jcc circle summer 2008
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The Magazine o the North American Jewish Community Center Movement
DAY CAMP! SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE
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For address correction or Inormation about JCC Circle
contact [email protected] or call Alina at (212) 786-5096.
2008 Jewish Community Centers Associationof North America. All rights reserved.
520 Eighth Avenue | New York, NY 10018Phone: 212-532-4949 | Fax: 212-481-4174e-mail: [email protected] | web: www.jcca.org
JCC Association of North America is the leadership network of, anagency for, 350 Jewish Community Centers, YM-YWHAs and campUnited States and Canada, who annually serve more than two milliAssociation offers a wide range of services and resources to enableto provide educational, cultural and recreational programs to enhaof North American Jewry. JCC Association is also a U.S. governmeagency for serving the religious and social needs of Jewish militartheir families and patients in VA hospitals through the JWB JewisCouncil.
JCC Association receives support from the UJC National FederatiAlliance, local federations and Jewish Community Centers.
ISSN 1065-1551
Chai
Alan P. Solow
Honoay Chais
Edward H. KaplanAnn P. KamanJerome B. MakowskyMorton L. MandelLester PollackDaniel Rose
Vice-Chais
Lisa BrillDonald BrodskyCheryl FishbeinGary JacobsVirginia A. MaasStephen R. ReinerToby RbinStephen SeidenPala Sidman
Secetay
Shirley Solomon
Assoc. Secetaies
Enid RosenbergMichael SegalMichael Wole
Tease
Edwin Goldberg
Assoc. Teases
Stephen DorskyAndrew ShaevelDoron Steger
Pesident
Allan Finkelstein
jcccicle:
S. Vice-Pesident,Maeting & Commnica
Robin Ballin
Ceative Diecto
Peter Shevenell
Commnications Manag
JCC Cicle Edito
Miriam Rinn
Design
Jeremy KortesDan Hertzberg
Alan P. SolowChair, JCC Association
Lhitraot
deariendsI have jst retrned rom Miami ater participating in or 2008 JCCs o NorthAmerica Biennial. Those o yo who were there know that it was a week oinspiration, learning and n. We enjoyed otstanding plenary speakers, wonderlseminar sessions, and the hospitality o a great city. I again want to thank orBiennial Chair Noreen Gordon Sablotsky or her extraordinary eorts, whichreslted in a sccessl convention.
The Biennial reects the strength and breadth o the JCC Movement. Both lay andsta leaders were able to exchange ideas and discss opportnities to improvetheir JCCs and camps. We were also able to talk abot ways to bild pon orsccessl continental programs sch as An Ethical Start and the JCC MaccabiGames and JCC Maccabi ArtsFest. The Benchmarking Project at the MandelCenter or Excellence in Leadership and Management is contining to have apositive impact on the feld, and we are confdent that more JCCs will participateas we move orward. At the Mandel Center or Jewish Edcation, we contine totrn ot great new programs sch as The Goodman Family Institte: Yisrael Sheli
(My Israel): A Teen Program o Israel Edcation and Experience or JCC ResidentCamps, and or new adlt edcation initiative, Jorneys, which was highlightedat the Biennial.
We have the power as a movement to make a dierence when we learn rom eachother and take advantage o the many services oered by JCC Association. Asyor chair, working with or otstanding sta, I have been determined to makecertain that membership in this organization makes a meaningl dierence to thefeld and to those who are enrolled in or JCC programs. The week at the Biennialprovided indisptable evidence that we are making real progress and that ortre together is very bright. Lets make certain that when we gather in Atlanta in2010, we have many new ideas to share, and that those o yo who benefted romthis Biennial will bring along a riend to share the experience. Or 2010 continentalchair, Marvin Geland, and or Atlanta hosts, Lisa Brill and Lara Dinerman,promise that Atlanta will bild on the antastic Miami experience!
crisotw.accrisot.com
merican CouncilEercise (ACE)w.ACEftness.com
sociation o Jewish Chaplainsthe United States
ase Paymentech
w.chasepaymentech.comub Resource Groupw.clubresourcegroup.com
Marketw.cmarket.com
e Coca-Cola Company
w.cocacola.com
SI Sotwarew.csisotwareusa.com
be Internationalw.cybeintl.com
presso Fitnessw.epressoftness.com
eemotion Fitnessw.reemotionftness.com
Iron Grip Barbell Co.www.irongrip.com
Landscape Structureswww.playlsi.com
Les Mills North America, Inc.www.lesmillsusa.com
Leslies Swimming PoolSupplieswww.lesliespools.com
Macroleasewww.macrolease.com
MondoRecreational Flooringwww.mondousa.com
Nautiluswww.nautilus.com
Network Services Companywww.nsconline.com
New Leawww.newleaftness.com
The Ostro Groupwww.ostrogroup.com
Power Platewww.PowerPlate.com
Power Systemswww.power-systems.com
Precorwww.precor.com
The Redwoods Groupwww.redwoodsgroup.com
Retention Managementwww.retentionmanagement.com
SciFitwww.scift.com
Schlesinger Newman & Goldmanwww.sng.ca
Sheletronwww.sheletron.com
Sporting Essentialswww.sportingessentials.com
Sportwall International, Inc.www.sportwall.com
Staples Business Advantagewww.StaplesLink.com
Star Tracwww.startrac.com
Sterling & Sterling, Inc.www.sterlingrisk.com
STOTT Pilateswww.stottpilates.com
Strive, Inc.www.striveft.com
Take It Owww.takeitoweightloss.com
TechnoGymwww.technogym.com
To help spport the work o JCCAssociation and JCC Circle, pleasecontact Fani Magnus Monson,vice-president o development, at:
JCC Association520 Eighth AveneNew York, NY 10018tel: (212) 532-4958, x5136ax: (212) 481-4174e-mail: [email protected]
ccciclesponsose ollowing sponsors have made this isse oJCC Circle possible.C Association thanks them or their generosity.
the cover: JCC o Loisville
jcccicle
contents2 A Blast in Miami
4 Amazing Eperiencesin Atlanta
8 Creating a Mosaicin Silicon Valley
10 Finding a Jewish Heartin an American Holiday
11 JCC Day CampSPECIAL SECTION
15 Everyone Has a Seatat This Table
16 Welcome Home to Israel
18 Its a Small World
20 JCC Happenings
Summer 2008
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The compliments streamed in during
the weeks right ater our JCCs o North
America Biennial in Miami, and the
consensus o opinion was that this was
the best Biennial ever. Dynamic and provocative
keynote speakers, a redesigned schedule that
allowed more time or participants to connectwith each other and explore Miami,
relevant and inormation-packed
seminarsall let delegates eeling
that theyd had a great learning
and networking experience. One o
our goals was to provide JCCs with
concrete take-home ideas. All o the
session handouts are availableto JCC board members on our
password-protected website
http://resources.jcca.org/ .
