Summary
of KAVOD’s
Financial Activities
Allocations,
2006: $79,354.00
Total
allocations to date ('93-'06):
$588,550.53
Expenses
to date: $75.48
Mazel tov, KAVOD supporters!
Our Bar Mitzvah year, 2006,
saw the biggest contributions and distributions in our thirteen-year
history.
It is gratifying to think of
all of the people whose lives have been made better, at least in some
small way, through the efforts of everyone who has contributed to KAVOD. However, the world
is, tragically, more in need of kavod now than ever. The global degradation of human dignity
continues unabated: the genocide in Darfur; war
and terror in the Middle East; the
growing gap between rich and poor; hundreds of millions of souls living
without access to medical care, sanitation services, or clean water. But
we cannot and will not give up hope. It is forbidden to despair. Instead
we will continue to do all that we can to transform the world that is into our vision of how
it ought to
be. In ways both large and small, we will continue to change the world.
A Record Year
In 2006, because of your
generosity, we were able to donate more tzedakah dollars than ever before: almost $80,000 with no overhead.
Stamps, stationary, and duplicating costs have been paid for out of
pocket by members of the KAVOD
volunteer board of directors. Once again, we have
been inspired by dozens of mitzvah heroes. We have been humbled by the
tasks to which we have dedicated our work:
protecting human dignity; operating our collective as efficiently
and effectively as possible, according to the values of our tradition;
and inspiring others to do the same through our Fellowship program. In
the pages that follow, you’ll learn how we distributed every dime
entrusted to us.
The KAVOD Fellowship Program
We launched the KAVOD Tzedakah Fellowship
Program five years ago. Our goals are ambitious: in partnership with the Hebrew
Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), we are training the
next generation of Jewish professionals to raise and distribute tzedakah wisely and
effectively. We are expanding the KAVOD
community and planting seeds that will yield a
bountiful tzedakah harvest in the years to come. In 2006 our KAVOD Fellows distributed
over $14,000 to twelve different organizations. We are extremely proud of
their work and excited about growing this program going forward. We wish
outgoing Fellows, Rabbis Alissa Forrest and Jocee Hudson, mazel tov on their recent ordination and thank them for allowing us
to be their tzedakah partners for the last four years. For more on the
Fellowship program, see page 3.
Some Words of Thanks
We are grateful to everyone
who makes our work possible. We offer a special thanks to Mike Abramson,
our pro bono accountant and lawyer, Miles Nelson, who provides us with
envelopes on his dime, and Rosie Zweiback, who deposits and tracks all
KAVOD donations. Thanks to Rabbi Jay Moses for guiding us in our
allocations process. Most of all, we thank Judy Zweiback, our
volunteer administrator. Judy donates hundreds of hours a year to KAVOD. She writes every
acknowledgement, designs, produces, and distributes our beautiful KAVOD tribute cards, and
handles all of the day-to-day administration. She continues to be the
backbone of our collective.
Please tell your friends
about KAVOD, and feel free to make copies of this annual report for
distribution. Visit us online at www.KAVOD.org to learn more. Think of us when you want to make a
donation in honor or memory of a loved one or friend. If you would like
to make a bequest to KAVOD as part of your estate plan, please let us know.
Tax-deductible donations (tax ID # 47-0789888) can be made any time, to:
KAVOD
8914 Farnam
Court
Omaha, NE
68114-4076
To our supporters, we say yishar ko'ch'chem, ofjuf rahh, all the more strength to you! We hope you will enjoy
reading about the projects and programs that your gifts have
supported. Many will be familiar, as we generally have continued
our commitments to groups we have supported in the past.
Additionally, there are wonderful programs (indicated with an asterisk)
to which KAVOD contributed for the first time this year.
Statement of Purpose: KAVOD is a non-profit tzedakah collective.
We create new programs and fund existing programs that help Jews and
non-Jews living in the United States,
Israel,
and around the world to live in dignity and honor. As a tzedakah collective,
we try to personalize our giving by visiting all of our beneficiaries and
encouraging our donors to do the same. We strive to operate as close to
0% overhead as possible and to support programs that similarly demand
efficiency.
TZEDAKAH
PROJECTS
1. American Jewish World
Service...........................$2,000
Since
2003, the government of Sudan
and their proxy militia, the Janjaweed,
have perpetrated genocide in Darfur.
