Enabling Jews in the Former Soviet Union to Celebrate Passover

This Passover, Daniel and I will be participating in an exciting project that will strengthen Jewish identity in the Former Soviet Union. This April, we will be traveling, along with twenty-five rabbinical, cantorial, and education students from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), to the Former Soviet Union (FSU).

In partnership with the World Union for Progressive Judaism, which unites and supports Reform congregations worldwide, we are happy to announce our Seventh Annual FSU Pesach Project. The mission of our trip is to provide meaningful Passover celebrations for thousands of underserved Jews in the region.

While there has been an abundance of Jewish philanthropy and development in the FSU since the 1990s, there are still only six progressive rabbis to serve over one hundred Jewish communities during Passover. Our student delegations will be traveling to more than twenty communities throughout Russia, Ukraine and Belarus in order to lead Passover seders, conduct educational programming, create relationships with Jews of all ages, and strengthen the Jewish identity of these diverse communities.

The cost of participation for each delegate is $2,000, which includes: travel expenses, educational materials, Passover supplies for all the participants, as well as, donations to each community, which will enable them to continue observing Passover in the years to come. Supporting this project is an important way to recognize the profound importance of celebrating the Jewish story of liberation in a
place where freedom from oppression is a very real, and recent, experience. Any amount you can contribute will make a huge difference in offsetting the costs of participation.

Tax-deductible donations* can be made online or via USPS:

• Online: www.pesachproject.com. Be sure to mark my name in the "Comments"
• By mail: HUC-JIR / Attn: Diane Bongard / 3101 Clifton Avenue / Cincinnati, OH 45220. Mark "FSU Pesach Project" along with one of our names in the memo line.

If you have any questions regarding this exciting project, please comment or e-mail us at Jessica.Kirzner@gmail.com and Daniel.A.Crane@gmail.com.