This past May, Project Kesher brought
100 women ranging in age from 18 to 88 years old from the
United States, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus
to Ukraine for Summit on the Black Sea. Chaired by Project
Kesher board members Michele Cohen of New York and Eunice
Ward of Chicago, the trip, whose theme was "Project Kesher
Comes of Age," marked thirteen years since Project Kesher's
First International Conference of Jewish Women in Kiev. With
stops in Kiev, Simferopol and Yalta, the Summit on the Black
Sea included site visits to Project Kesher programs, touring
options, workshops with scholars-in-residence, home hospitality
visits and briefings with local Jewish and government leaders.
Eight Torah Scrolls were hand carried to the region as part
of Phase II of Project Kesher's Torah Return Project. To date,
14 Torah Scrolls have been donated by individuals and congregations
in the United States to emerging CIS Jewish communities.
"There is no better way to showcase the impact
Project Kesher is having in the region and the changes taking
place in CIS civil society than by bringing people to see
our work firsthand," says Project Kesher Executive Director
Karyn Gershon. "The most powerful piece of what we do
is to train women and girls to be leaders and social activists
in their society. Our missions to the region are unique in
that the Project Kesher women from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus
and Moldova travel alongside trip participants from the United
States and Israel. We get to know one another through everyday
interactions at meals or during programming, and as the week
unfolds, the stories are told. What results is a week of genuine
connections and a true partnership between our funders and
the CIS Project Kesher activists who are changing their world."
The Summit on the Black Sea began in Kiev at the site of
Babi Yar, the infamous ravine where in September 1941 the
Nazis massacred 33,771 Jews in two days. Participants brought
stones from their own communities to leave behind as part
of a memorial service to honor and remember those who were
lost. The trip culminated at Livadia Palace in Yalta six days
later with the kick-off of a region-wide tolerance project
based on the successful U.S. program, "Not in Our Town."
Through this project, our CIS network will provide tools for
communities to come together to prevent intolerance and to
provide solutions when hate crimes do occur. As Jewish life
across the region continues to be strengthened by our work,
it is essential to develop a framework of tolerance in which
it can thrive.
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