ujia episodes issue 2

LIFE RE-STARTED

On a hillside in the Galil, an idealistic kibbutz is rescuing young Israelis

from a life of crime, or worse.

RE-MAKING THE JEWISH STORYSimon Schama was the inspiring keynote speaker at a record UJIA Annual Dinner.

VITAL TREATMENT

How a medical school is transforming healthcare across an entire region.

MISSION STATEMENT

The UK community showed their support for the people of Israel this summer, as over 100

took part in UJIA’s Israel Now Mission.

Second Edition

E P I S O D E S

UNDAUNTEDAs Israel Tour got underway this summer, so did the conflict in Gaza. 98% of the 1,200+ Jewish 16 year-olds who had booked places on Tour, kept them. Read more about Tour, the UK Jewish community’s impressive support for Israel this summer, and the stories of lives that are being changed in Israel and the UK.

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AFTER 2,000 YEARS OF LONGING, WE HAVE A JEWISH STATE IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL. AND WE, WHO ARE PRIVILEGED TO BE ALIVE AT THIS TIME, HAVE THE CHANCE TO HELP BUILD A FUTURE FOR THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, AND TO INSPIRE A NEW GENERATION TO STRENGTHEN THEIR JEWISH IDENTITY, WITH ISRAEL AT ITS CORE.

READ ABOUT HOW YOU CAN MAKE YOUR MARK ON THE JEWISH STORY.

For a definition of terms regarding Israel and Judaism, please visit www.ujia.org/definitions

[email protected]

SUPPORTING ISRAEL. ALWAYS.The resilience of the Israeli people is not in doubt. Nor is the support of the UK Jewish community.

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RE-MAKING THE JEWISH STORYSimon Schama was the inspiring keynote speaker at a record UJIA Annual Dinner.

04-05

LIFE RE-STARTEDOn a hillside in the Galil, an idealistic kibbutz is rescuing young Israelis from a life of crime, or worse.

06-07

VITAL TREATMENTHow a medical school is transforming healthcare across an entire region.

08-09

TOUR DE FORCEThis summer’s Israel Tour was an amazing experience for its 1,200+ participants. But the decision to press on with Tour at a time of conflict was not an easy one.

10-11

MISSION STATEMENTThe UK community showed their support for the people of Israel this summer, as over 100 took part in UJIA’s Israel Now Mission.

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CHILDREN OF THE SOUTH APPEALHow the UK Jewish community provided emergency support to Israeli children living under rocket bombardment this summer.

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LEGACIESHow you can make your mark on the Jewish story beyond your lifetime.

14-16

BUILDING FUTURESHow one school holds the future for a town on Israel’s frontline.

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#TEDONTOURMeet Ted, Israel Tour’s social media phenomenon.

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SUPPORTING ISRAEL.

ALWAYS.This solidarity with the people of Israel

also showed itself with the rapid and generous response to our Children of the South Appeal (page 13) and by the more than 100 participants on our Israel Now Mission (page 12).

But the support for the people of Israel by the UK Jewish community, through UJIA, is much deeper than just reacting so impressively at a time of emergency.

It is a long-term commitment that leads to long-term results. The uplifting story about Avi, and how his life was turned around at Kibbutz Eshbal is told on page 6. The extraordinarily dedicated team at Kibbutz Eshbal know that only by being completely committed to the young people in their care can they achieve success where all previous attempts have failed. And we are similarly committed to other phenomenal projects in the Galil, changing the lives of tens of thousands of young people in the process.

This strategic approach is exemplified by our support for the Faculty of Medicine in Tsfat. We looked at what were the biggest obstacles to improving the quality of life for people in the Galil, Israel’s most deprived region. Health was an area with a huge differentiator between the Galil and the centre of the country. The impact of the Faculty of Medicine is already closing that gap, and the positive economic effect that it creates is also part of the plan. You can read the full story on page 8.

This summer, our young people showed that they want to make their mark on the Jewish story. It’s a mark you can make now, by going to ujia.org/donate. And it’s one you can make even beyond your lifetime by remembering UJIA in your Will (information about legacies is on pages 14-16).

We hope you enjoy this issue of Episodes. We are grateful for feedback – please email any comments to [email protected].

T he events this summer provided a reminder (if we needed it) that Israel’s situation is not normal.

It is surrounded by enemies, who may choose at any moment to escalate hostility into hostilities.

The resilience of the Israeli people, who have faced this situation for all of the country’s 66 years, is extraordinary. What may not have been as expected was the resilience of the UK Jewish community’s support for the people of Israel, in the face of this situation.

