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IN
THIS ISSUE:
PROGRESSIVE EDUCATORS HOLD CONFERENCE IN KIEV
Close to 80 educators from
throughout the former Soviet Union recently gathered in Kiev for the
third Progressive Pedagogical Conference, marking one year since the
World Union began standardizing its formal education programs in the FSU.
Leading the weekend gathering were rabbis Alexander Dukhovny (Kiev),
Michael Kapustin (Kharkov) and Gregory Abramovich (Minsk), and
Israel-based rabbis Gregory Kotlyar and Alona Lisitsa. (Lisitsa
coordinates a project by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of
Religion that provides ongoing training and support for rabbis and
educators living and working in the FSU.) The program, which featured
lectures, workshops and group discussions, was prepared by World Union
education coordinators Olga Marcus and Natalya Verjbovskaya (Russia),
Alona Pisnaya (Ukraine) and Irina Belskaya (Belarus). Among the guest
lecturers was Dr. Lisa Grant, an education specialist from HUC-JIR (see
photo). During the course of the weekend, the conference staff
distributed copies of a newly published syllabus for nursery school- and
kindergarten-age children that focuses on Jewish history and tradition,
and on the Hebrew language. There were also presentations highlighting
some of the innovative programs in use in the participants' own
classrooms. Aside from educators, principals and teachers, the
participants also included some 30 coordinators and leaders from Netzer
Olami, the World Union's international youth movement, which has
spearheaded many of the informal education programs that have taken
place in the FSU.

Dr.
Lisa Grant leads a session at the Progressive educators' conference in
Kiev
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UPCOMING TAMAR SEMINAR MARKS MAJOR
INROADS IN LATIN AMERICA
TAMAR,
the movement for Progressive young adults, will hold a three-day weekend
seminar in late July in Porto Allegro, Brazil, signalling a major
expansion for the movement in Latin America. TAMAR provides a framework
for graduates of Netzer Olami, the World Union's international youth
movement, and, until recently, its only branch in South America was in
Argentina. However, following a visit there and to Brazil earlier this
year by Maoz Haviv, executive director of both Netzer and TAMAR, local
interest in an organizational framework for Progressive young adults
grew, and South America's second TAMAR branch was quickly established in
Porto Allegro. According to Haviv, the July seminar will be the "stepping
stone for the wider entry of TAMAR – and Netzer Olami - into the
continent." The gathering is being planned by a team led by Tamara
Schagas, of Netzer/TAMAR's Jerusalem office, and by Gaby Gitelman and
Lucas "Pato" Lejderman in Porto Allegro. The approximately 100
participants will come from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, and
from such Central American and Caribbean nations as Aruba, Costa Rica,
El Salvador, Honduras and Panama. There will also be guests from
Israel, the US, Spain and Italy. The immediate goal
of the seminar itself is to strengthen the participants' sense of Jewish
and Zionist identity, forge closer working relationships between
Progressive young adults in different countries, and facilitate activity
planning and leadership training. However, its true success will mean
new "territory" for the movements established on behalf of Progressive
youth and young adults. Says Haviv, "Now that Netzer and TAMAR
have managed to 'conquer' the former Soviet Union, it seems the time has
come for Latin America."
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ZAVIDOV ELECTED NEW CHAIR OF ISRAELI RABBINIC FORUM
Rabbi Ada Zavidov has been
elected chair of MARAM, the Israeli Progressive Rabbinic Council,
succeeding Rabbi Kinneret Shiryon. She was formally installed in her
two-year term at the biennial conference of the Israel Movement for
Progressive Judaism in May (see WUPJnews #212). Zavidov, 47, was
ordained on the Jerusalem campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish
Institute of Religion in 1999. She currently serves as spiritual leader
of Congregation Har-El in Jerusalem, Israel's oldest Reform community,
making her the first woman to lead a congregation in the holy city on a
full-time, year-round basis. She is the granddaughter of Aba Achimeir,
one of the founder’s of Israel’s pre-state Revisionist movement. She
will represent MARAM at the convention of the Central Conference of
American Rabbis in San Diego, California, later this month.
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BRITISH REFORM CENTER MARKS DOUBLE
BIRTHDAY
Sir
Sigmund Sternberg, president and a major benefactor of Britain’s Reform
movement, this week celebrated his 85th birthday, as well as the 25th
anniversary of the Sternberg Centre, which will soon become the largest
Jewish education and culture facility in Europe. Located in the
northwest London suburb of Finchley, the center houses the Leo Baeck
College-Centre for Jewish Education, an elementary-level Jewish day
school, London's Jewish Museum, and the New North London synagogue. It
is also headquarters for the country's Movement for Reform Judaism, as
well as for the World Union's European Region. Local officials have now
given the green light for a $40 million renovation program that will
expand the college and its library, as well as the day school and
synagogue. There will also be a new building for the Reform movement.
Born in Budapest, Sir Sigmund is a noted businessman and philanthropist
who has made his mark in interfaith activities, most notably Jewish
relations with the Catholic Church. In recognition of these efforts, he
received the 1998 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, which he
donated to the foundation he established to promote Reform and
interfaith activities.
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