Page 6-THE NEWS-October 1990
Operation Exodus is a Reality
Charlotte Jewish Federation
Update Leadership Development
By Ken Stern
The start date is fast ap
proaching for the third Feder
ation-sponsored Leadership De
velopment program. Inquiries
for participation have been
received in the Federation office
and nominations have been
submitted by past participants,
members of the Steering com
mittee, and by various Jewish
organizations in Charlotte. In
vitations to prospective partic
ipants have been mailed and the
class is filling up fast. A Novem
ber orientation is being planned,
with the formal start of the
program to begin in December,
The Leadership Development
program is a 15-month-long
educational program aimed at
new and potential leaders within
the Jewish community. Its goals
are to provide participants with
a better understanding of con
temporary Jewish issues, pro
vide leadership training, and to
instill an interest in Jewish
communal activities. The group
will be limited to 40 participants
who will meet monthly to discuss
a variety of topics. Participants
will observe meetings of various
boards within the community to
better understand how boards
operate. Participants will also
serve as members of ad hoc
committees that will address
various needs in our community
and provide the forum to devel
op and understand committee
functioning and leadership
skills. Additional opportunities
will be available to attend a UJA
Young Leadership convention in
Washington or to travel with a
mission to Israel.
The Steering committee, Ken
Stern, chair; Lisa Platock, Scott
Menaker, Phyllis Schiffman,
Mike Yaffe, Jack Levinson,
Bobby Damsky and Pam Appel-
baum. Federation staff associ
ate, has been meeting to develop
the program agenda, nominate
prospective participants, and set
the groundwork for a program
that will be educational, reward
ing and fun. Interested in the
program?? — this is the final call
for participants. Call Pam for
details at 366-5007.
UJA Missions: Best Way to Visit Israel
By Nicki Levine
Okay, I’ve got three young
children, a full-time staff attor
ney position representing kids in
trouble, a husband who’s active
in the community...why am I
chairing UJA Missions to Israel?
Because I was lucky enough to
fulfill a lifelong dream of going
to Israel and truly found the
reality to be everything I
dreamed it would be and I want
everyone in Charlotte to have
the same wonderful experience.
Eretz Yisrael is indeed the
exquisite miracle we all want our
homeland to be. UJA Missions
allows you to experience every
thing — hands on. No other trip
will touch your heart the way
this trip will. No other trip will
take you to lunch with Soviet
Olim, jeep riding with gutsy
Sabras, mountain climbing at
Masada, shopping at Sefat art
galleries and the Ben Yehuda
street mall, a B’nai Mitzvot
celebration for neglected and
abused children at a youth
Aliyah Camp, a school gradu
ation at a kibbutz, a Yeminite
dinner...and UJA does it all first
class.
In the upcoming months, I
will share lots of information
about our UJA Missions and
hope you will realize your dream
of “next year in Jerusalem” with
us. L’Shana Tova Tikateyvu.
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By Michael Minkin
CJF Exec. Director
As an American Jew I am
experiencing the most exciting
decade of my life. I am witness
ing the emigration of Soviet
Jews. They are finally able to
leave for lands of freedom. I am
filled with great hopes for the
Soviet Jews and also great fears,
wondering if Israel can absorb
them. Operation Exodus, the
absorption and resettlement of
Soviet Jews, has become a
reality.
The dream that began in
Washington in the Mall of the
Capitol on Dec. 6, 1987 is now
a reality that we are witnessing
today. Operation Exodus re
presents a Soviet aliyah which
may be the greatest wave of
Jewish migration we will see in
our lifetime. We are fortunate to
be able to witness Israel’s pop
ulation of 3.6 million expanding
in numbers we never would have
dreamed could happen.
The cost of bringing close to
200,000 Soviet Jews from the
Soviet Union to Israel and
resettling them carries an astro
nomical price tag. The govern
ment of Israel is providing three
billion dollars. World Jewry’s
share is $600 million, with
American Jews providing 420
million dollars through the
United Jewish Appeal’s Opera
tion Exodus campaign. It is
critical to know that the 420
million dollars is above and
beyond our regular Federation
campaign and is pledged in one
year and payable over three
years. It is important to know
again that Operation Exodus
goes beyond our regular com
mitment, which must be main
tained in order for our local
services to continue.
