LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commending RAJE, the Russian American Jewish
Experience, upon the occasion of its Second Annual Banquet on February
9, 2010, and honoring Luba Kaufman

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize and
commend organizations of high purpose and worthy accomplishment whose
endeavors have a significant impact on the lives of those they serve;
and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern and fully in accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commend
RAJE (Russian American Jewish Experience) of the Russian Division of
Gateways, upon the occasion of its Second Annual Banquet, to be held at
Sotheby's on February 9, 2010, and to honor Luba Kaufman; and
WHEREAS, Since 1998, the Gateways Organization has dedicated itself to
education in values and ethical living, and to reconnecting people with
their Jewish heritage; and
WHEREAS, Nearly a million Jews from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) have
made their home in America, including thousands upon thousands in New
York City and New York State, and given the opportunities of our great
nation, many have flourished; and
WHEREAS, Yet the seeds of spiritual and communal destruction implanted
by the Soviet regime helped create a crisis of Jewish and communal iden-
tity which, if left unabated, could jeopardize the survival of this
important Russian American community; and
WHEREAS, To address this monumental challenge, the RAJE Leadership
Fellowship was created to train and inspire a new generation of communi-
ty leaders; and
WHEREAS, Luba Kaufman will be honored at the dinner with a Young Lead-
ership Award; and
WHEREAS, Luba Kaufman was born in Moscow and immigrated to the United
States with her family at the age of four; determined to provide their
daughter with the Jewish education denied to her in the former Soviet
Union, Luba was enrolled in a Jewish day school; and
WHEREAS, The love and appreciation she gained there for traditional
Judaism later provided the impetus for her to join RAJE at the Shaarei
Emunah Center for Jewish Life, where Luba Kaufman volunteered all of her
free evenings and weekends to help with Shabbat and Holiday programs,
social events, and student trips to Israel, all while working during the
day as a successful Real Estate Tax Consultant for New York Water
Management; and
WHEREAS, In 2006, Luba Kaufman joined RAJE full-time as its Fellowship
Program Coordinator, a position in which she is responsible for student
and young adult Jewish identity and community development programming;
she has led over 15 trips to Israel, maintains a close relationship with
over 1500 RAJE alumni and is at the forefront of building the RAJE
community; and
WHEREAS, Professionally, Luba Kaufman holds a Bachelor of Arts degree
in Computer Science from Brooklyn College; she is currently a second
year student in a Master in Social Work degree program at Wurzweller-
Yeshiva University and hopes to one day use her MSW degree to better
serve the Russian Jewish Community; and
WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is justly proud to commend RAJE for its
purposeful endeavors and commitment to the preservation and enhancement
of the rich religious, ethnic, and cultural heritage of the Russian
American Jewish community which has become such a valued and integral
part of the community of the City and State of New York; now, therefore,
be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend RAJE upon the occasion of its Second Annual Banquet on February
9, 2010, and to honor Luba Kaufman, recipient of a Young Leadership
Award; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to RAJE and to Luba Kaufman.