December 11, 2015

Dear Friends,

I want to start by wishing a Happy Chanukah to you. As you celebrate the “miracle of lights,” we know you hold in your hearts the challenges of our emerging communities – Jewish individuals around the world for whom you create miracles every day.

What a wonderful year it has been for KULANU. We have so many memories and accomplishments to share and it is our hope to continue our work to help isolated and emerging Jewish communities around the world.

That’s where you come in. Your financial support will make it possible for Jewish communities in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Guatemala to grow, and for African Jewish congregations in Kenya, Ivory Coast, and Madagascar to come into their own. Kulanu is reaching out to Poland and India as well, and continuing our work in Zimbabwe and Uganda – all thanks to you.

I give many thanks to Kulanu for their beautiful continuing support of my Kasuku Jewish community in Kenya. Kulanu donated a computer to make Jewish study online easier and to help us connect with new friends around the world. A tuition donation promises that next year our kids will go to school.  -Yehudah Kimani

There are so many more young people like Yehudah, and thanks to supporting from people like you, Kulanu will be able to partner with many more. Please use go visit www.kulanu.org/donate to give online. All giving up to $10,000 will be matched by the Bella and Stella Foundation!

Kulanu Highlights, 2015:

• Torahs donated by Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan’s Upper East Side and Temple Emanuel in Franklin Lakes, NJ were distributed to communities in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and an Abayudaya village in Uganda.
• Kulanu gave five “mini-grants” to needy Jewish communities in Guatemala, Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador for machzorim, siddurim, tefillin, a mikvah, and a bima.
• Kulanu volunteers traveled to Zimbabwe, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, India, Papua New Guinea, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Brazil to meet community members, teach, and bring donated books, Judaica items, and computers, and to assessKulanu involvement.
• The Kulanu-Lemba Speaking Tour 2015 was a great success, as Modreck Maeresera, leader of Harare Lemba Synagogue made eighteen appearances in fifteen cities across the United States and Canada and raised awareness about his inspiring community, its 2500-year-old story, and the renaissance of African Jewish life in Zimbabwe.
• With Kulanu’s support, leaders from Cameroon, Nigeria, Uganda, Guatemala, and Zimbabwe traveled outside their communities to take advantage of Jewish learning and leadership development opportunities at Rabbi Shlomo Riskin’s Ohr Torah Stone yeshiva in Israel, Florida International University Global Jewish Studies Program, Birthright Israel, Brandeis Collegiate Institute near Los Angeles, summer camps in Georgia and Massachusetts, the Federation of Jewish Mens’ Clubs, and the WRJ (Women of Reform Judaism) Assembly 2015.
• In Uganda, Kulanu donations paid for running two schools, including the schools’ breakfast and lunch program, students’ successful participation in the National Music, Dance, and Drama Festival, a “Mama in the Schools” program, conferences of the Abayudaya Women’s Association, a new computer lab for the elementary school, a deaf education program, and water well repair. Kulanu served as fiscal sponsor for a major grant to the Kavule School for the Deaf.
• The Harare Lemba Synagogue, which Kulanu helped to establish in Zimbabwe last year, continues to grow and thrive, assisted by excellent volunteers who worked alongside the Lemba community and taught various subjects for several months this past year. Construction continues on the synagogue in the countryside with funding from Kulanu and labor by the community. 
• We continue to utilize the Internet to further our mission, funding Internet access to connect isolated communities with social networking and online learning, and sharing photos and videos (www.youtube.com/kulanuvideo,www.kulanu.phanfare.com). This year we produced a short video about Kulanu’s work and collaborated with filmmakers making films about our communities in Ghana, Cameroon, and Ethiopia. We also helped launch the new Kulanu Academic Cohort to enhance our collaboration with scholars.

…and so much more! Visit our social media pages (www.facebook.com/kulanu, www.twitter.com/kulanu_inc) to stay in touch. Remember our online store, kulanuboutique.com for books, music, and Judaica from around the globe. And if you haven’t been receiving our “Kulanu Update” emails, please be sure to send your current email address to database@kulanu.org or include it with your donation.

Thank you in advance for your gift. Thanks to you, Kulanu is able to welcome emerging Jewish communities in the most isolated places on the globe.

Donate online at www.kulanu.org/donate. Any amount will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for your support of Kulanu, Inc. and Jewish communities around the world!

Sincerely,

Harriet

Harriet Bograd, President

Kulanu, Inc