That 98% of those young people who had booked a place on Israel Tour, kept their place is remarkable. It is a testament both to their desire to connect with the people of Israel and their trust in UJIA and our partners to keep them safe. We tell that story more fully on page 10.

The resilience of the Israeli people is not in doubt. Nor is the support of the UK Jewish community.

To support our work in Israel and the UK, visit www.ujia.org or call Shoshana on 020 7424 6447

/UJIA

WE ALL NEED TO BE COURAGEOUS AND WE ALL NEED TO BE STAUNCH, LOYAL, LOVING FRIENDS OF ISRAEL.

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RE-MAKING THE

JEWISH STORYSimon Schama was the inspiring keynote speaker at a record UJIA Annual Dinner

1 ,000 guests attended the biggest UJIA dinner since 2002, against the backdrop of a summer of war and

an upsurge in anti-Semitism.

In an impassioned address, renowned historian Simon Schama spoke of the ‘dark times’ faced by Jews in the UK and the need to educate on Israel beyond the community.

In spite of his view that it is incumbent on Zionists to assess Israeli policy critically, he insisted, “We all need to be courageous and we all need to be staunch, loyal, loving friends of Israel.” To applause, Schama insisted, “How can you not be a Zionist? We need to reclaim the word ‘Zionist’ – as if it’s a word to be ashamed of – it’s not a word to be ashamed of. And it is not a word to run away from.”

In an evening themed on the need to secure the next generation’s emotional commitment to Israel, UJIA Chairman Bill Benjamin set out a bold vision for the coming year, asking attendees to increase donations by 20%. “Transformation cannot be done on a shoestring. In fact, we have to double UJIA’s level of investment over the next four years,” he said.

In the UK, he spoke of continuing to back youth movements and “doubling what we invest in Birthright”, and in Israel, rebuilding “the run down Darca Danciger High School” in Kiryat Shmona, creating a new educational facility at Kibbutz Eshbal, for disadvantaged youth, and the introduction of funding for a science and technology initiative in schools across the Galil.

Communal leaders and distinguished guests, including Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, attended the event at the Grosvenor

House Hotel against the backdrop of a summer of war in Israel and growing public hostility to Israel and anti-Semitism.

HE Ambassador Daniel Taub made an impassioned address, highlighting the ongoing threats posed by Iran, Hezbollah, ISIS and militants in the Sinai, and praised the British government’s “principled moral clarity” in the recent war with Hamas. He also lauded UJIA for taking the lead in building a “meaningful and passionate, sustainable relationship with Israel” for young people through the support of youth movements, schools, summer camps and Israel trips.

Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg and Rabbi Joseph Dweck of the Reform, Masorti and Spanish & Portuguese communities were also present, along with supporters of UJIA from all backgrounds and ages. Young professionals, aged 21-35, made up an impressive contingent, with over 100 UJIA Young Patrons, youth movement leaders and Young UJIA committee members in attendance.

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When Avi first arrived at Kibbutz Eshbal aged 15, he had no intention of staying there. A repeat teenage

offender, Avi had been in and out of trouble with the police for several years. He was violent. He used drugs. He didn’t stay at any school long enough to learn anything.

This time, the juvenile court judge told him, it was either Eshbal or jail.

“I thought I’d be there a week before they threw me out,” says Avi, who is now 23. Instead, he stayed three years and became one of its star pupils.

“When I arrived at Eshbal it transformed my life from top to bottom. It was the first time I’d ever been in a place where I felt I was wanted. I had never had that feeling before – that someone loved me and wanted me to stay. It really felt like a family. With the help of the counsellors there, I came out a different person,” he says.

Today, Avi is a counsellor with at-risk youth in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, and a teaching assistant at one of the toughest schools in the seaside town.

“I speak to the kids here about my past,” he says. “The kids here can identify with me. They ask me questions, whether it was hard or not. I talk to them about their future. What they want to be.”

Kibbutz Eshbal was founded in 1998 by 40 idealistic young Israelis who had just left the army. They decided to establish an educational co-operative on a barren hillside in the Galil, in northern Israel. They set up a stable for horses and a dog-training centre to use as therapeutic educational tools, and then added a day school. Today there are 110 pupils, half of them boarders, many of them teenagers referred by the courts.

“We understood that in order to create change you don’t just educate people philosophically about values, you need to provide the infrastructure, the foundations for those kids to be able to be someone good, someone positive. To become leaders,” says Gilad Perry, one of Eshbal’s founders.

