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Shinshinim Program

Sorry for Asking!

סליחה על השאלה
Sorry For Asking is a popular Israeli show which pushes the boundaries of political correctness and shatters stereotypes.

Tuesday, November 29, 2022
7:30 - 8:30pm
Beit Rayim Office

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Jews from Around the World

“The state of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles” / Declaration of Independence

A new research published this week shows that the number of Jewish people in the Diaspora is gradually decreasing, while the Jewish population in Israel is increasing. The research, conducted by Israeli Demographer and Statistician, Sergio Della Pergola, states that in ten years, most of the world’s Jewish population will live in Israel. In an exclusive interview for an Israeli news site “Ynet”, Della Pergola, states that “There is one place in the world where the amount of Jewish people keeps increasing - Israel”, so why is this happening?  Firstly, the birth rate in Israel is very high. While the average age of Diaspora Jews is older and their mortality rate is higher, in Israel the birth rate is very high with an average of over three kids per family. The difference is huge, and the effect can be seen long-term - the world’s Jewish communities keep getting smaller, while the Israeli Jewish community keeps getting bigger. In addition, marriages between Jews and non-Jews are more popular outside of Israel. Since the Diaspora Jews are more exposed to different cultures and religions, they are more likely to marry a non Jew. Therefore, their children are not always considered Jewish by the Israeli law, or they do not identify as Jewish.

Parts from the interview with Della Pergola

How do you define a Jew?

“If people choose to disengage from their Judaism, It is their right, but I think they shouldn’t count as a Jew…Counting people who say they have no connection to the Jewish community and don’t recognize their Judaism as Jews, is a mistake in my opinion.”

“If we refer to Jews only according to the Halacha, then there is are a lot of people entitled to the Law of Return that on daily basis they live as Jews in every aspect, but are not defined as Jews”

The question “Who is a Jew?” constantly accompanies the studies and estimates of various researchers. According to Della Pergola’s, there are more than 15 million Jews in the world. However, If you refer to the Law of Return (people with at least one Jewish grandparent and a person who is married to a Jew, whether or not they are considered Jewish under Orthodox interpretations of Jewish law.)  you reach 10 million more than Della Pergola.

Della Pergola said: “Those people exist, but most of them are not interested in coming to Israel. According to the law they are eligible for Aliyah, but can I tell you they will be in Israel tomorrow? certainly no!"

Israel and Ukraine

“The first thing I saw when I crossed the Ukrainian border was an Israeli flag” 

Since 1980, Israel has provided international humanitarian aid to over 140 countries or territories, including states with no diplomatic relations with Israel. Israeli humanitarian aid teams are often some of the first teams to arrive at a crisis area. The most recent example of Israel’s support of other countries is the enormous amount of aid the country has provided to the Ukrainian people during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

In the last few days, the Ukrainians launched successful counterattacks that brought them impressive achievements, and yet, during the last seven months since the invasion started, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians lost their homes and became refugees. 

The Jewish Agency for Israel has been on the front lines, saving the Jews of Ukraine, with workers on the ground, many of whom have risked their lives to rescue the nation’s Jewish community. They have arranged rescues from dangerous zones, medical and mental healthcare, meals and clean water, supplies and emergency grants. In addition, 12,633 refugees have arrived in Israel from Ukraine. 

We hope to get more optimistic updates on this crisis, which has unfortunately been a “current event”' for a very long time. But until everything is back to normal, Israel will continue to be the light in the dark for many people around the world.

Welcome!

Shalom everyone! Noa and Itay here. Welcome to "The Shinshin Weekly", where your amazing, lovely, and humble Shinshinim will update you on this week's Israeli news! But before you get to know all about Israeli current events, you should get to know us.

We are UJA Shinshinim, Israeli teens who just finished high school and came for one year to volunteer in the Jewish community in the GTA before our army service. We are both here because we are passionate and eager to bring our Israeli personal story to the community.

You can find all the "official" information about us in our introduction video that is linked here, so here are a few unofficial facts about us:

  • Noa is an Israeli who doesn’t like hummus
  • Itay has a black dog with a huge beard named Zigi
  • Noa has watched Taylor Swift's "you belong with me" music video approximately 74482394 times
  • Itay's favorite reality show is Rupaul's Drag Race
  • Noa used to walk around her house on her hands instead of her feet, literally every day
  • Itay's dream is to be the prime minister of Israel

Check out Noa and Itay's Intro Video

About the Program

In September 2014, Beit Rayim embarked on a very exciting project that you and your children will benefit from.We are very fortunate that Beit Rayim was chosen as a site for the ShinShinim to help us run our programs. The ShinShinim Project is supported by the UJA Federation Israel Engagement Shinshinim program.The Shinshinim are a select group of post-high school, pre-army Israelis who are trained and highly skilled to work with Jewish institutions in the diaspora to raise the awareness and pride for Israel. Several GTA Jewish institutions have taken advantage of this program. The reviews are spectacular!

Sun, 26 March 2023 4 Nisan 5783