Scotch Plains Family Donates $5M to Help Jewish Youth

SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ — The Heller family of Scotch Plains has made an endowment gift of $5 million to fund the NFTY-EIE High School in Israel Program, which is being renamed Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) Heller High: Isaac and Helaine Heller EIE High School in Israel.

This is the largest gift in EIE history, and the URJ’s largest non-capital gift.

Building on the existing Heller Family Scholarship Fund, which has provided more than 1,000 student scholarships over 40 years, the gift will provide significant annual scholarship funding for greater program participation with a focus on underserved Jewish communities and those without other sources of scholarship support.

To extend the impact of this gift, the URJ is launching a comprehensive scholarship campaign to raise additional funds necessary to meet significant student needs.

The new funds will also provide for continued programmatic excellence, and investment in marketing and recruitment to elevate awareness and understanding of URJ Heller High as a premier personal and educational development opportunity for Jewish youth.

The gift celebrates the program’s 55th anniversary and honors the family connection of Helaine and Isaac Heller with EIE, beginning with their daughter Audrey’s transformational experience as a participant.

Isaac Heller, an industrial park developer and philanthropist who cofounded Remco, one of the US’s leading toy manufacturers, died in 2015.

Together with his wife Helaine, they were longstanding members of Temple Emanu-El in Westfield, NJ, and dedicated supporters of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ.

URJ Heller High is a fully accredited, intensive academic program for North American high school students in grades 10-12 to spend a semester living and learning in Israel. Established in 1961 by NFTY, the Reform Jewish youth movement, in honor of past URJ president Rabbi Maurice N. Eisendrath, the program has served more than 3,000 students and counts many current Reform Jewish clergy and leaders as alumni.

“This is my way of honoring my husband, Ike, preserving his memory, and carrying on the love that we’ve both had for this program for 41 years. Since we saw its wonderful impact firsthand when our daughter Audrey came home, we have wanted to help even more students to have this important experience. The program and the URJ have been so meaningful to both of us, and I know Ike would be very pleased,” said Helaine Heller.

“EIE changed my life. It gave me a Jewish identity, widened my perspective, and instilled a strong connection with Israel. It’s thrilling to see my mother get more involved with this program that has so much personal meaning to me, and to continue to deepen the involvement my father started. What’s most gratifying is how many students benefit from the scholarships, particularly those from parts of North America with relatively small Jewish communities where funding sources can be limited. For teens from these regions—including Tallahassee, Florida, where I live—Jewish life simply requires more creativity. It’s so important to broaden the reach and accessibility of opportunities like URJ Heller High to as many young Jews as possible,” said Audrey Heller Romberg, daughter of Isaac and Helaine Heller.

“The Heller family’s extraordinary gift, together with other recent large grants and contributions, demonstrates the power of the URJ’s strategic vision to strengthen communities that transform the way people connect to Jewish life. This important endowment will have a tremendous direct impact; it will also inspire others to support our sacred work. As we make great strides in our continued efforts advocating for a progressive, pluralistic Israel, the Reform Movement is guaranteed to have future leaders passionately committed to Israel because of the continuity and growth of URJ Heller High,” said URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs.

Registration is open for URJ Heller High’s Spring 2017—more than 60 students are registered to date and dozens more are expected—and Fall 2017 sessions. The Fall 2016 semester is well underway with 31 students from 13 states plus Australia, who represent NFTY, ten URJ summer camps, and 28 URJ congregations across North America.

The URJ’s youth engagement initiatives incorporate 60 immersive programs reaching more than 23,000 youth, teens, and young adults every year.

— By Lauren Theodore

(Image provided: Helaine Heller, seated, with URJ leadership from left: Paul J. Reichenbach, Director of Camping and Israel Programs; Miriam Chilton, VP/Youth; and Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President.)

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