“The most important thing we do here is to rehabilitate the ability of these kids to trust – themselves, their educators, their families

On a hillside in the Galil, an idealistic kibbutz is rescuing young Israelis from a life of crime, or worse.

RE-STARTEDLIFE

06

and the world,” he says. “I strongly believe that when you only suffer failures from the world around you, you become aggressive towards it and you want to react to it. It takes time, but when they understand that these educators really care about them, they begin to open up.”

Avi agrees: “I think that the more kids who get to Eshbal, the better the next generation in Israel will be – a generation that will really help other people. The more Eshbal develops, the better Israel will be.”

UJIA’s support for Kibbutz Eshbal and educational projects across the Galil is changing lives – reaching 14,747 children and young people this year alone.

Go to www.ujia.org/eshbal to watch a video featuring Avi and Gilad, and learn more about Kibbutz Eshbal’s incredible work.

IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I’D EVER BEEN IN A PLACE WHERE I FELT I WAS WANTED.

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T he Galil is one of the most deprived regions in Israel, and its poor healthcare relative to the centre of

the country has been both a symptom and a cause of this deprivation.

But that is all set to change, and the new Faculty of Medicine in Tsfat is a key reason for that.

This is Israel’s first new medical school in 40 years, and it has attracted an outstanding academic team. One member is Mary Rudolf, a paediatric professor in Leeds for more than two decades. Two years ago she moved to Tsfat to take up the post of Professor of Public Health.

“In the Galil, life expectancy is 8 years lower than in the centre of Israel. Infant mortality rates are higher. Every marker for health is worse. That’s why I’m here.

“The Faculty of Medicine was set up with the vision to make a difference to this part of the country. It’s a pretty tall order to think that a small medical school can really impact on health and wellbeing across a region, but it’s already happening.”

In the three years since it opened, the Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Medicine has managed to attract world-class professors, embark on cutting-edge research and help re-shape public healthcare in the Galil.

The Faculty of Medicine in Tsfat is already making a significant impact on the health of the people of the Galil.

NEEDS VITAL TREATMENT

How a medical school is transforming healthcare across an entire region.

THE GALIL

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Its 4-year course is designed for graduates seeking to switch to medicine. With a student body of 450, a research staff of 16 and a support staff of nearly 100, the new Faculty has already created dozens of jobs and brought a new wave of university-educated residents to Tsfat and surrounding communities. By the time it reaches its

planned capacity of 1,000 students and 23 professors, the Faculty will have become a major engine of economic change.

Izhak Haviv, a world-renowned professor conducting ground-breaking research in cancer therapy, was lured back to Israel after more than a decade in Australia. His pioneering work in personalised or precision medicine is in the vanguard of an advanced revolution sweeping the medical world. Professor Haviv’s arrival in Tsfat brought a new wave of advanced medical equipment that he has installed in his lab and at hospitals throughout the region, providing an immediate boost in patient care.

Professor Haviv’s research students are investigating a wide range of medical issues affecting the local population. One of them, a female Arab PhD student, is researching links between passive smoking and breast cancer in the Arab population of the Galil. Another is looking at ways to educate poor families in proper nutrition in order to improve health.

For Dr Amir Kuperman this emphasis on medicine in the community is very important. “The population in the Galilee is not the same as in the centre of Israel,” he says. “It’s a different population with different needs. The new Faculty has improved the medical services for everyone and opened new opportunities for doctors as well as researchers to proceed with their work.”

UJIA has been a lead funder of the new medical school, and it is just one of the ways we are supporting education to transform lives in the Galil.

Go to www.ujia.org/tsfat to watch a video telling more of this uplifting story, and see how you can help.

IN THE GALIL, EVERY MARKER FOR HEALTH IS WORSE THAN THE CENTRE OF THE COUNTRY.

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Professor Mary Rudolf gave up a distinguished academic career in the UK to be part of the exciting new project in Tsfat.


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This summer’s Israel Tour was an amazing experience

for its 1,200+ participants. But the decision to press on

with Tour at a time of conflict was not an easy one. UJIA

Chief Executive Michael Wegier explains.

DE

FORCETOUR

MANY LETTERS MOVED OUR STAFF AND ME TO TEARS.

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A s the conflict broke out this summer, a small number of the 32 Israel tours were already in Israel but the vast majority

were just days away from travelling. The Jewish Agency for Israel with UJIA and the Youth Movements and partners in Israel, needed to decide immediately what to do. Do we consider bringing back the teens already there and cancel Tour, or adapt the programme and continue?

