Combined Israel Education Committee (CIEC) formed in 2003 is made up of nine synagogues: six Conservative and three Orthodox in Newton, Needham, Chestnut Hill and Brookline. The current member synagogues include:
Temple Emanuel
Temple Reyim
Temple Aliyah
Congregation Kehillath Israel
Congregation Mishkan Tefila
Temple Emeth
Young Israel of Brookline
Congregation ShaareiTefilah
Congregation Beth El-Atereth Israel
CIEC was created explicitly with 2 missions:
1. To provide educational programs on all aspects of Israel to the members of our congregations;
2. To provide support for Israel in times of difficulty.
Since its beginning, more than 1500 people have attended the 50 educational events – lectures, courses, seminars, workshops, films, and panel discussions sponsored by CIEC and held in one of the member synagogues.
The Combined Israel Education Committee is composed solely of volunteers from the 9 synagogues who meet and choose a specific theme for each year’s program, such as “Israel and the Media: A Question of Balance,” and “Is World Jewry Confronting its Challenges?”
Once each year’s theme is chosen, members of the CIEC find persons who are experts on this topic and invite them to participate. Members of the CIEC then publicize the program which is funded through the fees charged for admission to the lectures.
One of the goals of the CIEC is to include more synagogues in the region so that we can have a bigger impact in helping Israel.
