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Countdown from page A21
"One, that there's a finite, definite
group of 8,500. Two, we're not saying the
8,500 should be brought. We're saying
the 8,500 have a right to have their eligi-
bility determined according to law"
At the heart of the controversy over
Ethiopian immigration is the fear that
mass Ethiopian aliyah will continue
without end. Ethiopian aliyah was
declared over by Israeli officials on sev-
eral previous occasions, only to begin
anew following public campaigns for its
extension.
In 2003, the government decided to
verify the eligibility of an additional
group of Ethiopians, subsequently cap-
ping the number. The decision reflected
a desire both to bring Ethiopians with
Jewish roots to the Jewish homeland
and to limit the number of potential
immigrants to those with legitimate
Jewish links.
Unlike the Ethiopian immigrants
who came to Israel in Operations Moses
(1984) and Operation Solomon (1991),
the Falash Mura were not practicing
Jews until very recently. That has made
it difficult to ascertain their claims of
links — either by heritage or marriage
— to Ethiopians of Jewish ances-
try whose progenitors converted to
Christianity more than a century ago to
escape economic and social discrimina-
tion.
In order to be eligible for immigra-
tion, the Ethiopians must demonstrate
both that they have close kin in Israel
as well as a maternal connection to a
Jewish line — or are married to some-
one who has. The Falash Mura must
also agree to embrace Judaism as a con-
dition of their aliyah.
Meanwhile, Jewish aid funding
to Ethiopia is drying up. The North
American Conference on Ethiopian
Jewry, which funds Jewish aid and edu-
cation in Ethiopia, says it will stay the
course, but its sponsors are pulling out.
"The truth is, we just don't have the
money," said Jim Lodge, the vice presi-
dent of the Israel and Overseas division
at UJC, one of NACOEJ's main sponsors.
"It's not out of any kind of policy deci-
sion or initiative on our own, but simply
out of budget considerations!"
UJA-Federation of New York says it
will continue to fund NACOEJ and its
operations in Ethiopia, "pending a final
decision by the government of Israel on
who is eligible to make aliyah."
just as proud to be Jewish and just as
likely to have many Jewish friends.
Nearly half of both groups say at least
half their friends are Jewish (42 percent
of the singles and 52 percent of the cou-
ples). And 51 percent of the singles say
they talk to their friends about Jewish
matters, compared to 44 percent of the
married Jews, while 36 percent of both
groups say they talk to their friends
about Israel.
Regarding Jewish identity, it's just
as strong whether they're married or
single.
Fully 98 percent of the singles say
they are proud to be Jews, even more
than the 95 percent of the in-married
young couples. And both groups are
quite pro-Israel: 86 percent of the in-
marrieds and 83 percent of the singles.
"I was surprised by how proud they
are and how pro-Israel they are Cohen
says. "Frankly, it's reassuring!'
Because, however, the singles are not
seeking out Jewish involvement along
traditional institutional lines nearly as
often as their married counterparts, that
presents a programmatic challenge to
the Jewish community, Cohen says.
"Instead of thinking how to bring
young Jews to our institutions, we
should be thinking how to support
young Jews in creating their Jewish
lives," he says.
One communal organization that
has stepped up to the plate is the UJA-
Federation of New York, which in 2006
committed $1 million in two-year
grants to young emerging New York-
based artists to encourage them to cre-
ate projects with Jewish content.
Rebecca Guber, the 30-year-old direc-
for of the program, says young people
"go to Jewish culture as a way to con-
nect to themselves!"
Last Rosh Hashanah eve, one of the
fellows, Jeremiah Lockwood, took the
traditional Rosh Hashanah liturgy and
set it to new music, using blues and
funk. Five hundred young Jews showed
up for the show he presented in a for-
mer historic synagogue, now turned
secular performance space.
"These were not people who went to
shul beforehand:' Guber notes. "When
Jeremiah blew the shofar, there was
silence. It was a real feeling of power."
"For many people, this was their Rosh
Hashanah experience. And for us, it
was a very clear demonstration of the
thirst for alternative ways to experience
Judaism among people who won't step
into synagogue."
Power from page A21
18 < white god
"Uncoupled: How our singles are
reshaping Jewish engagement" is
the third in a series of reports on
Jews under 40 by sociologists Steven
Cohen of Hebrew Union College and
Ari Kelman from the University of
California at Davis. Its main findings
show that young, single, non-Orthodox
Jews are just as proud of being Jewish
and just as interested in exploring their
Jewish identities as their married peers.
Their Jewish behaviors might differ, but
not their attitudes.
Like the two reports that preceded
it, this study uses data from the 2007
National Survey of American Jews,
a mail-back and Web-administered
survey of self-identified Jews. Cohen
and Kelman focused on the 1,704 non-
Orthodox respondents between the ages
of 25 and 39 and compared singles to
in-married Jewish couples.
Their findings showed that, contrary
to conventional wisdom, Jewish engage-
ment does not kick in only when young,
non-Orthodox Jews get married and
have kids. While married Jews do show
higher levels of institutional affiliation,
including synagogue membership and
contribution to federation campaigns
than their single counterparts, those
behavioral changes occur whether or
not the couples have children — anoth-
er surprise for the researchers.
"The biggest behavior changes come
with getting married, not with having
children:' says Kelman. "Neither of us
expected that!'
And Jewish singles are just as inter-
ested in being engaged Jewishly as their
married peers, just not along institu-
tional lines. They're just as pro-Israel,
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June 26 • 2008
❑
Answering
Israel's Critics
The Charge
Iran declares that its nuclear inten-
tions are peaceful and that it will not
threaten its neighbors in the region.
The Answer
Iran's leaders are religious extremists
who are the world's major sponsors
of terror, deny the Holocaust and call
for Israel to disappear.
— Allan Gale,
Jewish Community Relations Council of
Metropolitan Detroit
(c) Jewish Renaissance Media, June 26, 2008