They have terrorized and murdered civilians, raped women and girls,
burned villages, and driven innocent people from their homes. More than 2
million people have been displaced and at least 450,000 have been
murdered. American Jewish World Services is trying to stop the genocide
in Darfur
through advocacy, education, and lobbying campaigns. AJWS also provides
direct relief to Darfuri refugees in Chad
and elsewhere.
ATTN: Ruth Messinger,
45 West
36th Street,
NY, NY 10018-7904; 800-889-7146;
http://www.ajws.org
2. Beit Frankforter:
Jerusalem Center
for the
Aged......................$3,000
Inspired
by the model of Myriam Mendilow,
k"z, the people of Beit Frankforter are
committed to preserving the essential KAVOD of their community of
elders in Jerusalem.
Sima Zini and her
staff have created a community center that uplifts and honors seniors who
enjoy regular care not only from dentists and ophthalmologists, but also
from hairdressers, reflexologists, manicurists,
and yoga instructors. Our funds
this year helped support the “Sandwich
for Every Child” program. Last year the elders of Beit Frankforter prepared
approximately 95,000 sandwiches for local school children whose families
are experiencing economic hardships.
ATTN:
Sima Zini
80 Derech Beit Lechem, POB 10074, Jerusalem, 91100
011-9722-671-4848
frankfor@netvision.net.il
3. The Blue
Card....................$1,000
For
over seventy years, the Blue Card has distributed funds to Jewish
Holocaust survivors who live in poverty. The Blue Card was established in
1934 to help Jews who were suffering economically because of Nazi
oppression. Blue cards were distributed to American Jews who donated
funds to support their brothers and sisters in Europe.
With each donation, these American Jews received a small stamp of
commemoration which they could place in their “Blue Card” to
track their giving. Our gift was used to provide monthly rent subsidies
for survivors in need.
The
Blue Card
ATTN: Elie Rubinstein
171
Madison Avenue, #1405, NY, NY 10016
212-239-2251; www.bluecardfund.org
4. Congregation Sulam Ya’akov
..................................$1,000
Congregation
Sulam Ya’akov
was founded in 1996, the first and only progressive congregation in Zichron Yaakov, a pioneer town settled in the 1880s
during the first wave of aliyah. The
congregation is building a wonderful, vibrant community of committed
progressive Jews. Such communities, despite receiving no governmental
support, provide an essential Jewish framework for social action,
inclusiveness, and celebration, serving thousands of modern Israelis
whose needs have long been unmet.
Kehilat Sulam Ya’akov
ATTN:
Brad Fisher
POB
10111
Zichron Ya’akov, ISRAEL
30900
011-9724-629-3113
bradfisher@charter.net
5. Eden Alternative..................$500
The
Eden Alternative seeks to eliminate the three plagues of the long-term
care institution—loneliness, helplessness, and boredom. They
know that companion animals, the opportunity to care for other living
things, and the variety and spontaneity that come from an enlivened
environment can succeed where pills and therapies fail.
Dr.
Bill Thomas teaches that the Eden Alternative “is a new way of
thinking about long-term care that has the potential of remaking
facilities all over the country. However, before that can happen,
we need to teach others about what the Eden Alternative is and how they
can use it to transform the facilities in which they work.” Thanks to Dr. Bill’s vision, the principles
of the Eden Alternative have taken hold at more than 300 homes
nationwide. Our support this year helped to develop resources that will
make it easier for existing long-term care organizations to “Edenize.”
The Eden Alternative
ATTN: Dr.
William Thomas
742 Turnpike Rd., Sherburne, NY, 13460
607-674-5232;
www.edenalt.com
6. Elijah’s
Promise..................$1,500
Rev.
Lisanne Finston runs
this model community soup kitchen that not only serves meals, but also
provides nourishment for life. Elijah’s
Promise in New Brunswick,
New Jersey fulfills the
highest level of tzedakah, enabling
people to become self-sufficient and to need tzedakah
no longer. Guests at
Elijah’s Promise are offered nutritious meals, health screening,
counseling and referrals, job training, and more. Most exciting for us is
“Promise Jobs,” the culinary school they opened several years
ago which teaches the art of food preparation to some of the soup kitchen
guests. Graduates of the program
have been placed in restaurant jobs throughout New Jersey, including positions in
some of the state’s finest restaurants. Our donation helped purchase new knives
for the culinary training program. Anshe Emeth Memorial
Temple in New Brunswick hires Elijah’s
Promise to cook all of its kosher Shabbat dinners. Why not work to
develop a similar program in your community?
