Who is a Jew? Who is a Jewish Program Participant?
I just returned from a UJC Rabbinic Cabinet Mission to Ukraine. We visited a variety of programs
and institutions that reflected an incredible Jewish renaissance. I couldn’t help but think the entire time that we were in a place where my grandparents were forced to leave (Kiev) only two generations ago. But what really struck me was the working definition of program participants for those programs sponsored by the Jewish Agency for Israel (referred to as the Sachnut) and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (known as “the Joint”). Both organizations use Israel’s Law of Return as a measuring stick, which considers eligible all those who have a least one grandparent who is Jewish. One grandparent out of four. Would that we were as inclusive in North American Jewish institutions!
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