For the rst time, JWB Jewish
Chaplains Council scheduled
its meeting to coincide with
the Biennial, so the halls othe InterContinental were
lled with men and women
in uniorm. In addition to
reminding delegates o the long
and valued relationship between
the JCC Movement and Jewish
military personnel, the presence
o chaplains and military layleaders gave deeper meaning to
the award presentations to Rabbi
Philip Silverstein and Major
General Ronald D. Silverman,
Have a Blast in
BiennialDelegates
and to the recognition o the JCCs o Chicago project, which reached out to
recruits at the Great Lakes Naval Base. The Frank L. Weil Award was presented
to ormer JCC Association Chair Edward H. Kaplan, and the Florence G. He
Proessional Award went to JCC proessionals Avrum Cohen and Solomon
Greeneld, which underlined the critical importance o JCC volunteers and sin successul JCCs. The Morton L. Mandel Jewish Educational Leadership Aw
was graciously accepted by The AVI CHAI Foundation, which has done so m
to enrich JCC camps Judaically. .
Delegates rom around the world attended the Biennial through the World
Conederation o JCCs, giving an international favor to the events and joini
in as we commemorated Yom HaZikaron and celebrated Israels sixtiethanniversary. And our green eorts were a great start to a movement-wideinitiative. Delegates recycled their soda cans and waste paper, and many turn
in their binders and lanyards at the end o the meeting or us to reuse in the
uture. It gave real impetus to our commitment to bal taschit, the injunction
avoid waste and needless destruction.
I you were unable to join the more than 600 JCC leaders in Miami, you can
capture some o the excitement by watching video highlights on our website
jcca.org/biennial. See you in Atlanta in 2010!
On behalf of
the Baltimore
contingent,
we want
to thank
you for a great four
days. To a person,
our board members
couldnt have been
more complimentary.
Our delegation is
already sharing withtheir peers that they
cant afford to miss going
to Atlanta in two years.
Buddy Sapolsky,executive director,
JCC of Greater Baltimore
Thank you for allowing us to be a part of
this extremely well run, well attended and
professional event. We were very impressed
and I believe your attendees felt the same.
Richard Ekstrom, Retention Management
Great program, and looking forward to A
William Grossman, board of directors,
Dave & Mary Alper JCC, Miami, FL
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CUSTOMER SERVICE IS COREto or Jewish mission in bildingcommnity and creating incredibleJewish jorneys, says MichaelD. Wise, CEO/exective directoro the Marcs JCC o Atlanta.The vale o Jewish welcomingis deeply rooted in or history,beginning with Abrahams
welcoming tent.In Jewish tradition, Abraham and Sarahs tent was open
on all our sides. Strangers were immediately embraced
as riends, cared or both physically and spiritually, and
treated as honored members o the amily.
According to Wise, the MJCCA should be the modern-day
equivalent o Abrahams tentan open, all-inclusive, warm
and welcoming Jewish home, where every member o the
community, regardless o ailiation or level o engagement,
is welcomed and eels an immediate sense o belonging.
The Marcus JCC was aced with a unique set o challenges,
however, which included a rapidly growing Jewish
community1
known to have a high rate o intermarriage,
a low rate o ailiation, a large base o newcomers, and
growing pockets o Jewish communities in outlying areas.
Innovative approaches were needed i the MJCCA intended
to grow its membership base and keep its current members2
happy and engaged.
A CuLTuRE CHANGETo meet its challenges, the MJCCA chose to make a radi
culture change that began with the adoption o one o
the worlds most successul models o customer service,
the Disney Approach to Quality Service. Thousands
o the worlds most successul companies, includingDelta Air Lines, IBM, Target, and Sony Electronics, have
taken advantage o the business philosophies behind the
happiest place on earth.
To implement this agency-wide culture change, Jared
Powers, a senior member o the MJCCA managementteam, traveled to the Disney Institute in Orlando, Florid
and completed a comprehensive three-and-a-hal-day
customer service training program. My experience at thDisney Institute is one I w ill not soon orget, said Powe
The Disney approach to quality service is an outstandi
business model. Although I came away with an impressi
amount o inormation, what really struck me is their
attention to even the most minute detail.
Powers met with senior management upon his return, a
they began to implement the Disney model by dividing
it into our critical categories: Training, Bumping the
Lamp, Policies and Procedures, and Setting. A sta-driv
committee was created to oversee each.
CREATING AMAZING
EXPERIENCESMarcus JCC o Atlanta sets the highest standards or customer service.
by Pamela A. Morton
1. According to the 2006 Jewish Federation Centennial Stdy o GreatAtlanta, Atlanta went rom the 17th (77,000 Jews) to the 11th (120,000 Jlargest Jewish poplation in the united States in jst ten years.
2. 17,000+, with 90% Jewish
THE DISNEY APPROACH
TO qUALITY SERVICE ISAN OUTSTANDINGBUSINESS MODEL.
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TRAININGWise, Powers, and the members o the Customer Service
Committee knew that the ultimate success o the new plan
depended largely on a total sta buy-in. They immediatelyset about creating a comprehensive training program or
sta, detailing the ideology behind the new Disney model.
Within three months, all employees had successully
completed a two-hour course. Additional training was
also implemented or new employees, requiring them to
attend a new hire orientation week that includes working or
spending time in every department rom support services
to security in order to gain a better understanding o howthe agency works.
One o the most exciting new initiatives to come out o the
training program was the creation o a sta proessional
development program eaturing year-round continuing
education classes. Whether ull- or part-time, salaried orhourly, all employees must earn at least ive continuing
education credits annually. (Credits equal the number o
class hours taken, i.e: a two-hour class equals two credits.)
The majority o classes are one- to one-and-a-hal hours
long, are always oered during business hours, and taken
on company time. Classes are taught by business/industry
proessionals and sta who have volunteered their time and
expertise. There are currently 27 courses oered, with manymore planned.
