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Unique Community Programs Grow with the Help of the Grassroots Initiative

Elena, age 25, saw a gap in the services provided to Sephardic Jews who like herself, recently relocated to Moscow from the Caucasus Mountain Region in Russia. An active member of her Community, Elena works at the synagogue where one day, she noticed the majority of regular synagogue attendee's were elderly members of the community. It was at that moment that she came up with the idea for a Sunday School serving the new Sephardic families.

A Sunday School program would serve the community in several ways — it would attract the absent youth and serve as an opportunity for the newly arrived to better integrate into the Jewish community and the local society. While JDC runs programs, Heseds and schools in the Caucus Mountain region, recently immigrated Sephardic Jews to Moscow often have a difficult time integrating into the existing Ashkenazi Jewish community.

When Elena heard about the Grassroots Initiative, she knew it was her chance to make a difference within her community. The Initiative, which was proposed and funded by the UJA Federation of New York, COJIR, Task Force on Russian Speaking Jewry, was launched in partnership with JDC in September 2006. The program offers grants for new projects that aim to bring in the unaffiliated and expand the range of opportunities that currently exist — while strengthening the roots of the community.

Mandie, Deputy Director at JDC's Moscow office explains the impetus of the Initiative "Moscow has a large and diverse Jewish population and creative approaches are critical for opening doors to Jewish community life. This program gives a special opportunity to both Jewish organizations and groups of individuals to take the seed of an idea and turn it into a vibrant project. COJIR encouraged JDC to look for new and innovative community activism, and the initial results show that there is much Jewish creativity yet to be tapped in Moscow."

Elena and the other grant applicants were given the opportunity to attend a one-day seminar aimed to help prepare them for the competition and to develop their project concepts. The seminar, facilitated by Charities Aid Foundation, was attended by 36 people, most of whom were new faces to the JDC professionals helping to run sessions — this signified that the program was successful in having reached individuals outside of JDC's regular audience. The workshop was facilitated by Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).

Six programs were awarded grants and Elena's Sunday school project was one of them. The other programs that were awarded funding in this first round of the Grassroots Initiative were:

A parents and children film studio at a kindergarten on Jewish themes where the kids act and parents film and write scripts
A week of Ashkenazi Culture and Language at two of Moscow's most prestigious universities including concerts, lectures and events
A project aimed at students to preserve Jewish monuments in the Moscow area accompanied by an educational program and development of an exhibition for Jewish community centers
A pilot seminar for informal Jewish educators on the theme of theatre in Jewish education
New productions at a Jewish theatre of plays by Jewish authors, integrating people with special needs

Elena's Sunday School began on February 4th, 2007, and was attended by 9 children — the goal is to attract 30 children of various ages. A community member teaches the children both Jewish traditions and Hebrew. Lessons are also taught in Russian to help the children successfully integrate into their regular school and society in general.

Through the Grassroots Initiative, Elena is making a difference in her community and building a bridge for her fellow Sephardim to feel comfortable in their new home and community.

February 2007