Elijah’s
Promise
ATTN: Rev. Lisanne Finston
18 Neilson St., New Brunswick,
NJ, 08901
732-545-9002
www.elijahspromise.org
7. Free Loan Societies:
Hebrew
Free Loan Society of
New York City...............$2,000
Hebrew
Free Loan Association of
San Francisco..............$2,000
Israel Free Loan
Association...$6,000
Jews
have been supporting one-another through interest-free loans for
thousands of years. Free loan societies were and continue to be
particularly helpful to recent immigrants. Many of these newcomers,
desperately in need of support, have difficulty qualifying for a bank
loan. Free loan societies offer a helping hand to those in need. As loans
are repaid, the money is “recycled” to help others rent an
apartment or start a small business.
KAVOD is a big fan of this model and supports free loan
associations in NYC, San Francisco and Israel. Recipients are often startled to
discover that the loans are interest free. Whether it’s for college
tuition, expenses related to the adoption of a child, or emergency
assistance for a family that has suffered through a fire or debilitating
illness, free-loan societies are there to lend hope and dignity to those
in need.
Hebrew Free Loan Society
ATTN: Shana Novick
675 Third Avenue, Suite 1905,
NY, NY 10017
212-687-0188
www.hfls.org
Hebrew
Free Loan Association of San Francisco
ATTN: Edward
Cushman
131 Steuart Street,
Suite 425, San Francisco,
CA, 94105
415-546-9902
www.hflasf.org
Israel Free Loan Association
ATTN: Prof. Eliezer Jaffe
64 Azza Street, 92384
Jerusalem, Israel
011-9722-563-0248
www.freeloan.org.il
8. INTRA – Mitzvah
Horses......$5,000
Anita
and Giora Shkedi
continue to do their breathtaking work with INTRA (Israel National
Therapeutic Riding Association), utilizing the tools of therapeutic
horseback riding to achieve astonishing breakthroughs where other forms
of physical therapy fail. Anita and Giora
open up new worlds to people with a wide array of emotional and/or
physical difficulties (including wounded soldiers and victims of
terror). If you never have seen therapeutic horseback riding in
person, by all means find a center near you (or, even better, arrange a
trip to Israel
to meet Anita, one of the world’s acknowledged experts on the
subject). The results are sublime, inspirational, and nothing short
of miraculous. Our donation helped support Project Shleymut
(“wholeness”), a response to last summer’s war in Lebanon.
INTRA provided twice-weekly lessons for injured soldiers.
INTRA-Mitzvah
Horses
ATTN: Anita
& Giora Shkedi
Hadassah Neurim, Hadassah Village,
40298, Israel
011-9729-866-6305
agshkedi@bezeqint.net
www.intra.org.il
9. IRAC...............................$3,000
Anat Hoffman, Executive Director of the Israel Religious
Action Center, the public and legal advocacy arm of the Israel Movement
for Progressive Judaism, recently shared a success story with us: after
six years and with the help of IRAC’s
petition to Israel’s Supreme Court, John Anzola’s
conversion to Judaism under the auspices of the Reform Rabbinate of
Argentina was finally recognized by the Jewish State. We hope the day
will come when efforts like these will no longer be necessary. Then
religious tolerance and pluralism will truly flourish in the Jewish
State.
IRAC
is committed to promoting equality, social justice, and religious
tolerance in Israel.
Through its numerous court battles and advocacy efforts, IRAC has helped
new immigrants cut through bureaucratic red tape, enabled liberal Jews to
celebrate their faith more freely, and demanded just treatment for
foreign workers in Israel.
Visit their website to learn more about their incredible work.
IRAC
ATTN: Anat Hoffman
POB 31936, Jerusalem,
ISRAEL
91319
011-9722-625-6261
www.irac.org
10. Jerusalem Rape
Crisis Center....................................$2,500
The
Jerusalem Rape Crisis Center
in Memory of Linda Feldman helps survivors of sexual abuse. The JRCC also
runs educational programs for Israeli high school students to raise
awareness about abuse and harassment. About one third of the callers to
the Rape Crisis Center hotline are under 18
years of age.
