Gov’t grant to bring thousands of Jewish women on educational trips to Israel
The new venture will see the already heavily subsidized program expanded to bring in a further 5600 women.
By SAM SOKOLUpdated: MARCH 23, 2016 12:04JEWISH WOMEN’S Renaissance Project participants at Masada(photo credit: PR)
The government has committed to provide millions of dollars in funding to bring underprivileged women from communities around the world on educational trips to Israel, representatives of the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs stated Monday.The Ministry seems to be upgrading its already existing partnership with the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project (JWRP) -an organization which runs and promotes Momentum, a nine day tour targeting Jewish mothers as a means of spreading Jewish and Zionist identity- with a twelve and a half million Dollar pact, the two groups announced during AIPAC’s annual policy conference in Washington.The new venture will see the already heavily subsidized program expanded to bring in a further 5600 women, including those from “Jewish communities facing increased threats of anti-Semitism and economic hardship, including Argentina, Cuba, the former Soviet Union, France, the U.S., and Canada,” they said.“This historic agreement allows us to continue to build a global movement united in the mission of empowering women to change the world through Jewish values,” JWRP founder Lori Palatnik said in a statement.“Our philosophy from the beginning has always been: inspire a woman, you inspire a family. Inspire enough families, you can change a community. Inspire enough communities, you can change the world. This partnership is key to making this a reality.”Over the past seven years the JWRP says it has brought more than 7300 women to Israel.According to Minister of Diaspora Affairs Naftali Bennet, the “revolutionary project demonstrates the commitment of the Israeli government to the Diaspora.”The partnership between the two groups began in 2013.JWRP is only one of several organizations bringing Jews to Israel, including the better known Birthright, which targets students, Honeymoon Israel, which brings newlyweds, and March of the Living, which brings students to visit the sites of former German death camps in Poland before making their way to the Jewish state.
