Sixteen recently-ordained rabbis have been chosen by the United Jewish Communities to tour Odessa, Ukraine, and then Jerusalem to better prepare them for their leadership roles.

The rabbis will be accompanied by 12 senior rabbis on the Jan. 29-Feb. 8 tour which will focus on how the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Israel help to meet the needs of Jewish communities in Israel and the Diaspora.

Rabbi Bernard Miller, chair of UJC's Rabbinic Cabinet, will lead the mission, which he described as being "committed to expanding the Jewish horizons for these young rabbis representing all the movements of modern Judaism." The rabbis were drawn from two Canadian provinces and 11 U.S. states 

By country, state or province, and city, the rabbis participating in the mission are listed below, with the names of the senor rabbis followed by the symbol-(s).

CANADA: Ontario—Rabbi David Bauman and Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl (s), both  of Toronto. Quebec— Rabbi Simon Elkeslassy and Rabbi Adam Scheier, both of Montreal

UNITED STATES: Arizona—Rabbi Robert Eisen (s) of Tucson. California—Rabbi Yitzhak Miller of San Jose, Rabbi Leonard Muroff of Long Beach.  Colorado—Rabbi Joshua Katzan of Denver.  Louisiana—Rabbi Jeffrey Kurtz-Lendner (s) of New Orleans. Maryland— Rabbi Gregory Harris of Bethesda and Rabbi Jonathan Schnitzer (s) and Rabbi Matthew Simon (s), both of Rockville. New Jersey—Rabbi Aaron Gaber of Ventnor, Rabbi Eric M. Lankin (s) and Rabbi Ronald Schwarzberg (s,), both of Highland Park; Rabbi Mark Kaiserman of Livingston; 
Rabbi Kerry Olitzky (s) of North Brunswick; and Rabbi Robert Scheinberg of Hoboken. New York—Rabbi Adam Feldman of Roslyn;  Rabbi Shaya Kilimnik (s),  Rabbi Alison Kobey, and Rabbi Laurence Kotok (s), all three of Rochester, and Rabbi Bernard Miller (s) of New York City. Ohio— Rabbi George Barnard (s) of Cincinnati; Rabbi Barry Leff of Toledo.  Pennsylvania— Rabbi Ronald Muroff of Harrisburg. Virginia—Rabbi Robert Nosanchuk of Reston. Washington (state)—Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg of Seattle

The United Jewish Communities represents 155 Jewish Federations and 400 independent Jewish communities across North America.                       —Donald H. Harrison