So
many of these young survivors are afraid to seek much needed medical and emotional
help, and it is truly a blessing for them to have a safe place to find
solace and counsel. Our donation was used to provide a 16-session
supervised support group for 11 teenaged survivors of rape and incest.
The JRCC remains the only organization offering this kind of support in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem Rape Crisis Center
ATTN: Jane Jacobs
P.O.B. 2549, Jerusalem,
Israel,
91024
011-9722-623-2451
jrcc@netvision.net.il
11. Jewish Life in the Former Soviet Union: WUPJ...............$1,000
After
70 years of oppression, Jews in the Former Soviet Union can once again
celebrate their Judaism. The World Union for Progressive Judaism works
hard to ensure that there are liberal options for these Jews. One of the
best ways to make this happen is by training young people to become
Jewish educators, communal leaders, and rabbis.
At
the Machon Institute in Moscow, a new
generation of community leaders is being trained to serve throughout the
Former Soviet Union. Our sponsorship will help a student pay for tuition,
books and supplies, transportation, and room and board in Moscow while
attending the Machon. These students are
engaged in tikkun olam
of the highest order: they are bringing whole communities back to a life
of Torah.
World
Union for Progressive Judaism
ATTN: Rabbi
Uri Regev
13 King David Street,
Jerusalem, Israel
94101
011-9722-620-3447
www.wupj.org
12. KESHER (“Connection”).......$500
Why
can’t Jewish children with learning disabilities attend Jewish day
schools? Why can’t they experience the warm sense of community that
so many of these schools provide? These are the questions that inspire Kesher. Each year Kesher
assists eighty kids with special needs who otherwise would be unable to
attend Jewish day schools . This program ensures
that the kavod of all of God’s
children is protected. Our gift helped provide scholarships for families
in need.
Kesher
ATTN: Rabbi Ezra
Levy
18900 NE 25th Avenue,
North Miami Beach, FL,
33180
305-792-7060
kesherld@bellsouth.net
13. Lev Ramot...........………..$1,000*
Lev
Ramot (“Heart of Ramot”—a
neighborhood in Jerusalem)
picks up leftover food, repackages it, and delivers it to two hundred
hungry families each week. Best of all is the way they feed hungry
people. Arrangements are made to deliver the food to a family on a
particular evening. A volunteer knocks on the door of the recipient
announcing the delivery of the food and then moves on to his/her next
client. The dignity of the recipient is protected as he/she doesn’t
ever meet the person lending the helping hand.
Lev Ramot
ATTN:
Moshe Koth
6 Schechtman
Street
Jerusalem, ISRAEL
97225
011-9722-586-1456
14. Maureen Kushner...............$1,000
Maureen
Kushner channels her immense creativity into empowering children to
share, explore, and understand their own extraordinary histories. She
helps Ethiopian Jews create art that celebrates and documents their long,
heroic journey, and helps Jewish and Arab children address their
prejudices through art.
This
year our contribution once again helped with Kushner’s “Peace
Through Humor” workshop for Jewish, Arab, Druze, and Bedouin
children. It gives kids a creative outlet to express their feelings while
teaching tolerance and understanding through jokes. Maureen travels on
foot and by bus all over Israel
presenting this workshop. “When kids listen to the inside of their
hearts and discover the best part of themselves, peace will be
possible,” she says. Maureen recently brought the exhibition to Austria.
We
have KAVOD cards available featuring artwork created by Ethiopian
Jews in Maureen’s programs. The cards themselves were produced
through a special donation for this purpose made by a KAVOD
supporter. For more information about the cards, contact Judy Zweiback, 8914 Farnam
Court, Omaha, NE 68114,
402-397-1975, judyz@KAVOD.org.
