EZRA USA - WORLD YOUTH MOVEMENT

FOR RUSSIAN-SPEAKING JEWISH YOUTH OF AMERICA

Ezra USA youth movement is part of Ezra World Jewish organization, which focuses its work on the Russian-speaking communities in North America, the FSU and Germany.

Goals of Ezra USA:

• Development of Jewish education
• Fighting assimilation
• Strengthening Jewish self-identification
• Leadership development in the Russian Jewish community
• Support for the State of Israel

Ezra USA is currently the most dynamic and progressive Russian-speaking Jewish youth movement in USA.

It is important to note that the development of Ezra is a direct result of the continuing effort of Russian-speaking Jewish leaders, who understand the specific needs of this community and realize the critical need for the development of leadership within the Russian-speaking Jewish communities of the Diaspora - it is towards this goal that most of the efforts are directed.

As our primary concern we see the strengthening of the Jewish identity of the young Russian Jews living in the US. For them the link to the past has been lost or is weak and insufficient. Russian-speaking Jews have never become part of the American Jewish community and are currently on their way to complete assimilation. They require very special approach for the time-being in order for them to eventually become an integral part of a larger Jewish community and to internalize the sense of belonging to the entire Jewish nation (Klal Israel).

The Russian speaking community in the US must go through all the steps of getting on its feet and creating community institutions; finding its own methods for effective Jewish education. However, it is critical to first raise a new generation of leaders in the community.

It will fall to those who are today 18 to 30 years old to create the Jewish community. They will decide what kind of education their children will receive: whether their education will have a Jewish component, if their children identify themselves as Jews, whether they will support the State of Israel, whether they will make a contribution to the development of Jewish culture and education and, finally, whether they will pass the baton to the next generation, meaning their children.

EZRA USA currently serves about 7000 young Russian Jews (ages 18—30) in the US—in fact, it serves more young Russian Jews than any other organization. We work hard to provide rich and joyful Jewish experience for our participants during our trips to Israel with Taglit Birthright Israel program, Jewishly orientated trips to Argentina & Europe, and Poland-Israel Leadership seminar as well as during our educational, social and leadership programs.

Thousands of young Russian speaking Jews participate in the projects and programs of the Ezra movement, and the number of programs, like the number of participants, continues to grow.
We believe that while enjoying and interacting with each other and receiving positive Jewish experience young Russian-speaking Jews become active part of the American Jewish community, and eventually create their own Jewish families to ensure the continuation of the Jewish people.

For that matter, Ezra USA is presented on the board of the Russian council in Brooklyn, NY, and collaborates actively with Hillel Brooklyn College to be able to create events and programs, which would involve maximum amount of Russian-speaking Jewish young adults.

Our week-end retreats (shabbatons) are dedicated to teaching Jewish values, experiencing Shabbat, and learning to be a part of the community. We educate our participants about such values as Tzdakah (charity) and giving to your community, the Land of Israel, Jewish Leadership etc.
We believe that leadership should flourish from within the community. For that purpose we have created Jewish Leadership program which is meant to develop leadership skills and to provide a deeper knowledge in Judaism. Our young leaders are ambassadors of Ezra USA during the trips, programs, and events, and represent Jewish values in a way that can reach our participants at their level.

Leadership programs run by Ezra USA exist today in New York and Boston. In the future, we are planning to open Ezra USA branches in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco.

Today Ezra USA, as a result of its successful work, has achieved recognition and support from many of the largest Jewish funds and organizations. We have already accomplished much, however we are certain that much more work remains ahead!

Ezra USA is a partner of: Taglit-Birthright Israel, Birthright Israel NEXT, Genesis Philanthropy Group, Jewish National Fund, Claims Conference, Jewish Agency for Israel, Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life, “Beyteynu Olami”, COJECO, RAJI, Hagshama, and “Ezra Olami” (worldwide).