Watch your mailbox for our annual scholarship fund drive!

Each year the Young Judaea Scholarship Fund allows youth of all ages to learn about Israel and their Jewish identity by helping families to finance summer and year-round YJ activities. In 2004, through the generosity of many families, TOL Young Judaea distributed $45,100.00!

Your gift to the Young Judaea Scholarship Fund directly touches the lives of local youth and therefore affects the greater Jewish community. Many families continue to struggle in these difficult economic times and cannot afford the tuition of the truly priceless Young Judaea experience. Due to the ever-increasing scholarship needs we are asking past camper families, present camper families, alumni, and friends for help for this once a year campaign.

Tzedakah and tikun olam (repairing the world) are an integral part of the Young Judaea ideology and our values as a Jewish organization. We encourage everyone to participate in this mitzvah that will directly impact the lives of youth in our community.

Please contact Frank Silberlicht at 713-723-8354 or via email at frank@cyjtexas.org to make a donation or to arrange a meeting to discuss other giving opportunities.

NATIONWIDE ART CONTEST FOR 6th-8th GRADERS
Free trip to Israel for Student Artist, Parent, & School Rep

Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization dedicated to revitalizing North American Aliyah, is inviting all 6th-8th graders to participate in a competition entitled “Homeward Bound.” The object of the contest is to create and design a logo for Nefesh B’Nefesh’s Summer 2005 Aliyah flights. The winning logo design, capturing and depicting the essence of “Aliyah and Homecoming,” will be painted on the body of one or more of the places bringing hundreds of Olim from North America to Israel. The winning artist will be invited to accompany this special flight, joined by his/her parent and/or school representative.

This initiative will be supported by a nationwide public relations campaign and be photographed and written about by major publications worldwide.

Click here for Contest Guidelines & Details.

Announcing Merakzim 2005

Camp Young Judaea-Texas is excited to announce the Merakzim for Summer 2005:

Nitzanim (2nd & 3rd grades): Efrat Nezer (Jerusalem, Israel)
Ofarim (3rd & 4th grades): Sharon Friedstadt (Monterrey, Mexico)
Tsofim (5th grade): Amy Reynolds (Houston, Texas)
Maginim (6th grade): Yoni Abramson (Carmey Yosef, Israel)
Kesher (7th grade): Debbie Forkowitz (Waxahachie, Texas)
Bogrim (8th grade): Elias Sandler (Monterrey, Mexico)
Segel (9th grade): Rani Weinberg (Los Angeles, California)

Each of our merakzim (unit heads) will bring a tremendous amount of experience and skills to CYJ-Texas and we are thrilled to have them as a part of the camp staff this summer. Profiles of our merakzim and all of our summer staff will be posted on our website soon so check back often for updates!

When: Friday, April 15th – Sunday, April 17th
Where: CYJ-Texas (of course!)

Join high school students from around the T.O.L. region (TX-OK-LA) for a weekend of fun and leadership. Highlights include elections for the 2005-2006 regional mazkirut (board) and participation in j-Serve, the first nationwide Jewish teen day of service.

Please bring TWO donation items to convention for our social action project. Donations of food, toiletries, new/gently used books and toys will all be accepted.
SPECIAL CONTEST: Win a free i-Pod by bringing the most new members to convention!

Click here to download Bogrim Spring Convention information & application.
Please contact Barbara at 713-723-8354 if you have questions about registering for convention.

Click here to download an application for regional mazkirut (board).

Please contact Amy at 713-723-8354 if you have questions about running for regional mazkirut (board).

Hamagshimim, the University Zionist Youth Movement of Hadassah, is delighted to invite you to partner with Merkaz Hamagshimim Hadassah in the Chayalim Bodedim (Lone Soldier) project.

Merkaz Hamagshimim, Hadassah’s absorption and community center for young immigrants and tourists, has created an educational program about Lone Soldiers in the Israeli Army that illustrates an important and exciting part of Israeli life.

Making aliyah alone to Israel is difficult for any young person. Navigating the bureaucracy, learning the language and trying to understand the cultural gaps within society are huge obstacles for all. Add one to three years in the Israeli Army and the individual faces the challenge of a lifetime. Merkaz Hamagshimim Hadassah understands this challenge and has set out to help make the time a bit easier.

A chayal boded or a Lone Soldier is any soldier serving in the Israeli Army whose parents do not live in the country or cannot take care of them for one reason or another. The army and the State provide certain services and privileges to these soldiers, but Merkaz Hamagshimim has chosen to do something more.

Several times a year a group gets together to organize and send letters and packages to these young men and women. The project currently serves about 150 English speaking soldiers who are either Young Judaea graduates, part of Garin Tsabar (American/Israeli Scouts who come to serve in the army) and others who have found the warmth of Merkaz Hamagshimim.

