WEBchanuka newsletter

‫בס"ד‬
Torah
Chadashot
MiTzion
WINTER 5774
15 YEARS OF TORAH MITZION MOSCOW!
Shalom Chaverim!
Hope this newsletter
finds you well.
We are excited to
share with you the
following news and
updates from World
Torah Mitzion:
This past Tishrei Torah MiTzion Moscow
celebrated its 15th year of bringing Religious
Zionism to Russia. Who would have believed that
such a dream would come true and prosper
throughout the years?
The Mocow Kollel began in 1998 when Rabbi
David and Ayelet Yushubayev, a young family
from Yeshivat Hakotel, arrived from Israel to head
the Kollel. With the support of The Pincus Fund
and from Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, Chief
Rabbi of Moscow, the Kollel has thrived and
flourished. Gilad Shmailov, manager of the Kollel
has worked hard at ensuring the Kollel has the
means to achieve its goals.
The Moscow team from left to
right. Standing: Dvora and
Israel Paripsky, Gilad Shmailov,
Ben Zion Paritzky, Alex
Anitayev. Sitting: Ayelet and
Rav David Yushubayev, Zeev
Schwartz (visiting), Alex and
Sara Katz.
bringing them closer to Judaism Zionism and
to the State of Israel……..On your merit, many
young men and women made Aliyah, raised
families and integrated as loyal citizens who
contribute to the State and to Israeli society. I
offer my hand to strengthen and encourage all
who are involved in this endeavor."
Zeev Schwartz visited the Kollel in June and was
deeply impressed with the number of activities
and participants at our Moscow Center and the
vast array of weekly programs for men and
women from diverse backgrounds and for
children of all ages.
In honour of the 15th year anniversary of Torah
Mitzion Moscow, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent his blessings:
"Throughout the years you have succeeded in
impacting thousands of Jewish families by
Rav Yushubayev teaching at
the Torah MiTzion Center in
Moscow
CHADASHOT MITZION [ WINTER 5774 ]
Last month Arik Speaker, Director of Torah
MiTzion's LILMOD program visited the Moscow
Center and presented the LILMOD program to the
Kollel and how it can help enrich educational
activities for both the shlichim and members of
the community.
BEIT MIDRASH BOKER IN BAKA
Torah
Beit Midrash
Boker in Baka
at Beit Haknesset Nitzanim
3 Asher St., Baka, Jerusalem
Men's learning program
featuring Torah MiTzion former
Roshei Kollel
Thursday mornings 9 AM – 12 PM
Beginning Oct. 17th (13 Cheshvan)
Shiur with Rav Moshe
Lichtenstein followed by guided
learning with Rav Herzl Hefter
Details: 054 320 7895
[email protected]
Community lay-leaders who previously
supported Torah MiTzion in their respective
communities have collaborated in supporting a
Torah MiTzion learning program in the heart of
Jerusalem. Harold Frolich of Cleveland and Phil
Schwartz of Toronto made Aliyah several years
ago and are today active members of the
Nitzanim community in Baka Jerusalem. With the
blessing and assistance of Rabbi Shlomo Glicksberg of Nitzanim, they approached Torah
MiTzion in order to organize a Hesder-style Beit
Midrash program in their shul.
Kollel Melbourne; Rav Gidon Weitzman, former
Rosh Kollel Kansas City; Rav Nechemya Taylor,
former Rabbinic Advisor to Torah MiTzion and a
weekly guided learning session; followed by a
shiur with Rav Herzl Hefter, former Rosh Kollel
in Cleveland. The second semester will feature
additional former Roshei Kollel including Rav
Moshe Pinchuk of Melbourne.
The program takes place Thursday mornings and
to date has featured excellent shiurim by Rav
Moshe Lichtenstein, former Rosh Kollel in
Cleveland; Rav Yoni Rosenzweig, former Rosh
FACEBOOK REPORT
Our Hebrew facebook page Torah
MiTzion recently reached the
milestone of 1,000 likes while the
newer English page World Torah
MiTzion is already over 200.
If you haven't yet visited these
pages, go ahead and like us. This
is a wonderful way to remain in
sync with current events around
the globe.
https://www.facebook.com/ShlichutTorahMitzion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6b7NBi-3lA
SEE OUR VIDEO FOR CHANUKA:
TMT LIGHTING UP THE WORLD
A TORAH MITZION ALIYAH STORY
Former shaliach in Memphis Yoav Cohen Hadad,
who serves today as shlichim coordinator at
Torah MiTzion, recently hitched a ride from Gush
Etzion where he lives to Jerusalem. During the
ride he overheard a conversation between the
driver and a fellow hitchhiker.
Yoav on the roads of Gush
Etzion
The driver was explaining how he and his wife are
considering shlichut and were deliberating
whether it is the right thing to do. The passenger
explained to him that despite the fact that he and
his wife were raised as Zionists in the USA and
both had considered making Aliyah, that they
were unable to make the actual move. He went
on to explain that they decided on Aliyah only
after becoming closely connected to a Torah
MiTzion Kollel. The shiurim with the Rosh Kolel
and his wife, the chavrutot with the 'bachurim' and
the overall inspiration they received from the
Kolel brought them to the realization that they
belong in Israel and consequently they made
Aliyah.
Before Yoav left the car he informed them that he
works at Torah MiTzion, resulting in an outpouring of praise and blessings from his fellow passenger. He arrived at work that day reinforced of the
importance of his work and of Torah MiTzion's
ability to deeply impact communities and people.
