| | Daven on Monday.
Rally on Tuesday.
OU EVP Rabbi Moshe Hauer
On Tuesday, November 14, 2023, Rosh Chodesh Kislev, tens of thousands of us will travel to Washington, DC, to rally for Israel, for the hostages, and against antisemitism. We will be there in our nation's capital to raise our voices and encourage our political leaders to lead the way on all three of these critical issues. We will be there as Americans and we will be joined there by tens of thousands of other Americans, but we will approach this critical moment firm in our identity as Jews, guided and inspired by our faith and our Torah.
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| OU Israel continues to be a tremendous resource for English-speaking olim and tourists grappling with a new reality in Israel. Programs designed to meet the needs of the Anglo community in Israel include a powerful chizuk event for Anglo mothers of soldiers, a Night of Song, Inspiration and Unity for NCSY Israel teens, a JCHAT young professionals Challah & Chasidut evening of chizuk and chesed, Yachad Israel volunteering, and more. OU Israel's newly-launched Hebrew emotional support hotline, Chaverim Makshevim, is providing support for tens of thousands of Israeli teens who are suffering emotionally and mentally from the trauma, loss, anxiety and more since the start of the war. How you can get involved: | | | NCSY continues to be on the ground with Jewish teens, supporting them directly, empowering them to help others and building their connection to Israel. This past week, there was a renewed focus on providing teens with ways to connect with each other and stand shoulder to shoulder. In Israel, it was a feeling of unity through song as NCSY hosted a kumzitz for teens in Beit Shemesh. In the U.S., NCSY Southwest helped lead a Unity March for Israel for teens and their families to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Israel.
How you can get involved: - One Nation. One Action.
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- NCSY Adopt a Soldier
4,000+ students have already requested names of soldiers to daven for
Sign up to receive the name of a soldier
- NCSY Shmirah Project
Sign up for a 15-minute time slot to learn Torah or say Tehillim
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| | | Yachad staff and participants are developing a program to pack food platters created from vegetables grown along the edge of Gaza to be delivered to evacuees. Yachad participants in the employment and day habilitation programs in New York created beautiful watercolor Misheberach for Chayalim cards in the shape of the State of Israel. These cards were inserted into the Yachad Koren Siddur and distributed at a recent community event. In honor of the Yahrtzeit of Rachel Imeinu, the Marilyn and Sheldon David girls' high school students brought and packaged new toys to be distributed in Israel to children impacted by the war. Each package included a thoughtful and creative card with encouraging messages. Yachad LA participants joined hundreds of community members at the Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy Annual Challah Bake. This year, Yachad participants, alongside the community, prepared their challot as a merit for everyone in Israel. | | | Campus directors, community leaders and senior educators across OU-JLIC stand resolute in their commitment during these challenging times to create positive and proactive opportunities that exemplify a kiddush Hashem.
OU-JLIC Israel continues its dedication to welcoming evacuated refugees from the south. Volunteers partnered with Leket, Israel's national food bank and leading food rescue organization, and picked 6,000 pounds of produce to distribute among displaced families, soldiers, and the needy. Through the new "Warm Welcome" initiative, volunteers assisted in arranging housing for families, conducted basic shopping on their behalf, and coordinated deliveries via designated drivers. Students at the Technion participated in a challah bake, distributing challot to both displaced families and families of soldiers on reserve duty. OU-JLIC in North America is spearheading a movement to express gratitude towards those advocating for the Jewish community and standing against terrorism. Channah Cohen, the senior educator for Yavneh Young Professionals, introduced the "Solidarity Squad" initiative, a program where families take turns delivering thank-you cards and treats to local first responders, rescue squads, police officers and firefighters on a weekly basis. Channah inaugurated the program by engaging 75 young members of her Silver Spring, MD, community, who crafted and delivered posters that read "Thank You Heros" along with boxes of cookies. "It was such a simple yet impactful gesture," says Channah. "I was surprised how grateful and touched the officers and first responders were. At the same time, it boosted morale for the kids and adults."
On OU-JLIC campuses, college directors are actively combating antisemitism to safeguard Jewish students facing increased hostility. Drs. Rod and Daniella Najibi, OU-JLIC directors at Santa Monica College and Western University, held discussions with the president, the provost and chief academic officer, and the staff of Western University to address and counteract antisemitism on campus. How you can get involved: | | | During these difficult times for Klal Yisrael, All Torah has announced the launch of a new 30-episode series on the All Torah platform, Beis Halevi Bitachon Series with Rabbi David Sutton. Episodes will be released Monday through Thursday. The first episode was released on Monday, November 6. How you can get involved: | | | The Women's Initiative is supporting thousands of women worldwide who are struggling to navigate these turbulent times by providing chizuk and Tehillim events, including a live presentation this Thursday, November 9, with Sivan Rahav Meir, entitled "Marking 85 Years Since Kristallnacht: A View from Israel Today." Register now How you can get involved: - Lay Leaders Roundtable Discussion
Join the Women's Initiative community of women lay leaders and professionals at a roundtable discussion addressing how and when to pivot programming and how to message these decisions to constituents with sensitivity and clarity. The discussion will be led by Rachel Cyrulnik, founder, RAISE Nonprofit Advisors; Aviva Rosenfeld, director of operations, Jacob Joseph Advertising; and Emma Katz, program director, NILI Chicago.
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- Eshet Chayal Awareness Campaign
Families in the U.S. whose husbands or wives have been deployed are more spread out and may have less of a network than their counterparts in Israel. The Women's Initiative began an awareness campaign to encourage community leaders to identify and support these families. View flyer
| | | KARASICK SYNAGOGUE INITIATIVES | | | The Karasick Synagogue Initiatives department led a trip to Israel this past week to offer support and solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Israel. The group of rabbis and lay leaders from 24 different communities spent time with bereaved families, families of hostages, displaced communities, and many others, to share a message of achdut. In conjunction with efforts from OU Israel, each community represented in the group resolved to keep in contact with the Israelis they had met in order to continue the impact of the trip. | | | OU Advocacy has been aggressively directing its resources and relationships with American policymakers in support of Israel and to combat the surge of antisemitism in the United States. OUA continued its meetings with senior Biden Administration officials in support of Israel and to galvanize more action to confront the surge of antisemitism – especially on the campuses of American universities and other schools. On Wednesday, November 8, OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Moshe Hauer and OUA Executive Director Nathan Diament will meet with Attorney General Merrick Garland to discuss new actions the Dept. of Justice and FBI can take to protect our communities. OUA will remain engaged with national leaders on all aspects of our current challenge. OUA is also launching a series of newspaper advertisements in college campus papers highlighting the resolutions passed by the Senate and House of Representatives repudiating antisemitism on campuses and calling upon university leaders to do the same. How you can get involved: - OUA is leading the effort to have a historic amount of funds appropriated for emergency grants to shuls and schools for their enhanced security needs. OUA is working on having at least $200 million included in the supplemental appropriations package being prepared to support Israel's war needs. This week, OUA's Nathan Diament joined Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (photo above) at a press conference at which Sen. Schumer called for dramatically increasing NSGP funding to $1 billion for the full 2024 fiscal year.
Contact your Senators and Representative and ask them to support this much-needed funding
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