Oerings encompass everything rom personal growth
to proessional development. A sampling o current
courses includes: computer sotware training ( Excel,
MS Publisher, MS Outlook, Mail Merge); Jewish learning
(Everything JewishPurim to Pesach); customer service(Guest Service Recovery, Responding Positively to Your
Customer); management training (Effective Supervision,Team Building); inancial (Understanding the Budget
Process); programming (How to Plan a Successful Program or
Event); agency culture (The History of the MJCCA) and skill
enhancement (Be a Better Business Writer).
According to Terry Spector, a member o the Sta
Proessional Development Committee as well as the MJCCAshuman resources manager, The day we posted the classes on
our intranet, we were inundated with completed registration
orms. Many o our classes lled on that rst day, and we had
to create wait lists. What was even more surprising was that
the majority o those registering or their mandatory classessigned up or more than the required ve hours. That told us
that we were denitely on the right track.
BuMPING THE LAMPAccording to the Disney Institute, the easiest way to exceed
customer expectations is through what they call bumping
the lamp, another way o saying raising the bar: its thatextra special something that makes the customer say, ah!
MJCCA member Jacob Greenblat and his 10-year-old daughter,
Hannah, became rsthand recipients o bumping the lamp
when they showed up at the MJCCA at 4:40a.m. on a rosty
January morning to be rst in line on camp registration day.Kenny Silverboard, MJCCA membership director at the time
(Silverboard is now the director o the JCC Maccabi Games),
was so impressed by the determination o this ather to
ensure his daughters entry into drama camp (typically
one o the rst to ll), that he immediately upgraded the
Greenblats membership. We were totally surprised, said
Greenblat. Hannah and I enjoyed all o the special attention
we received rom the JCC sta.
POLICIES & PROCEDuRESConsistent messaging is key to oering the ultimate
customer experience. Today, all ront desk sta are
instructed to answer their phones with a warm tone andthe added personalization o their names. External e-mail
correspondence concludes with a proessional signature,
and sta who will be out o the oice or more than 24
hours are instructed to leave voice-mail messages that oer
alternative personnel assistance.
SETTING THE STAGENothing is more important to exceeding customer
expectations than setting the stage. To create a sense o
identity and continuity, the JCC created sta name tagsthat included the name and birthplace o each employee.
At irst, many o the sta were puzzled as to the addition o
their birthplace. The reason soon became clear as members
and guests could be heard asking questions like, Are you
rom San Jose? I lived in San Jose or many years. Do you
know..? The inclusion o the birthplaces turned out to
be a key point o engagement with members, sparking
conversation where there might not have been any beore.
The name tags also included what the Disney Institute reers
to as a service theme or statement. Not to be conused with
the JCC Association message You Belong Here, a service
theme is an internal statement inorming customers and
employees o the service your company intends to deliver.
During initial meetings with the new Customer ServiceCommittee, a Marcus JCC service theme was discussed and
adopted: Creating Amazing Experiences.
While the MJCCA is already aesthetically pleasing,
customer-riendly elements such as the new Sheletron
electronic signage totems and a membership andcustomer service oice have been added to the MJCCAs
lobby. Additionally, the community service department
recently launched a new program, Center Corps, to enlist
volunteers to act as JCC g reeters. Working in teams otwo, Center Corps Greeters will wear MJCCA sta shirts,
be schooled in all things MJCCA, distribute program and
membership inormation as needed, escort members to
their destinations, and be trained in CPR/irst-aid.
IS IT WORKING?A week ater we initiated the new customer serv ice plan,we began our participation in the 2007 JCC Excellence: A
Benchmarking Study. We will denitely have concrete met
data with which to gauge our overall success ater participa
in the study next year, said Wise.
Until then, the changes at the MJCCA are clearly workingtheir magic. Phone calls are returned promptly. Smiles
and greetings are the order o the day, every day. People ar
gathering, talking, enjoying each o thers company on MJC
Main Street, and customers are commenting on the riend
atmosphere and the attentive service they are receiving. I
think that the customer service initiative is long overdue.
Both the sta and the members that I have spoken with ha
commented on the many positive changes aroun d the JCCsaid Dee Goodman, MJCCA development manager.
To Wise and his MJCCA sta, the mitzvah o hachnass
orchim welcoming guests have become words to live
and work by.
Pamela Morton is the communications and marketingmanager at MJCCA.
A MARCUS JCC SERVICETHEME WAS DISCUSSED
AND ADOPTED:CREATING AMAZING
ExPERIENCES.
SMILES AND GREETINGS ARTHE ORDER OF THE DAY,EVERY DAY.
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Can reading a book ignite the spark o Jewish lie in
a diverse community? The Addison Penzak JCC o
Silicon Valley in Los Gatos, Caliornia, has shown
that it can. Beore the high-tech boom o the 1990s, the JCC
had struggled in a rundown ormer school building that
ew valley residents visited. Ater the boom, a beautiul new
acility rose in its place. But the new JCC aced a challenge:
What role should it play in Silicon Valleys increasinglydiverse Jewish community, and how could it have a
signiicant impact on a limited budget?
There arent exact numbers, but Ive heard only eight
percent o Jews here are ailiated with any Jewish
organization. Thats ar below the national average, said
Rabbi Joshua Fenton, head o APJCCs Center or Jewish
Lie and Learning, which opened in mid-2007 with unding
rom the Koret Foundation.
As Silicon Valley residents o all aiths locked to join the
JCCs new itness center, supporters and sta worried that
the ocus on exercise might overwhelm the buildings role as
a center or Jewish lie. And the question o how to reach the
areas highly mobile, largely unailiated Jewish population
was a concern as well. Fenton decided to begin with the One
Community One Book initiative, which he based on the
One People One Book program developed in Los Angeles.The program encouraged everyone connected to the Silicon
Valley Jewish community to read Milton Steinbergs novel
As a Driven Leaf. The novels theme o a man torn between
his own culture and the larger society struck a chord with
Silicon Valleys diverse residents.
Fenton had no unding to market the program, but he partly
solved this problem by inviting local synagogues and schools
to join the initiative as co-sponsors. Those organizations
then encouraged their members to participate. Rabbis rom
Silicon Valleys our major synagogues agreed to do a series
o lectures at the JCC over several months, discussing topics
related to the book such as Tradition and Modernity and
Faith and Doubt.
