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IN
THIS ISSUE:
UPJ EXPANDS SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
Following a successful
inaugural year, the Union for Progressive Judaism of Australia, New
Zealand and Asia (UPJ) will hold its Zera’im (Seeds) UPJ
Leadership Institute in two venues: Australia and New Zealand. Last
year’s Zera'im program had 15 participants from throughout the
region who spent a weekend retreat together followed by six monthly
teleconferencing sessions. This year a weekend gathering will take
place in March near Sydney, and in August in New Zealand at a venue yet
to be determined, to allow more candidates from a wider area to take
part. According to the UPJ, Zera’im “is designed to bring
emerging leaders together as a robust group of learners, enhancing their
contribution to both the Jewish and broader communities, and building
their potential to be amongst those guiding Progressive Judaism into new
and exciting phases.” The main components of the program are Jewish
study, skill development, mentoring/reflection, and board management.
The faculty consists of local rabbis, educators and scholars, as well as
current and former community leaders.
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ARZENU/ITALIA NEWEST BRANCH OF ZIONIST ROOF
ORGANIZATION
Italy’s
Progressive movement recently established a branch of ARZENU, the
International Federation of Reform and Progressive Religious Zionists,
which represents Reform and Progressive Jews within the World
Zionist Organization and associated bodies. ARZENU/Italia
held its founding conference at Congregation
Lev Chadash in Milan in early February.
“Our
Italian chaverim (members) see ARZENU not only as a Zionist
[organization],” says branch coordinator
Giovanni Ianai Dossena,
“but also as a way of strengthening Progressive
Judaism in Italy.” Italy currently has four Progressive congregations.
Aside from Lev Chadash, there are Shir Chadash of Florence, Or Chadash
of Turin, and Beth Shalom of Milan. (The
World Union has been providing assistance to these congregations, for
example through advocacy and by helping them connect with rabbis on
sabbatical or vacation; it is currently attempting to turn an extended
visit by a retired rabbi into service for all of the congregations.)
Says Paula Edelstein, ARZENU’s Jerusalem-based executive director,
“The formation of this ARZENU group is
an exciting addition of another country to the family of ARZENU Europa.
We welcome this initiative with enthusiasm.”
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MOSCOW RABBI LEADING MONTHLY SERVICES FOR
HEARING-IMPAIRED
In addition to her duties
as a teacher at the World Union's Institute for Modern Jewish Studies in
Moscow, Rabbi Nelly Shulman has been active in outreach efforts aimed at
the wider community. One example is the Shabbat and festival services
she leads for some 50 deaf or hard-of-hearing persons at a local Jewish
community center. “Once a month,” says Shulman, “I do either a Kabbalat
Shabbat or a Saturday morning service for this group. I also do
festival programs for them. Everything is done via a sign-language
interpreter, although I can manage simple things in sign language on my
own.” The services take place at the Moscow Jewish Community House (MJCH),
a facility in the eastern part of the city that is funded in part by the
Joint Distribution Committee. Shulman led services for hearing-impaired
worshippers when she was based in Minsk; Grisha Abramovich, the city’s
current Progressive rabbi, has continued her work with that group, known
as Congregation Sheket (Hebrew for "quiet"). Shulman says she will be
involved with a similar program that Moscow’s MJCH is now preparing for
mentally retarded and autistic children.
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NEW YORK RABBI GIVES TALK IN TEL
AVIV ON LESBIANISM, FEMINISM AND JUDAISM
Tel Aviv’s Beit
Daniel co-hosted a recent visit by Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, senior rabbi
of New York’s Beth Simchat Torah, a non-affiliated congregation for gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender Jews in New York City. During her
time in Tel Aviv, Kleinbaum spoke to a large crowd at Beit Daniel on
gender and Judaism. "I became a rabbi because I was mad at the Orthodox
and right-wing establishment for stealing from me Judaism," she
explained. "Being gay in New York or Tel Aviv is no big deal. But
being queer means we must ask questions and explore our social
structures." According to organizers, it was a “lively event,” and for
many in the audience it was the first time they had set foot in a
synagogue. Beit Daniel senior rabbi Meir Azari invited them, and the
gay and lesbian community in general, to “take up a greater role in the
city's Jewish life” and to see Beit Daniel and Israel’s Progressive
Movement as “their natural Judaic home.” Kleinbaum’s talk was covered
by a number of Tel Aviv local newspapers. Her congregation, which calls
itself “the largest GLBT synagogue in the world and arguably one of the
most influential,” was founded in 1973. She was ordained by the
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1990 and has been leading Beit
Simchat Torah since 1992. According to the congregation’s Web site (http://www.cbst.org),
there are 200,000
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