After consultation with all partners and Israel’s Situation Room, a 24-hour safety and security monitoring hub for group travel, we took the decision that we would continue the programme so long as we were confident of our ability to ensure tours would be both safe and educational. This decision was guided by decades of experience and expertise in supporting Israel Tour, including during times of war.

Of course, we totally respected the decision of those parents who wished to withdraw their children from Tour. We are incredibly proud to say that only 23 participants didn’t go on Israel Tour for security reasons this summer – less than 2% of the cohort. I can think of no other greater statement of our community’s commitment to Israel and her people.

In practical terms, various teams in the UK and Israel worked around the clock for the next 6 weeks writing and rewriting itineraries, communicating with parents, holding conference calls, supporting tour madrichim (leaders) and visiting tours, as well as dealing with all the usual issues of welfare and education that emerge every summer.

The tours were a phenomenal success, notwithstanding the fact that many groups did experience one or two sirens and visits to shelters. The teens behaved overwhelmingly with maturity and responsibility. They encountered key Jewish

Some of the 1,200+ participants on this year’s Tour, who didn’t let the outbreak of hostilities prevent them having an amazing educational experience.

historical and cultural sites but also a very raw and very real Israel.

UJIA Israel Experience has received scores of letters from grateful and enthusiastic parents thanking us for both continuing the tours and keeping them informed and updated throughout. Some of these came from families who are in the 1 in 5 who receive a UJIA bursary that enabled them to send their child on Tour.

One mother ended a long letter with, “you will never know how happy I have been that my son was able to take the trip bearing in mind my circumstances. I will never, and I mean never, forget the help I received.” Another father described the effect of Tour on his daughter as “a seminal moment in her Jewish experience and identity.”

Many letters moved our staff and myself to tears.

We are aware of our responsibility to support the Movements in developing sophisticated follow-up programming to take the teens forward in the next stage of their Jewish identity development in the aftermath of their summer.

It only remains for me to thank the extraordinary Youth Movements, the madrichim, the Jewish Agency for Israel and other tour operators for working so effectively together with UJIA to give our children this experience, which is the lifeblood of informal Zionist education in the UK. Our biggest thanks however are to the teens and parents who demonstrated a passionate and ideological commitment to both Israel and our own Jewish future.

UJIA seeks to inspire Jews to “make your mark on the Jewish story”. This summer we enabled 1,230 teens and their families, as well as thousands more, to do just that.

See a video about this summer’s Israel Tour at ujia.org/tour


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Members of the UK Jewish community delivered gift packages to wounded Israeli soldiers at Tel

HaShomer Medical Center and to children in Ashkelon affected by the recent conflict with Gaza. The UJIA Israel Now Mission attracted 115 participants over two days and featured briefings from high profile figures, including Israeli Leader of the Opposition Isaac Herzog, UK ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould and initiator of the Iron Dome, Daniel Gold.

The UJIA Israel Now Mission was organised to give the community the opportunity to express support for the people of Israel in person. The packed itinerary included a lecture on the emotional and psychological impact of the recent events on Israelis at Bar Ilan University, a visit to the Community Resilience Center in Ofakim and a visit to a lookout point on an Iron Dome site.

Josh Peleg, 16, a participant on the mission who also went on Israel Tour with FZY this summer, said, “I came on the mission because otherwise I was just sitting by the pool not helping anyone out. I wanted to actively help and get involved. The best part was meeting Yuval in Ashkelon, who’s head of the youth council for the whole southern region – she’s only 17. It’s just so inspiring what she’s doing helping young people get through this situation.”

Paula Lent from Mill Hill flew to Israel from Nice, especially for the mission and said, “I want to do whatever I can to support Israel and support Jewish people in the UK and around world. I’m doing it for my children, I want them to know that it’s important to stand up for what they believe in.”

UJIA Director of Fundraising & Communications David Goldberg said: “The community wanted to really connect with Israel, beyond donating and attending communal gatherings. We put this mission together to give people the chance to meet the people of Israel and hear from them about what life has been like over these last weeks. The response has been humbling. We’re all very proud to have been part of this.”

MISSION STATEMENT

The UK community showed their support for the people of Israel this summer, as over 100 people took part in UJIA’s Israel Now Mission.

Hundreds of gift packages were delivered as the UK Jewish community showed its solidarity with the people of Israel, in person.

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How the UK Jewish community provided emergency support to Israeli children living under rocket bombardment this summer.

