Tagged American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

Hundreds meet in Kyiv for teen conference

Participants at theJ DC’s 6th annual Active Jewish Teens (AJT) Conference in Kyiv, Ukraine,, Nov. 7-10. (Anton Yaschenko)
November 22, 2019 /

More than 400 Jewish teens from around the world gathered for the sixth annual Active Jewish Teens Conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, Nov. 7-10, organized by the JDC, the global Jewish humanitarian organization also known as the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. A bar/bat mitzvah ceremony for five teens, a conference… Read more »

In Krakow, Night of the Synagogues bolsters Jewish pride

Young visitors entering the Isaak Jakubowicz Synagogue in Krakow during the Night of the Synagogues in the wee hours of the morning, June 5, 2016. (Ruth Ellen Gruber)
June 7, 2016 / Ruth Ellen Gruber, JTA

KRAKOW, Poland (JTA) – For the sixth year in a row, the seven synagogues in Krakow’s historic Jewish district, Kazimierz, opened their doors for [email protected] – or the Night of the Synagogues, a one-night mini-festival aimed at bolstering Jewish pride and promoting Jewish awareness among the public. Each synagogue –… Read more »

At Babi Yar, locals revive plans to memorialize Jewish victims

Stray dogs roaming the Babi Yar monument in Kiev, March 14, 2016. Nazis and local collaborators murdered 30,000 Jews at the site in 1941. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
March 23, 2016 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) – On a muddy path in Babi Yar Park, Vladimir Proch negotiates deep puddles as he shadows two rabbis and a group of Ukrainian officials. An 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, Proch lives near the Kiev ravine where Nazis and local collaborators murdered more than 50,000 Jews starting… Read more »

In Europe, a summer camp creates the next generation of Jewish leaders — and babies

Shabbat services and Jewish life are integral parts of the Szarvas experience. (Courtesy of American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee)
March 16, 2016 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

SZARVAS, Hungary (JTA) — Escaping a sudden downpour in the summer of 2012, Andras Paszternak and Barbi Szendy ran to find cover inside an empty cabin at their Jewish summer camp, Szarvas, 100 miles east of Budapest. The two senior counselors, then 31 and 36, respectively, chatted as rain drenched the sprawling compound, where… Read more »

Jewish refugees safe from war, but facing economic crisis in Kiev

Ilya and Luba Tolkachov and their 22-month-old son in the tiny one-room apartment they share with Ilya's mother. (Ben Sales/JTA)
March 30, 2015 / Ben Sales, JTA

KIEV (JTA) — In a crowded room of the Tolkachov family’s tiny apartment here, a couch and twin bed sit kitty-corner from each other, sandwiching a small crib. In another corner, a wooden table is cluttered with a computer and some toys. Since October, three generations of the Tolkachov… Read more »

HIGH HOLIDAYS FEATURE 5774: For Europe’s Jews, a year of upheaval and uncertainty
September 17, 2014 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA
In the Paris suburb of Sarcelles, pro-Palestinian rioters broke shop windows and set fires, July 20, 2014. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (JTA) — A laconic man who abhors hysteria, the president of France’s CRIF umbrella of Jewish communities is not naturally inclined to emphasize his community’s fear in public, preferring to underscore French Jewry’s achievements and capacity to prosper despite recent hardships. But in a filmed interview… Read more »

Steven Schwager: The (pre) exit interview
June 6, 2012 / Uriel Heilman, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) – Steven Schwager, the CEO of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, is stepping down from the helm of the JDC on June 30. One of American Jewry’s largest charities, the JDC spends almost all of its charity dollars overseas, providing Jewish welfare, education and identity-building… Read more »