Maureen Kushner
122 Park Place, Brooklyn,
NY, 11217
(718) 230-5369
maureenkushner@hotmail.com
15. NACOEJ...........................$1,000
In
1981 twelve North American Jews went on a mission to Ethiopia that was to change
their lives and those of Ethiopian Jews forever. Riding on mules, this
small group made their way up the Semien Mountains
in northwest Ethiopia
to remote villages where Jews lived, isolated from the rest of the Jewish
world for 2,000 years. The appalling poverty, illness, and hunger they
saw there, coupled with a deep commitment to Jewish life, so moved the
participants that they returned home wholly devoted to the rescue of this
phenomenal Jewish community. Shortly thereafter, the North American
Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ) was born. This grassroots movement
has four mandates: to help Ethiopian Jews survive in Ethiopia, to assist
them in reaching Israel, to aid in their absorption in Israel, and to
preserve their unique and ancient culture. Our donation helped provide
services to Ethiopian Jews living in Israel today.
[NACOEJ, ATTN: Barbara Ribakove Gordon, 132 Nassau Street, #412, NY,
NY, 10038;
212-233-5200;
www.nacoej.org]
NACOEJ
ATTN: Barbara Ribakove Gordon
132 Nassau
Street, #412, NY, NY, 10038
(212) 233-5200
www.nacoej.org
16. A Package From
Home......$11,617
For many years now, Barbara
Silverman has been helping soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces live a
bit more comfortably. Her project, A Package from Home, delivers
thousands of care packages each year to those who risk their lives in
defense of the Jewish homeland.
It’s extraordinary what a pair of warm socks, a wool hat,
long underwear, a few chocolate bars, and some toiletries can do to lift
a soldier’s spirits. Each package also includes a handwritten note
from an American or Canadian religious school student. During the war in
the summer of 2006, Barbara sent out tens of thousands of extra packages.
This year’s donation includes funds sent to us by Temple Solel in Phoenix specifically to help Barbara in
her work.
A Package from Home
ATTN: Barbara Silverman
12/63 Keren Kayemet
L'Yisrael Street,
Jerusalem,
Israel,
92428
011-9722-623-2548
emess@netvision.net.il
www.apackagefromhome.org
17. Project
Ezra.......................$6,000
Under
the guidance of Misha Avramoff,
Project Ezra has been a lifeline to Jewish elders on the Lower East Side
of Manhattan for over 30 years. They combat poverty, despair and
loneliness, and treat those they serve with the utmost tenderness, love,
and honor. From augmenting the below poverty level social security of
many elders, to creating community and nurturing curiosity and
spirituality through visits to museums and synagogues, to sending art
therapists to homebound elders, many of whom are suffering from dementia,
Project Ezra is there.
We
are proud to be connected to Misha and the
amazing volunteers and staff at Project Ezra. Next time you’re in New York, phone Misha and come down to Project Ezra to see their
amazing work first-hand.
[Project Ezra, ATTN: Misha Avramoff, 465 Grand St.,
4th Floor, NY, NY, 10002; 212-982-3700;
www.projectezra.org]
Project
Ezra
ATTN: Misha
Avramoff
465 Grand Street,
4th Floor
NY,
NY 10002
212-982-3700
www.projectezra.org
18. Rabbanit
Bracha Kapach....$3,500
The
Rabbanit Bracha Kapach, an Israel Prize winner, feeds the hungry,
provides for poor brides, and makes sure poor youngsters get to
experience the joy of summer camp. She distributes educational material
for children, helps couples finance their marriage, supports old and
lonely people with food, clothing and trips, and embraces all of those
who seemed to have slipped through the holes of the “safety
net.”
She
draws needy people near and gives with generosity and love. Once again,
we assisted the Rabbanit in providing Passover
packages for over 5,500 families in need of nourishment and hope.
The Rabbanit
Bracha Kapach
12 Lod St.
Jerusalem
011-9722-624-9296
19.
Rabbis for Human Rights Yeshiva
..................................$1,500
Rabbis for Human Rights is the rabbinic voice of
conscience in Israel,
struggling to fulfill the commandment to “love your neighbor as
yourself.” They promote justice and freedom, while campaigning
against discrimination and inhumane conduct.
Two
years ago they launched one of their most ambitious projects: the
creation of a Human Rights Yeshiva, a place for dedicated young people to
come to learn about and then do the sacred work of Tikkun
Olam.