The APJCC also developed a guerilla marketing campaign
or One Community One Book. APJCC sta took photos
o people o all ages and backgrounds reading Steinbergs
historical novel, and posted the photos outside local Jewishcommunity organizations with the tagline Have You Read
the Book? The photos created a buzz, a nd later, when
the APJCC sent out an e-mail blast to several thousand
community residents mentioning the One Community One
Book program, As a Driven Leafsold out on Amazon.com
within a ew hours.
Local rabbis elt excited by the programs success and by
the experience o working together and using the JCC
as a connection poin t. Ultimately, it strengthens the
community, said Rabbi Joshua Berkenwald o San Joses
Congregation Sinai. I like what Rabbi Fenton has done so
ar in terms o making the JCC a orum or the entire
community to come together.
The JCC has ill ed a void, commented Rabbi Aaron
Schonbrun o Congregation Beth David in Saratoga, another
Silicon Valley locale. Because theyre non-denominational,
[the JCC] has a broader opportunity to work with all
segments o the community and theyre beginning to serve
as a conduit to other Jewish organizations, which strengthens
the community.
The JCC built on the success o the community-wide
collaboration with its Community Night o Learning inFebruary, which brought over two hundred people to the
JCC to hear 20 local rabbis and other educators teach on the
theme o Eretz Yisrael: Land, People and Soul.
Most o our programs thus ar have been primarily made
up o people rom the Jewish community, Fenton explained,
but increasingly were seeing interest rom the non -Jewish
community as well. Silicon Valley is unique in its ethnic
makeup. Our population is 30 percent Asian, and we have
a large Indian community. So when people say I want to
see what a rabbi looks like, its because they actually have
encountered Judaism beore.
The multicultural nature o Silicon Valleys Jewish
community aects the types o Jewish programming that
have been successul at the APJCC. For example, Fenton s
We have many interaith amilies where the non-Jewish
spouse is Chinese and the amily is raising the children w
a strong commitment to their Chinese heritage. Because that, people want to show their children theres somethin
more to the Jewish side o their background, beyond light
candles on Hanukkah, he said.
One o the APJCCs most popular oerings thus ar has b
its Hebrew crash course, designed to give par ticipants the
ability to sound out Hebrew words and ollow along in a
synagogue service in just ive lessons. Every session that h
been oered has illed to capacity. The APJCC promoted
program with a large photo o a young man saying It too
me ive years to learn Hebrew. It took my wie just ive da
Next on Fentons agenda is a discussion group or non-Je
parents who are married to Jews and want to raise their
children with some level o Jewish identity.
APJCC executives and board members are pleased w ith th
success o the Center or Jewish Lie and Learning thus a
It has been recognized by area rabbis and educators as a
dynamic orce or Jews rom all backgroundsEven thou
they may have many dierent perspectives [they can com
together at the JCC] in an atmosphere where that is okay
said APJCC CEO Hal Bordy.
I want us every day to become more and more relevant
to the Jewish community, and to the greater Silicon Valley
community, Fenton said. We want to be the place whereyou send your children to preschool o r ater-school
enrichment classes, you go or parenting help, you work o
you meet riends or a meal, you come in the evening or
lecture series or a ilm thats interesting to you Theres
much we can do rom here. We want to embody the idea
being a light unto the nations.
Jenny Green is the marketing communications director aAddison Penzak JCC Silicon Valley.
Creating aMosaicin Silicon Valley by Jenny Geen
Because theyre non-denominational, [the JCC] haa broader opportunity to work with all segments ofthe community
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On a very rainy Monday in January, nearly 250 people
rom across the South Peninsula o the San Francisco
Bay came together to participate in a range o
community service projects as part o the irst Albert L. Schultz
JCC Mitzvah Day to honor the lie and legacy o Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
Mitzvah reers to our obligations as Jews to live lives based
on compassion and justice. But how do we ind time to do
that in our busy lives? The national movement or a day o
community service in memory o the lie and work o Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. provided both the inspiration and the
opportunity or the JCC to take a leadership role. Because
many businesses are closed on MLK Day, it allowed people to
step up and use the time as a day on instead o a day o.
What we needed to take this event o the drawing
board and into reality were three key elements:
other community organizations to join us
service projects that could be easily executed
in a ew hours
participants who wanted to give their time
And we needed a visionary to pull it all together. That
visionary was our new Adult Programs Manager Jane-
Rachel Schonbrun, who became the driving orce behind
the ALSJCC Mitzvah Day. Schonbrun and her team irst
reached out to other Jewish organizations rom synagogues to
schools to service agencies, and they quickly got on board. Our
co-sponsors were BBYO, Congregation Beth Am, Congregation
Emek Beracha, Congregation Etz Chayim, Congregation Kol
Emeth, The Friendship Circle, Gideon Hausner Jewish Day
School, Hillel at Stanord, Jewish Family & Childrens Services,
Keddem Congregation, Kehillah Jewish High School, and
Temple Beth Jacob. All agreed to promote this event to their
members, students, and constituents.
Lining up interesting projects was the next task. We wanted to
oer a range o times, interests, and skill sets so that projects
would be interesting and age-appropriate or amilies with
young children as well teens, adults, and seniors. The teamreached out to local community agencies, and soon had
projects that included meal preparation at soup kitchens and
homeless shelters; environmental clean-up activities at local
beaches, and nature preserves; visiting residents o a senior
center; creating cards and git packages or American and Israeli
soldiers on active duty abroad; constructing bookcases or a
needy school; and building aordable housing. Additionally,
many participants willingly contributed to planting a Palo Alto
Jewish Community Tree Garden in Israel. A $5 per person
donation to the Jewish National Fund was suggested.
Now, it was time or marketing! The marketing team
developed an attractive brochure and poster promoting
the various projects and details or participation and
distributed it to all o the participating co-sponsors. A
press release announcing the event resulted in pre and post
coverage by both the Jewish and mainstream press. The
word went out at synagogue services, was sent home with
students, and was inserted into agency newsletters.
We designed an online registration orm to ensure that
every project had appropriate staing. Participants could
sign up alone or with amily and riends. When projects
illed up, registration or that event closed. Participants
also indicated their T-shirt sizes so that everyone could get
a colorul T-shirt when they arrived to sign in on January
21. Thanks to publicity and active word o mouth, everyproject illed up!
Then came Mitzvah Day.and the rains! Despite
downpours throughout the day, people showed
upexcited to participate even i it meant a day
o working in the mud!
