News from the JULC - Issue 5

Dear Friends:
We are all shocked and deeply saddened by the terrorist attack on the people of the U.S.A. on Sept. 11, an attack on all that peace and freedom loving people hold dear. We join our voices to repudiate this barbaric act, and pray for the victims and their families.

BOARD MEETING

On Thursday, Sept. 6, we got together in Miami for our yearly meeting. It was a very productive and positive encounter, in which Costa Rica, Jamaica, Panama, El Salvador Puerto Rico and Aruba were represented. The representative of the Jewish Community of Honduras, who was unable to attend, Phil Gelman, sent his apologies. After words of welcome from our President, Jean Claude Kahn, each community read its report.

Aruba: Efforts are being made to achieve greater involvement of members The Hebrew School has re-opened for classes, and there are some Adult Education courses. However, there is a number of youth members who go to Europe or the USA to pursue higher education, and relocate there. This situation concerns the oommunity. The number of overseas members who support the community is growing steadily. Cantor Spenadel and members of the community joined the people of Aruba in a ceremony of solidarity with the American visitors who were unable to return to the States after the terrorist act, and were stranded on the island. Arubans opened their hearts and their homes to them.

Costa Rica: The Religious School has presently an enrollment of 48 students. The community is actively engaged in the process of finding a Rabbi, a project that is to them a priority. On the coming High Holidays a husband and wife team, Rabbis Linda Madskin and Jonathan Rubinstein, will be conducting the services.
New chairs have been acquired for the Synagogue.

El Salvador is also in the process of finding a rabbi, as Rabbi G.Kraselnik, who has been with the community for 6 years, will be leaving his post soon. We wish our dear friend, and present Executive Director of our Union, R. Gustavo Kraselnik, continued success and fulfillment, wherever his new position may take him. He has motivated us, and generated new projects during these years, and we are very grateful to him for his constant support and tireless efforts on behalf of our organization.
The Salvadoran Jewish community will be building a school in the small town of Jerusalem that was badly damaged by the earthquake.

Honduras: The president of the community, Phil Gelman, has recently been interviewed for Mundo Israelita (Bs. Aires, Argentina). An article about this community will be appearing shortly in this Jewish publication.

Jamaica: Our member community was represented by its President, Tony Lindo, and
by David Matalon, who is organizing the upcoming UJCL encounter in Jamaica. He has had intensive experience organizing Lions’ Club conferences. The community, which has 220 members, is also trying to find a Rabbi. Presently a lay leader, Steven Henriques, is conducting services. The Matalon family has donated a Preparatory High School, Hillel Academy, that has 65o students enrolled It is open to high achieving students of all faiths; currently only a 3% of the student body is Jewish.

Panama: The Isaac Rabin School has now 110 students enrolled, from an initial student enrollment of 51. It is a pluralistic school, focused on the ethical values of Judaism and on academic excellence. Its President, Samuel Fuchs, is a member of Kol Shearit Israel. This community of 165 families, likewise, is actively looking for a Rabbi. Presently, lay leaders conduct the service. Rabbi Bernard Cohen, from California, will be leading the upcoming High Holiday services.

Puerto Rico: Rabbi Mordecai Rotem, who is the first ordained Reform rabbi in Israel, has become the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom Community. The religious school is presently engaged in setting up a new and exciting learning center, with which it hopes to raise the number of students enrolled. (presently, 13). This community is also concerned with the scarcity of youth that will, in the future, become lay leaders.

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FIFTH UJCL CONFERENCE:

THEME: Jewish Education in Latin America and the Caribbean in the New Millennium: Needs and Expectations.
DATE: JANUARY 31 TO FEBRUARY 3, 2002
PLACE: LE MERIDIEN PEGASUS HOTEL
REGISTRATION FEE: $ 175.00

The Jamaican community is working very hard to make this a memorable event. David Matalon heads the Jamaica 2002 committee, with the full cooperation of enthusiastic committee members.
Very interesting workshops are being organized and the speakers are stimulating and extremely knowledgeable. You will be receiving the Program as soon as all details are finalized.

Your participation is essential to make this Conference a renewed success for our Union!

For additional information please contact

Ainsley Henriquez: ainsley@cwjamaica.com
or Mitzi Barker: mbarker@infochan.com

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UJCL CENSUS

Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik, who was in charge of this project explained, at our Board meeting in Miami, that the absolute figures have not yet been analyzed, but they show that there are about 100 youth members (13-18 years old) in our communities.

We are planning to organize a Youth Program for them in our upcoming Conference in Jamaica, and shared youth activities for them between sister communities on a more regular basis.

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UJCL WEBSITE : http://www.ujcl.org/

This project is about to become a reality. Martha E. Lichtenstein, from Aruba, made a presentation during the UJCL Board Meeting in Miami. We will have links to important Jewish organizations in the States and, hopefully, in Latin America It will offer opportunities for Adult Education, as well as a link to the JTSA (Jewish Theological Seminary) for their weekly Torah commentary.
The web site is bilingual, and each community will be able to update its information or make changes independently.

We will, of course, inform you of the launching as soon as all details are taken care of.
We sincerely hope that this project will help strengthen our communities, by giving them a voice, and access to a wealth of information.

Our new forum will open avenues for creative ideas and initiatives.
One of the core principles of community networking is the empowerment of the people who are a part of it.

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Please make use of this opportunity to send us your suggestions and thoughts to vitiailana@hotmail.com

Martha E. Lichtensttein
September 2001

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