JWB Jewish Chaplains Council Works Together with Aleph Institute to Send Hanukkah Packages to Jewish Troops
New York, NY Dec. 19, 2008—Jewish military personnel will receive Hanukkah packages this year containing candles, menorahs, dreidels, and information about the holiday as usual, but for the first time JWB Jewish Chaplains Council is working in partnership with the Aleph Institute on packing and shipping. “We did this as an experiment when Aleph approached us about collaborating on holiday shipments,” said Rabbi Barry Baron, deputy director of JWB. The collaboration led to an expanded group of recipients when the two service organizations pooled their lists. In addition to the Jewish military chaplains JWB always ships to, the packages went to non-Jewish chaplains with the request that they be distributed to Jewish personnel. Altogether, more than two thousand packages were sent at the beginning of December. If this effort is successful, Baron said, the two organizations may work together again for Purim.
JWB Jewish Chaplains Council, a part of JCC Association, has been providing religious, social, and spiritual support to Jews in the military since World War I. It is a government-approved agency to endorse Jewish military chaplains. JWB recently published a new pocket-sized Tanakh with the Jewish Publication Society to give to Jewish men and women in the U.S. Armed Forces. The first new edition of the Hebrew Bible in decades designed to fit into utility uniform pockets, this project was made possible through the generous support of the Everett Foundation. In another collaboration, JWB worked with B'nai B’rith for the second year to distribute a special version of the B’nai B’rith Buddy Bear as Hanukkah thank-you gifts to children of deployed Jewish troops.
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JCC Association
is the leadership network of, and central agency for the Jewish
Community Center Movement, which is comprised of 350 JCC,
YM-YWHA and camp sites in the U. S. and Canada. JCC Association
offers a wide range of services and resources to strengthen
the capacity of its affiliates to provide educational, cultural,
social, Jewish identity-building, and recreational programs
to enhance the lives of North American Jews of all ages and
backgrounds. Additionally, the movement fosters and strengthens
connections between North American Jews and Israel as well
as with world Jewry. JCC Association is also the U.S. government
accredited agency for serving the religious and social needs
of Jewish military personnel, their families, and patients
in VA hospitals through JWB Jewish Chaplains Council.
Miriam
Rinn
Communications Manager
JCC Association
520 8th Ave., NY, NY 10018
212-786-5092
fax: 212-481-4174
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