Most peoples projects took place indoors, luckily.
For example, in one classroom at Kehillah Jewish High
School, amilies worked together on making cards and
gits or hospitalized children. In another room, participants
o all ages wrote thoughtul letters to Jewish and American
soldiers. One small girl wrote on her card: Dear SoldierMy
name is Natalie. I am eight years old. Thank you so much or
protecting me and my riends. We love you.
One o the parents working on gits or hospitalized kids told a
reporter that his amily signed up or Mitzvah Day because its
important to us to look or opportunities to promote people
getting along with each other, no matter their background or
skin color.
A parent o preschoolers commented, I know it seems young,
but we eel like its good to start early, that its not about doing
things or ourselves, but about doing things or other people.
Schonbrun summed the day up best: Mitzvah Day was a
unique opportunity or unity and cooperation that brought
people together or a shared mission to promote Dr. Kings
legacy o tolerance, peace, and equality while improving
conditions in our own community. Best o all, it was a un and
inspirational day that let participants eeling accomplished
and energizedand ready to come back next year!
Mimi Sells is the director of marketing and communications atthe Albert L. Schultz JCC.
Finding the Jewish Heat
in an Ameican Holidayby Mimi Sells
O Days o Caing and Shaing gants
enich camp daysWith the aid o The Coca-Cola Company or
the past several years, we were able to help
or resident and day camps make commnity
service an integral part o the camp crriclm
and view it throgh a Jewish lens. We are
contining to provide grants to camps with the
spport o another generos donor, and this smmer we are helping 45 camps
introdce their campers to the satisaction o helping others, and to a deeper
nderstanding o the word mitzvah. The Mandel Center or
Jewish Edcation prepared a special nit on shalom, peace,
with art, msic, and drama activities, to provide a richer
Jewish context or or camps JCC Association/Legacy
Heritage Fnd Days o Caring and Sharing projects. Happily,
or donor has nded Days o Caring and Sharing or three
years, so we will be a ble to contine nding commnity-
service projects, which add so mch to the camp day. For
more inormation, contact:
Charlene Wendell, consltant on camping services,
(212) 786-5126, [email protected] .
We povide intensive taining
o day camp diectosThis past year we conclded or frst Lekh Lakhem or Day
Camp Directors Senior Seminar sponsored by the Mandel
Center or Jewish Edcation. Lekh Lakhem is a two-year,
intensive, Jewish edcational leadership program with
fve seminars in North America and one extended seminar
in Israel. In the interim between the seminars, the Lekh
Lakhem Fellows stdied every other week with or aclty/
mentors, who also visited the camps to watch the directors
in action dring the two smmers o the program. O the 18
day-camp directors accepted to Lekh Lakhem as ellows,
JCC ASSOCIATION HELPS
JCC DAY CAMPS SHINEJCC day camps are the solutionor busy parents looking
or a un and inspiring summer eperience or their
children. From traditional arts-and-crats and swimming
to trendy flm and culinary projects, JCC day camps oer
children the joy o eploring new arenas, making lielong
riends, and just having un.
17 completed the program.
We even made a shidduch!
One cople met at Lekh Lakhem
and were married by the programs
director, Dr. Alvin Mars, in Soth Flo
Three babies were born to the ellow
the corse o the programs, incldin
set o twins. Participants ond the p
so enriching that they didnt want it
So we lanched an almni program
gradates o the ellowship, which m
twice a month via phone conerence
JCC day camps have been immeas
enriched by this extraordinary prog
TAG: Jewish Vales
thogh JCC Camping
TAG: Jewish Vales throgh JCC Cis a crriclar initiative designed to
the Jewish component o the JCC
experience.
TAG has discrete Jewish content a
programming nits or day and res
camps, fnding ways to integrate Je
lie, experience and vales into the
camp. Each initiative has drama, di
games, art and msic components.
TAG is:
An acronym for Torah (learning
living),Avodah (service and spir
and Gemilut Chasadim (acts o lo
kindness). According to the sayin
or sages in Pirkei Avot (Ethics
Sages), these are the three prin
pon which the world stands.
A childs game in which a speci
qality o being it is passed o
toching another person.
Tagim (plral) are the ornate cro
on letters ond in the Torah scr
adorn and add beaty to the wor
the Torah, give them special emp
and hidden meaning, and make t
dierent rom any other text we
SpESumm
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JCC day campes
stt thei st
at peoming-atsspecialty camps
At Spotlight Youth Musical Theatre
Camp at the Jewish Community
Center o Louisville campers step into
a world o imagination and get caght
p in the magic o CenterStages yoth
theater program. The camp clminates
in a msical theater perormance with
each child playing a starring role. The
campers work so hard or two weeks
in order to perorm or all the other
campers and their amilies on the fnal
day o camp. says Frank Goodloe,
lead instrctor.
Milton & Betty Katz JCC o Atlantic
County Camp by the Sea is a seaside
camp along the beach and bay o
Margate, New Jersey. Over the past
three smmers nder the direction
o Lisa Gajdzis, Camp by the Seas
perorming and visal arts camp has
reached approximately eighty girls
every smmer. This grop o talented
yong stars participate in workshops
with proessional dancers, vocal
coaches, varios msicians,
and artists in residence
throghot the
smmer working
towards a fnalperormance. By the time
the show is perormed,
Lisa explains, the
campers have total
ownership o the
fnal prodct, which
is magical to watch!
Ater a fteen year hiats, one o
the JCC o Houstons Perorming
Arts Camp retrns in the smmer o
2008. In the frst session, which r
rom Jne 16 Jly 11, campers will
perorm the Hooray or Hollywood
review o poplar songs and scenes
rom classic Hollywood movies sch
as Singing in the Rain and Hello
Dolly. Dring the morning sessions,
campers will ocs on bilding their
stage skills in dramatic arts, msica
theater, and dance, which will enha
their perormance skills and bild
p their confdence or their fnal
presentations. The crriclm will
inclde gest artists in the specialty
felds o make-p, improvisation,
dance, voice, stage combat, and oth
disciplines.
In the second session, rom Jly 14
- Agst 8, campers will Give Their
Regards to Broadway, while workin
on Broadway nmbers that are posi
and pliting or all ages. Campers w
be exposed to Americasand Amer
Jewsgreat heritage o msical the
and dance. Throghot both session
campers will also enjoy many o the
great aspects o JCC camping, incl
Jdaic programming, sports, camp
games, art and more.
