Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

David Harris

On May 14, the twelve volunteers from the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati’s Israel & Overseas committee decided how to allocate the Federation’s Israel & Overseas funding for 2015. Of the one-third of the annual campaign committed to Israel and overseas, only this portion is allocated by our Cincinnati volunteers, the rest is allocated by our national umbrella organization, the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA).

I am pleased to share with our donors that our Israel & Overseas committee is newly thriving; this group has spent the last year revising its mission statement and revitalizing its work. They will play an active role in determining Federation strategy for Israel missions, will be responsible for allocating grants to programs in Israel that support or advance pluralism, and will advise and support the shlichim, local agencies, and partnership agencies with their programming, including the Israel Center’s signature Israelity lecture series.

Under the lay leadership of co-chairs Nina Paul and Steven Pentelnik, and vice president of Israel & Overseas Gary Greenberg, the committee decided that the $140,000 it allocates will go to support pluralism in Israel. Our CEO, Shep Englander, has recently written in some depth about our Federation’s decision to support pluralism in Israel. 

The major part of the funding will go to six diverse Israeli programs that in some way promote pluralism in Israel. “Out of the sixty nonprofits who originally applied,” said Barb Miller, Director of Community Building, “twelve were chosen to look at very closely, and then in the end the committee agreed unanimously on the final six.”

The nonprofits chosen were:

1. Havaya—educates Israelis about marriage options outside the Rabbinut and alternative wedding ceremonies.
2. Masorti (Conservative) Movement—this three-month program trains post-highschoolers in pluralistic Judaism prior to their military service.
3. Ginot Ha’Ir Community Council—program provides women in Jerusalem with public opportunities/events to express themselves religiously.
4. Tzabar Parents—program helps Israeli Russian-speaking families with preschool-aged kids with education regarding Jewish culture and practice
5. Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism—Bat Mitzvah Revolution provides girls and their mothers with a year of training to read from the Torah.
6. BINA—A secular yeshiva in Beer Sheva: funding for a third, non-Orthodox school.

A second part of the funding goes to iRep, the pluralism project of the Global Planning Table of JFNA, while the last part will go to pay the salary of Noga Maliniak, our new Cincinnati Representative in Israel.

Noga Maliniak is a long-time friend of the Cincinnati Jewish community, having served as the community’s shlicha, or emissary, from Israel from 2000 to 2003. In that capacity, she came to know many young Cincinnatians who in the following years made aliyah. From 2003 to 2010, Noga held senior positions within the Jewish Agency for Israel, which included leading the Jewish Agency’s schlichim selection program. She then served as Executive Shlicha for the Greater MetroWest Jewish Federation in northern New Jersey. As Cincinnati Representative, Noga will advance our community’s strategic investments in programs that address pluralism in Israel, help individual donors and allocations council members invest strategically in Israel, prepare Israeli delegations visiting Cincinnati and assist Cincinnati visitors traveling to Israel, enhance business to business connections with Israel, meet with Israelis participating in the Children’s Hospital Exchange, and screen and prepare shlichim.