Twenty students participated each week in the inaugural year,
exploring such topics as: the principle of equality and the value of
human life in the Bible, different approaches to relationships with the
“other,” responding to sexual violence, slavery, and our
obligations to immigrant laborers. Students volunteer with existing
projects and some have developed a new program to provide help for teen
runaways. Our donation provided a scholarship for Yuli
Ben-Dov, a student at the Hebrew University
training to become a teacher of Jewish studies.
Rabbis
For Human Rights
ATTN: Rabbi Avi
Deutsch
42
Gaza Road
Jerusalem,
Israel
011-9722-563-7731
www.rhr.israel.net
20. SHALVA
(“Serenity”)..........$1,500
Shalva was founded on the premise that mentally and
physically challenged children are not just the responsibility of the
families to which they were born. These children and their families need
and deserve the support of the extended community. Shalva
is their lifeline, providing developmentally disabled children with a
loving environment that helps them reach their full potential and gives
parents the ability to keep them at home, with the family.
Shalva founders Kalman and Malky Samuels dreamed of a state-of-the-art center
for mentally and physically challenged children that would instill pride
in those who came through its doors. This dream became a reality with the
opening of the Shalva Children’s Center,
which offers fantastic programs such as hydrotherapy, music, art, computer, psychodrama
and pet therapy. Visit their website and read the testimonials from
families whose lives have been changed by this extraordinary
organization.
SHALVA : Rabbi Kalman Samuels
P.O.B. Box 35199
Jerusalem, Israel,
91351
011-9722-651-9555
www.shalva.org
21. Shoes That
Fit.....................$250
Shoes
That Fit is all about kavod, protecting
human dignity. STF provide new shoes and/or clothes to children in need
so that they can attend school in comfort and with pride. STF’s experience has shown that children learn
better and feel better about themselves when they are able to come to
school with properly fitting shoes and clothes, rather than worn out or
ill-fitting hand-me-downs. The organization creates wish lists for particular
schools and then seeks sponsors to fulfill the wishes. In this way, the
sponsor purchases the exact items those children require and delivers the
items to the school. Every penny spent goes directly to helping the
children STF supports.
Shoes That Fit
ATTN: Roni Lomeli
1420 N. Claremont Blvd., Suite 107-B, Claremont, CA, 91711
909-482-0050
www.shoesthatfit.org
22. Ta Shma............................$1,750
Ta Shma provides Hebrew and English speaking Jews of all
ages with educational programming that conveys the excitement and
relevance of Jewish texts and tradition. Recognizing that diversity is
one of the Jewish community’s greatest assets, Ta Shma offers a model of multi-voiced Jewish learning
that emphasizes the importance of constructive disagreement. Ta Shma’s educators have developed an educational
methodology based on a deep belief that Judaism’s vitality is
rooted in the contemporary meeting of many frequently dissonant voices.
At
each Ta Shma event, faculty members of
different ‘flavors’ of Judaism — Orthodox, Reform,
Conservative, Reconstructionist, unidentified,
and undefined — join together to plan and execute the program in
its entirety. This offers young adults in Israel opportunities to
explore Jewish texts from a uniquely pluralistic perspective, resulting
in a powerful Jewish learning experience.
We
at KAVOD are proud to support a program that seeks to unite
brothers and sisters over Torah, with respect for each student’s
beliefs and background. Our funds were used to defray the expenses of a
weekend seminar for American students studying at Israeli universities,
covering half of the seminar’s cost.
Ta Shma: Pluralistic Jewish
Learning
ATTN: Shlomit Naor
Box 10156;
Jerusalem, ISRAEL; 91101
02-621-6168
www.tashma.org
23. VOSH...............................$1,000
Volunteer
Optometric Service to Humanity is an association of eye care
professionals who travel to impoverished communities all over the world
providing free eye care to those in need. They also serve the eyesight
needs of people in several homeless shelters. Our funds were used to
provide eyeglasses for approximately thirty people connected with Hesed House, a Chicago
area shelter.
VOSH
has conducted missions to every major continent during its existence, as
well as domestic missions at homeless shelters. VOSH operates with zero
overhead because the doctors cover their own expenses and equipment is
donated. Ronald Weingart’s recent letter
to us is music to our ears: “No donated funds are used for
administration or fund raising. We have no paid staff and we pay our own
expenses when we go on missions. We strive to operate as close to 0%
overhead as possible.”
VOSH
ATTN: Ronald Weingart, O.D.