We invite you, your friends, and colleagues to make life a little bit better for Lone Soldiers of the Israeli Army and to make a connection for yourself. Passover is approaching and an $18 contribution to the Lone Soldier holiday distribution program will be used immediately to provide kosher for Passover packages to more soldiers than ever before. A card will be included in the packages telling the soldiers that the heartfelt gift comes with warm wishes for a joyous Passover.

Please send contributions to:
The Lone Soldier Project
Hamagshimim
C/O Ariella Bar-Nissim
50 West 58th Street
New York, NY 10019
Checks should be made out to Hadassah.

If you would like to register for the important letter writing component of the program, here are the guidelines to get your letters to the soldiers.

1. Where should I send the letters?
Send the letters to the attention of Sarah Cooper, program administrator at Merkaz Hamagshimim.
Address: Merkaz Hamagshimim, Dor DorV’Dorshav 7A, Jerusalem Israel 93117
Fax: 011-972-2-561-8981
E-mail: sarah@themerkaz.org

2. Can my group or I “adopt a soldier”?
If you or your unit wishes to correspond with an individual soldier or soldiers, please indicate that request when you send your first letter or when you make a contribution. Sarah must get permission from the soldier to share his information. For speedy delivery, we prefer that letters be sent to soldiers as they come in.

3. What should I say?
Here are a few simple suggestions:
- Tell something about yourself and why you decided to write
- Give the soldier encouragement and support for the important work he/she is doing
- Include your address if you would like a response. But please understand that the soldier’s time is limited and he may not be able to respond in a timely manner.

For further information please contact Hamagshimim@hadassah.org or call 212 – 303 – 4585.

Shalom U’veracha,
Barbara Extein,
National Chair, Hamagshimim

July 17-20, 2005 ~ Bring your passion to where activism was born

Hadassah Convention 2005
what so proudly we hail ~ Washington, DC

- Voice your support for Israel to members of Congress on a Day on the Hill
- Join 2,000 Zionist leaders as they discuss the future of Israel
- Participate in special programming designed for university students
- Network with professionals and peers
- Represent university students and the issues that are facing Israel on campus
- Special convention rates for students
To request Convention 2005 registration material, please email convention@hadassah.org or call 877-790-2676.
To apply to be selected as a Hamagshimim delegate, please contact (877) GO-HAMAG or Hamagshimim@hadassah.org.

Click here to view the flyer.

Bogrim Spring Convention will participate in J-SERVE, the first-annual national effort to showcase Jewish teen service on Sunday, April 17th. Attendees will end the convention in Austin with a special conservation project with “Texas Impact” and “Keep Austin Beautiful.”

J-Serve 2005: Jewish youth, Repairing the world, One day at a time is the first ever national day of service for Jewish teens. This date corresponds with Youth Service America’s National Youth Service Day. Each year on that weekend, hundreds of thousands of young people engage in tens of thousands of service projects, providing service to communities throughout the United States. This year J-serve 2005 will be offering Jewish teens a way to get involved in many local communities.

This initiative is being coordinated by PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, the North American Alliance for Jewish Youth, and the Jewish Coalition for Service.

It is generously underwritten by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Awards Committee, and the Estelle Friedman Gervis Family Foundation.

National Partners include: B’nai B’rith Youth Organization, Inc. * Bnei Akiva * B'nai Tzedek Teen Philanthropy Program - Institute of Service Learning at the Jewish Community High School, a division of Gratz College * Jewish Education Service of North America * Jewish Community Center Association * National Conference of Synagogue Youth * North American Federation of Temple Youth * No’ar Hadash * spark: Partnership for Service * United Synagogue Youth * Young Judaea

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By Evan Weiner

My involvement with CYJ dates back to a fateful afternoon at the JCC with my great friend Jason Methner. We decided to stuff the raffle box with our names so that we could win the prize- little did we know Jason's superior understanding of probability would bring us into the world of Young Judaea for life. We both won discounts to camp and decided to go. Since that first summer in 1992, I attended camp every summer- Tsofim through the very first Segel by bus. After graduating from CYJ Texas, I went on to TY, Machon, MH and culminated with the best year of my life on Year Course. I had the privilege to come back to my home away from home to serve on the staff of camp as a madrich (counselor) and a merekez (coordinator).

When I returned from Israel, I shipped out to college at Washington University in St. Louis. I will be graduating this May (hopefully) and shortly thereafter, I will be getting married to a terrific WashUer, Dina Zehngut. After our summer wedding, we will be spending time in both Houston and Tucson (her home town) before we move out to New Haven, CT where she will begin a Physician Assistants program and I will work on a Masters in Jewish Education.

I am so thankful for all the amazing experiences I had at CYJ Texas and all the amazing friends I made- with whom I will sing and dance at my wedding.

Thank you CYJ Texas!

You can contact Evan Weiner at eiweiner@artsci.wustl.edu.