This summer, the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo responded to the needs of Israeli children in the embattled town of Sderot. Through a generous gift from the estate of the late Edith Seimons, a donation in the amount of $10,000 was made directly to the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) in order to send 111 children of Sderot to summer camp in Israel. This is a wonderful gift, under any circumstances. But, considering what the Sderot children have been going through recently, it is really a mitzvah. .
Sderot is a southern Israeli town that borders on Gaza, and has been the target of thousands of rocket attacks by Palestinian militants over the past six years. Rocket fire has intensified since the disengagement and last year’s War with Lebanon. During the 1980’s the Jewish community in Buffalo developed a special relationship with Sderot and through Project Renewal, which helped develop this somewhat forgotten city. Over the years the Buffalo Jewish community, along with the Rochester Jewish community, raised nearly a million dollars for the city. Many of the Federation missions to Israel since the 1980’s have spent part of their time in Sderot, visiting the local residents. Among the most successful projects established were the Shuman Day Care Center as well as Benderson Media Center.
“The children of Sderot and the surrounding region are being raised in the abnormal reality of missiles falling near their homes and schools. Many are in constant trauma, often looking to their parents for security, which they cannot provide. We deeply appreciate your support in sending these children to a summer camp in a safe area where they enjoy an essential break, and their parents have peace of mind about their children’s wellbeing. We appreciate the partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo that is helping to ensure a secure Jewish future with a strong Israel at its heart,” said Jeff Kaye, Director General of JAFI, in his letter of thanks to Federation Executive Director Dan Kantor.
Camps that Sderot resident have been attending are located near Sderot, where the campers don’t have to worry about sirens going off and having to run to the nearest bombs shelter. At these camps, children participate in a wide range of enrichment and leisure activities that emphasize social themes such as science and technology, solar themes and desert studies ecology, protecting the environment; alternative ‘clean’ energy; technological solutions to problems of desert life and more. Daily reality in Sderot is not easy for anyone, especially the children who will carry these traumatic experiences for the rest of their lives. It is wonderful that our Buffalo Jewish community, through the foresight of the late Edith Seimons, can offer these children the kind of camping opportunity that can really make a difference in their young lives.
This phenomenon of anxiety is reflected in lower performance in school (the kids are having a hard time concentrating in school and are always worrying for their parents), social problems (the house provides them with a sense of protection yet they feel completely defenseless leaving the house), aggressiveness and nervousness (kids develop a survival manifestation and try to solve every problem by using force), depression, moodiness and insomnia (due to stories and pictures of killed people that they were exposed to in the media or in reality).
Experiences from the front line of the latest war with Hezbollah
24 year old Israeli and UB graduate, Daphne Zilber, spent the last summer in a bomb shelter in Israel. The eighth generation Israeli was born and raised in Metulla, the most northern town in Israel, right on the Lebanese border. "The Shelling of our town by Katyusha missiles was a part of my everyday life growing up. You have 'snow days', we had 'Katyusha days'. This is my little spot of free therapy and personal experiences from the front line due to this war that was forced on Israel." Daphne's Blog
 | | Zilber with Metulla in the background | | |
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Rick Zakalik is Benderson award winner
 Richard A. Zakalik, a passionate and committed lay leader in Buffalo’s Jewish Community, will receive the prestigious Nathan Benderson Community Service Award at the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo’s United Jewish Fund Campaign 2008 Kick-Off Community Dinner on Tuesday, September 18th at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo. Continued
2007 Campaign: off and running!
More than $2 million has been raised for the 2007 UJF Campaign. click here to make your gift .
40th Anniversary of the Six Day War
Pro-Israel Rally makes headlines in the Buffalo News
 | | Showing support for Israel | | |
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Ambassador Dennis Ross to keynote Sept 18 Event
The tumultuous future of the
Middle East will be a highlight as Ambassador Dennis B. Ross speaks to the Buffalo Jewish Community September 18th at the “must attend” opening Kick-Off dinner of the 2008 United Jewish Fund Campaign. Ross will keynote The Buffalo Jewish Community’s tenth annual United Jewish Fund Campaign Kick-Off Dinner, co-chaired this year by
Bonnie Clement and Irving &
Marilyn Shuman , at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Downtown Buffalo. General UJF Campaign Chair
Holly Levy , UJF Women’s Campaign Chair
Judith Katzenelson Brownstein and their cabinets will launch the 2008 United Jewish Fund Campaign.
Ambassador Ross is a distinguished fellow and counselor for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. For more than twelve years, Ross played the leading role in shaping involvement in the
Middle East peace process and in dealing directly with the parties in negotiations. A highly skilled diplomat, Ambassador Ross was this country's point man on the peace process in both the Bush and Clinton administrations. He was instrumental in assisting Israelis and Palestinians in reaching the 1995 Interim Agreement; he also successfully brokered the Hebron Accord in 1997, facilitated the Israeli-Jordan peace treaty, and intensively worked to bring and
together.
A scholar and diplomat with more than two decades of experience in Soviet and Middle Eastern policy, Ambassador Ross worked closely with Secretaries of State James Baker, Warren Christopher, and Madeleine Albright. Prior to his service as Special Middle East Coordinator under President Clinton, Ross served as director of the State Department's Policy Planning office in the first Bush administration. In that position, he played a prominent role in developing policy toward the former Soviet Union, the unification of
and its integration into NATO, arms control negotiations, and the development of the Gulf War coalition. He served as director of
Near East and South Asian affairs on the National Security Council staff during the Reagan administration, and as deputy director of the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment.
A 1970 graduate of UCLA, Ambassador Ross wrote his doctoral dissertation on Soviet decision-making. He has received UCLA's highest medal and has also been named UCLA alumni of the year. He has received honorary doctorates from the Jewish Theological Seminary and
Syracuse
University . President Clinton awarded Ambassador Ross the Presidential medal for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, and Secretaries Baker and Albright presented him with the State Department's highest award.
The cost of the dinner is $65, and a minimum gift of $100 to the 2008 UJF Campaign is required to attend. Dietary laws will be observed. Table Captains will again be soliciting community members to sit at their tables. If you wish to be a table captain, wish to attend this year or have any questions about the event, call
Randi Morkisz at 886-7750 or e-mail rmorkisz@jfedbflo.com
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