Federation has a special guest in town this weekend from Berlin, Germany representing the Jewish Agency for Israel. Federation is hosting several events to share with the community how the Agency supports revitalization of Jewish communities outside of Israel. Anastassia “Nastia” Pletoukhina will share her personal stories including Anastassia’s personal experience in Halle, Germany on Yom Kippur when her synagogue was attacked. You can learn more about Federation’s role in securing the synagogue in Halle in this video. 

Nastia didn’t know she was Jewish until her family moved to Germany when she was 12; in Russia, her parents had not felt it safe to tell her. At 18, she visited Israel for the first time with Birthright. This inspired her to become a JAFI staff member. A turning point in Nastia’s Jewish development was her acceptance to The Jewish Agency’s “Nevatim” leadership-training program. Nevatim supports young Jewish adults as they develop ideas for making Jewish education accessible in Germany. Through Nevatim, Nastia founded “Studentim” for German-Jewish university students in Berlin. Today, Studentim is Berlin’s largest provider of Jewish education to college students. Nastia’s roles in the Jewish community have included Manager of the Berlin Community Youth Center and Educational Manager for Maccabia Europe in Berlin. Today she works as the Educational Program Coordinator for The Jewish Agency’s center in Berlin.
 
The Jewish Agency is a decades-long partner of the Jewish Federation of San Diego. Not only will Nastia’s presentation incorporate her experience in the Halle Synagogue, but she will share with us the critical role Federation plays in ensuring JAFI’s ability to respond immediately in times of crisis no matter where in the world events may transpire. At the Halle Synagogue, the volunteers responsible for security were able to see the approaching attacker on cameras purchased with funds from The Jewish Agency’s Emergency Assistance Fund, giving them time to secure the doors (another security enhancement made possible by the Fund). The JAFI Fund was established in 2012, after an assault in Toulouse, to support security upgrades to Jewish facilities around the world. 
 
Join us for a coffee and conversation today at 1:30pm. This is a free event, but please register here.