jews have immigrated to Israel. Sharansky thanked The Agency's global and Israeli partners for their sustained support to bring these olim to Israel and to facilitate their absorption there. He added that “The Jewish Agency will continue to assist any Ethiopians deemed eligible for Aliyah by Israel’s Interior Ministry, as we do for Jews worldwide.”

Minister of Absorption Sofa Landver said, "Three years after I advised the Prime Minister of Israel to bring Operation Dove’s Wings to an end, to close the compound in Gondar and to complete the journey of organized Aliyah from Ethiopia, I am proud to take part in this historic event. I wish to thank all our partners and promise that the Government of Israel will do everything in its power to resettle these new immigrants in the best way possible.”

Etgar Keret is Coming to San Diego!

RSVP today! Seating is limited!

Natan Sharansky Hands Keys of Jewish School to Mayor of Gondar

Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky
with local officials in Gondar

Another great example of your Federation dollars in action! At a ceremony yesterday in Gondar, Ethiopia, Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Natan Sharansky handed to the city’s mayor the key to the Jewish school, which educated thousands of children before their immigration to Israel.

The Gondar school, funded and maintained by The Jewish Agency, taught mathematics, physics, computer skills and English to some 2,500 children in order to prepare them for life in Israel. The Jewish Agency donated all the school buildings and equipment to the municipality Gondar free of charge.

"Jews lived in Gondar for 2,500 years. However, their longing to return home never weakened,” Mr. Sharansky said at the ceremony. “Today we bring to an end a journey that spans thousands of years -- the conclusion of Operation Wings of a Dove.

“I express my gratitude to the municipality of Gondar, our longtime partners in this historic endeavor.  For us it is very symbolic that the Jewish community here is leaving behind a place of study.  It’s a promise we make all the countries from which Jews emigrate: that we will leave behind a school for their local community’s children.”

The Jewish Agency’s longtime partner in resettling Ethiopia’s Jews in Israel, Israel Housing Minister Uri Ariel, also participated in the closing ceremony.

"This school was created to level the educational playing field between immigrants to Israel and native-born Israelis,” Mr. Ariel said. “We are committed to providing these new olim (immigrants) with a top-notch education once they arrive in Israel as well so that they will be able to thrive in Israeli society."

Operation Wings of a Dove was launched in November 2010 following the Government of Israel’s decision to absorb thousands of Falash Mura (people with Jewish lineage whose ancestors converted to Christianity under duress).  The Jewish Agency was asked to prepare these future immigrants for life in Israel and to assist anyone who Israel’s Interior Ministry determined to be eligible for resettlement in the Jewish State.

To this day, The Jewish Agency has brought some 7,000 immigrants from Ethiopia, the vast majority Falash Mura. The Jewish Agency’s community center in Gondar -- with the assistance of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) -- operated educational activities and provided welfare services to eligible immigrants. Upon their arrival in Israel, these new immigrants were housed in 17 absorption centers around the country, run by Israel’s Ministry of Absorption and The Jewish Agency.

Later this month, on August 28, the final en masse Aliyah flight of 400 Falash Mura will arrive in Israel and with it a close to the historic mission.  A welcome ceremony will take place at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport for the new immigrants, their family members who immigrated years earlier and also representatives of various organizations that helped The Jewish Agency bring Ethiopian immigrants to Israel and assisted with their absorption. These organizations include the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), Friendship Fund and Keren Hayesod, among others.

Older Adults: Going to High Holy Days Services? On the Go Will Take You There! Reserve Your Ride by August 28!

Federation funded On the Go is offering free rides to High Holiday Services! 

Forward to a Friend  |  Subscribe  |  Donate  |  Visit Us Online  |  Contact Make your reservation now for a free ride to High Holy Days Services! Available to Adults 60+ This service is a door-to-door shuttle from the rider’s home to synagogue. Reservations must be made by Wednesday, August 28! Participating Synagogues Include: Congregation Beth AmCongregation Beth El Congregation Beth Israel Congregation Dor Hadash Ner Tamid Synagogue  Ohr Shalom Synagogue Temple Adat ShalomTemple Emanu-El Temple Solel Tifereth Israel Synagogue Call Now to Enroll & Make a Reservation by August 28! (858) 637-7320 High Holy Days Service Areas (3-Day Advance Reservation Required) Eastern San Diego: 91941, 91942, 92115, 92119, 92120, 92124 Northern San Diego: 92037, 92111, 92117, 92121, 92122, 92130 North County Inland: 92064, 92126, 92127, 92128, 92129, 92131 Expanded Service Areas for High Holy Days Only (7-Day Advance Reservation Required) North County Coastal: 92024, 92007, 92075, 92067, 92014 Hillcrest, Normal Heights, Kensington:  92103, 92116 Pacific Beach, Fashion Valley, Serra Mesa, and Mission Valley: 92109, 92110, 92123, 92108 Should you give up your car keys? Click here to read more and to take a self-assessment for senior driving safety. Want to help older adults stay connected to our community? Become a volunteer driver! Click here to learn more. Remember to bring non-perishable food to donate to the Hand Up Youth Food Pantry during Yom Kippur services. On the Go is a Division of Charitable Adult Rides & Services, Inc.   Enrollment & Reservations:(858) 637-7320

