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IN
THIS ISSUE:
JEWISH LEADERSHIP IN CZECH REPUBLIC RECOGNIZES
PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT
The Presidium of the Czech
Federation of Jewish Communities has recommended that the country’s
Progressive movement be recognized as a denomination of Judaism,
alongside Orthodoxy and Conservative Judaism. According to
Sylvie Wittmann,
leader of Prague's Progressive congregation,
Beit Simcha, this would entitle the movement to state funding and other
forms of support, including a rabbinic salary. Previously, Progressive
institutions in the Czech Republic were registered only
as cultural or civic organizations. The
Federation's General Assembly is expected to ratify the Presidium’s
decision in the near future. Wittmann has gratefully acknowledged the
World Union's support and assistance with regard to the Presidium's
move, which dovetails with a new World Union/Beit Simcha adult education
initiative for the city's entire Jewish community. By chance, the
nine-week course on contemporary Jewish studies was launched the same
day the news broke about recognition.
"Interest in the course has been overwhelmingly positive," states Rabbi
Joel Oseran, the World Union's vice president for international
development, who, along with World Union colleague Prof. Paul Liptz, was
instrumental in designing the course. "We believe the time is ripe for
the Progressive movement to make major inroads into Prague's Jewish
community. Working closely with local Progressive leaders, we at the
World Union are proud to be taking an active role in advancing Jewish
life in this historically rich and important locale."
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NEW FOUNDATION TO FUND GERMAN RABBINIC
SEMINARY
Brandenburg’s Ministry of Home Affairs has conferred the status of
charitable organization on the Leo Baeck Foundation, established
recently to help procure funding for Germany’s Abraham Geiger
College. The foundation was named for one of the giants of 20th century
Reform Judaism, with the full support of his family. Rabbi Leo Baeck’s
50th yartzeit will be commemorated this fall. Abraham Geiger
College is continental Europe’s first post-war Progressive rabbinic
training program, having assumed the mantle of Berlin's pre-war “Hochschule,”
where Baeck was an esteemed teacher. Geiger’s director, Rabbi Walter
Homolka, chairs the foundation, which will also provide fellowship
grants and promote interfaith activities. Its trustees include Cardinal
Karl Lehmann, chairman of the German Bishops Conference; Hamburg banker
Max Warburg; former Israeli cabinet minister Prof. Shimon Shetreet;
General Johann Georg Dora, deputy
commander-in-chief of the German Defense Forces; and Dr. Jan Mühlstein,
chairman of Germany’s Progressive Jewish movement. It also includes
members of the German parliament, representatives of the Central Council
of Jews in Germany, and Prof. Ernst-Ludwig Ehrlich and Rabbi Harry
Jacobi, former pupils of Rabbi Baeck. To commemorate the foundation’s
establishment, Austria has issued a commemorative stamp (photo). For
further information, visit the Leo Baeck
Foundation's Web site at
www.leo-baeck-foundation.org.
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EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY IN JERUSALEM
THIS SUMMER
The Liberal Yeshivah, an
English-language Progressive beit midrash on the Jerusalem campus
of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, is offering an
Intensive Study and Worship Seminar June 30 - July 15, 2006. Each of
the two weeks will have its own theme based on studies of Bible, Talmud,
Midrash, philosophy and prayer, as well as the contemporary history and
sociology of Jerusalem. There will also be tours and special
mini-seminars. The Liberal Yeshivah has been offering summer and winter
seminars since 1999. For further information on this summer’s program,
go to the Liberal Yeshivah’s Web site at
http://huc.edu/liberalyeshivah or contact coordinator Betsy Landis
at
blandis@huc.edu. (Betsy says enrollment is brisk and that some of
applicants are “alumni of earlier programs - a real compliment.”) The
Liberal Yeshivah is a project of HUC-JIR and is supported by the Union
for Reform Judaism and the World Union in cooperation with the
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and the Leo Baeck College-Center
for Jewish Education.
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NEGEV KIBBUTZ UNVEILS NEW COLLEGE-AGE YEAR PROGRAM
The Center for Creative
Ecology at Lotan, a kibbutz in Israel’s southern Arava desert affiliated
with the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, is introducing a new
year-program for college students starting in October. Called ARAVA, it
is a unique study and work experience that
focuses on the ethical, physical and social components of sustainable
development from a liberal Jewish perspective. Lotan has long focused
on ecology as a life pursuit by its members, and has already established
numerous programs for non-residents interested in widening their
knowledge about such areas as recycling and natural building
construction. There is also a birding program that exploits Lotan’s
location along one of the world’s great migration routes. The ARAVA
program, to be conducted in English, will offer the possibility of
earning up to 15 academic credits. Aside from imparting
sustainable development skills and providing hands-on ecological
experience, ARAVA also aims to help the participants improve their
Hebrew kills and strengthen their Jewish identity; expose them to
Israeli culture; and provide them with leadership training. The
program is being held in conjunction with Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, and MASA, a Jewish
Agency program promoting long-term study frameworks for Diaspora youth.
For further information on ARAVA, go to:
http://www.kibbutzlotan.com/creativeEcology/AravaProgram/index.html.
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CORRECTION: Nicole Maor is director of the Israel Religious
Action Center’s Legal Aid Centers for Olim (LACO), and not as described
in WUPJnews #201.
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