Israel 2012 - A continuation of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester annual series of talks - free and open to the community.

Monday January 9
7:30 p.m. at Temple B'rith Kodesh
The Environment
with Alon Tal, Founder of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies


Monday February 6
7:00 p.m. at Temple Beth El
The Headlines
with Reuven Hazan, Professor of Political Science at Hebrew University

Thursday May 3
7:30 p.m. at Temple Beth El
The Uprisings
with Janine Zacharia, Visiting Lecturer in Journalism at Stanford University

The Israel and World Jewry Committee has ongoing connections in several parts of the world and many of our members have participated on the recent TBK trips to Israel.

- Our friends from Hameln, Germany dedicated their new Synagogue last spring and celebrated their first Bar Mitzvah in June. Connect to them at http://jghreform.org.

- We continue to support Ethiopian Jewry and the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry website provides information and opportunities to support this community in Israel and Ethiopia. Learn more at http://www.nacoej.org/

- We are also connected to the Cuban Humanitarian Educational Project (see http://www.cubahep.net) which assists the Jewish Communities in the Central (Camaguey) and Eastern (Santiago, Holguin, Barnes and Guantanimo) regions of Cuba with projects that address their social, economic and educational needs.

Our next two meetings will be January 26 and February 23 at 7:30 p.m. We are always looking for people to help us to develop programs for TBK, to encourage linkages with Israel and World Jewry and to review current events in the Jewish world. Please contact Lou Spiro at levbentsvi[at]yahoo.com or 461-1085 if you would like more information or to be added to our email distribution list.

Trip committee chair Neal Levitt photographs the steps leading from the Temple Mount.

What a wonderful trip Rabbi Kotok led to Israel and Jordan.

Learn more about the trip, the 33 travelers and their intrepid adventures in a blog written by TBK Executive Director Joel Elliot, with photographs by Marty Adwin.

Read the Blog from Israel!

Read more about our developing relationship with the Juedische Gemeinde of Hameln (jghreform.org) at jghreform.org

Rabbi Kotok is planning a trip to Prague, Vienna and Budapest in April 2012.

See the trip flyer. Contact the Rabbi's Study at 244-7060 ext. 227 or rabbistudy[at]tbk.org to let them know if you would like to go.

Plan your teen's trip to Israel. Your commitment to save for it will be matched by the Federation and TBK.

Learn more.

NFTY (the North American Federation of Temple Youth) offers a range of summer or semester programs for 9-12th graders go to Israel. At TBK we believe experiencing Israel is an essential part of lifelong involvement with Judaism. Please visit NFTY’s website (nfty.org) and click on “Israel” to learn more about opportunities for Reform Jewish teens to go to Israel in the Summer of 2011. Scholarship assistance is available for you; contact Rabbi Gutterman at 244-7060 ext. 227, or rabbigutterman[at]tbk.org.