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 650 Reform Movement Teens Celebrate Israel at 60, NFTY in Israel at 50, and ARZA at 30 at HUC-JIR/Jerusalem The Reform Movement celebrated Israel's 60th, the 50th anniversary of NFTY in Israel, and the 30th anniversary of the founding of ARZA on July 10 with an all-night celebration beginning at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion/Jerusalem and culminating at Masada. More than 800 joined the celebration at HUC-JIR on July 10. At the close of the ceremony, more than 650 North American teenagers, who are spending the summer in Israel with NFTY, traveled to Masada. The teenagers heard Dan Nichols and his band e18hteen perform before climbing Masada. Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D., President of HUC-JIR, made a special presentation at the celebration. "For fifty years, NFTY in Israel has been forging strong times between North American teens and the State of Israel," said Rabbi Daniel Freelander, Senior Vice President of the Union for Reform Judaism. "Many of today's Reform leaders, including our President, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, and many of our Movement's rabbis, cantors, and lay leaders, first visited Israel on a NFTY pilgrimage." Founded in 1875, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the nation's oldest institution of higher Jewish education and the academic, spiritual, and professional leadership development center of Reform Judaism. HUC-JIR educates men and women for service to American and world Jewry as rabbis, cantors, educators, and communal service professionals, and offers graduate and post-graduate programs to scholars of all faiths. With centers of learning in Cincinnati, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, and New York, HUC-JIR's scholarly resources comprise renowned library and museum collections, the American Jewish Archives, biblical archaeology excavations, research institutes and centers, and academic publications. HUC-JIR invites the community to an array of cultural and educational programs which illuminate Jewish history, identity, and contemporary creativity and which foster interfaith and multiethnic understanding. Visit us at www.huc.edu |
