{"id":10304,"date":"2019-09-18T22:42:07","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T02:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kulanuarchive.kulanu.org\/?p=10304"},"modified":"2019-09-20T12:02:42","modified_gmt":"2019-09-20T16:02:42","slug":"four-student-rabbis-travel-the-distance-to-support-isolated-jewish-communities-worldwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kulanu.org\/archive\/four-student-rabbis-travel-the-distance-to-support-isolated-jewish-communities-worldwide\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Student Rabbis Travel the Distance to Support Isolated Jewish Communities Worldwide"},"content":{"rendered":"

PRESS RELEASE — It was “boots on the ground” for four rabbinical students who spent their summer serving remote Jewish communities around the globe.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Kulanu, an international organization that supports isolated, emerging, and returning Jewish communities around the globe, four rabbinical students were selected as Kulanu Global Teaching Fellows. These dedicated “rabbis-to-be” traveled to Nigeria, Brazil, India, and Gabon at the request of these Jewish communities, devoted a month this summer to deepen each community’s understanding and practice of Judaism.<\/p>\n

Launched in 2017, a total of nine rabbinical students have participated in Kulanu’s Global Teaching Fellows program and this year, for the first time, African rabbinical students served African Jews in African countries.<\/p>\n

“My village community in Uganda has received some support from Kulanu and this summer I was able to give back to another African Jewish community in Nigeria. Thanks to Kulanu as an African Jew I have come full circle,” shared Shadrach Mugoya Levy, who taught in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Jewish communities in outposts from Brazil to India benefited from their relationship with these dedicated rabbinical students – from teaching Hebrew to reading Torah to organizing a Jewish youth program, these “rabbis-in-training” brought unparalleled enthusiasm and expertise to local Jewish populations.<\/p>\n

And the feeling was mutual. Says Michal Kohane, a Kulanu Global Teaching Fellow from New York and Israel, who served in Andhra Pradesh, India this summer. “The students I was so very honored to teach, were incredibly bright, committed, studious and learned,” she shared.<\/p>\n

Moshe Hezekiah Nwafor of Abuja, Nigeria, who serves as Jewish teacher in several Nigerian communities was thrilled with fellow African Rabbi Shadrach Mugoya’s visit; “It was awesome and we learned so much.”<\/p>\n

Emphasizing Kulanu’s pluralistic approach to Jewish belief and practice, the rabbinical students hailed from a wide spectrum of rabbinical school programs and served in the following countries. Kulanu carefully matched rabbinical students from different backgrounds with compatible communities.<\/p>\n

2019 Fellows<\/h4>\n
Fellow's Name\r\n<\/strong>Shadrach Mugoya Levy\r\n\r\n\r\nNatan Freller\r\n\r\nMichal Kohane\r\n\r\nAmir Etele\u00a0\u00a0<\/div> \r\n
Aleph Rabbinical Program\r\n(distance learning from \r\nNamutumba, Uganda)\r\nZiegler Rabbinical School\r\n(Los Angeles, CA)\r\nYeshivat Maharat\r\n(Riverdale, NY)\r\nOhr Torah Stone Yeshiva\r\n(Israel)<\/div>
Nigeria\r\n\r\n\r\nBrazil\r\n\r\nIndia\r\n\r\nGabon<\/div>
<\/div><\/code><\/pre>\n
What makes this initiative newsworthy:<\/h4>\n