Hundreds of Israeli children living under incessant rocket fire were able to get some respite at camps and activities supported by UJIA.

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During the summer’s conflict, the UK Jewish community showed its solidarity with and support for the

people of Israel.

The response to UJIA’s Children of the South Appeal was swift and generous, raising £211,000.

UJIA supported supplies and meals, as well as relief and respite activities for thousands of children spending their summer break in bomb shelters.

Funds from the appeal were provided to:

• Ashkelon Foundation (activities for children in shelters)

• Jewish Agency for Israel (respite activities for the children of Ashkelon)

OF THE SOUTH CHILDREN

APPEAL

• Kibbutz Eshbal (respite camps and activities)

• Tel-Hai College’s Community Stress Prevention Centre and Resilience Mobile Unit (emergency trauma treatment)

• Rashi Foundation (respite programmes for children)

• Orr Shalom Children’s Homes (respite programmes)

Living in close proximity to the confrontation line with Lebanon, Israelis at the projects UJIA supports in the north of Israel are all too familiar with times of unrest. We are proud that educators at UJIA-supported Kibbutz Eshbal in the Western Galil, and students from Tel-Hai College utilised their skills to help fellow citizens in the south.

Netta Scharf (age 25) is a third year student at Tel-Hai College on its Stress Trauma and Resilience Programme. She explains their involvement:

“As the conflict in the south began to escalate, I dropped everything and joined the first team of students that travelled from Tel-Hai to Ofakim, a small forgotten community, just a few kilometers from Gaza.

“I had studied all the theories related to trauma, stress and resiliency at Tel-Hai, but when I was in the south, I actually applied my knowledge and helped some of the most vulnerable people in the area who have suffered from years of missile attacks.

“Now that the spotlight is gone, it’s sad for me to think of all the people who are still suffering from both physical and emotional wounds of the past summer. There are soldiers still recovering in hospital and children who can’t fall asleep at night.”

As Netta says, the spotlight has moved on, but UJIA has not. We are continuing to fund critical ‘Day After’ programmes in the south of Israel. These include providing much needed support to Bedouin children and youth in the most remote areas of the Negev, and supporting the ‘Wheels of Hope’ mobile initiative that provides recreational activities, including animal therapy, arts and recreation sessions. We are also funding a hotline for Parents of young children on how to deal with trauma and post-trauma.


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A LONG LIFEREMEMBERED

After a long and varied life, Vera Banasch didn’t forget her favourite charities.

V era Banasch was born in Germany on 30 August 1917. She emigrated to England just

before the outbreak of the Second World War, carrying a passport bearing the swastika. Initially she worked as a domestic servant and lived in Bury near Manchester with a non Jewish family who treated her very kindly.

After serving in the British Army’s Army Training Estate Division, she moved to the south coast and worked for many years for Guardian Royal Exchange Insurance Company. She never married and worked diligently throughout her working life, supplementing her income with a pension from the German government.

She was very astute, accumulating her wealth through frugality and saving. She loved walking and spent many happy times by the sea – her life was the fresh sea air. She was extremely upset to leave Hove after 50 years, but in 2010 she moved to Leeds to be near her cousins. Vera lived in the Jewish residential home, Donisthorpe Hall, where she died peacefully on 15 April 2014 at the age of 96.

She will be sadly missed by her cousins and by the charities she supported. Her sizeable estate will be divided between UJIA, Donisthorpe Hall and four other Jewish charities.

HARVEY’S BLOGOn 1 October 2014, a change in the law delivered important news for those without a Will. Until now, anyone who dies in such circumstances is described as intestate, and the law divides their estate according to artificial rules laid down many decades ago. From 1 October:

• Spouses will have greater rights when there are no children, and will now inherit the entire estate (previously they only received the first £450,000 and the rest was split between siblings and parents).

• If there are children, a spouse will inherit the first £250,000 plus half of the remainder of the estate, with the other half of the excess being for the children (previously the spouse was only entitled to the income from his/her half share, not the capital outright).

This is welcome news and reflects what most married couples would want to happen to their estate. However, there is a real danger that this change may make even fewer people turn to the difficult and sensitive matter of making a Will.

Only by making a Will can you be sure that your assets will go to your chosen family, friends and favourite causes. And, without a Will, charities can never benefit. Only by writing a Will and leaving charity legacies – however large or small – can you ensure that their good work will continue.

Many people I have met express the view that the process is far easier and less emotionally charged than they expected. At the end of it, they were relieved that an important task that had never emerged from the bottom of their in-tray had now been ticked off their ‘to do’ list.

www.ujia.org/legacy

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INHERITANCETAX: THE BASICS

Inheritance Tax: how it works, and what it could mean for you.

