A number of the programs of the Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel have been supported in part by the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI). Each year, the Jewish Agency carefully evaluates a huge number of proposals from many organizations even before they can be submitted for consideration by its team of professionals and lay leaders.

CYIR was informed earler last week, that, as a result of the decisions made at the Board of Governors' meetings in October, all CYIR projects that received JAFI funding for 2007 have been INCREASED for 2008. Current CYIR programs that benefit from JAFI funding include the Judaic Heritage Program for Israel's Deaf and Hearing Impaired, the Get Refusal Prevention and Prenuptial Agreement Program, and Areivim Zeh La Zeh - Israel Communal Support Services.

In addition, the Jewish Agency decided to award seed money for the Eye Squad - a new CYIR initiative to assist those post high school students who are studying in Israel.  Reacting to the news, Rabbi Simcha Krauss, CYIR President, said that "JAFI's continuous funding of our efforts and their decision to fund our newest programs shows the ongoing necessity for CYIR to provide these services." Rabbi Krauss also expressed appreciation towards Rabbi Michael K. Strick, CYIR Director for "his tireless efforts in securing JAFI's involvement in our programming."

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After touring the Wolfson Museum and viewing Yerushalayim from the roof of Heichal Shlomo, the group proceeded to visit the Kotel tunnels and were greeted by HaRav Shmuel Rabinovitch, the rav of the Kotel. 

The Sderot Bar/Bat Mitzvah program was an exceptional example of Jew reaching out to Jew as a demonstarion of love, care and concern in all elements of its implementation.

CYIR plans on providing future events for the residents of Sderot. Click here to make YOUR donation today!

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Fifteen years ago, the Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel (CYIR) created a counseling program to aid people in transitional life circumstances as they utilize Rabbinic Courts in Israel. Its initial clients were primarily Russian immigrants who, through the mass influx of their FSU communities in the 1990’s, had significant difficulty understanding the processes of handling conversions, marriages and divorces.

Today, the CYIR Counseling Center has seen its services grow to address additional demographic groups, such as new immigrants from Western countries, communal Rabbis, pre-marriage counseling, and women who are unable to get a Jewish bill of divorce from their husbands.

Approximately forty five new cases are opened each month with clients living throughout the country (initial calls to the Counseling Center are sometimes double that amount).The number of meetings necessary to treat and successfully close each case ranges between one and as many as fifteen meetings - all of which are provided free of charge.

CYIR's Counseling Center is directed by Dr. Lorell Blass, and is sponsored in part by a grant from the Joseph and Rae Gann Charitable Foundation, and the National Council of Young Israel.

Click here to learn more about CYIR's Counseling Center.

Click here to see the CYIR Counseling Center ad.

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On the heels of the successful publication and dissemination of “Shmittah 5768: A Practical Guide”, Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel (CYIR) is announcing the establishment of a free service to answer individual questions regarding the laws of Shmittah. 

The “CYIR Shmittah Q&A Project” allows internet users to submit questions that will be answered by members of the Council of Young Israel Rabbis. Once answers have been sent to the questioner, they will be posted to the CYIR website for all to read.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to extend the reach of our goal to educate the English speaking public about Hilchot Shmittah” said Rabbi Simcha Krauss, CYIR President. “We are thrilled that our members have volunteered to answer questions, from the simple to the complex and everything in between.” More...

Click Here to Submit Your Shmittah Question to CYIR's Q&A Project

To Order "Shmittah 5768: A Practical Guide" Online via PayPal, Click Here.

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One of the most important services provided by CYIR's Judaic Heritage Program for Israel Deaf and Hearing Impaired is its production and distribution of educational materials - especially as they relate to holidays.

Chanuka is no exception. In response to the increased demand for Hebrew sign language instructions for Chanuka candle lighting, CYIR is reissuing its Berachot Nerot Chanuka pamphlet for distribution throughout Israel.

"This educational tool is one of the keys to unlock the gate that exists between those who can hear and those who cannot" said Rabbi Chanoch Yeres, Director of the Judaic Heritage Program. "Combined with the various Chanuka parties and seminars that CYIR provides for Israel's Deaf and Hearing Impaired, the Berachot Nerot Chanuka pamphlet allows this unique population to celebrate Chanuka alongside the rest of Klal Yisrael."

Click here to download the Berachot Nerot Chanuka pamphlet for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired.

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Last month, Rachel Levmore, Coordinator of CYIR's Prenuptial & Get-Refusal Prevention Projects, addressed the Jewish community of Amsterdam about the agunah problem and how this project confronts it and resolves cases, thus helping women from all over the world. The event, under the auspices of the C.I.A. (Orthodox Community of Amsterdam) and arranged by Keren Hayesod's representative in Amsterdam, Reuven Rozen, was a resounding success—with members of the audience from all walks of life!

The interest was so intense that after Levmore's 45 minute lecture and a break, the audience asked for an additional lecture regarding prenuptial agreements and the Agreement for Mutual Respect, followed by a question and answer period! The event lasted from 7:30  until 10:30 PM, when it was declared adjourned by the organizers—with not one member of the audience leaving before the official closing. Several participants vowed to maintain contact with Levmore, to play a significant role in the implementation of halakhic prenuptial agreements for the prevention of Get-refusal in the Netherlands.

Click here to learn more about CYIR's Get Refusal Prevention Project

Click here for the article about Levmore's visit in the Dutch press

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TOUR-AY TANACH is a learning and travel program for boys finishing 9th, 10th or 11th grade who are looking to have a great summer learning, touring and playing sports in Israel. Under the tutelage and guidance of Rabbi Menachem Leibtag, well-known lecturer and author, the program will be based in and have access to the faculty of Yeshivat Har Etzion, Israel’s largest Hesder yeshiva.

TOUR-AY WEST is a travel program for girls finishing 9th or 10th grade who are looking to have an amazing summer touring around the Western United States in a Torah environment. Tour-ay West will be under the direction of Mrs. Rebecca Skaist, a faculty member at Bruriah High School in Elizabeth, NJ who will bring her many years of camp and travel program experience to bear on this great new way to spend the summer.

Click here to download the complete Tour-ay brochure.

To learn more about the Tour-ay programs, please contact Tour-ay: 212.929.1525, ext. 183; touray@youngisrael.org.

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Tzafrir Ronen of northern Israel, one of those with whom Rabbi Lerner met recently, is one of the founders of a similar group in Israel. "A small group of us convened a few weeks ago," Ronen said, "Just when Prime Minister Olmert's Deputy Chaim Ramon started speaking about giving up Jerusalem. We realized that we had to do something immediately."

Ronen continued: "Our group consists of many organizations here in Israel - National Council of Young Israel, the Nahalal Forum, Nir Barkat's group, the Land of Israel Loyalists, all eight groups of Homesh First, and more. We have been working together with Rabbi Lerner, and we will continue to do so. There is a lot that we have to do."

For more information about the Coordinating Council on Jerusalem click here.

Click here for the Coordinating Council on Jerusalem Call to Action.

To Download "Historical Notes on Jerusalem" by Moshe Loshinky, click here.

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