Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Israeli Chronicles — Connecting Israel & Cincinnati

Update: The deadline to sign up for this trip is April 9, 2016

The 2016 Cincinnati Congregation and Community Israel Mission is scheduled for July 17-28, 2016, and will have generous subsidies provided by the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati. The 11 participating rabbis have begun holding recruitment meetings and detailed information about each congregation’s unique itinerary will be posted on the individual congregational websites beginning September 1. Da’at is the organizer of all the ground itineraries.

The cost of the trip is $4200 per person double occupancy and includes most meals, hotel, transportation, ground costs, guides, etc. Airfare is projected at $1700 roundtrip from Cincinnati.

Anyone who is a member of a local Cincinnati congregation and is a Cincinnati resident is eligible to travel on the mission and receive a subsidy from the Jewish Foundation. Congregational members 45 and under can receive $3000. Those 46 and over can receive $2000 plus an additional $1000 (or a total of $3000) if they have not been to Israel in the last 15 years. A family can receive a maximum of $10,000.

Eleven local congregations are participating: Beth Adam, Rockdale, Valley, Wise, Temple Sholom, Adath Israel, Etz Chayim, Northern Hills, Beth Israel, Beth Sholom, Sha’arei Torah.

All congregations will experience four programs together. The opening is at our partnership city of Netanya, a large-scale celebration in the form of a barbeque on the beach. On Shabbat in Jerusalem we will experience our first entry into the Old City together at the southern part of the Western Wall. Congregations will have the opportunity to be with their own congregations as Shabbat comes in and worship as they please. Then we will have a Shabbat meal together at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, overlooking the Old City. Everyone is also invited to President Rivlin’s home in Jerusalem, where we will visit with him and he will speak to us. At the end we have a farewell with a time for reflection and a ceremonial ending at Mount Herzl, the Israeli national cemetery.

Each congregation will also visit programs that the Federation’s annual campaign supports. We support programs, for example, that make Israel more inclusive, that promote concepts like religious freedom and freedom of marriage, because we believe if American Jews cannot identify with the Jewish state they will disconnect. So we hope that the congregational members will see the value of these programs and be inspired to give to the Federation’s annual campaign.

In the meantime, our community shlicha, our emissary from Israel, Maia Morag, is collaborating with the Mayerson JCC to prepare people for the trip, and help them stay engaged after they come back. They are working on a menu of programs that includes a series of talks about Israel “beyond camels,” the Israelity speaker series, the Jewish and Israeli Film Festival, introductory conversational Hebrew, Israeli dancing, and more.

For additional questions please contact Barbara Miller, Director of Community Building, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati at bmiller@jfedcin.org or 513-985-1528, or, as of September 1, your congregation’s website.