Federation Hosts Hit Summer Social

More than 300 people gathered under the stars at the Hotel Palomar for Federation's summer social: Party on the Roof! The spirited crowd enjoyed appetizers and signature cocktails as they mixed and mingled, and learned about the work of Federation.

The evening featured Federation’s three major focus areas: Jewish Caring, Israel & Overseas, and Jewish Connections. Staff members chatted with guests about the work of spotlight programs within the areas, highlighting the breadth of Federation’s commitment to building a vibrant Jewish community in San Diego, in Israel and around the world.

“We are delighted that the Party on the Roof attracted a true cross-section of our community,” remarked Federation President & CEO, Michael Sonduck. “In addition to representing every age cohort, it was a wonderful opportunity for newcomers to Federation to join with veterans in a festive, casual environment. The evening perfectly reflected the fundamental commitment to growth and continuity that is so central to our work. We are very grateful to committee members Silvana Christy, Ira Feinswog, Karen Kogut, Danielle Miller, Guy Parselany and Laura Tauber for making this a great evening!”

The Party on the Roof kicked off the new program year, to be followed by events such as Men’s Event, OPTIONS and the San Diego Celebrates Israel Festival. Sonduck encouraged the guests to watch for announcements of the ongoing programming, and to stay involved.

The event was underwritten by Danielle and Brian Miller of Geppetto’s Toys, Andrea Feinswog of Andrea May Interiors, Ira Feinswog of Pet Emergency & Specialty Center, Jessi Shidransky of People Photography, and Carrie Miranda of Witless Photography.

Mazel Tov to the winners of our opportunity drawing:

Dinner at Fleming's Prime Steak House: Susan Hackman

Dinner at the Hotel Palomar: Hanna Harrar

For more great pictures of the evening - click here! 

Be sure to tag your friends!

Rabbi Graubart Reflects on Sha'ar HaNegev

Congregation Beth El's Rabbi Philip Graubart reflects on San Diego's sister city, Sha'ar HaNegev, in this week's parashah (Ki Tetze Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19). Federation has a longstanding relationship with this remarkable community, located on the Gaza border.

From Rabbi Graubart:

 
The day before our Israel group visited Sha'ar Hanegev, our sister city in the Northern Negev, ½ kilometer from Gaza City, six missiles fell in the vicinity. When I arrived, I took a quick walk around a youth village with Mayor Alon Schuster and I asked him where the missiles exploded. He smiled and said "not here." I chuckled, but after thinking about it I realized he was communicating something deeper to me, or at least I heard something more profound than on offhand joke.

I've always been fond of His Honor, The Mayor (He calls me "His Honor, the Rabbi," so I can reciprocate) mostly because of his quick, gentle sense of humor - a grace under pressure, and he's been under a lot of pressure with thousands of missiles falling on his little township over the past ten years, destroying schools and playgrounds and businesses. But this trip I saw him suddenly as a kind of Zen Master, or maybe a Rebbe with wisdom to offer: namely that he can't control what's going on in the rest of the country. Missiles fall in Ashkelon or Nahariya; traffic ties up Tel Aviv; the Chief Rabbi goes to jail in a corruption scandal; smugglers sneak drugs into the country through the Sinai - but none of that is his problem, because it's "not here." He can only fix what's in front of him - here, and now, not there and in the future.

