Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

David Harris

Jerusalem Day Workshop by Tzabar Parents, just named finalist for “Best of 2016” award for helping Russian-speaking families in Israel.

I am proud to announce that Tzabar Parents, one of the 6 grantees the Jewish Federation chose for its Israeli pluralism allocation, is one of five finalists for “The People of 2016 Award” from Channel 9 – the Israeli public Russian-speaking channel. —Danielle

Many Russian-speaking secular families in Israel have difficulties fitting in and affiliating with the native Israeli community when it comes to celebration of traditional Jewish and national holidays. This is due to the unique cultural background and complex identities of parents who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union in their teenage years. Growing up in the FSU, they were deprived of Jewish tradition and culture and upon their arrival to Israel struggled to fit in—but didn’t have a real chance to close this cultural gap (especially those who came being 17 years old and up, missing Israeli school education). Today, they are parents to Israel-born kids (Tzabars) who wish to fit in with their peers. But, their young parents lack a knowledge and connection to Jewish tradition, which might hinder the integration, thereby prolonging the cycle of cultural alienation.

Tzabar Parents is the first and the only organization in Israel that works specifically with Russian-speaking Israeli families with preschool-aged kids. The activities foster Jewish renewal and strengthen Jewish identity by immersing Russian-speaking families in fun, interactive and educational programming adapted specifically to their cultural needs.

The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, through the Israel & Overseas Committee, supports a key project of Tzabar Parents, called “Jewish Holidays for Newbies.” This educational program for Israeli secular Russian-speaking families, focused on Jewish holidays & Jewish culture, adapted for early childhood ages, creates interactive family events focused on the symbols and meanings of each celebrated holiday.  In addition, in each event participants get a family-focused booklet, in Hebrew and Russian, for further joint learning about the events, traditions, and songs of the Jewish holiday and ways to celebrate it at home. During the whole project, the organization’s staff works together with active parents, who get involved in the planning and preparations of the event and in executing it.

Message from Tzabar Parents:

 Thank You to over 300 families for participating in our activities and events and for the feedback that helps us improve constantly our level of professionalism.

We appreciate our team of four project coordinators and our educational team that invest their souls and contribute to the ongoing growth of the Amuta (Tzabar Parents.) During our 4 years of operation we held over 50 activities, events, holiday celebrations and tours, two family camps and two professional training camps.

A special Thank You to our Board that is always there for us, making complicated decisions.

A special Thank You to our partners, that support us, and giving us the opportunity to develop and expand our arrays of activity, making our dreams come true:

Genesis Philanthropy Group, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, Gimprich Foundation and the municipalities of Ramat Gan and Beer Sheva.

You can find an English version of Tzabar Parents’ website here.