"Sound the great shofar to herald the ingathering of the Jewish Exiles to the Land of Israel from all four corners of the Earth." From the daily prayers

The American Jew is the most endangered species in our exile. Like the European Jew in the thirties, today's American Jew feels no desire to leave his home. Even when calamity strikes and anti-semitism flares, the American Jew will find ways to explain it away and continue to live with it. As such, anyone who dares tell him to move to Israel is asking for trouble. If you want to raise money from the American Jew, don't tell him to leave America. As such, all of the official Zionist organizations (including the Jewish Agency), which are largely financed by American Jews, do not campaign for aliyah. They restrict their efforts to signing up Jews who come to them.

Project Shofar is taking a new and innovative approach to refrain from fundraising and restrict its activities to educating and assisting Jews toward making plans to come home. The immediate question which arises is, "If you do not intend to raise money, how will this project be financed?"

Project Shofar is designed to be a vehicle for righteous gentiles to fulfill the prophesy of Isaiah 66:18,20:

" . . . it shall come that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see my glory; ... And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the L-rd out of all nations . . ."

Not only is the above clearly a "mitzvah" for the nations of the world, but today we find a growing number of Christian Zionists who, on their own, openly recognize Biblical Zionism as the word of G-d and who seek to support it. There are some who have given millions of dollars to finance Jewish return from the former Soviet Union to Israel and who seek to continue this effort in other areas.

I already have begun to establish a Gentile branch of Project Shofar whose purpose is to support Jewish return both politically and financially. It will be from this facet of Project Shofar that our organizational funding will come, thus we will not need to depend upon money from American Jews. This way there is no impediment upon our open advocacy for Jews to come home to Israel. We can speak at synagogues and Jewish organizations, as well as college campuses, to point out to the American Jew why America is not a Jewish haven.

Jewish Conferences on Aliyah

Project Shofar has decided that the time has come to launch a series of conferences to discuss the need for American Jews to think about their future and begin to make plans to come home to the only Jewish State. This is a far reaching plan which will require the participation of talented volunteers from all over the United States. There are several reasons for a series of conferences rather than one major conference. First of all we want to make attendance convenient for as many people as possible, so we want to set up conferences in major cities all over the United States. Second, we want to gain as much publicity for Project Shofar as possible and on as broad a level as possible. And third, we want to maintain an ongoing visibility rather than just have a one time fling. Ideally we should have at least three conferences a year all over the United States.

The conference should be held at a major hotel or convention center. We will need volunteers who are willing to canvass possible venues and do some "comparison shopping" to find the ideal location. More than just a few volunteers, in each major city a local Project Shofar Conference Committee must be established including an experienced organizer and key people who are willing to take assigned tasks upon themselves including: finding sponsors for the event; organizing local advertising; setting up details for the conference; enlisting local speakers; arranging press coverage; and canvassing potential attendees. The committee should schedule regular meetings to coordinate their efforts and be in touch with our central headquarters in Israel via e-mail.

If you, or someone you know, would be interested in organizing a local Project Shofar Conference Committee, please do not hesitate. Invite a few friends to your home and discuss these ideas over a cup of coffee. Think about other people you know who have either talent or connections which can help make this project a success. Assign tasks to each participant to do some initial background work and pick a date for the next meeting where progress will be discussed and snags ironed out. After each meeting, send me an e-mail outline of what you have come up with. All we need are a few dedicated and serious people who are willing to volunteer time and effort to make this work.

If you are a Jew living in the United States and relate to this concept and want to be a part of this attempt to hasten redemption by doing something, this is your opportunity. Pick up the phone and call a few like minded friends and arrange a meeting. Sit together and discuss among yourselves how you can begin to implement preparations for a Project Shofar Conference in your city. After your meeting send me an e-mail. Together we can make a difference.

Jewish Identity Centers:

Jewish volunteers with a rich background in Jewish values and knowledge of Judaism and Jewish history will be enlisted to organize local Jewish identity centers in areas of high Jewish population. Posters depicting Jewish topics will greet passers by, a Jewish, Zionist oriented library will be set up, and trained volunteers will be available to speak to visitors. Regular lectures should be arranged at the Center itself, as well as at other locations frequented by Jews. Information about Israel should be plentious and forms should be given out for Jews to fill out, indicating their skills, and when they would like to plan to come home to Israel.

Suitable volunteers should be given training seminars in Israel to prepare them for their work. Regular visits should also be arranged for Rabbi Waldman and myself to local centers and help with the lecture circuit.

Pilot trips should be arranged for interested Jews to focus upon eventual aliyah. Areas of high concentration of Jewish olim in Israel should be visited. Meetings should be arranged with olim and with potential employers.

If Project Shofar is to have any measure of success it will need the help of a great many volunteers. If you agree with me that we need to urgently begin a serious effort of outreach to encourage the Jewish people to come home as soon as possible, then contact me. Tell me what you are prepared to do to help this effort.

If enough people respond and we can put together a nationwide chain of Jewish Identity Centers and arrange for speaking engagements all over the country, I am prepared to do my part.

If you have e-mail I can be reached at gary@projectshofar.org. By fax, 972-2-9961778

Don't wait. Stop what ever you are doing now and think how you can help. Then tell me.

Project Shofar is dedicated to spreading these truths wherever it is possible to do so. It is sounding the alarm, to Jew and Gentile alike, to open our eyes to the G-dly process that is presently underway, and work to support it. We dare not stand idly on the sidelines.