This is not only practical, it's a spiritual sensibility and something to cultivate as we enter the holiday season (I'm writing this on Rosh Hodesh Elul, the official beginning of this Season of Awe). In the crudest sense, our task these days is to fix things: our relationships, the hearts we've broken, the lives we've wrecked, our sullied and damaged souls. But we can't fix everything, not even everything that we've personally and directly broken, so we have to prioritize. And the best way to prioritize is with the here and now: my family, in my house. Then, maybe, my friends in my community. Or my extended family, with whom I'm in touch. But never expanding the circle until we've finished with those closest, the proximate, the essential. And making sure we never venture into what we can't fix, what my friend the Mayor would call the "not here," the unsolvable.

Focusing on the here and now disciplines us, helps us cultivate our powers of attention. In a well-known Midrash, God appeared to hundreds of shepherds at the Burning Bush, but Moses was the first to realize the great miracle that the bush was both burning, and not consumed. It's that power to notice that qualified Moses for the job of spiritual leader, how he took in everything in his immediate area, and blocked out everything else. Another Midrash teaches that the Rosh Hashanah shofar blows a distinct message to all of us, all the time, but we're too preoccupied to notice, too lost in the "not here," and the future we can't control.

The fact is we are all part of what must be the most distracted generation of all time. None of us can enjoy a single conversation nowadays without wondering what's coming through our smart phones, or who's posted what on the latest, hippest social networking site (and we care very much about what that site might be). We can't read an online article today without encountering a link to take us elsewhere every line. Mobile technologies have made us obsessed with the "not here." Even as I write this on my laptop, with all the attention I can muster, my mind wanders to the button a quick pinkie reach away where I can check my email, of Facebook, or my texts. I'm writing to you, but I'm thinking of someone else. That's no way to do Teshuvah, no way to repair my world.


So this year, my spiritual hero is the mayor of our sister city, who taught me the discipline of the here and now, and reminded me of the ethic of the proximate: fix what's closest to you, before moving on. You owe it to yourself and your family. And one of my many resolutions this Rosh Hashanah is simply to speak with whom I'm speaking to, one at a time. Here, in front of me, facing me, now.

BREAKING NEWS: Jewish Agency Brings 17 Yemenite Jews to Safety in Israel in Covert Operation

In response to heightened security concerns in Yemen, The Jewish Agency, which is funded by your gift to Federation, brought 17 Yemenite Jews to Israel.

The group consisted of two set of parents, who were brought directly to Israel from Yemen, and 10 of their children, who were brought to Argentina 2 years ago through the efforts of the Satmar community. These new immigrants landed in Ben Gurion Airport in Israel on Wednesday night and were brought to their new homes at a Jewish Agency absorption center in the South where they will begin the next chapter of their lives as free and protected Jews living of the State of Israel.

According to data collected by The Jewish Agency, a record number of 151 Yemeni Jews have come to Israel since 2009, reflecting the uptick in the number of anti-Semitic incidents there.

Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky shared: "Tonight we are privileged to engage in a mission that combined the saving of lives, the reunification of a family and immigration to Israel. Behind the scenes of this operation lies the dedication and expertise of The Jewish Agency and our partner organizations who all contributed to the mission’s success." Sharansky added, "The Jewish Agency stands at the ready to bring any Yemeni Jew who expresses interest in making Aliyah to Israel, and to help the local community in any way possible."

The timing of the covert mission coincided with increasing security tensions in Yemen. Several international bodies, including Israel’s Ministry of the Interior, Foreign Office, Absorption Ministry and The Jewish Agency, worked hand in hand—and expediently—to deliver the Yemeni parents from danger and to reunite them with their children in Israel.

The roots of this mission began in August 2011 when the Satmar Hassidic community convinced a group of 30 Jews in Yemen to move to London where they would receive refugee status. After leaving Yemen, the group learned that they were denied entry to the United Kingdom and would be brought to Argentina instead. 10 of these kids (six belonging to Yahia Karni and four belonging to Haim Karni) were on today’s flight to Israel).

In recent years, Yemenite Jews have been the targets of threats by Muslim extremists, including those identified with the terrorist group al-Qaeda. The number of anti-Semitic threats and attacks against the Jewish community there has been on the rise since 2008 when Jewish schoolteacher Moshe Nahari was killed, spiked in 2010 with the murder of Jewish community leader Aaron Zindani, and again in 2012 after the ouster of Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

As a consequence, the number of Yemenite Jews immigrating to Israel in the past few years has reached record highs. 

Currently, fewer than 90 Jews live in Yemen, according to Jewish Agency estimates. Half reside in the capital Sana'a in a protected area, while the rest are in Omran province’s city of Rida.

Just another example of your Federation dollars in action! Together, WE do extraordinary things.