EXPERT ADVICE ON YOUR WILL, FREE OF CHARGE*Harvey Bratt is a qualified solicitor and UJIA’s Director of Legacies and Planned Giving. Harvey would be delighted to assist you with any issues concerning your Will, Inheritance Tax planning and Executorship (the administration of your estate). These services are free of charge if you leave a legacy to UJIA*.

Do give Harvey a call on 020 7424 6431 or email [email protected]

LET THE TAXMAN PAY YOUR LEGACYLegacies to charities have long been deductible from your taxable estate – in other words completely free of Inheritance Tax. But a recent provision, Incentive Relief (since April 2012) has made leaving a legacy to charity even more compelling. If you give at least 10% of your taxable estate to charity, the rate of Inheritance Tax on the whole of your taxable estate is reduced from 40% to 36%.

Let’s say someone has a taxable estate of £1 million (after deducting the nil rate band). Take the following two scenarios:

Tax – one of only two certainties in life1. Or is it?

Inheritance Tax is often perceived to be the most iniquitous of taxes, primarily because it is regarded as a tax on tax because assets within an estate are taxed at 40% yet have already been subject to income tax at a rate of up to 45%. This amounts to a cumulative rate as high as 85%!

A form of tax on capital levied when someone dies has been around, in one form or another, since 1796, and the latest version, Inheritance Tax, was introduced in 1986.

First, the basics:

1 Inheritance Tax is charged at a flat rate of 40% on the taxable estate of a deceased person

2 The taxable estate is the total estate after deducting:

• gifts to exempt beneficiaries

• gifts of certain types of asset

• the personal Inheritance Tax allowance, known as the nil rate band (NRB)

3 Exempt gifts are primarily gifts to a spouse and gifts to a charity. Both of these are exempt without any upper limit

4 Gifts of business and agricultural assets may qualify for relief from tax, whether in part or in full

5 The NRB is currently £325,000 per estate. This has remained frozen since 2009 and is currently scheduled to remain frozen until 2018

6 If on the first death of a married couple, any part of his or her NRB is not used, that proportion may be carried forward until the second death, thus enhancing the tax free allowance by up to 100%. At today’s levels this could provide a tax free estate of up to £650,000 for married couples

The frozen threshold, combined with a steep increase in property prices, means that the Treasury take from the tax has risen steeply, to £3.4bn in 2013. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects the proportion of estates attracting inheritance tax to double by 2018-19 to almost one in 10, potentially increasing the amount raised by IHT to £8.5bn. The more it increases the more difficult it will be for the Government to do without it. As a consequence the Conservative Government’s stated aim of raising the threshold to £1m becomes more and more unlikely.

Indeed it looks as though Inheritance Tax will remain with us – for now.

In the House of Commons on 15th October 2014 David Cameron indicated that Inheritance Tax cuts “may have to wait some time”.

1 ‘In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes’ – Benjamin Franklin

UJIA is a member of Jewish Legacy, a cross-communal initiative to promote legacy giving in the community.

*Subject to terms and conditions

Scenario BTaxable estate £1,000,000Charitable donation £100,000Revised taxable estate £900,000Inheritance Tax @ 36% £324,000Available for family & friends £576,000

Scenario ATaxable estate £1,000,000Inheritance Tax @ 40% £400,000Available for family & friends £600,000

£600,000 to family £400,000 to taxman

Scenario A

£576,000 to family £324,000 to taxman

£100,000 to charity

Scenario B

In scenario B, the legator has left £100,000 to charity, but it has only depleted the family’s share of the estate by £24,000 compared to scenario A – effectively the taxman has picked up the other £76,000. You can see how little the family must forego for charity to benefit by four times that amount.

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T his is an unusual, and very special, UJIA Legacy Mission. You will experience the intense, contrasting

emotions of the Jewish story, first in Poland, remembering the darkest days of the Jewish experience, then in Israel, seeing the rebirth of the Jewish story in a modern nation state.

The 3-day Poland stage of the trip is in partnership with March of the Living. Prior to the March, our group will visit the concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec and Majdanek, as well as historic Jewish sites in Poland. Then, as one of the Marchers, you will retrace the steps of the March of Death, the actual route which countless numbers of Jewish people were forced to take on their way to the gas chambers at Birkenau.

This time, however, there will be a difference. It will be a March of the Living with thousands of Jewish people, like you, marching shoulder to shoulder, re-affirming the undying spirit of the Jewish People.

