As in other areas, Ner LeElef's primary contribution to former Soviet Jewry has been the provision of klei kodesh manpower, and it has run many two year, part-time training programs both in Israel as well is in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev and Odessa. These are usually in conjunction with other organizations, such as Aish HaTorah, Shevut Ami, Migdal Ohr, Tikvateinu and the Union of Jewish Religious Organizations of the Ukraine.
In addition, Ner LeElef has been one of the primary partners in the “Ten Cities Project”, which, together with several other organizations, began ten new communities in Russia. Ner LeElef has started several other communities, outreach projects and programs in various CIS countries, all in conjunction with other organizations. Its latest project is the establishment of four kollelim, together with Rabbi Baksht in Odessa (Ukraine), the Open Curtain in Ohalei Yaakov in Moscow, and the Vaad HaHatzala LeNidchei Yisroel in Tibilisi (Georgia), and St.Petersburg (Russia).
Currently, there are over sixty Ner LeElef graduates working in Russia, and another 20 working in other parts of the FSU (the CIS). In addition, six, graduates are working in Germany, servicing almost exclusively former Soviet Jewry who have mover to Germany.
In general, the earlier training programs were run in Israel, while the later programs, with the exception of Shevut Ami Teachers' and Rabbis Programs, were run in the CIS, developing local talent to build up the communities. Programs in Moscow and Kiev have already run multiple cycles.
This represented a significant change to the Shlichut approach that had dominated the field until then. Programs in the CIS provided for easier and cheaper placement, and the graduates had a deeper commitment and understanding of their communities and projects. In addition, much more was asked of the participants during the training phase. Stipends during the programs were lower, while salaries of placed graduates were also lower. Since it was necessary for these participants to have a lot more general Torah knowledge, as most had only learned in yeshiva for short periods of time, Ner LeElef was forced to build these components into its training programs as well. All of this has had a tremendous impact on the Russian community on various levels. One significant success has been the increased rate of Jews marrying Jews and the decline in intermarriage. We have also helped develop entire communities of young, knowledgeable Jews.
Ner LeElef and it graduates have engaged in many other projects as well, too many to list here. Return to Top of Page

Moscow
The IDT program in Moscow has an entire program of young people studying both secular and Jewish studies, most of whom while in the program are already active in Kiruv projects under our guidance. They run all sorts of communal programs - educational, family, and cultural – such that the community has expanded remarkably. It is a 2-year program, with tracks for both men and women.
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Kiev
The Kiev program has separate tracks for men and women. The goal of the program is to provide manpower for local institutions, as well as for other Ukraine communities. As with all the CIS programs, we ran some intensive seminars in order to bring in staff not ordinarily available on a commuting basis. The first series was wildly successful, and working in conjunction with community rabbis we are currently running the second round of this program.
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Odessa
The program is run with the community of the great Choral synagogue, in conjunction with Rabbi Bakst. It is now in its third year. The curriculum is targeted to train and upgrade the teachers and to educate members of the community who want to be involved but have no Jewish knowledge. The training in community development as well as the upgraded Jewish knowledge has facilitated an expanded membership that has more than tripled. There are special student activities that bring in a tremendous amount of students, so far as to initiate the beginnings of a Jewish University. They have established a Kollel as well.
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