Film, ashion, and n
this smme at the 92ndSteet Y in New Yo
Two recent additions to the 92nd
Street Ys roster o specialty camps
oer children ages 9-12 a chance to
experience flm and ashion in the Big
Apple. At the 92nd Street Y Fashion
Design Camp with F.I.T., yong Project
Runway ans spend a week learning
dierent techniqes or hand and
machine sewing as they explore how
to trn a creative idea into an actal
design. under the gidance o an FIT
(Fashion Institte o Technology)
proessor, campers sketch and sew
with an eye toward developing both
ashion sense and a creative air.
The camp takes place the week o
Agst 48 at the 92nd Street Ys
main acility in Manhattan.
Back or a second season is the two-
week 92nd Street Y Filmmaking Camp ,
where campers learn basic flmmaking
skills and then create their own short
flms. Last years flms eatred wacky
sperheroes battling boredom, a series
o on the pathway interviews called
The Lnchtime Monologes, and
American Idol: Stranded Edition, in
which a singer lost in a orest is saved
by a song. Children work with mini-DV
digital video cameras and Final Ct
Express compter editing eqipment;
they get to show their flms at a special
screening (parents welcome) at the
end o camp. The camp rns Monday,Jly 28 to Friday, Agst 8 at the
Ys campgronds in Rockland Conty
(transportation provided). The 92nd
Street Y also oers specialty camps in
basketball, soccer, baseball, gymnastics,
science, and the arts, which spplement
its long-rnning co-ed day camps or
children ages 5-14 at the bcolic Henry
Kamann Campgronds in Rockland
Conty, jst north o New York City.
For more inormation abot the 92nd
Street Ys camp programs, please visit
www.92Y.org/camps.
Cooing and clowning
aond at Macs JCC
At Marcus JCC o Atlanta Camp
Isidore Alterman, campers who register
or Clowning Around will be instrcted
by Babycakes, the proessional clown,
in magic, costmes, clown ace design,
jggling, balloon animal making and
more! Dring the weekly Shabbatcelebration, Clowning Arond campers
get a chance to perorm their shtick
or the entire camp!
Campers who register or Cooking
Capers jst may be the next Iron Che
or Top Che. Creating edible delights
rom Israel and Jewish heritage dishes,
campers also se items rom the camps
organic garden. With an emphasis on
healthy recipes, campers prepare, cook,
and eat their own creations. They even
bring home their own camp cookbook
with all the recipes.
Meage JCCs Camp
Haveim gets little oneseady o indegaten
To ensre preschoolers in Orange
Conty, Caliornia are developing
the skills they need or a sccessl
transition to kindergarten, Camp
Haverim Tiny Tots KTon Ton bilds
on listening skills, motor skills, and
cognitive skills throgh daily rotines
that incorporate games, songs,
movement experiences, stories and art
experiences. These developmentally
appropriate activities contine to bild
sel esteem and social awareness and
also help develop skills in the area o
langage and early writing.
There are many opportnities or
children to incorporate kindergarten
readiness skills into their daily camp
rotine: camp greetings and learning
each campers name, listening to the
daily activities, hearing camp rles and
gidelines, learning camp songs and
movement gamesall help children to
explore, discover, create and grow.
JCC DAY CAMPS PrOMOTE CrEATIVITY
AND A LOVE OF THE ArTS THrOuGH MANY
PErFOrMING-ArTS SPECIALTY CAMPS.
JCC DAY CAMPS COME IN ALL FLAVOrS AND SIZES
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eveyone
has a
seat at
this table
the Educational Alliance has been serving Lower EastSide youth and teens since its ounding in 1889,introducing innovative youth programs in the arts,
in counseling, in addiction services, and in education.In those early years, the youngsters who lockedto The Educational Alliances classes and programswere the children o Jewish immigrants rom EasternEurope, eager to learn the language and customs otheir new home. As the years passed, The EducationalAlliance continued to serve the children o immigrants,but most o them came rom Latin America and Asia.Many o their needs were the same, and some weredierent. Recently, ater a careul planning process,The Educational Alliance began seeking out like-mindedorganizations that could help epand their oerings orneighborhood youth. So the partnership between theEducational Alliance and the eually-venerable Boys& Girls Clubs o America (BGCA) was born. The BGCA,through its mission statement, deines its purpose as to
enable all young people, especially those who need usmost, to reach their ull potential as productive, caring,responsible citizens. This is the same business TheEducational Alliance has been in since its inception.
With seven sites serving youth through ater-schoolprograms, The Educational Alliance was immediatelyready to put to use the additional resources BGCAbrought to the table. As a charter member (whichmeans an organization that houses a BGCA club), TheEducational Alliance was eligible or unds, and the
BGCA grants it received were more than enough to gtwo new sites running, raising the number o Allianceyouth sites to nine. The Alliance now serves nearly ththousand boys and girls through BGCA Charter ClubsThose signature programs range rom homework heland tutoring to inancial education.
In addition to epanding The Educational Alliances slo oerings at its youth sites, the partnership with BGhas sharpened the skills o The Alliances sta. Throuconerences and curriculum training sponsored byBGCA, Alliance sta has the opportunity to learn abothe latest trends in working with youth, as well asto interact with peers rom around the country. Thisactive listening and learning keeps The Alliance youthprograms vital. The BGCA oers a wealth o trainingincluding both program speciic and general, to makesure the sites are up to the standards and maintain tuality eperience epected o a Boys & Girls Club. In
addition, the BGCA maintains a robust intranet site oprogram administrators, which has reports, positionpapers, tool kits or assessment, and much more. BGsta are also easily available by phone as needed toanswer uestions and give guidance.