The price tag of Operation
Exodus is one of simple math
ematics. $151.2 million is needed
to transport new immigrants and
their belongings from the Soviet
Union to Israel. That’s almost
$45,000 per family. $58.8 million
is needed to repair and enlarge
the existing absorption centers
and to build new facilities. Many
of these facilities were built years
ago and are outdated. They are
in desperate need of repair in
order to house the new immi
grants. $210 million is needed for
direct absorption. This unique
progressive approach to absorp
tion is providing 85% of the
Won’t You Join Us on
The Panim Mission?
One of the South’s largest
UJA Missions to Israel is sche
duled to depart from Atlanta on
January 9 and return there on
January 18. More than 650
people have already signed on
for the Southern Region’s Pa
nim Mission.
Edith Steindler, the UJA
professional assigned to Char
lotte and responsible for the
Panim Mission, said there will
be two El A1 747s leaving from
Atlanta. One of them will fly
nonstop to Israel; the other
makes a stop in New York.
Highlights of the Mission will
include meetings with top-level
Israeli government leaders,
Shabbat at the Western Wall,
visits to the Golan Heights and
Masada, a Bedouin style dinner
in the desert and meeting a plane
of Olim from the Soviet Union
at Ben Gurion Airport.
Mission participants will be
staying at either Jerusalem’s
Laromme or Sheraton Plaza
Hotels. The communities partic
ipating include large ones, such
as Atlanta, and the region’s
smallest. Steindler said Israel’s
finest guides have already been
secured to lead the 18 or more
buses that will travel around the
country.
The mission schedule includes
visits to important shrines,
museums, JNF forests and even
an Israeli Air Force Base. One
day will allow participants to
choose among six or seven
different tours around Jerusa
lem or Tel Aviv.
“But we’ve also given people
plenty of free time to see Israel
for themselves,” Steindler said,
“There are opportunities to have
a lunch or dinner on your own,
or even an entire afternoon. This
Mission will have a pretty good
pace, but it gives participants
some opportunities to slow
down and see the sites on their
own.”
Bobby Rinzler from Atlanta
will be chairing the Mission, and
Richard A. Klein of Charlotte
will cochair. Steindler said that
anyone interested in obtaining
more details about the Panim
Mission should immediately
contact the Charlotte Federa
tion office, 366-5007; Richard
Klein at 542-1403 or her at the
UJA Florida office, 305-428-
6677. Cost of the Mission is
$ 1745, but with a $750 minimum
Federation contribution, sub
stantial subsidies are available.
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Striving Soviet emigrants with
their own apartments in commu
nities in Israel. They are moving
to the major cities of the State
of Israel as the government of
Israel provides them with
baskets of service which meets
the needs of their families. This
includes rent, utilities, Hebrew
classes and basic household
necessities.
The new Exodus has begun at
a rate and a pace that could
exceed 150-200,000 Soviet Jews
this year. We in Charlotte are
lucky to participate in this
endeavor. Under the watchful
eyes of Bill Gorelick, Meg D.
Goldstein and Dr. Jared
Schwartz, General Campaign
chairs; Emily Zimmern, presi
dent; and Bobbi Bernstein, Co
alition chair, this entire endeav
or will be possible. Resettlement
has come alive in Charlotte, just
as it has come alive in Israel with
the help of the leadership of the
men and women of our commu
nity.
This is our opportunity, yours
and mine, to participate in
history in the making. Everyone
is urged to give generously to
Operation Exodus, to give fully
to the regular campaign and by
so doing, help to keep our Jewish
dreams alive.
Values Are
Important to
Federation Work
By Pam Appelbaum
During graduate school,
many of my colleagues questi
oned how social work relates to
Jewish Federation work. This
was definitely a thought-provok-
ing question. In fact, as I develop
in my position as staff associate
at the Charlotte Jewish Feder
ation, I continually tend to
evaluate the relationship be
tween Jewish Federation work
and social work.
Knowledge and values are
basic social work principles.
While social work knowledge is
drawn from a multitude of
professions, values are unique to
social work practice. For exam
ple, self-determination and re
spect are values unique to social
work practice. In Jewish Feder
ation work, social work values
are transferrable to Jewish self-
determination and maintaining
Jewish dignity.
As a federation professional,
my staffing portfolios include
Women’s Division, Leadership
Development, Community Re
lations, Missions and Young
Adults. My goal is to ensure the
See VALUES next page
Charlotte Jewish
Federation
Lobby
One First Union
Center BIdg.
November 3
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Official 1991
Campaign
Kick Off