JWB/B’nai B’rith Buddy Bears
Go to Children of Jewish Military Personnel for Hanukkah
New York, December 13, 2007- For the first
time, over eighty stuffed toy bears provided by B’nai
B’rith International were sent by JWB Jewish Chaplains
Council to the children of deployed service men and women
for Hanukkah to thank them on behalf of the entire Jewish
community. Both organizations wanted the families of Jews
in the military to know that the Jewish community feels grateful
for their sacrifice. “The point was to express our appreciation
to the families and the children who have to deal with this
long separation,” said Rabbi Brad Hoffman, deputy director
of JWB Jewish Chaplains Council. The B’nai B’rith
Buddy Bears, as they’re called, will show the children
and families that the Jewish community is aware of all they
are enduring, and is thankful for the service of their loved
ones.
B’nai B’rith International, a world-wide Jewish
community service organization, has generously supported Jews
in the military for a very long time through their efforts
with JWB Jewish Chaplains Council, and has been distributing
their toy bears to children in hospitals and institutions
for years. “Without the B’nai B’rith-JWB
relationship, Jews in the military would be even more isolated;
now B’nai B’rith/JWB Jewish Chaplains Council
are nurturing their children,” said Rabbi Harold Robinson,
director of JWB Jewish Chaplains Council.
JWB has embarked on a new initiative to forge stronger connections
to the families of deployed personnel, so they can support
them as well as the troops. They are collecting names and
e-mail addresses of service men and women as well as family
members in order to be able to communicate more effectively
and reach out to families who may feel alone. Such information
should be sent to jmil@jcca.org.
Founded in 1917 as the Chaplains' Committee of the Jewish
Welfare Board, the JWB Jewish Chaplains Council, an agency
of JCC Association, serves as endorsing body for Jewish military
chaplains who serve in the U. S. Armed Forces and VA chaplaincy
services. The JWB Jewish Chaplains Council consists of 16
rabbis, four each from the Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative),
the Rabbinical Council of America (Orthodox), and the Central
Conference of American Rabbis (Reform), plus four active duty
Jewish chaplains representing the Chaplains Advisory Group
(CAG). The Council serves approximately 37 full-time military
and Veterans Administration chaplains, 55 chaplain reservists,
more than 88 military lay leaders, and thousands of Jews at
more than five hundred military installations and VA medical
centers. More information about JWB Jewish Chaplains Council
can be found at www.jcca.org/JWB.
###
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
send an e-mail
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