This spirit will be vividly illustrated in the second leg of the trip, when we visit Israel. The 7 days we are in the country will take us from the ancient majesty of Jerusalem to the beauty of the Galil to the bustling metropolis of Tel Aviv.

We will see Israel in all its contrasts, and get an insight into some of its current challenges and how it is addressing them. We will have the privilege of being in Israel for both Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut.

The Mission will be an unforgettable experience, deepening your knowledge and connection to the modern day Jewish story, as you share this journey with a great group of people.

Find out more at www.ujia.org/legacy-march-living or email Harvey Bratt at [email protected] or call 020 7424 6431.

UJIA Legacy Mission Poland and Israel 14 April – 24 April 2015Guide Cost: £1,999

UJIA Legacy Mission 2015Join us for this extraordinary journey in

the footsteps of the Jewish story.

TO LIGHT FROM DARKNESS

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The Principal, Yifa Amit Schlayer, explains: “Almost everything we have here in the school belongs to 50 years ago – the air conditioners, the tables and chairs, the classrooms, the library that doesn’t have computers – in fact, there are very few computers at all in the school.”

There has been an educational revolution at the school, since it became part of the Darca network three years ago. Darca was set up to strengthen the schools in Israel’s periphery and support them to become high quality institutions.

The school has many outstanding students. One is Odeia Moshkovich who won a competition to visit the Particle Accelerator at CERN in Switzerland. She came back full of enthusiasm eager to pass on what she had learned to her fellow students. “I wanted to do a lecture on something they showed us at CERN about the physics of the Particle Accelerator but I couldn’t really do the lecture with the equipment available here.”

Time and again, teachers, parents and students have told us the same thing. The teaching is great, the atmosphere and culture is great, everyone is focused on students achieving their potential, but all this dedication and motivation is undermined by the primitive facilities.

K iryat Shmona is Israel’s northernmost town and a civilian symbol of tenacity on Israel’s

troubled northern border with Lebanon. In 2006, during the 2nd Lebanon War, the town was hit by over 1,000 rockets.

The Danciger school is the hub of the town’s education. The school serves 1,200 children, constituting 80% of the town’s non-religious high school students.

For Kiryat Shmona to work, Danciger has to work. As former Danciger student, and current head of Tel-Hai Academic College, Eli Cohen explains: “When families are deciding whether to make their lives in Kiryat Shmona, one of the key factors is the education system they are bringing their children into. That’s why Danciger is so important. Danciger alone won’t solve the problems of the city, but Danciger creates an anchor for the development of the city.

The school was founded 60 years ago. Unfortunately, much of the current school’s infrastructure has not been updated since then. The school is housed in a large unappealing campus, developed piecemeal in a manner that has failed to keep pace with changing educational, technological and physical requirements.

BUILDINGFUTURESHow one school holds the future

for a town on Israel’s frontline.

Below: Odeia Moshkovich, one of Danciger High School’s outstanding students.Right: Inadequate and outdated facilities restrict the potential of Kiryat Shmona’s next generation.

That’s what we have set out to change. As always, we are not acting alone, but leading a partnership of philanthropic and government organisations. The plan is for a phased rebuilding of classrooms and new classroom blocks, a new library, courtyards and a sports auditorium.

We know the impact this project can have, not just on the school and its students’ lives, but also on the town and the region. We have a string of successful educational projects across the Galil which are testament to this.

As Principal Schlayer says, “There is no doubt that this shared commitment will allow our students to succeed and to achieve almost anything.”

Yifa Amit Schlayer, Principal, Danciger Darca High School.



ONE OF THE BEST THINGS WAS THAT OUR BEAR WAS THE

MUTUAL FRIEND OF EVERYONE.

19EPISODES

hundreds of photos from across Israel were posted by Tour participants, tagging @UJIAcharity, their movement and Tour number, and a message. UJIA collated all the posts in albums at www.ujia.org/tedontour on a rolling basis, attracting over 13,000 visits to the page.

The aim was to bond each group and focus them on the diversity of their Jewish educational experience in Israel. Pictures featured participants with their Ted at places of key significance, including the Kotel, the Knesset and Masada, as well as taking part in educational seminars, cross-cultural encounters and outdoor activities.

Groups were already in Israel with their Teds before the outbreak of hostilities in Israel and Gaza, but there was still caution over whether the online competition should

continue. It was decided that given all the extra measures and education in place because of the conflict, it was crucial to keep up a creative and peer led initiative which reminded participants why they chose to spend this summer in Israel.

