Earlier this summer, the Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) gave an extraordinary gift of $25,000.00 to support the founding of ARZA's Mifgash Project. The gift came just over a month after the initial seed money for the Mifgash Project was raised in a springtime event honoring Rabbi Stanley and Resa Davids. "Mifgash" means "encounter"...

...and the Mifgash Project will organize and coordinate real people-to-people encounters between Reform congregations traveling to Israel and Israel's Reform Movement. As many Israel-trip veterans know, one of the most powerful experiences of a visit is the opportunity to get to know real Israelis, to speak with them, to learn about their lives, and to count them as friends. But over the years, ARZA has noticed that not all trips include this magical connection. If the rabbi has friends at a particular congregation, or a lay leader has family in one of the IMPJ communities, a mifgash happens, but if not, then often the opportunity is missed, replaced by another afternoon or evening in the tour bus, or on a hike, or at the beach. To respond to this hit-or-miss mifgash system, ARZA is creating a program that will offer all congregations an opportunity to get to know our Reform Jewish counterparts in Israel. During the next few months, the Project will hire a coordinator, and its work will begin in earnest. Meanwhile, the staff, the Board, and the membership of ARZA say "TODAH RABBAH - Thank you so very much" to the Women of Reform Judaism for their generous support.