There are numerous eamples o how the partnershihas paid o or program attendees. In the all, FrancFeliz and Samantha Grant rom the Edgies Teen Cenin The Alliances lagship building on East Broadwaywon two o only ten $2,000 scholarships awarded
The Educational Alliance and Boys & Girls Clubs o
America Help Kids Succeed by David Billotti
www.jcca.og jcc cic
NADA
Calgary Calgary Jewish Commnity CentreEdmonton JCC o EdmontonVancover JCC o Greater VancoverWinnipeg Rose & Max Rady JCCAncaster JCC o Hamilton and AreaOttawa Soloway JCCToronto Bathrst Jewish Commnity CentreWindsor JCC o WindsorMontreal YM-YWHA/Montreal JCCs
ITED STATES
Birmingham Levite JCCChandler Barness Family East Valley JCCScottsdale Valley o the Sn JCCTscon Tscon JCCFoster City Peninsla JCCIrvine Merage JCC o Orange ContyLong Beach Barbara and Ray Alpert JCCRancho Mirage Jewish Commnity Center o the DesertPao Alto Albert L. Schltz JCCLa Jolla Lawrence Family JCC o San Diego ContySan Francisco Jewish Commnity Center o San FranciscoLos Gatos Addison Penzak JCC o Silicon ValleySan Raael Osher Marin JCCSherman Oaks Friends o Valley Cities JCC
Walnt Creek Contra Costa JCCWest Hills JCC at MilkenDenver Robert E. Lop Jewish Commnity CenterWest Hartord Mandell Jewish Commnity CenterSothbry JCC o Western ConnectictStamord JCC o StamordWilmington Bernard & Rth Siegel JCCWashington Washington District o Colmbia JCCBoca Raton Adolph & Rose Levis JCCPlantation Samel M. Helene Sore JCCCoral Springs Alvin S. Gross Coral Springs- branch SoreDavie David Posnack JCCJacksonville Jewish Commnity AllianceNorth Miami Beach Michael- Ann Rssell JCCMiami Dave & Mary Alper JCCMiami Beach Miami Beach JCCMaitland JCC o Greater Orlando Maitland CampsWest Palm Beach JCC o Greater Palm Beaches- Kaplan JCCBoynton Beach JCC o Greater Palm Beaches-HochmanDnwoody Zaban/Blank Branch- Isadore AltermanMarietta Shirley Blmenthal Park BranchSavannah Jewish Edcation AllianceChicago JCCs o ChicagoChicago Hyde Park JCCChicago North Central Region Bernard Horwich JCCBalo Grove JCC at Woodland CommonsFlossmor Sothern Region Anita M. Stone JCCNorthbook Z Frank Apachi Day CampIndianapolis JCC o IndianapolisOverland Park JCC o Greater Kansas CityLoisville JCC o LoisvilleNew Orleans New Orleans JCCMetairie Goldring-Woldenberg JCC- MetairiePortland Jewish Commity AllianceOwings Mills JCC o Greater Baltimore/Camp MilldaleRockville JCC o Greater Washington
Newton Centre JCCs o Greater Boston/ Camp GrossmanFramingham Metrowest JCCStoghton Striar JCC on the Fireman CampsMarblehead JCC o the North ShoreSpringfeld Springfeld JCCWorcester Worcester JCCAnn Arbor JCC o Washtenaw ContyWest Bloomfeld JCC o Metropolitan DetroitSt Lois Park Sabes JCCSt Pal JCC o the Greater St. Pal AreaSt Lois Carolyn H. Wohl BildingChesterfeld Marilyn Fox BildingOmaha Omaha JCCLas Vegas JCC o Sothern NevadaBridgewater Shimon & Sara Birnbam JCCCherry Hill Betty & Milton Katz JCCCliton YM-YWHA Div. Jewish Fed Cliton/PassaicDeal Park Rth Hyman JCC o the Greater Monmoth
NJ Margate City Milton & Betty Katz JCCNJ Scotch Plains JCC o Central NJNJ Tenay Kaplen JCC on the PalisadesNJ Township o Wash. Bergen Conty Y, a JCCNJ Wayne YM-YWHA o North JerseyNJ West Orange JCC MetroWestNM Albqerqe Ronald Gardenswartz JCC Grtr AlbqerqeNY Albany Sidney Albert Albany JCCNY Vestal JCC o BinghamtonNY Getzville JCC o Greater BaloNY Rochester JCC o Greater RochesterNY New City JCC-Y o RocklandNY Niskayna Robert & Dorothy Ldwig Schenectady JCCNY utica Jewish Commnity Fed Mohawk ValleyNY Bronx Riverdale YM-YWHANY Brooklyn Shoreront YM-YWHA o BrightonNY Brooklyn Edith & Carl Marks JCH o BensonhrstNY Brooklyn Sephardic Commnity CenterNY Brooklyn Hebrew Edcational SocietyNY Brooklyn Kings Bay YM-YWHANY Long Beach Barry & Florence Friedberg JCC: Long BeachNY Cedarhrst JCC o Greater Five TownsNY East Hills Sid Jacobson JCCNY Plainview Mid-Island Y JCCNY Commack Solk Y JCCNY New York JCC in ManhattanNY New York YM & YWHA o Wash. Heights & Inwood
NY New York Sol Goldman YM-YWHA Edc. AllianceNY New York 92nd Street YNY Forest Hills Central Qeens YM-YWHANY Little Neck Samel Field/Bay Terrace YM-YWHANY Staten Island JCC o Staten IslandNY Tarrytown JCC on the HdsonNY Pleasantville Richard G. Rosenthal JCCNY Scarsdale JCC o Mid-WestchesterNC Asheville Asheville JCCNC Charlotte Sandra and Leon Levine JCCNC Drham Drham-Chapel Hill Jewish FederationNC Raleigh Raleigh-Cary JCCOH Akron Jerry Shaw JCC o AkronOH Canton Canton JCCOH Cincinnati JCC o CincinnatiOH Beachwood JCC o ClevelandOH Colmbs Leo Yasseno JCC o Greater ColmbsOH Dayton Majorie & Oscar Boonshot Center or Ed.OH Sylvania JCC o ToledoOH Yongstown Yongstown JCCOK Oklahoma City Oklahoma City Jewish FederationOK Tlsa Charles Schsterman JCCPA Allentown Allentown JCCPA Harrisbrg Jewish Federation o Greater HarrisbrgPA Wynnewood Kevy K. & Hortense M. Kaiserman JCCPA Pittsbrgh JCC o Greater PittsbrghPA Pittsbrgh JCC o Greater Pittsbrgh/ Soth HillsPA Scranton Scranton JCCPA Wilkes Barre JCC o Wyoming ValleyPA York York JCCRI Providence JCC o Rhode IslandSC Charleston Charleston JCCSC Colmbia Katie & Irwin Kahn JCCTN Memphis Memphis JCCTN Nashville Gordon JCCTX Astin Jewish Commnity Association o Astin
TX Dallas Aaron Family JCC o DallasTX Hoston JCC o HostonTX Hoston JCC/ West HostonTX San Antonio Barshop JCC o San AntoniouT Salt Lake City I.J & Jeanne Wagner JCCVA Fairax JCC o Northern VirginiaVA Virginia Beach The Marilyn & Marvin Simon JCCVA Richmond Weinstein JCCWA Mercer Island Strom JCC o Greater SeattleWI Milwakee Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC
WE HAVE A HuGE NETWOrk OF DAY CAMPS!