1335 Douglas Road, Montgomery, IL, 60538
630-844-0908
www.vosh.org
24. Ya’akov
Maimon Volunteers
..................................$2,500
In
the early days of the State of Israel, it was not unusual for locals to
be approached on the street by an energetic man who would ask what they
could do for the new immigrants who were arriving daily. That man
was Ya’akov Maimon,
and he believed that every individual had a unique gift that they could
offer each new arrival — whether in the form of language
tutorial, lessons on how to balance a checkbook, babysitting, or teaching
a trade.
That
special, caring attention to individuality is what marks the Maimon volunteers, and is lived out every day by
their director, Yoel Dorkam. He is our first
resource for questions and concerns about the compassionate absorption of
new immigrants into Israeli society. Yoel’s
volunteers ease the transition to life in Israel
for today’s
immigrants, from Russia,
Ethiopia, South
America, Eastern Europe, and the rest of
the Jewish world.
Ya’akov Maimon Volunteers
ATTN: Eiton Green
Kibbutz Palmach Tzuba, D.N. Haray
Yehuda, Israel, 90870
011-9754-563-7920
eiton@tzuba.org.il
25. Yad
Ezra (“Helping Hand”)
.....................................$500
One
of the most neglected segments of any society is the mentally ill. For
almost fifty years, Yad Ezra has been
dedicating itself to seeking out, screening, and extending “a
helping hand” to the mentally ill and the needy in Israel.
Yad Ezra offers its assistance through a
network of special supermarkets, dental clinics, workshops, soup
kitchens, hostels, and day-care centers.
Yad Ezra also has a soup kitchen in which a unique group
of people, some homeless, others stricken in spirit or by poverty, or by
a broken home, comprise about 100 men and women who visit these premises
daily. For 40% of the visitors, these premises have become their home.
Along with the three meals offered daily, a delicate balance of
educational lectures, guidance classes, and common prayer sessions have
been introduced to strengthen and feed the spirit of visitors. A library
on the premises offers a large variety of selected books and a quiet and
calm atmosphere to soothe the painful spirit of many of its visitors.
Yad Ezra - Samuel Katz
P.O.B. 7199, Jerusalem,
Israel
011-9722-538-6460
26. ZIV Tzedakah
Fund..........$1,000
Since
1981, ZIV has distributed over $10,000,000 to tzedakah.
In 2006 alone, ZIV distributed almost $2,000,000. More important than the
numbers though, is the way ZIV goes about doing its work.
Danny
Sigel, ZIV founder and chairman, writes that “Mitzvah heroes are our
teachers in Tikkun Olam... They see, hear, and touch aspects of life
that we may have missed, and they put their mind, heart, and soul into
their efforts to make life good or better or even the best possible for
thousands of individuals. And, they save lives that would otherwise have
been lost.”
We
are grateful to Danny and to Naomi Eisenberger,
ZIV’s Managing Director, for their
constant support, advice, wisdom, and love that guide us in our work.
Danny and Naomi are true mitzvah heroes and it is our honor to be able to
help them in their sacred work.
ZIV
ATTN: Naomi Eisenberger
384 Wyoming Ave., Millburn,
NJ, 07041
973-763-9396
www.ziv.org
THE KAVOD TZEDAKAH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Here’s how the Fellowship program works: All
students at HUC-JIR who have completed the year-in-Israel are eligible to
apply. The KAVOD board reviews the applications and awards
four-year Fellowships to the most promising candidates. Each year KAVOD
Fellows receive an up- front allocation of $250 that they can distribute
to the tzedakah of their choice.
All of their selections must be approved by members of the KAVOD Board.
In addition to the up front sum, a 1:1 matching
challenge grant is offered. That grant grows each year, creating a bigger
and bigger incentive for the Fellow and his/her supporters. Each
fellowship “costs” KAVOD $6000 over four-years ($1,000
in up-front grants and $5,000 in matching grants). The total tzedakah yield, assuming the Fellow makes the
match, will equal $11,000 (that is, the $5,000 matching grant will yield
$10,000 in tzedakah + the $1,000
up-front grant). And if the Fellow surpasses the challenge grant (as a
few have already done), s/he can donate more than $11,000 over the course
of her/his fellowship.
