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Jewish Telegraphic Agency

N

New York
atan may have made waves in
Israel by announcing his can-
didacy for the helm of the
Jewish Agency for Israel after the
organization nearly had secured its
support for Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon's nominee.
In the U.S., Sharansky's candidacy
seems unlikely to gain much support.
A former Soviet-era refusenik and
Israeli minister of diaspora affairs,
Sharansky would seem to have a broad
network of contacts among diaspora
Jewry to help support him in his run.
But diaspora leaders seem unlikely to
abandon their support for Zeev Bielski,
the popular mayor of Ra'anana, who
was nominated by Sharon and
approved by the Jewish Agency's
advise-and-consent committee.
"I don't believe there will be a shift"
in support, said Stephen Hoffman,
president of the Jewish Community
Federation of Cleveland and past pres-
ident of the United Jewish
Communities, the umbrella body of
North American Jewish federations. "I
just think there's a lot of enthusiasm

ffiuel Outreach

SUE FISHKOFF

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Pacific Grove, Calif:
n an effort to strengthen out-
reach to students from intermar-
ried homes, Hillel, the nation's
largest Jewish student organization, is
compiling a set of national outreach
guidelines for its college campus direc-
tors.
The guidelines should be in place
this fall.
It's not a completely new direction
for an organization that already prides
itself on being "accessible, welcoming
and inclusive," says Clare Goldwater,
director of Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff
Center for Jewish Learning.
What is new, she says, "is trying to
coordinate the conversation" on a
national level.
The "best practices" guidelines will
be for internal use, she says, and will
deal with things like "the do's and
don'ts of working with students from
intermarried homes."
A rough draft of the document cau-

I

Sharansky

for Zeev and his working with the
diaspora," Hoffman said.
The Jewish Agency is a $350 million
organization promoting and overseeing
aliyah and Zionist education programs
worldwide. Its chairman also chairs the
World Zionist Organization, which has
a small budget but represents diaspora
and Israeli political parties and corn-
prises half of the Jewish Agency's board.
U.S. Jewish officials are skeptical
that Sharansky's bid to chair the
agency will succeed. Sharansky
resigned from Sharon's Cabinet last
month because he opposes the govern-
ment's plan to withdraw from the
Gaza Strip and parts of the West
Bank, a plan that has widespread
backing among American Jews. -
Several diaspora officials view the
candidacy as a political feud between
Sharon and Sharansky. Others say the
move reflects internal Likud politics:
Likudniks who oppose Sharon's with-
drawal plan, and who feel insulted
that they weren't consulted about the
choice of Bielski, put Sharansky up to
the bid„ several sources said. El

tions Hillel directors to recognize that
every intermarried family is different, so
there is no single model. Another section
suggests providing learning opportuni-
ties that are low-key and unintimidating.
A third section urges directors "to be
careful about branding, to help the stu-
dents pick names for themselves in a
way that's appropriate for them,"
Goldwater says, noting that students at
two Hillels have formed separate groups
called "the Half-Jews" and "the Goyim."
"Many of these students come with
stereotypes and negative baggage from
their childhood," she says. "They have
particular needs in terms of accessibili-
ty. Hillel tries to show them they're
welcome, they can belong, they can
have a positive Jewish experience."
According to the 2000 National
Jewish Population Study, 45 percent of
college students who identify as Jewish
come from intermarried families.
Of those, 65 percent "feel very posi-
tive about being Jewish." But just 15
percent of thein participate in Hillel
activities, in contrast to 36 percent of
students with two Jewish parents.
Hillel, Goldwater says, wants to
reach the rest. El

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