Start the New Year with a gift to the Federation's Campaign 2007 and to Rebuild Israel.

The celebration of Rosh Hashanah and the start of a new year begin this week. As we turn our thoughts and prayers toward this season of renewal, we hope that you will think of your Israeli friends and family as they too begin anew.

I hope that you will join us in supporting our Israeli family in two ways—by making a gift to Rebuild Israel as well as the Federation’s Campaign 2007.

For more than 20 years, our Federation has had a strong and focused partnership with northern Israel—in particular the region called the Upper Galil. The programs we support there focus on education, job training, language skills for new immigrants and so much more.

Because of this long and productive relationship, the Federation was able to move quickly during the first weeks of the conflict to send immediate aid—almost $2 million—to help the residents of the North deal with the impact of the conflict. As you have heard previously, those dollars helped provided relief and respite for the citizens of the region, including:

• Aid for the elderly and other at-risk populations.
• Trips out of the region to give residents a break from the turmoil.
• Transportation so children could go to summer camp away from the region.
• Furnishings for ill-equipped shelters.
• Games and entertainment for children to help pass the days.
• Protective gear for emergency workers and fire fighters.

With the cease fire in effect, the hard work is underway. The Israeli Treasury Ministry estimates that the physical and economic damage resulting from the war will total almost $1.4 billion dollars:

• Damage to tourism in the North is estimated at $150 million.
• 7,500 small businesses in Haifa and the North are in danger of closing in the next two months.
• Schools, libraries, community centers, clinics, homes for the elderly and public housing, as well as roads, bridges and overpasses, received extensive damage.
• Damage to the agricultural infrastructure is estimated at $75 million.
• Hezbollah rockets also started fires that caused the destruction of thousands of acres of forests, nature preserves and public parks.

Add into that the human impact of the war—the needs for psychological support for trauma victims—among them 15,000 children, working with teachers and social workers to prepare them to assist children returning to school and helping the most vulnerable residents return to normal life—and you can understand why it is so important to send our support to Israel.

We hope you will therefore start this season of renewal with a gift to Rebuild Israel as well as to Campaign 2007. Or, send your check, made payable to the Jewish Community Federation (write Campaign to Rebuild Northern Israel or Campaign 2007 in the memo line) and mail to the JCF, 121 Steuart Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, or call us at 415.777.0411 and use your credit card.

When we join together as a community, we can do a world of good. From our Federation family to yours and to our Jewish community in Israel and the world over, best wishes to be inscribed for a good year.

Take Advantage of the New IRA Charitable Rollover!

On August 17, 2006, President Bush signed into law the much anticipated IRA charitable rollover as part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), also known as H.R.4. This significant giving opportunity may enable you to make a gift to the Jewish Community Federation’s Campaign 2007, Rebuild Israel or to establish or add to an endowment fund in your special field of interest with the Jewish Community Endowment Fund (JCEF). We encourage you to consult with your legal and tax advisors before making a gift.  Features of the new law include:

• You must be 70 and ½ years or older to qualify. 
• You may distribute from an IRA up to $100,000 per year tax-free through December 31, 2007. 
• Distributions must be made by the IRA trustee directly to a qualified public charity. 
• This amount will be excluded from gross income, provided the distribution would otherwise be taxable to you.
• The IRA gift will be counted toward the IRA’s annual minimum distribution requirement.
• Contributions to donor-advised funds, supporting organizations, private non-operating foundations, charitable lead trusts and life income plans, such as charitable remainder trusts, pooled income funds and charitable gift annuities, do not qualify for favorable IRA distribution treatment.
• At this time, California income tax laws may subject an IRA charitable distribution to state income tax. You may still wish to consider a gift of your minimum distribution since it would be subject to state tax if you received it directly.
  

Opportunities to achieve your charitable goals include:

• The Israel Emergency Campaign: to help our Northern Israeli family rebuild and recover from the conflict in Lebanon.
• The Federation’s Annual Campaign: to sustain Jewish life locally, nationally and overseas.
• The unrestricted Endowment Fund: to meet future emergencies, seed new initiatives and provide capital grants to ensure the vitality of the Jewish community.
• A restricted, named Endowment: to meet a need in your field of interest, to benefit a particular agency or synagogue, to establish a scholarship or other fund.  JCEF can provide you with a list of vital community needs.
• Support of an existing community fund: the community-wide Jewish Preschool Scholarship Fund, the Jewish Day School Scholarship Fund, the Jewish Day Camp Scholarship Fund or the Interfaith Outreach Endowment Fund.

