Our amazing community raised money to sponsor two new ambulances! Join us for this festive event and s ay Mazel Tov to the RJCF Magen Adom ambulances before they are shipped to serve the People of Israel.   Sunday, January 12, 2025 2:00 – 4:00 PM Hebrew College 1860 Washington Street Newton, MA Please RSVP for your free admission to the ceremony. Refreshments (kosher) will be served.

Dr. Lana Rifkin has been a proud member of the RJCF Board of Directors for 9 years, serving on the Gala Committee as well leading the Sderot Project Committee for many years before turning her attention to Zionist activism, particularly with local community teens.  
After the events of October 7th and the rising antisemitism, especially on academic campuses, Lana has focused on education and connection to Israel with her own children and their peers. She is passionate about Israel and maintaining a strong and proud Jewish identity, frequently organizing community actions and events. She and her family travel to Israel often, to volunteer, to learn, and to connect...

Dear Russian Jewish Community,
I’m honored to have been elected President of the Russian Jewish Community Foundation.  I’d like to take an opportunity to thank Alex Koifman for his time and dedication to the RJCF cause.
It is during times like these that I am proud to be a part of the Russian Jewish Community Foundation, helping to advance our mission aimed to preserve and enhance the Jewish identity among Russian speaking Jews via education and community events across Massachusetts, as well as to support Israel.
Today we’re facing more challenges than when the RJCF was born almost 20 years ago. Following the vicious attack on ...

Aaron Chernin has been involved with the Russian Jewish community in Boston for as long as he can remember. Some of his earliest memories involve sitting on his dad’s shoulders waiving an Israeli flag at the Israeli Independence Day parade. His passion for Israel only strengthened over time, and when the Children of Sderot project started, he knew he had to get involved. As a three-time counselor at the Boston-Sderot camp, Aaron connected with the children first-hand, formed relationships, and established connections with them that will undoubtedly last a lifetime. Knowing what a profound impact that this program had on the lives of the children, as well as on his own life, he is focused towards the future. His goal is to foster the next generation of proud, involved Zionists who can maintain and grow an even larger connection with the children of Sderot, as well as the State of Israel as a whole. He is working to ensure that our Israel advocacy is loud, proud and here to stay.

RCJF proudly supports the Schweik Project.

The Shweik Project is a group of volunteers who sew adaptive clothing to outfit wounded soldiers across nine major hospitals.

These selfless volunteers return the ability of the wounded to dress themselves, gain independence and restore dignity during their recovery and beyond.

Read the most recent letters from the Israeli Schweik volunteers here.

Thank you to our community for supporting this incredible project and pulling off a big mitzvah this summer. The butterfly effect of this summer will continue for years to come. With your generosity and support, we successfully hosted 20 kids from Sderot this summer. Please read their reflections from this experience.

Multiple parents expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the Rifkin family and the members of the Boston Jewish community for the amazing opportunity you provided to the children of Sderot to participate in the Camp RSM summer camp. Please read their testimonies.

With your generosity and support, we successfully hosted 20 kids from Sderot this summer. Their time provided a needed reprieve since the nightmare of October 7th and the continued difficulties as they hear and see all the action being 1 km from the Gaza border. Read the Jewish Journal’s feature on the Camp Boston Sderot project and this summer’s unbelievable work. All possible because of the tireless RJCF volunteers and alumni volunteer counselors. 
They attended Camp RSM as a group of 1 counselor, 5 CITs, 4 CHs, 8 oldest kids and 2 campers. Camp was a transformative experience for Sderot kids and American campers alike.

The Hamas Tunnel is an immersive exhibit built into a shipping container which was designed in consultation with hostages who returned from Hamas captivity, and Israeli soldiers who were in the tunnels, with audio track from Hamas go-pro recordings from October 7th.

Dear friends, today we mourn the untimely loss of our great friend and community leader Tanya Gorlin. Tanya was a dedicated and fearless American patriot and a defender of Israel. She was a devoted grandmother, a beloved wife to her husband Andrew and a friend to so many of us.
Tanya grew up in a privileged family in the Soviet Union. Despite this, she courageously chose to challenge the Soviet regime, becoming a refusenik for many years. When she came to America, she and Andrew built a great life for their family. Again, she chose to fight for America and for Israel. I don’t remember a rally for Israel that she did not organize or attend.
I saw Tanya a month ago at the Jerusalem Day in Brookline. Although, she was quite ill, she looked energetic and full of life. It is hard to believe that she is no longer with us...

With your help, we geared up for the balagan of 20 Sderot kids arriving at Logan on the 4th of July.
Special thanks to our dedicated Boston hosts Dita Berline, KK Ulanovsky, Ben Gribov, Yasha Shapiro, Laura Agarkov, Lana Rifkin and Yudit for housing, feeding and entertaining the kids for 3 nights and 4 days. We watched fireworks together, shared a Shabbat, experienced a Boston Duck Tour, explored the city and had a Hibachi dinner thanks to all of you!

In just a few days, 20 kids from Sderot are arriving in Boston for 2 weeks at Camp RSM. Not only will we bring the largest group of Sderot kids to Camp RSM to-date, but we are doing something much bigger than 20 kids.
Watch Natasha Panaitov’s brief reflections on over 15 years of our Boston Sderot Project and the magnitude of its impact on the rising generations in Sderot.