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JICNY In the News!
- 'We wanted a life that had an open home' - New York Daily News, September 17, 2008
"We agreed we wanted a life that had an open home," says Jodi Samuels, co-founder of Jewish International Connection New York, a nonprofit organization that provides a home away from home to immigrant Jews from around the world.
And an open home they have. On a recent Sunday morning, Jodi and her husband, Gavin Samuels, co-founder of JICNY, are packing for a trip to visit their native Johannesburg, South Africa, for Gavin's brother's wedding.
But that doesn't stop them from meeting to discuss their efforts, which include holding Friday night dinners at their home — they have been host to 7,000 people since establishing the organization in 2000 — and organizing Torah classes in immigrants' native languages...
- Marriage on Their Minds - The New York Times, August 9, 2008
“One fixture on the Orthodox social circuit is Congregation Ohav Sholom, on 84th Street near Broadway, where a few dozen Jews assembled on a Monday evening last spring for a class in kabbalah, the study of Jewish mysticism.
The class was part of a series of events sponsored by Jewish International Connection, an organization that aids Jews from abroad. On this particular evening, the young men and women in attendance included guests from France, Cuba, Italy, Ukraine, Turkey, Mexico, Israel and Brazil.”
New York City can be a difficult enough place to navigate if you're from New Jersey. For New York transplants from Australia, South Africa, Russia and Argentina, the city is an incomprehensible grid of yellow Taxi cabs and pollution. When Jodi Samuels, one of the founders of Jewish International Connection NY (JICNY) made the move from South Africa to New York with her husband Gavin, who is also a JICNY founder along with Steve Eisenberg, she admits to feeling a little lost...[more]
- Press Release 1 - International Connections Launches to Fanfare in New York
"Foreigners only need apply!"
New York: There aren't many places in New York where a foreign passport gains you exclusive access. But Jewish International Connection, a group whose mission is to unite the thousands of non-American Jewish adults in this city, has proven an instant hit...[more]
Jewish International Connection is a hub for singles and couples looking to forge new ties with Jews from other parts of the world. It started out in 1991 as a social group for South Africans and then people from Commonwealth countries, and has blossomed into a full-fledged organization. With an emphasis on high-quality programming and wide scale affiliation, JICNY is a United Nations of sorts...[more]
