LAUNCHED BY TEMPLE BETH-EL  

North Bellmore, New York. 

Temple Beth-El of North Bellmore, New York, a traditional Conservative Synagogue, has undertaken the responsibility of securing and repairing a Sefer Torah to send to the TALI Chernowitz (Chernivtsi) Jewish Day School in the Ukraine.  

Since 1991, the TALI Chernowitz (Chernivtsi) Jewish Day School has been the heart of a Jewish community with a rich history in the Southwest Ukraine. The community was decimated by the Holocaust and cut off from its roots by three generations of Communist rule.   

The school has more than 300 students from elementary through high school, about half of whom come from households with incomes of less than $200 per month. It offers the only significant non-Orthodox source of Jewish education in the community. The School hosts family programs, Kabbalat Shabbat, and holiday celebrations for the school community.  Unfortunately the school and the growing Masorti (Conservative) community do not have a Sefer Torah.   

Temple Beth-El will begin a fundraising campaign on June 25, 2008 to provide a Torah for this underserved, but committed Jewish community. A Sofer (scribe) will be working throughout the Summer, with the re-dedication of a repaired Torah scheduled for December 2008. Temple Beth-El is seeking the community’s participation to make this a successful event.  

Suggested contributions are:

      $18     general donation

      $5 minimum donation for Children under 12 to participate

      $36  for a letter

      $75  for a word 

      $108  for a verse

      $180  for a chapter

      $360  for a Parsha

  $1000 for a Complete Book

      $2500 for the Complete Torah

(You may request a particular entry to honor or memorialize a loved one, or to mark a special occasion. We can assist you in choosing an appropriate selection.) 

Your donation, made out to Temple Beth-El, can be sent to Martha Kreisel, Fund Raising Chair, Temple Beth-El, 1373 Bellmore Road, North Bellmore, NY 11710.  

For further information please contact Martha Kreisel at 516-783-8401 or via email at librfmzk@yahoo.com  
 

TEMPLE BETH-EL TORAH RESTORATION

(background) 

Kabbalat Shabbat in Chernowitz 

Since 1991, the TALI Chernowitz (Chernivtsi) Jewish Day School has been the heart of a Conservative Jewish community in the Southwest Ukraine. The community’s rich history was decimated by the Holocaust by three generations of Communist rule.  Prior to the Holocaust, about 10,000 Jews lived in Chernowitz.  Currently about 4,500 Jews reside there, and more than 300 children attend the school, about half of whom come from households with incomes of less than $200 per month. It is the only significant non-Orthodox Jewish education in this area.  The Ukrainian Ministry of Education has bestowed its “Model School of the Year Award” to the TALI Chernivtsi of its exemplary Jewish educational programming.     

Façade of the TALI Chernivtsi Jewish Day School 

The TALI Chernivtsi Jewish Day School is a public school offering general studies curriculum with a strong Jewish studies component integrated into the program.  The government funds the general studies curriculum (as well as the school building). Midreshet Yerushalayim, a program of the Schechter Institutes, sponsors the Jewish studies component, teacher training and other Jewish programming for the large Jewish populations who were deprived of any connection to Jewish heritage under Communist regimes.  

The TALI programs offer, two summer camps (Ramah-Ukraine and Ramah-Ukraine Family camp), model Seders, High Holiday services and teacher training seminars for Jewish studies.  TALI, the Hebrew acronym for “Enriched Jewish Studies” is creating a new educational reality for the Ukrainian non-Orthodox population.  

Children at the TALI school 

According to the Schechter Institutes, the goals of TALI education are:

• To develop an awareness among pupils and their parents of the tradition and origins of the Jewish people, and to foster respect for the values and symbols of Judaism.

• To facilitate greater knowledge in major areas of Jewish studies: Bible, Rabbinic Literature, Jewish History, Jewish Thought, Prayer and Hebrew Literature.

• To enrich learning through experience of traditional practices, prayer and observance of Shabbat and Holidays.

• To educate towards Jewish values by drawing from Jewish culture and classical texts; to nurture the interactions between school, family and community by integrating a communal service component into the school curriculum. 

Rosh Hashanah in class 

For further information please contact Martha Kreisel at 516-783-8401 or via email at librfmzk@yahoo.com