If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Phyllis Cook, Jewish Community Endowment Fund Executive Director, at 415.512.6211, or Wendy Rothenberg, Interim Chief Development Officer, at 415.512.6220. 

Please note that this information is not intended as legal advice, and merely conveys factual information about a new law. It is not intended to be applied to an individual’s specific circumstances or to be relied upon or used by any taxpayer to avoid penalties that may be imposed by the Internal Revenue Service. Please consult with your professional tax advisor.

High Holy Days are almost here

Looking for a place to observe the High Holy Days? Jholidays.org and PlanitJewish.com have got you covered! For holiday information, services and activities visit www.jholidays.org.

Make an impact in a child’s life this year

Bay Area students need you! Fifty percent of local fourth graders are not reading at their grade level. Join the Jewish community in helping to improve literacy in public schools by becoming a tutor with the Jewish Coalition for Literacy (JCL). With just one hour per week, you can change a child’s life by revealing the wonders of the written word, the magic of books, and the excitement of reading. JCL will train you and pair you with a child in kindergarten through third grade. Share your passion for learning and take part in this rewarding tikkun olam project by signing up for a tutor training in San Francisco, the East Bay, or on the Peninsula. Visit www.jclread.org, email jcl-sf@jcrc.org, or call 415.977.7414 for more information.

To Life! Street Festival a memorable day for all

The seventh annual To Life! Jewish Cultural Street Festival in Palo Alto  was the most exciting festival yet, with more than 10,000 people gathering from all over the Bay Area. The day was a musically, artistically and gastronomically satisfying event. Entertainment was provided for every musical taste with three stages of entertainment. This year the Festival featured favorites from prior years: the third annual Jewish American Idol Contest, Mark Levy, Judith Kate Friedman, HaShirim, the Yiddish Choristers, the Fantasy Dance Group and many more great performances. One hundred artisans showed and sold their work; the children’s area featured arts and educational activities and games for ages 3–15. Tents of community provided an opportunity to meet and greet with 50 Jewish organizations.

The Jewish Community Federation and the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life hosted a pre-festival brunch for 150 guests, featuring a brief program that included Tom Dine, Federation CEO, welcoming the group and Jim Koshland announcing the Palo Alto City Council approval to move ahead with the Campus project. Other speakers included Sherie Koshover, communications and corporate director for the Jewish Home, who gave a senior living update; Steve Bauman, president of the Albert L. Schultz JCC, who talked about the JCC’s vision for the future; and Neal Levy, the Federation’s Israel Center director, who gave an Israel update.

Diller Teen Fellows program goes national

Hillel professionals and active students Israel seminar

On September 8, the Campus Division of the Federation’s Israel Center and Northern California Hillel held a three-hour seminar for 24 Hillel professionals, interns, Israel Fellows and active students. The day was designed to meet the needs of campus professionals following the troubled and hectic summer caused by the second Lebanon war. Different campus professionals felt a need to examine the recent events, their personal feelings and views about the war and the effect of those on their campus work. 

The event, moderated by Ken Kramarz (Tuolumne Institute), featured an Israel update followed by a Q&A with Gil Tamary from Israeli channel 10 news, as well as group discussions revolving around individual thoughts and feelings about Israel at this time. The session also included Bay Area campus resources representatives, including JIMENA, Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Jewish National Fund (JNF) and the Israel Center.

The participants showed an eager interest in following up on the activities and discussions at the yearly Israel activists’ Shabbaton, scheduled for October 27 and 28, 2006 and asked for this gathering to become a yearly event. 

Teen Foundations now Accepting Applications!

Peninsula Jewish Community Teen Foundation (PJCTF) and Marin Jewish Community Teen Foundation (MJCTF) are now accepting applications for the upcoming board term. This award winning program for teens hosts 22-member teen boards that learn to run their own Jewish Community charitable foundation. Teens become grant makers and take their obligation to fix the world (tikkun olam) to heart.

More information and online applications can be found for PJCTF at
www.sfjcf.org/endowment/grants/programs/teenfoundation/peninsula/. Information and applications for the Marin Jewish Community Teen Foundation can be obtained through contacting Michelle Schectman, Project Director at Michelles@sfjcf.org.

First application deadline is September 30, 2006.
This opportunity only comes once a year. Don't miss it!