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Last update - 19:59 03/09/2009
WATCH: New campaign targets Jews 'lost' to assimilation
By Cnaan Liphshiz, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Jewish Agency, MASA 

An organization that works to strengthen ties between Israel and Diaspora Jews Wednesday launched a scare-tactic campaign that urges Israelis to combat assimilation in North America by working to prevent the "loss" of their own Jewish acquaintances there.

The 10-day Hebrew-language campaign, to be shown on television and online, was prepared by a leading advertising firm at the behest of MASA, a partnership between the Jewish Agency and the Israeli government that helps finance and market semester- and year-length Israel programs for Diaspora Jews.

"More than 50 percent of young Jews assimilate," the filmed commercial informs viewers through the voice of Ayala Hasson, a top reporter for Channel 1. "We are losing them," she adds, as soft, melancholy flute music plays in the background.
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The 33-second clip features images of missing-person posters hanging in locales in Europe and North America. The posters, in English, French and Russian, show young people with Jewish-sounding names. One "lost" person can be seen wearing a T-shirt that reads "I love Israel."

The ad then asks anyone who "knows a young Jew living abroad" to call MASA. "Together, we will strengthen his or her bond to Israel, so that we don't lose them," the announcer concludes.



The advertisement is MASA's first appeal to the Israeli public. "So far, MASA has advertised itself only to prospective candidates [for its programs]," said Ayelet Shiloh-Tamir, MASA's CEO, at a press conference held at the offices of Scherff Communication, the advertising agency.

But she stressed that her organization sees itself as a part of the effort to further Israel-Diaspora ties. "Recent studies suggest that with a 0.5 percent growth rate and an 80 percent assimilation rate in places like the former Soviet Union, the Jewish people is on the verge of a downward trend," she said. "Yet this issue has been sidelined in Israel. With this campaign, we sought to reintroduce the topic to the public agenda here as something that is of serious importance for average Israelis."

MASA says in its six years of existence, it has brought 35,000 Jews to study in Israel, injecting an estimated NIS 1.6 billion into Israel's economy.
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  1.   MASA should stick to positive messages 08:08  |  Jewish mother 03/09/09
  2.   abducted 08:28  |  Shimon 03/09/09
  3.   Repulsive, provincial 08:31  |  Boris 03/09/09
  4.   The cause is vital, the means is doubtfully the right one. 08:32  |  Fortuna Benmayor 03/09/09
  5.   Saw commercial on TV last night 08:33  |  Gershon 03/09/09
  6.   Non-Jewish women 08:35  |  Alan 03/09/09
  7.   Ridiculous campaign 08:36  |  Al 03/09/09
  8.   Kol ha`kavod, Boris! 08:52  |  Jewish mother 03/09/09
  9.   I Love It! 09:20  |  Dusty 03/09/09
  10.   Medieval and Insulting 09:45  |  Moshe 03/09/09
  11.   And how exactly is this going to work? 09:52  |  Hanna 03/09/09
  12.   not jewish enough... 09:54  |  Kitsune 03/09/09
  13.   Gimmicky waste of money&time til u address WHY??? 10:27  |  Anon 03/09/09
  14.   New ads target Christians `abducted` by marrying Jews 10:35  |  Michael 03/09/09
  15.   masa 10:41  |  Josh 03/09/09
  16.   Joining the Deep South? 10:45  |  Rod 03/09/09
  17.   How about a campaign to change the rabbis instead? 10:49  |  Michael 03/09/09
  18.   MASA has a problem with freedom 11:16  |  Robert Daniel Pickar 03/09/09
  19.   I Can`t Even Get A Line In Here Sometimes... 11:18  |  Yosemite 03/09/09
  20.   This will only alienate 11:24  |  Jo 03/09/09
  21.   Finally 11:25  |  Haim 03/09/09
  22.   oy vey - after seeing that i would never come 11:29  |  john locke 03/09/09
  23.   Are we goyim just too attractive to Jews?! 11:31  |  Michael 03/09/09
  24.   MASA Campaign 11:32  |  arturo 03/09/09
  25.   Whiners - The statistics tell it all 13:42  |  R Saus 03/09/09
  26.   make it easier 14:14  |  GW 03/09/09
  27.   Now Pay Attention... 15:07  |  Yosemite 03/09/09
  28.   If only all would interbreed 15:35  |  Don Boston 03/09/09
  29.   Concerned about assimilation? Jewish education is/was the answer. 16:09  |  common sense 03/09/09
  30.   MASA 16:44  |  Felix 03/09/09
  31.   Me too,Boris 16:49  |  Marc 03/09/09
  32.   Abducted by...love? 17:09  |  W 03/09/09
  33.   You really don`t get it, do you? - Try 2 19:20  |  Murray 03/09/09
  34.   To Boris 19:50  |  Igor 03/09/09
  35.   why Jews are Jews if the mother is Jewish 20:31  |  Arieh Zimmerman 03/09/09
  36.   Orthodox indoctrination ? 21:53  |  Reform Jew 03/09/09
  37.   MASA Ad 23:07  |  Steven Rivkin 05/09/09
  38.   Jews `lost` to assimilation 21:08  |  Cyasher 06/09/09
  39.   Israeli Jews Lost 13:39  |  Tamar 08/09/09
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