Israel & Overseas Allocations

Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) is committed to rescuing Jews in distress or danger and helping them start new lives in Israel. Its programming includes, but is not limited to, aliyah and klita (immigration absorption), Jewish Zionist education and activities in the former Soviet Union.

Partnership 2000 is UJA Federation’s most significant program in Israel. It pairs Diaspora communities with specific geographical regions in Israel; Toronto is partnered with Eilat/Eilot. Partnership 2000 serves as a “living bridge” between Israel and the Diaspora.

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) sponsors relief, rescue and renewal programs throughout the world. It serves as a lifeline for nearly 300,000 elderly and impoverished Jews in the former Soviet Union and wherever emergency response is needed.

National Collective Responsibility (NCR Israel) refers to the Canadian Federations’ support of the Israel Experience Centre, United Israel Appeal Federations Canada (UIAFC) operations in Israel and Taglit-Birthright Israel.

Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) is a non-partisan organization founded to set direction and strengthen community advocacy efforts on behalf of the Jewish community in Canada. CIJA supports activities of the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Canada-Israel Committee and National Jewish Campus Life.


National Canadian Programs

Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) deals with educating the public on crucial issues such as provincial funding for Jewish day

schools, anti-Semitism, municipal relations and social services for Toronto’s most vulnerable Jews. Canada Israel Committee (CIC) is the official representative of the organized Canadian Jewish community on matters pertaining to Canada-Israel relations. It communicates with all levels of government, journalists and all others who have an impact on public opinion in Canada.

National Jewish Campus Life (NJCL) supports Jewish student life on university and college campuses across the country. It ensures a campus culture that embraces Israel and Zionism and encourages Jewish identity in a pluralistic framework.

The Canada Israel Experience Centre (CIE) gives teenagers and young adults from across Canada access to Israel experience programs such as Taglit-Birthright Israel and March of the Living. Follow-up programs are also offered to engage them in community projects, upon their return.

Jewish Education and Identity

The Centre for Enhancement of Jewish Education (the Mercaz) is UJA Federation’s educational pillar, dedicated to strengthening,

enriching and promoting the quality of Jewish education in our schools. The Mercaz’s role is to enhance the quality, quantity and

accessibility of Jewish education by: Placing primary attention on parents and children.

Maintaining a commitment to grow tuition subsidies to low-income families.

Monitoring the quality of all affiliated day schools, supplementary programs and informal education settings.

Finding practical solutions to make Jewish education more accessible to all families.

Providing professional development opportunities, for educators.

Providing services for the community in the area of special education.

The Mercaz replaces the Board of Jewish Education (BJE). At the time of its founding, the BJE served 21 day and supplementary schools. Today, the Mercaz serves more than 70 day schools and supplementary programs, 1,700 educators and 17,000 students in the GTA.

Social Services

Bathurst Jewish Community Centre (BJCC)

Membership scholarships are provided to people with disabilities, newcomers to Canada, seniors and those in need of financial assistance. The Community and Family Services department offers high-quality, integrated programs for all ages. Seniors make up close to 40% of BJCC’s total athletic memberships. Special Needs programming is provided to people with physical or developmental disabilities.

Summer Day Camp Scholarships support families on social assistance. Bernard Betel Centre for Creative Living provides recreational and educational programs that address socialization needs among low income seniors.

Circle of Care meets a significant need in the Jewish community. Last year, 400,000 hours of homemaking and transport services

were provided to over 3,700 seniors. Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically Dependent Persons and Significant Others (JACS) is able to reach out to those who need help and to educate parents, children and community leaders about addiction. In the last year over 1400 people attended recovery and education meetings in a Jewish environment.

