They can't wait to get started with the school year now,'' said Michael Kotzin, executive vice president of the Jewish United Fund-Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

The goal is to cut emigration so that the Christian presence in Israel "is more than [being] a caretaker of shrines,'' said Cardinal Francis George.

Record numbers of Christians are leaving Israel due to violence, economic insecurity and, perhaps, their status as a double minority, George said: "They're Arabs, but not Muslims. They're Israelis, but not Jews.''

The plan would bring computers, training and Internet access to the town of Fassouta in Israel's Galilee region, said Steven Nasatir, president of the Jewish Federation.

All 3,000 residents of Fassouta are Melkite Catholics--Eastern Rite Christians under the authority of the Pope.

If Christian Arab communities can remain in Israel and flourish, "that would mean that when you go, as Christians do, to visit our holy places, we would be received by people who share our faith,'' George said. ''And that's very different from going to a place that is now kept merely as a museum. It's the difference between life and death, in a way.''

The idea for the computer center began with George's expressions of concern to Rabbi Yehiel Poupko, the Federation's Judaic scholar, about Christian emigration from Israel.

Jewish Federation representatives pinpointed Fassouta as the site for the program "This project will make a serious difference to the residents of our community,'' Fassouta Mayor Geris Geris said in a statement.

The Jewish Federation and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese are each pledging $50,000 toward the $100,000 cost.

For information or to contribute to the Fassouta Computer Literacy Project, contact the Rev. Thomas Baima at the Archdiocese at (847) 970-4866 or Marvin Cohen at the Jewish Federation at (312) 357-4873.