HINEINI : HOW YOU CAN REACH OUT TO SUPPORT ISRAEL AND PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM

At the 2003 Minnesota Biennial, Rabbi Eric Yoffie asked every congregation to confirm its commitment to Judaism and reach out to develop communities of Progressive Judaism around the world by choosing to support one of three projects: to sponsor future Reform rabbis in Israel, to build Reform synagogues in Israel, or to strengthen Progressive Judaism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The commitment entails passing a board resolution asking each member of your congregation to contribute $18 per year in order to establish an ongoing, reciprocal relationship with the project your synagogue chooses to support. If at least half of your members make this commitment, your synagogue will be recognized as a Builder Congregation in Reform Judaism magazine, on the Union Web site, and at regional biennials. The experience of some of the congregations that have made this commitment is worth noting.

After the Biennial, Rabbi Kenneth Roseman, the spiritual leader of Temple Beth El, Corpus Christi, TX (200 households), wanted to get his congregation on the Union’s “map” by making it the very first synagogue to donate a substantial contribution to the Hineini Initiative. He suggested that the congregation should immediately donate $3,600 ($18, the requested amount per household, times 200 households) to Hineini from the High Holy Day fund that had been raised but had not yet been spent and then ask the members to replenish this fund. The board strongly supported this request but chose not to designate a particular project as it considered them all worthy. As a result, Corpus Christi’s Temple Beth El became Hineini ’s first Builder Congregation. And the High Holiday fund has already been substantially replenished!

The Biennial delegation from Congregation Kol Tikvah, Parkland, FL , a thirteen-year-old congregation with 380 households, presented Rabbi Yoffie’s Initiatives at their board meeting the day after they returned from Minnesota. Using the project materials provided on the Union’s Web site, the board, led by its immediate past president and Hineini chair Lois Rubin, voted to support the Reform rabbis in Israel project.

Rabbi Elliot Stevens, the executive secretary of the CCAR and part-time rabbi at the Greater Southington Jewish Congregation, Southington, CT (35 households), proposed the Hineini Initiative to his temple’s board. Laura Minor volunteered to be the Hineini chair, further researched the program, and made a presentation to the board at its next meeting. The board decided to support the Reform synagogues in Israel project and chose Kehilat Yozma in Modi’in as a sister congregation so that there would be a community with which the members could identify. Laura found that using the board resolution provided in the Union materials made the process very simple. She was also impressed with the concept of allowing participation of 50 percent of the membership, regardless of size, to qualify the temple as a Builder Congregation, thus enabling her small temple to take part in this project on an equal scale with larger ones.

Larry Falck, the vice president and Webmaster for Beth Israel Congregation, Florence, SC , noticed the Hineini Initiative on the Union Web site, downloaded the materials, and presented them to his board for consideration. The board decided that their money would make the most difference helping Reform communities in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, so they passed a resolution (downloaded from the Union Web site) adopting this project and registered their support. A sixth-grade religious school student has volunteered to be on the committee!

Linda Kaplan, the president of Congregation Achduth Vesholom, Fort Wayne, IN , returned from the Biennial, downloaded the program information from the Web site, and presented the options. Her board decided that strengthening Progressive Judaism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union was the option that would be most supported by its congregation.

After a presentation by Rabbi Batsheva Meiri, the board of Temple Emanuel, Baltimore, MD , resolved to reach out to develop the communities of Eastern Europe, with whom many members had close familial and generational connections. At his bar mitzvah in March, a member spoke about how the Golden Calf was a failure of loyalty, and as a result of understanding how important that trait is, he chose to donate some of his bar mitzvah money through the Hineini Initiative to the Eastern European communities. During their upcoming Mitzvah Day, the members of Temple Emanuel will create a video to share with their paired congregation.

After the Biennial, Rabbi Rick Schechter, the spiritual leader of Beth Knesset Bamidbar, Lancaster, CA (132 households), presented the Hineini Initiative to his board, which unanimously chose to support the Reform synagogues in Israel project and build a relationship with Kehilat Yozma in Modi’in so that if their congregants went to Israel, they could visit and worship in a temple that the congregation is supporting.

When Rabbi Brian Michelson of Reform Congregation Oheb Shalom, Reading, PA (220 households), returned from the Biennial, he proposed a program, which was approved by his Executive Committee, to support the Hineini Initiative as part of a “Give a Gift to Israel Drive,” whereby each congregant was asked to donate the cost of one night’s Chanukah gift.

We encourage you to discuss your obligation to Reform peoplehood at a board meeting, decide which project your synagogue will support, and pass a resolution articulating your congregation’s commitment. Visit the Hineini website for information that will be helpful in your decision-making process, such as specific information on the three potential projects, lesson plans, holiday-related study materials, and sample board resolutions. Then register your commitment with the Union for Reform Judaism on the Web site so that the Union can support your efforts by providing you with sample letters to congregants and pledge forms, model bulletin and publicity articles, a guide to collecting donations, and adult Jewish learning programs.

Keep up-to-date with news about Reform Judaism in Israel, the former Soviet Union, Europe, Latin America, and everywhere else Reform Jews can be found by signing up for the World Union for Progressive Judaism’s (WUPJ) e-mail newsletter.

Also consider

• Planning an observance of Yom HaAtzma-ut, Israel Independence Day, which falls on April 26, 2004. The Union’s Department of Worship, Music, and Religious Living, in conjunction with ARZA through its Israel Matters: Our Commitment to Israel Initiative programs, has created Simchat Artzeinu: Celebrating Our Land––A Resource Guide for Yom HaAtzma-ut * to assist you in planning a meaningful and relevant observance of Yom HaAtzma-ut. These programs and resources can stand alone or be combined.
  
  
• Joining Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, the executive director of ARZA, Association of Reform Zionists of America, on a North American Reform Movement Delegation to Israel , May 30–June 7, 2004, to get an insider’s view of Israel and Reform life and learn about issues from political, academic, and military experts, while visiting places where the average tourist never goes. For more information, visit the ARZA website, e-mail sshaldag@urj.org, or call 212.650.4280.
  
  
• NFTY in Israel for your teens. Now more than ever, it is important for our young people to solidify their connection to the Jewish people, and NFTY is offering its classic L’dor V’dor, From Generation to Generation five-week Israel and Europe program. For more information, visit the NFTY website, e-mail nftytravel@urj.org, or call 845.987.6300, ext. 6351.