Jewish Camp Council provides scholarships for children to attend Camp Agudah, Camp Moshava and Camp Northland B’nai Brith. Jewish Family & Child Service (JF&CS)

Camping Programs enable children from low-income families to attend camp. The Chaplaincy Program enhances quality of life for Jewish patients in institutions. The Family Resource Centre lends support to parents, caregivers and children. The Hospice Program is coordinated with the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Circle of Care and Mount Sinai Hospital. Passover Assistance provides funding for more than 1,400 Jews The Prevention Program reduces the risks of family breakdowns. The Jerome Diamond Centre is an accredited school serving youth at risk. Women Abuse / Children Witnessing Violence provides crisis intervention to any woman who identifies herself as a victim of

domestic violence. Kehilla Residential Programme - The Community Assisted Rental Program is a five year pilot project to provide rental apartments at below market rates to referred clients. REENA is a Jewish agency serving individuals with developmental disabilities. JIAS (Jewish Immigrant Aid Services) Toronto introduces and connects newcomers to Jewish life in Toronto through settlement support and mentoring programs. JVS Toronto assists newcomers in their job search and career planning. Toronto Jewish Free Loan Cassa provides personal, educational or business loans to help clients achieve self-sufficiency.

Community Engagement & Culture

Ashkenaz Festival represents a broad spectrum of Yiddish/Jewish arts and related themes which brings out tens of thousands to celebrate Jewish culture at its finest.

Bernard Betel Centre for Creative Living - Russian Elderly Program helps to maintain a rich Russian-speaking culture for many Bernard Betel Centre members. Hillel of Greater Toronto provides programs to more than 18,000 Jewish students on university and college campuses in Greater

Toronto through the following locations:

University of Toronto serves as the Central office of Hillel and is also the centre for a wide variety of educational and cultural programs. York University has a very active Jewish student program housed in the newly refurbished facility in the Student Centre

offering a multiplicity of programs organized by student committees.

Ryerson University has established new programming as part of the agencies New Emerging Campus initiatives. Jews for Judaism provides counter-missionary programs and services that include counselling, lectures and referrals. Koffler Centre of the Arts offers programs that reflect the state of contemporary culture in Canada, in Israel and throughout the

world. It is a magnet for visual artists, musicians, writers, performers and students at all levels to be nurtured in a creative

environment. Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre provides cultural programming, the Al Green Theatre and a fitness centre to a large percentage of Jews living in downtown Toronto.

Toronto Jewish Film Festival showcases films with Jewish content and provides an exciting way to introduce people to Jewish

culture and how it blends with the mosaic of Toronto. Schwartz/Reisman Centre (SRC) includes world-class social, athletic, recreational, cultural and life-long learning facilities for York Region’s quickly growing population.

Tuition, ESL/HSL Assistance Program provides tuition grants on behalf of students from the former Soviet Union who are enrolled at affiliated Jewish Day Schools.

Latner Centre for Jewish Knowledge & Heritage offers knowledge and heritage based programs and services. The Holocaust Centre of Toronto is a vital resource in education about the Shoah. It provides programs and events such as Holocaust Education Week and Yom Hashoah commemorations.

Ontario Jewish Archives collects, preserves and makes available to researchers materials relating to the history of Jews in

Ontario. Jewish Canadian Military Archives enlightens the Jewish community as well as the broader community to the contribution of Jewish servicemen and women to Canada’s proud military history and fight against Nazism.

The Jewish Public Library is being reinvented and includes programs like the Media Resource Centre and the Pedagogic

Centre. Jewish Information Service of Greater Toronto (JIST) serves as a link and point of access to Jewish community life in the GTA. It is also responsible for ‘Doing Jewish in Toronto’ which averages over 200,000 requests per month

Committee for Yiddish promotes Yiddish culture and language as an instrument for Jewish continuity.

Local Community Building

This pertains to the services that UJA Federation provides to the entire community including: foundation expenses, capacity building with synagogues, community infrastructure, community information and communication, leadership development, and community planning/needs assessments.

Security

This allocation supports a multi-year program to enhance security at schools, agencies, synagogues, and the community campuses. It includes a comprehensive security assessment, installation of hardware, training and the creation of emergency management teams.

Federation Administration

Administration pertains to the operations and management of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto including, but not limited to, information technology, accounting, governance and human resources.