Kulanu: All of Us

Kulanu Highlights

Announcing the 2010 Kulanu-Kaifeng Speaking Tour!

image: Shi Lei's headshot

(Photo of Shi Lei courtesy of Sino-Judaic Institute)

This spring, Kulanu is delighted to host Shi Lei of the historic Jewish community of Kaifeng, China. Cut off from the Jewish world for hundreds of years until it was “discovered” by a Jesuit priest in 1605 CE, the Kaifeng community remained intact until the 19th century when it disappeared from the Jewish map. Today, this ancient Jewish community is undergoing a remarkable resurgence. Shi Lei is a descendant of one of the original Jewish families, believed to have settled in Kaifeng between 960 and 1127 CE.

Shi Lei, a descendant of one of the original Jewish families is an accomplished and experienced speaker, and will present the history of this remarkable community, offering insight into the ability of some remnants of the community to survive under difficult, even impossible, circumstances.

Check here for more information and what to do if you want to host Mr. Lei in your community.

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Join Us in Honoring Karen and Aron Primack

image: Karen and Arong Primack

From the beginning of Kulanu’s journey as an organization to assist isolated and emerging Jewish communities worldwide, Karen and Aron Primack have been at the forefront with founder Jack Zeller. There is no way to calculate the number of hours they have contributed to building and strengthening the organization and the depth of their emotional commitment to the causes for which Kulanu stands. They have given of themselves in countless ways, providing leadership, visiting communities abroad, editing two books and the newsletter, donating funds and hosting countless visitors from around the world. Their generosity is legendary.

As they step down from their 15 years as editor (Karen) and layout/technical director (Aron) of the newsletter, Kulanu would like to take this opportunity to honor them for their unique contributions. Through the newsletter, they have enriched our knowledge of dispersed communities, fostered interest and support for Jews in isolated circumstances and created a lasting legacy for current and future generations.

Please join us in honoring these two special people by contributing to an on-line ad journal to support Kulanu’s important work. [read more]

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Kulanu’s Fall, 2009 Newsletter is Now Online!

Kulanu’s Fall 2009 Newsletter is now available online. Here is just a sampling of what you will find in this issue...

  • French Black Jews by Cynthia Weisfield (p 1): Learn about the existence of the Fraternité Judéo-Noire and its fight for increasing awareness about the black Jewish community in France.
  • Endings and Beginnings In Uganda by Lorne Mallin (p 1): Days of completing tasks and starting again for Lorne Mallin, and news about the Abayudaya community.
  • Kaifeng Descendent To Tour U.S. (p 2): Shi Lei, a descendant of the Jewish community of Kaifeng, China, will tour U.S. and give lectures. If you are interested in attending or your synagogue would like to host an event, check here for more info.
  • What I Did On My Summer Vacation by Janis Colton (p 3): The discovery of the Conversos and Crypto Jews history in New Mexico during the holidays.

Click here to read these and other articles, Publications of Note and so much more!

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Reserve a Place Now to Join Us in Ethiopia and/or Uganda!

North Shewa Zionist Organization members

Photo by Dana Eitches

You are cordially invited to join Kulanu leaders and friends in visits to Ethiopia and Uganda in January, 2010. If you haven’t already read the announcement of these historic tours, please read it here.

The detailed plans for our trips to Ethiopia and Uganda are now posted on our web site at www.kulanu.org/trips. Our tour operators have asked us to get our reservations in by September 30 so they can make sure to obtain hotel rooms for us, even though this is high season.

I hope you can join us! If you can, please submit your reservations right away!

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Get Involved with Kulanu

Check out our Getting Involved Page for lots of ideas on how you can support Kulanu. Here are a few:

  • Make a donation
  • Check out our volunteer opportunities
  • Help spread the word by becoming a fan of Kulanu’s on Facebook. You can now become a fan by texting "fan Kulanu" to FBOOK (32665) on your cell phone!
  • Invite a Kulanu speaker to your community. We are delighted that we now have additional speakers available: Rabbi Bonita Sussman on the Bene Ephraim of India, and board members Judy Manelis or Barbara Vinick on Kulanu’s work with Jewish communities around the world. (Read more)
  • Spread the word about our bar/bat mitzvah program - send us your address and let us know how many brochures you would like to distribute.

We appreciate your support of Kulanu's work with Jewish communities around the world!

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