Dear Friends,

I hope that you are enjoying the beginning of the summer with your family and friends. Here at Haifa we are having a lovely time.

1. On July 1st, Over 200 people were present at one of the most important and exciting events that took place this year at Or Hadash. It was our pleasure and honor to host Cantor Roy Einhorn from Temple Israel in Boston and his wife Cantor Jodi Sufrin from Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, MA, distinguished and respected leaders in Jewish music in the United States. One of our members, Roslan Kuperstein, volunteered to join the duo on the piano. The concert was held at Or Hadash as part of a tour marking 25 years of joint singing.
Many members of Or Hadash as well as guests from Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley and from Temple Ahavat Shalom in Northridge, CA led by Rabbi Barry Lutz, attended the concert. They came before the concert and had a chance to look around and to enjoy the home hospitality at Or Hadash. All proceeds from the concert went to Gan Cherniavski, a preschool for new immigrants from Ethiopia "adopted" and supported by Or Hadash during the past four years.
The concert opened with a performance by "Kolot Be'tnua" ("Voices in Motion") a group of Haifa teenagers connected to our synagogue under the guidance of Ilana Tovim. Their performance was very energetic. One of our congregants, Pnina Sohetzky, danced together with four of her students (including her daughter, Shahar). Also Benny Rom, the representative of the Jewish Boston-Haifa Partnership spoke on behalf of the Boston Federation (CJP). Anat Perelman spoke about what a great honor it is for the newly formed Or Hadash Sisterhood to host such an event.
Roy and Jodi sang many beautiful Jewish songs and captivated the audience. I know both of them very well and am familiar with their outstanding performances. I was almost moved to tears when they sang "elu dvarim". It was a memorable evening and a major success for Or Hadash.

2. Early on the same day our summer camp (July-August) began. 54 elementary school children, ages 6-8, are playing everywhere in the building from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM every day. Since there are so many children (we love them all) they are usually divided into three smaller groups. They are having a lot of fun and their counselors have plenty of activities in store for them like kids' camping pool and of course pizza, pop corn and ice cream parties! (See picture attached). The Neil and Diane Exter- Or Hadash Summer Camp is to help working single mothers to be able to send their kids to camp instead of watching TV alone in their houses, since most of them cannot afford a regular summer camp.

3. Rabbi Greg Litcofsky, Assistant Rabbi at Temple Shir Tikva of Wayland, visited Or Hadash on Tuesday, July 8. This is not his first time in Israel and he knows Hebrew quite well. He was especially interested in hearing about the family of refugees from Darfur that Or Hadash adopted, since he has been very active in Saving Darfur in the past five years. It was a pleasure to have him here with us.

4. Rabbi Andrew Davids, Executive Director of ARZA also visited Or Hadash on July 6th. We discussed, among other things, the event that will take place August 1 at Or Hadash in which we will host the participants in the BKY Israel Seminar. Among them our friends, Rabbi Jonathan Stein of Temple Shaaray Tefila, New York, NY and Rabbi Dan Levin of Temple Beth El, Boca Raton, both congregations are Or Hadash's sister congregations.

5. On July 8th, I was invited to represent the Reform movement at the Gordon College of Education (the only College in Haifa that trains educators and teachers). This was part of a symposium of streams in Judaism. I was introduced to the audience as a Reform Rabbi in Haifa. An Orthodox Rabbi and a Conservative Rabbi also spoke at the symposium. I try not to miss opportunities like this to talk about Reform Judaism since I know how great the ignorance is in the State of Israel. Many people in Haifa even compare Reform Judaism to Christianity (outrageous), so I feel it is important to correct these misconceptions.

6. This Shabbat, July 11th-12th, Parashat "Balack", I had the pleasure to meet our good friend and loyal supporter of Or Hadash, Rabbi Eric Gurvis from our sister congregation, Temple Shalom in Newton. Eric came to Israel accompanying 650 NFTY youngsters. How nice to see so many proud Reform teenagers becoming in touch with Israel in such an excellent program. Ishar coach!!

7. On Wednesday, July 16 we are looking forward to two groups visiting us: Rabbi Craig Marantz and members of Congregation Kol Haverim of Glastonbury, CT as well as rabbis and educators from Pittsburgh participating in a teachers' seminar.
Also, we have the honor to host Cantor Jeff Klepper, singing at our summer camp next week
In summary, a busy and exciting summer at the Or Hadash- Lyons Center in Haifa.

Wishing you all a good week from Haifa,
Edgar