Sacha Johnstone, 20, who co-led the winning group, JLGB, whose bear was named Bearjamin Netedyahu, is in no doubt about the importance of the project: “One of the best things about #tedontour was that our bear was the mutual friend of everyone – it gave participants the impetus to talk to new people because each day, different people were responsible for looking after him and setting up shots at cultural and historical sites. It’s also been really good for promoting Israel Tour to next year’s cohort. I’ve already had potential participants asking if there will be #tedontour next year.”

Twenty-five groups took part, each vying for victory in the competition, which awarded each participant in the group with the best collection of photos, with a professional photobook of Tour memories.

UJIA Trustee Ruth Green, who developed the idea for the campaign with Cassie, said, “Given the focus on the current situation going on in Israel this summer, the #tedontour campaign gave the participants the chance to celebrate being in Israel, seeing important sights and meeting Israelis of all backgrounds. It’s unbelievable how much of a response we had – it was tough picking a winner!”

I n September 2006 an 18 year-old Cassie Matus set off on her Gap Year in Israel with Habonim Dror with

an unusual companion: a teddy bear wearing a youth movement T-shirt.

Eight years on, as a Jewish Agency employee and head of UJIA Israel Experience programmes, she still has her bear and it was part of the inspiration for this summer’s hugely successful competition #tedontour, run by UJIA and the Youth Movements.

In July, each of the UJIA-supported Israel tours, with 1,230 participants from 10 youth movements, had an extra member join them: a teddy bear, to be fully integrated into the group and most importantly, photographed for posting on Twitter. Over the course of the summer

#TEDONTOURMeet Ted, Israel Tour’s social media phenomenon.

Some of the dozens of adventures encountered by Ted on this year’s Tour.


Monday 1-Sunday 7 DecemberColonel Gruber Speaker Tour – multiple venues

Tuesday 2 DecemberYoung Patrons Thank You Event

Sunday 14 DecemberSuper Sunday – the fundraising telethon

Sunday 18 JanuaryNorth-East Annual Dinner – the flagship fundraising event in Leeds

Monday 19 JanuaryNorth-West Annual Dinner – the flagship fundraising event in Manchester

Saturday 7 MarchYoung UJIA Purim Party – the biggest Purim party in London for 21-35 year-olds

Monday 9 MarchWomen’s Lunch – the annual Women’s Lunch at a central London hotel with special guest speaker

Wednesday 8 AprilGalil Day – a day in the Galil to see first-hand the inspiring work of UJIA

Tuesday 14-Friday 24 AprilLegacy Mission – Poland as part of March of the Living and trip to Israel

Thursday 23 AprilYom Ha’atzmaut Business Breakfast – the annual business event brings together 350 business men and women to network and celebrate Israel’s independence

Thursday 7 MayGolf Day – now in its second year, the UJIA Golf Day is a great way to get involved and help us raise money while doing something you love

Thursday 14 MayYoung Property Dinner – the key event for young professionals who work in the property industry. The event will take place at a central London hotel with a special guest speaker

Thursday 21 MayUJIA Research Conference – a rich exchange of ideas, challenges and new perspectives within Jewish Education frameworks in the UK

Thursday 4 JuneSports Night – the annual event for sports enthusiasts – dinner, sports quiz, silent auction and more!

Monday 21 SeptemberAnnual Dinner – the biggest fundraising event in the UJIA calendar

For more information on events, visit www.ujia.org/events or call Gabriella on 020 7424 6449.

United Jewish Appeal is a registered charity in England and Wales No.1060078 and in Scotland No. Sc 039181. A company limited by guarantee. Registered in England No. 3295115. Registered office: 37 Kentish Town Road, London NW1 8NX. For a definition of terms regarding Israel and Judaism, please visit www.ujia.org/definitions

www.ujia.org /UJIAcharity@UJIAcharity

HOW YOUR DONATION MAKES A DIFFERENCE

could provide teaching support for one child

30could help provideenrichment activities for primary school children from low socio-economic backgrounds

60could help provide therapeutic activities for children with learning disabilities

100could provide a day’s training for an Israel Tour madrich/a (leader)

150

could help support once in a lifetime experiences for seriously ill children at the Jordan River Village

250could provide a training programme for one youth movement worker to nurture young people’s Jewish identity with Israel at its centre

500could provide a bursary for one participant on a Gap Year to Israel programme

1000could help to support one at risk youth for eight months in an educational and caring framework

2000

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