CHADASHOT MITZION [ WINTER 5774 ] 2
SHABBAT MITZION REACHES MILESTONE
Torah MiTzion's weekly Parsha publication “Shabbat MiTzion” recently celebrated a milestone
with the publication of the 500th issue of the
English version. In honour, the issue featured a
Dvar Torah and blessing to Torah MiTzion from
Rav Shlomo Riskin, Rabbi of Efrat and Chancellor of Ohr Torah Stone institutions.
Last year, Torah MiTzion began publishing in
Hebrew and recently reached issue # 30.
RECRUITMENT BEGINS
Torah MiTzion has began recruiting shlichim for
the coming shlichut year, 5775. We are looking
for potential Roshei Kollel educators and leaders,
young men, young women and young couples—
post army with big hearts, high energy, and
formal and informal education skills who want to
share their Torah and Zionist ideals with Diaspora
Jewry.
This year, we hope to expand with new exciting
models of shlichut. This includes Torah MiTzion
educators serving as scholars in residence for
the Community Beit Midrash model, our ongoing
University Campus Scholars program and
women educators from Midrashot to lead and
inspire via the Midreshet Tzion framework,
designed to enhance women’s learning in host
communities worldwide.
Our new recruitment campaign logo
THE PEW RESULTS AND TORAH MITZION
The Pew results highlight the need for Torah
MiTzion now more than ever in the USA.
On the bright side, the recently published Pew
Research Center report exposed that American
Jews overwhelmingly say they are proud to be
Jewish and have a strong sense of belonging to
the Jewish people. However, the survey also
suggests that Jewish identity is changing in
America, where one in five Jews (22%) now
describe themselves as having no religion. In
addition, intermarriage rates have risen substantially over the last five decades. Among respondents who have wed since 2000, nearly six-in-ten
have a non-Jewish spouse.
tion among American Jews. Torah MiTzion works
at sending the finest role models of commitment
to Judaism and to the State of Israel to the
Diaspora in order to inspire from within the
community.
While the reasons for increased assimilation and
detachment from Judaism as a religion are
complicated, Torah MiTzion believes that our
models of shlichut can play a major role in
helping to stem the tide of alienation and assimila-
CHADASHOT MITZION [ WINTER 5774 ] 3
LILMOD: TMT’S INTERACTIVE LEARNING PLATFORM
The new semester is underway, featuring classes
in both Russian and German with seven courses
offered in each language. To date, there are more
than 520 registrations, an indication of the
continuous growth of LILMOD.
Rabbi Boaz and Yael Shachak, returning
shlichim from St. Louis, each began offering a
weekly shiur using LILMOD in order to retain
close contact with their former community.
The same is true for Rabbi Yechiel Brukner,
who returned this summer after five productive
years in Munich, offering two weekly shiurim to
his former community via LILMOD.
LILMOD also serves as an internal tool to
continue and strengthen our shlichim while
abroad. The Torah MiTzion Moscow Torah
Center experiences a weekly lecture given by
Rabbi Achikam Getz that focuses on the history
of religious Zionism.
The LILMOD B2B (Business to Business marketing) program has now begun. Torah MiTzion is
marketing LILMOD to Yeshivot, Midrashot, and
organizations as a tool with which to offer
shiurim for alumni, to remain in contact with staff
or volunteers, and to organize seminars for a
dispersed audience.
Visit the LILMOD website: www.lilmod.org
http://www.lilmod.org/index.php
SUPPORTING TORAH MITZION
If you have already supported us this year, we
extend our deepest appreciation and guarantee
that your donation is being maximized to it fullest.
If you have not yet supported us, we ask you to
consider investing in Torah MiTzion as we
continue going forward implementing our strateps:/ www.torahmitzion.org/eng/aboutuonline
s/support_online_process.asp via our
gic renewal plan. You can httdonate
website.
All donations are tax deductible. Please contact us
for relevant information for your country.
General support of Torah MiTzion: Any amount up to 3,600 NIS
To help facilitate an activity for a year:
Chavruta (one on one)
Chabura (small group)
Shiur (lecture)
Beit Midrash (part-time program)
Full Beit Midrash (extended program)
Kollel Tzioni (community-wide program)
Binyan – Torah MiTzion World Center
3,600 NIS
7,200 NIS
20,000 NIS
50,000 NIS
100,000 NIS
250,000 NIS
500,000 NIS
and above
ZEEV’S CORNER
World Torah MiTzion
“Beit Meir”
54 King George St.
P.O. Box 71109
Jerusalem 91710
ISRAEL
Tel: 972-(0)2 620-9020
Fax: 972-(0)2 624-2007
[email protected]
As we continue our strategic process, I am
encouraged by the progress witnessed through
the Torah Mitzion movement. We have developed
new models of shlichut, such as Midreshet Tzion
and Community-Wide Scholars-in-Residence,
together with short term programs to ignite
Religious Zionism in community life—models that
are being marketed to former and new Torah
MiTzion destinations.
is almost complete as we prepare to meet new
challenges and growth. Our fundraising efforts
are bearing fruit as we have attracted new
sources of support for our programs. I am very
optimistic about Torah MiTzion going forward
and impacting world Jewry.
We are up to date with latest technology, such as
our own webex interactive learning site
lilmod.org. Our re-structuring of the organization
CHADASHOT MITZION [ WINTER 5774 ] 4