News From the Greater Miami Jewish Federation

A visit to Israel as a young adult not only offers memories that will last a lifetime, but also is a transformative and educational experience that strengthens Jewish identity. But for many families, such trips are unaffordable.

Thanks to the thousands of people who make donations to our Annual Greater Miami Jewish Federation Campaign, we are able to fund more than 100 programs and agencies here at home, in Israel and worldwide.

Did you know Argentina is home to Latin America’s largest Jewish population? As the country continues to struggle economically, many families are living below the poverty line, including pregnant women and those with young children.

Last week, nearly 200 members of the National Young Leadership Cabinet of The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) joined together in Aventura for their annual retreat.

Election season is in full swing, and with that, Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) is ensuring our community is informed and engaged in the process.

Registration for the Leo Martin March of the Living is now open. During the two-week trip to Poland and Israel, 100 students from Miami-Dade County join their peers from around the world, along with Holocaust survivors, to take a step back in time.

More than 600 members of our Jewish community have already committed to include Federation or a Federation partner organization in their estate plan, representing more than $42 million in heartfelt commitments.

Now it’s easier than ever to match your desire to volunteer with the needs of local organizations, thanks to the all-new website, iVolunteer.JewishMiami.org, of Federation’s Jewish Volunteer Center.

Since 2014, Argentina has faced an unemployment crisis, making it difficult for thousands to feed and provide homes for their families. The Greater Miami Jewish Federation is delivering food to the country’s most economically depressed Jews through Mezonot, a program of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Federation's overseas partner.

For more than a decade, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation has supported a partnership with a community of Ethiopian-Israeli residents in Pardes Channa-Karkur, an Israeli city between Tel Aviv and Haifa.

A Gojo is a traditional Ethiopian structure used for community gatherings, and now with the support of Federation, Ethiopian-Israeli residents of Pardes Channa-Karkur, Israel, will have a Gojo of their own.

Aspiring dentist Jessica Schlaen, 17, recently shared her passion for good oral health by distributing teeth-cleaning supplies and teaching the importance of proper brushing with children in Miami’s partnership city of Yerucham, Israel.

“I was amazed to see the cutting-edge nature of our programs,” said Federation General Campaign Chair Jeffrey Scheck, who recently returned from The Jewish Federations of North America’s Campaign Chairs and Directors Mission to Paris and Israel.

More than 200 French Jews arrived in Israel Wednesday, July 20 aboard a special aliyah (immigration) flight organized by the Greater Miami Jewish Federation’s overseas partner, The Jewish Agency for Israel, along with the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption and Keren Hayesod-UIA.

Less than two years since its launch, Miami's Russian-Speaking PJ Library program has more than 300 subscribers from Northeast Dade’s Russian Jewish population. Like the original PJ Library program, participants ages 6 months through 8 years old receive free, monthly Jewish-themed books and music.

With the Olympics only a few weeks away, international sports is on everyone’s minds, including those at the three Greater Miami Jewish Federation-funded Jewish community centers in Miami.

This summer, 1,300 young Jews from 20 countries are traveling to rural Hungary to attend Camp Szarvas, an annual program that merges the fun of sleepaway camp with the celebration of Jewish peoplehood.

Miami’s own Michelle and Matan Ben-Aviv are featured this week in a Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) story about a program they created in partnership with the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and the Hebrew Free Loan Association (HFLA) of South Florida to lower the financial obstacles to accessing fertility treatments and having a child.