An unbielivable «Taglit» event for participants from all over the world was held at Binyaney Hauma the main concert hall of the jewish capital. Every single time it surprises the audience with incredible atmosphere of Jewish unity and love to the State of Israel. 250 participants of Ezra Taglit from the US and FSU were honored to be part of anniversary show of «Taglit Mega Event». There they saw a speech of Israel minister of finance Yuval Shtainetz, philontropists and main «Taglit» sponsors and donors and heard songs about Israel by special «Taglit» band. Famous israeli singer Haarel Skaat surprised the audience with singing «Atikva», Israel national anthem. The 10th Anniversary of «Taglit» was celebrated with a cake and fireshow at the end of the evening!

On May 8th, 2010 in hotel Shalom in Jerusalem took place a "Mega Event". At this event, five Ezra Taglit groups from the USA
and from the former Soviet Union came together . This type of gathering has become a very pleasant tradition for EZRA groups who come here from different parts of the world. The participants of these groups get to meet and greet and have a good time together. Also, in attendance at this event were important guests, such as Alex Miller, who is the Deputy of the Knesset from the political group "Our Home Israel" , Igal Yasinov, the Vice President of the Jewish National Fund, and Arik Nudelman, who is the representative of "Beyteyni Olami" and a member of the City Municipal at Ramat- Gan. Also, present was the President and representitive of the Tourism Agency "Tailormade". The atmopshere of the event was very festive and friendly. The night ended with Israeli National dancing and tasty cake.

 

On April 25- 30th, Ezra was hosted at the 4-day intensive Taglit Birthright Israel leadership training program for madrichim in Jerusalem. The focus of the seminar was, first and foremost, to train and prepare the young leaders to take student groups on Birthright Israel trips this summer, as well as strengthen their Jewish roots, and bonds to modern Israeli culture. The seminar was generously supported by Genesis Philanthropy Group and Taglit Birthright Israel. 

The seminar was specially designed for Russian speaking individuals from the former Soviet Union and represented four major organizations - Ezra, Hillel, Nativ, and JAFI. EZRA uniquely included together madrichim from all over the globe: Germany, North America, Israel, and FSU. The educational training was provided by the Institute of Informal Education headed by Dr. Dima Zicer. For the madrichim from Ezra, this seminar was more than just about training of a madrich, but also offered a wonderful opportunity to connect and make friendships with young leaders from other organizations. Participants were able to share experiences and goals and to grow in the process. Most importantly, madrichim from Ezra had a full week to practice working together with one another and learn to operate as individuals within a team to achieve a common goal. Additionally, madrichim from Ezra met with leaders from the Ezra organization and tour guides who offered advice and answers to some important questions, and all worked together to design and improve the Birthright itineraries for the upcoming summer season. Ezra madrichim came back with new knowledge, experiences, friendships and a deeper connection to Ezra - realizing that collaboration and friendships are possible even across the Atlantic. 

EZRA CANADA - WORLD YOUTH MOVEMENT

FOR RUSSIAN-SPEAKING JEWISH YOUTH OF CANADA

Ezra Canada youth movement is part of Ezra World Jewish organization, which focuses its work on the Russian-speaking communities in Canada, North America, the FSU and Germany.

Goals of Ezra Canada:

• Development of Jewish education
• Fighting assimilation
• Strengthening Jewish self-identification
• Leadership development in the Russian Jewish community
• Support for the State of Israel

Ezra Canada is currently the most dynamic and progressive Russian-speaking Jewish youth movement in Canada.

It is important to note that the development of Ezra is a direct result of the continuing effort of Russian-speaking Jewish leaders, who understand the specific needs of this community and realize the critical need for the development of leadership within the Russian-speaking Jewish communities of the Diaspora - it is towards this goal that most of the efforts are directed.

As our primary concern we see the strengthening of the Jewish identity of the young Russian Jews living in Canada. For them the link to the past has been lost or is weak and insufficient. Russian-speaking Jews have never become part of the American Jewish community and are currently on their way to complete assimilation. They require very special approach for the time-being in order for them to eventually become an integral part of a larger Jewish community and to internalize the sense of belonging to the entire Jewish nation (Klal Israel).

The Russian speaking community in Canada must go through all the steps of getting on its feet and creating community institutions; finding its own methods for effective Jewish education. However, it is critical to first raise a new generation of leaders in the community.

It will fall to those who are today 18 to 30 years old to create the Jewish community. They will decide what kind of education their children will receive: whether their education will have a Jewish component, if their children identify themselves as Jews, whether they will support the State of Israel, whether they will make a contribution to the development of Jewish culture and education and, finally, whether they will pass the baton to the next generation, meaning their children.

EZRA movement currently serves about 7000 young Russian Jews (ages 18—30) in the US—in fact, it serves more young Russian Jews than any other organization. We work hard to provide rich and joyful Jewish experience for our participants during our trips to Israel with Taglit Birthright Israel program, Jewishly orientated trips to Argentina & Europe, China and South Africa and Poland-Israel Leadership seminar as well as during our educational, social and leadership programs.

Thousands of young Russian speaking Jews participate in the projects and programs of the Ezra movement, and the number of programs, like the number of participants, continues to grow.
We believe that while enjoying and interacting with each other and receiving positive Jewish experience young Russian-speaking Jews become active part of the American Jewish community, and eventually create their own Jewish families to ensure the continuation of the Jewish people.

For that matter, Ezra movement is presented on the board of the Russian council in Brooklyn, NY, and collaborates actively with Hillel Brooklyn College to be able to create events and programs, which would involve maximum amount of Russian-speaking Jewish young adults.

Our week-end retreats (shabbatons) are dedicated to teaching Jewish values, experiencing Shabbat, and learning to be a part of the community. We educate our participants about such values as Tzdakah (charity) and giving to your community, the Land of Israel, Jewish Leadership etc.
We believe that leadership should flourish from within the community. For that purpose we have created Jewish Leadership program which is meant to develop leadership skills and to provide a deeper knowledge in Judaism. Our young leaders are ambassadors of Ezra Canada during the trips, programs, and events, and represent Jewish values in a way that can reach our participants at their level.

Leadership programs run by Ezra movement exist today in New York and Boston. In the future, we are planning to open Ezra branches in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco.

Today Ezra Canada, as a result of its successful work, has achieved recognition and support from many of the largest Jewish funds and organizations. We have already accomplished much, however we are certain that much more work remains ahead!

Ezra Canada is a partner of: Taglit-Birthright Israel, Birthright Israel NEXT, Genesis Philanthropy Group, Jewish National Fund, Claims Conference, Jewish Agency for Israel, Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life, “Beyteynu Olami”, COJECO, RAJI, Hagshama, and “Ezra Olami” (worldwide).