World Ethiopian Countdown Days away from aliyah's end, Falash Mura advocates step up campaign. Uriel Heilman Jewish Telegraphic Agency New York W ith the final planeload of Ethiopian immigrants sched- uled to land in Israel early in July, advocates of Falash Mura aliyah are hoping a last-ditch intervention by Israel's prime minister will extend immigration rights to thousands more. Former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Meir Shamgar held a closed-door meet- ing with Ehud Olmert in late May in a bid to convince the prime minister to order the immediate screening of an additional 8,500 to 8,700 Ethiopians for immigration eligibility. Also, a coalition of advocates is peti- tioning Israeli Knesset members, rallying American Jews and filing lawsuits to force Israel to take in thousands more Ethiopian immigrants. "Experience teaches us that when the Israeli government says no, when we, the members of the community, do not give up, we prevail;' said Avraham Neguise, an Ethiopian aliyah advocate and director of Falash Mura gather at the synagogue of a Jewish aid compound in Gondar, Ethiopia. South Wing to Zion, an Ethiopian-Israeli group. "There are 8,700 Jews left behind. I hope that the prime minister will check this situation and make the right deci- sions, and not make another mistake!' Israel's Interior Ministry, which was responsible for verifying who was eligible for immigration, several months ago finished going through a list of potential Ethiopian immigrants dating back to 1999. That list is now closed, according to ministry spokeswoman Sabine Hadad. The UJC announced recently it had exhausted the $71 million it had raised and was ceasing its funding in Ethiopia. The national arm of the North American network of local Jewish federations had pledged $100 million to Ethiopian immigration and absorption as part of Operation Promise. The Jewish Agency for Israel, which coordinates the Ethiopians' immigration and absorption in Israel, anticipates the final flight of Ethiopian immigrants will arrive in Israel in early July. "The Jewish Agency is winding down its activity based on the decision of the gov- ernment to cease the current immigration of the Falash Mura at the end of June," said agency spokesman Michael Jankelowitz. But the coalition of activists pressing for additional Falash Mura aliyah says there actually are another 8,500 or so Ethiopians that the government should screen for eligibility. The activists say these were people on the 1999 list but remained in their rural villages rather than migrating to the Ethiopian cit- ies of Gondar and Addis Ababa, where most petitioners congregated while Israel reviewed their cases and where they received Jewish aid. Israeli courts have rejected this argument, ruling that the government fulfilled its commitments dating back to the 2003 government decision and that the 8,500 Ethiopians represent a new group. Nevertheless, the coalition of activists is pressing on with its campaign, which began last December. "I know people have concerns that there's no end to this, that this is an indefinite extension, that they're not really Jews:' said Irwin Cotler, a former Canadian justice minister and longtime advocate for Ethiopian aliyah. "Our entire position rests on two points: Countdown on page A22 Uncoupled Power Jewish identity as strong in young singles as their married peers. Sue Fishkoff Jewish Telegraphic Agency New York C lose to 3,500 people showed up the evening of June 7 for Dawn, the all-night Shavuot celebration at San Francisco's Contemporary Jewish Museum. Most in their 20s and 30s, they paid $15 to mark a Jewish holiday in a Jewish institution, with performance art, danc- ing to live bands, listening to cutting-edge authors and even studying Jewish texts. Between 500 and 1,000 didn't get in. Even so, this year's event was 10 times as big as last year's. "Many, if not most of the people there had never celebrated Shavuot before says David Katznelson, 39, who has run this dusk-to-dawn reimagining of the tradi- tional Ley' Shavuot four out of the past five years. "And people weren't just filling the rooms with the fun stuff. They were filling the rooms where the serious conver- sations were going on as well." Something else was going on with this overwhelmingly young, unaffiliated Jewish crowd, Katznelson says. "There's a thirst for Jews being with Jews. And for understanding what Judaism is, and how to make it relevant to 21st-century culture." The tidal wave of Jewish cultural creativ- ity in the under-40 crowd and their willing- ness to show up for Jewish-themed events has been noted for some years by Jewish communal leaders, sociologists and writers. A new report lends muscle to certain aspects of the phenomenon, hinted at by Katznelson: young Jews' desire to be with other young Jews and their interest in creating their own Jewish experiences rather than signing up for long-standing programs. Power on page A22 June 26 • 2008 A21