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Emigre Program |
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Since 1988 the program has assisted more than 600 families with resettlement. Nearly 180 émigré families are currently members of Congregation Beth Am.Over the past decade, 65 teens have become confirmed and 47 have become bar/bat Mitzvah. Scholarships provided by the Émigré Fund helped 40 kids attend camps Swig and Newman. More than 15 émigré couples have been married by Congregation Beth Am Rabbis. The Émigré Program directs Chug Shalom, a Russian language community program, comprised of 600 families. Our events and classes provide émigrés with diverse opportunities to study, socialize and celebrate together. The High Holidays study sessions, our Chanukah celebration, The Tu B'Shevat and Passover Seders are among Chug Shalom's most popular events. The Émigré Program assists émigrés with lifecycle events such as baby namings, a Brit Milah, B'nai Mitzvah, weddings, and funerals. We provide families with materials in Russian to help celebrate in accordance with Jewish tradition. These translated materials are used in other congregations across the US and in the Former Soviet Union.
Adult learning is a major thrust of the program. We offer a wide array of educational opportunities in Russian; Bimonthly Torah Study and Judaic class -"Monday Starts on Saturday" - Building Blocks of Judaism; "Shabbat at the synagogue", which includes study sessions on different philosophies in Judaism, Jewish Traditions and values, history of Judaism. Study sessions at High Holidays, Selikhot and the "Feast of Jewish Learning", attract Russian-speaking members of the community. The annual unique Trilingual Shabbat Service, led in Hebrew, Russian, and English have become a great tradition.
The Émigré Program, in cooperation with Jewish Family and Children’s Services, coordinates conversational English tutoring. There are two distinct ways the tutoring is done: “One to One” when American volunteer meets with the émigré family and "senior group" tutoring, when the volunteer assists seniors in group setting in improving their conversational skills and proficiency in English. Peggy Shapera has successfully led these programs for 13 years.
All these wonderful educational opportunities would not be possible without the help of our very talented and committed Russian-speaking educators. We are grateful to our talented teaches: Masha Farber, Natalia Tzvibel, and Elena Zusmanovich, who inspire us with their generosity of time, spirit and energy contributing to the life and vitality of our Russian speaking community.
To help newcomers and especially seniors feel as an integral part of the community on High Holidays, we translate rabbis' sermons into Russian and distribute them before the services. A great milestone for us was the translation of the Friday Night Siddur and "Gates of Prayer" for weekdays and at a House of Mourning into Russian and transliteration of them into Cyrillic.
The advisory body of the Program is the Émigré Council led by Joan M.Karlin.and co-chaired by Boris Kelman. Many of the Council Members participate in other leadership roles at Congregation Beth Am. Joan M. Karlin and Michael Benjaminson represent our community on the Beth Am Board of Directors.
The Émigré Program was founded in 1989 by Peggy Shapera and Rabbi Richard Block. Joan M. Karlin has been involved since 1994. Peggy and Joan are the core lay-leaders for this program. Inna Benjaminson has been working with the Émigré Program since 1994 and currently serves as a Program Director. Together Peggy, Joan, and Inna provide the professional/lay-leader partnership that is a hallmark of many Beth Am committees. The Emigre Program is supervised by Rabbi Janet Marder. Jewish Family and Children Services has provided generous financial support for the Program since 1994.
Beth Am's Émigré Program is supported by the Jewish Community Federation (JCF) of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. JCF works to care for the vulnerable, educate and engage the Jewish community, and promote Israel and Jewish peoplehood around the world. For more information, visit www.sfjcf.org. In addition, we receive generous funding from Jewish Family and Children's Services.
To learn more about this unique Program and volunteer opportunities available contact: Inna Benjaminson, Program Director, 650-493-4661 ext.301, or inna_emigre@betham.org.
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The Émigré Program at Congregation Beth Am is the gateway for Jews from the Former Soviet Union into Jewish communal, religious, and worship life at Beth Am and Jewish community at large, by offering programs and classes in English and Russian.
