Young Judaea gains independence

By Cindy Mindell

Leah Chatinover

As of this month, Young Judaea, the oldest Zionist youth movement in North America is on its own. In a collaborative agreement, Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, will turn the 103-year-old youth movement that it has sponsored since 1942 into an independent, not-for-profit entity, a decision announced jointly on Aug. 8.

Recognized for leadership training, pluralist ideology, and activism, Young Judaea serves 5,000 Jewish children, teens, and young adults annually through summer camps in the U.S. and programs in Israel.

The split is an amicable one, according to Hadassah national president, Marcie Natan. “Like a child leaving the nest, Young Judaea will always be part of the Hadassah family,” she told the Washington Jewish Week. “Hadassah members take tremendous pride in how effective Young Judaea is in creating permanent connections between American youth and Israel.”

Leaders of both organizations told the Jewish Week that Hadassah’s losses from Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme forced Hadassah to focus on supporting its hospitals in Israel, the core of Hadassah’s mission, including a $363-million commitment to build the new Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower in Jerusalem.

West Hartford attorney Leah Chatinover, of Stanger & Arnold, LLC, represented Young Judaea in the year-long legal proceedings.

“This was particularly meaningful for both Bruce [Stanger] and me,” she says. “We both have a longstanding commitment to Jewish education, Jewish camping, and Israel.”

Chatinover and her two sisters followed their mother into the Young Judaea movement, as did their children. “This is an intersection of my personal and professional life,” she says.

David Bechhofer

The two organizations will remain connected through Hadassah participation in Young Judaea’s boards and committees, educational programming, and other initiatives. The youth movement will remain in its current office space at Hadassah’s New York headquarters for several months. Hadassah, Young Judaea’s sole sponsor since 1967, will provide transition funding for three years. During that time, Young Judaea will solicit funding from its alumni network, foundations, and other major donors, for growth initiatives, scholarships, and grants, as well as capital improvements and expansion at Tel Yehudah, its national teen-leadership camp in New York, and its four summer camps throughout the U.S. Hadassah chapters will continue to raise scholarship funding for Young Judaea’s summer and year-round programs.

Young Judaea will be run by a professional staff under inaugural executive director Simon Klarfeld. A small founding board has been overseeing the transition; an inaugural board of directors, composed of YJ alumni, is headed by David Bechhofer of Newtown, Mass. Bechhofer, a senior director at global strategy consulting firm Bain & Company, Inc., coordinated many of the firm’s pro bono efforts, including work with the Boston Public Schools, City Year, and Citizen Schools. He created two nationwide programs

for young people touched by breast cancer — the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure Youth Corps, and the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Youth Crew; he travels the country in support of the Avon Walks.

Bechhofer first got involved in Young Judaea as a young teen in his native Ithaca, N.Y., becoming club president, and attending Camp Tel Yehudah. Before entering Yale as an undergraduate, he went on Summer Course and Year Course in Israel.

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