The Florence Melton Adult Mini-School

Projected Need:      $200,000

Melton provides a setting where adults explore Jewish belief and practice in a comprehensive curriculum over two years. A team of scholars and educators developed the curriculum at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem at the request of American philanthropist Florence Melton. Students study selection from the Torah and Talmud, as well as from more contemporary Jewish thinkers. The Mini-School is pluralistic and non-denominational, enabling all Jewish adults to be challenged and inspired. Classes meet for 30 weeks from September to May, and each session consists of two hour-long classes. Melton is currently available in 60 communities in the United States, Australia, Canada, England and Israel, and 20,000 people are proud to call themselves Melton graduates.

Holocaust Workshops for Teachers

Projected Need:      $40,000

Indiana middle and high school teachers will be invited to attend “We Must Bear Witness: Teaching the Holocaust in Indiana Classrooms,” which consists of an evening workshop in the fall and an all-day event in the spring to assist them in becoming proficient teachers of the Holocaust. The Indiana Mandel Fellows of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum present the fall workshop, and a nationally recognized educator from the Museum leads the spring session.

The Choral Festival

Projected Need:      $200,000

Begun in 1999, the Indianapolis Jewish Choral Music Festival has established its4elf as the premier choral festival in the Midwest. The festival brings together singers from within a 200-mile radius of Indianapolis to explore, study and ultimately present an afternoon choral concert under the direction of nationally recognized leaders in the Jewish choral field. The fifth festival took place in 2006 and featured Cantor Don Gurney from Los Angeles, Calif., who led an exploration of “The Music of Israel.” Previous conductors have included Elayne Robinson-Grossman and Simon Sargon.

Panim El Panim

Projected Need:      $80,000

This program teaches students in grades 10 through 12 about government and advocacy through a Jewish lens. Seminars take a hands-on approach to public policy and Judaism through encounters with experts on national and global issues. Participants emerge with a heightened sense of Jewish identity and a commitment to social and political advocacy.

Teens Networking Together (TNT)

Projected Need:      $50,000

The Teens Networking Together program is a means to engage more teens in Jewish youth programming. Because teenagers are the best recruiters for and leaders of any youth program, TNT strives to give teens the leadership skills needed to expand participation and enhance long-term Jewish leadership. The program takes place at the BJE, providing a neutral location for students from Indianapolis’ five synagogues tocome together.

In recent years TNT has studied the history of Jewish Indianapolis, effective publicity and marketing, and conflict resolution; held a forum with community leaders and run Junior Jewish Charities; and sponsored annual community-wide teen events. Future program plans include sessions on being a Jewish leader during Christmas and conflicts within Judaism.

March of the Living

Projected Need:      $350,000

The March of the Living is an international educational program that brings Jewish teens from all over the world to Poland on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, to march from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the largest concentration camp complex built during World War II. Teens then fly to Israel to observe Yom HaZikaron, Israel Memorial Day, and Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day. The goal of the March of the Living is for these young people to learn the lessons of the Holocaust and to lead Jewish people into the future vowing “Never Again!”

About 3,000 Jewish high school students from every religious and educational background and every part of North America participate annually. The March of the Living brings together Jewish teens from ore than 60 countries and regions around the world, including Israel, United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Latin America, France, Germany, Belgium and Poland.

High school students in the 10^th, 11^th and 12^th grades are eligible to participate. Accepted students are provided with a study curriculum on Poland and Israel, and they are expected to attend several educational seminars that have been specifically created to prepare them for the March.

Library

Projected Need:      $150,000