Many may not have heard of a new project in our city "Give a child a smile". Founders of the project: the Russian youth movement Ezra USA, and its always on the move general director David Roitman.
I am making this reportage from the office of this project in the "Ezra USA" building, which operates with support from the American Forum of Russian Jewry at 311 Sea Breeze Avenue in Brooklyn (commit this address to memory, I'll be glad if it proves useful). I derived much satisfaction from my conversation with Anna and Amanda, the two charming young ladies who manage and run the project, its volunteers. Anna and Amanda told me all about how this project came into being, and now it is up to me to inform my readers.

Apart from Ezra USA, the project is supported by another organization, called Larger Than Life (LTL). I can already tell you, that it was this organization, which helped making the contact with Israeli children's cancer hospitals.
So, it all started when the two inseparable friends Anne and Amanda decided to spend their leisure time on something useful and meaningful. Anne's attention was caught by the lot of children with cancer, whose numbers, unfortunately, are growing worldwide.

Read more...

Limmud FSU brings together and empowers young Russian Jewish adults who are revitalizing Jewish communities and culture in the countries of the Former Soviet Union, as well as in countries with Russian speakers around the world and you can’t find a better place to gather with your friends for a Reunion. That is exactly what Ezra USA did. Ezra participants spent the day attending sessions with community leaders, scholars and entertainers, as well as socializing. The evening ended with a very public “Thank You” to the great Madrichim of the summer of 2010.

  Ezra USA has started its summer early this year with 3 groups heading out to Israel in May.  Dima Krasny from May 6a group says that that alone might well have made the trip special! Everyone in the group has found something that resonated profoundly with them. For some, it was the visits (two!) to the old city, culminating with the Western Wall; for some it was the remote and pristine Dead Sea; some fell in love with the beach in Netanya; others still were moved by Tzfat, Tiberias and the spiritual and physical beauty of the north. For every spot visited, at least three people would approach the madrichim and ask, "Can we just stay here the rest of the time?" And this was not a trivial question coming from an impatient child - it came from people who had just found a long-missing piece of themselves in our ancestral homeland...  May 6b group, called “Alejanjews” , like all the Ezra groups, were met in the Ben Gurion airport with the famous words: "Welcome to Israel, welcome home!" First stop, Jerusalem! They toured the beautiful city and finally got to the Western Wall.  For many, this was an unforgettable experience and they were moved to tears as they came closer and closer to the wall. Right before the eyes of 50 people, a couple from the group got engaged. That made the experience even more special for all. With the first day in Israel behind and with so much that has already happened they were looking forward to the rest of the trip and for more new and exciting things to come.  Throughout this experience they boarded the plane as 40 strangers, and they left Israel as 40 friends :)  Ezra group of May 24 or “Stoned Turtles”  was the most spiritual one. Their path towards discovering their Jewish identity started on the plane, where a bunch of the Chabbad Lubavich movement representatives offered to the guys to put on a tfillin. For most of the Ezra participants it was first experience of that kind. The conversations were deep and inspiring, and the questions were challenging, and flew weigh beyond the aircraft. When the group visited the Western wall, the place where the Jewish people have been praying and crying for thousands of years, some of the guys asked to hold a ceremony of Bar Mitzvah, which they never had. Dancing and singing at the Kotel, the holiest place for the Jewish people, could be heard across the ocean. The celebration was powerful and meaningful, and ended with a few Le’Chaims, gratuitously offered by the local Chabbad people.

July 7^th, 2010

Ezra USA continues the tradition of bringing the Israeli and Jewish culture to the Russian speaking Jewish people in the United States. The movie night event with Ezra USA brought together over 50 people, who enjoyed the movie and had a long discussion about what it represents to them. Ezra USA participants also enjoyed a wonderful meal and a great company.

This year EZRA USA had a record breaking amount of groups heading to Israel. The month of June at EZRA USA was full of many events and activities, amongst which four Taglit-Birthright groups embarked on a journey to Israel. Their journeys began like every other trip that sets out on this amazing ten day adventure. Forty participants from across different states, with similar but yet different backgrounds, who did not know each other or what lay ahead for them at the end.“40ko-Nozhki” the June 6th group, sang Israeli songs and played guitar with their soldiers in the Bedouin tents in the dessert. A law firm of “Yelena and Alex Cohen” always negotiated the shawarma deals at restaurants. They felt like they had it all. The June 13th group, also known as "No dry night ", were put to the test of body, mind and soul. They met Knesset members, participated in a mock IDF boot camp and even chipped teeth and sprained ankles; they did it all. On June 16th, "Who did??? Simon and You-did!!!" set out on their journey. For this group, the trip was definitely life changing for many of the participants. Many of the participants stated that unexpectedly they had made forty new friends and felt a deeper connection to their Russian-Jewish identities. Yudit one of the Madrich’s of this group said, “that one of the most touching moments during the trip was when the other Madrich, Simon,  was standing at the promenade overlooking Jerusalem and after he finished telling the group a story he said “Next year in Jerusalem”. This according to the group was a very touching moment because for many this was their first time in Jerusalem. The "Jewbies and Homework " group of June 21st, got to experience it all. They spent some time in Jerusalem and saw both the secular and religious parts of the holy city, got to eat lunch at an army base and learn all about the IDF thanks to one of their soldiers. The group was very diverse and became very close, almost a family. According to one of the participants, he had very little family and now had gained forty new family members. Three American-born brothers from this group got to connect to their Russian and Jewish side and bring it all back to their Russian grandmother.  Now looking back on the amazing journeys of all the groups and the bonds that they have made no words are needed to explain the amazing power of 10 days with 40 strangers in the most amazing land of Israel