Jewish Community Development Fund

A happy case has reduced us with one organization which has rendered to us, as has appeared, help, very duly and claimed by time. Such organization has become the Jewish Community Development Fund. With their help we created the Computer Center which became an attractive link of the Jewish Community Center, and they support our vocal-dancing ensemble "Shtilim" as well.

About JCDF

The official website: www.ajws.org/jcdf

The Jewish Community Development Fund, a project of American Jewish World Service, is a philanthropic organization dedicated to supporting grassroots Jewish renewal and human rights programs in the Former Soviet Union (FSU), where the third largest Jewish community in the world resides.

Their work is driven by the valued ideals of democratization; respect for creative and diverse approaches to reviving Jewish religion, education and culture; and the recognition of the need for a diversity of options for building Jewish life in the FSU.

The JCDF recognizes that these communities' circumstances are unique. Their Russian and Ukrainian identities give them a rich historical and current socio-political perspective that differs from any other Jewish community in the world. The window of opportunity to support Jewish community development in Russia and Ukraine is open right now. The Fund thinks that if it does not support them, we all will lose a historic opportunity to bring them back to the Jewish people and we will leave them to fight assimilation on their own.

On the 22 of October the director of the Jewish Community Development Fund Martin Horwitz visited the city of Nikolaev. It was his first visit to our Community. The guest got acquainted with our joint creation - Computer center, with its students and teachers, with our web site, with the Newspaper "Boker", which is composing and printing in the same center.

Mr. Horwitz got acquainted with multifaceted activity of Nikolaev Jewish Culture Community. Then he visited Hesed and Synagogue, was acquainted with sights of the city.

Discussion of the new plans of our work, which birth accompanied the work of the Computer Center, was accompanied by the recommendations of Mr. Horwitz and his propositions about prolongation of our cooperation.