FOr MOrE INFOrMATION, CONTACT:
CHArLENE WENDELL,
CONSuLTANT ON CAMPING SErVICES,
(212) 786-5126, [email protected]
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www.jcca.og jcc cicl
Welcome Hometo Isaelby Stephanie Golden
Welcome home.
When you are 6,000 miles away rom home in a place you have
never been beore, welcome home is not what you expect. But
ater youve heard it over and over rom strangers on the street,
at Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, and everywhere in between, the
words seem right.
For me, going on Taglit-Birthright Israel with J CC Maccabi
Israel was taking advantage o a ree trip to visit the land where
it all beganwhere the Jews have aced hardships (and still do)
and where they ight to maintain a Jewish state, a place that
all Jews in the world can eel at home every single day. I didnt
expect to come home changed. To be completely honest, I hadno idea what to expect.
I did know, though, that I wanted to have un, and riends who
had taken the trip told me I would have a great time. I had no idea
that I would return eeling closer to 40 people Id met ten days
earlier than to others I have known or years. I never expected to
meet eight Israeli soldiers who joined us or the second hal o
our trip and discover they are just like me. More than anything, I
never anticipated eeling the connection with Israel that I eel upon
returning home.
Hiking up Masada at 5 a.m. to watch the sun rise rom behind
the mountains was amazing, one o the most beautiul sights
I have ever seen in my lie. Floating eortlessly in the Dead
Sea was easily one o the strangest experiences Ive ever had; I
giggled uncontrollably because it elt so peculiar. Everyone was
enjoying slapping mud all over themselves and posing or unny
pictures. Looking out at the mountains in the Golan Heights was
breathtaking, although it was reezing and my eet were numb
within 20 minutes. I look back on these moments and realize that
they were irsts or me, and to experience them with my group
added so much to the intensity I elt.
Not all o our stops during our ten-day tour o Israel were to
admire the landscape. We visited the Old City o Jerusalem
nationwide by Money Matters: Make It Count, aBGCA inancial literacy program sponsored bythe Charles Schwab Foundation. The Alliancehas incorporated programs like Power Hour
and Project Learn, which not only reinorce theimportance o homework and study outside oschool, but eplore un ways to make the mosto that study time. And, oerings like SmartGirls and Passport to Manhoodaddress lieskills and health and wellness. Says a programattendee, These ater-school programs keepme o the street and thinking about things thatare important.
To be a charter member, The EducationalAlliance pays BGCA $11,000 in annual dues andalso iles regular reports, including an annualImpact Assessment Report. This 29-page booko checklists assesses every point o contacta client will have with the clubs, rom whathappens when the client walks in the door, torelationships with sta, uality o programs, andeven the environment o the building and spacein which the programs are housed.
Ultimately, the partnership with Boys &Girls Clubs o America demonstrated TheEducational Alliances commitment to blendingpublic and private dollars to beneit theorganizations neighbors. And, it orwards The
Alliances interpretation o its role as a Jewishorganization: to be open to all opportunities toadvance its eorts in caring or the communityo which it is a part.Its an obvious partnership, says RobinBernstein, president and CEO o TheEducational Alliance. I dont know why everyJCC doesnt do it.
David Billotti works in the communicationsdepartment at The Educational Alliance.
twicethe irst and last days o our trip. I approached the
Western Wall or the irst time, a little nervous, olded piece
o paper in hand, trying to absorb the moment. Touching
the cool, smooth stones and placing my prayer in a crack was
unorgettable. Im not a particularly religious person; I never
have been and dont expect to become one. I know that the
Kotel is a place o worship, but it is also a place where one can
make her time her own, and in my moment in ront o the
Wall, I elt a strong connection to my Jewish heritage. I elt
proud to stand there.
We slept in Bedouin tents our second night, which was New
Years Eve. I was a little apprehensive, especially ater seeing
that 40 o us would sleep all in one tent. Although it was
a little chilly and deinitely out o many peoples comort
zones, it turned out to be wonderul. A ew people made a
mock ball drop, and everyone danced around a ire and sang
songs and hugged riends and strangers alike with happy
wishes or the new year.
Our group was also able to meet dierent people with stories
to tell: a Bedouin woman who went against her communitysstandards, never married, and started a successul skincare line;
a man who let Detroit 13 years ago looking or something to
deine his lie, ound Tsat and Kaballah and never came back;
eight Israeli soldiers who shared stories o courage during
their service, as well as personal likes and dislikes, which
helped us realize that they are just like usun-loving, gossip-
ollowing, loudmouthed, talented young people. Meeting
many dierent people rom many areas o the country rom
diverse communities helped open our eyes to the real lives o
the people who live in Israel, not just Jews, but all the diere
people who make up the country.
The soldiers added so much to our experience. In many pla
we werent able to interact with the people. Having young
adults give us a glimpse into their lives in Israel helped us
to understand so much more about the country. They were
so open and honest, no matter how serious or rivolous our
questions were. Many o us werent sure what army service
like, but hearing about the experiences that helped them gro
up and mature was important or us.
On the last night, we talked as a group about our ah ha!
moment. It was hard or me to choose. I elt like the whole t
was my moment. But being in Independence Hall in Tel Aviv
listening to our tour guide who closed with words along the
lines o, This is your home, my riends. We welcome you wi
open arms, and I want you to know that I consider you as m
o a citizen o this country as I do mysel and my children. Y
will always have a home here in Israel. Welcome home.
Then she played Hatikva, and the whole group began to sIt was a moment when I was exactly where I was supposed
be. I was a Jew in Israel, and it was the right place to be; any
other place wouldnt have elt the same.
Leaving Israel was hard. I remember looking over at my
riends and seeing all our aces so gloomy. But I know thats
opportunity to go back hopeully, within a year or so. Mo
than anything, I look orward to hearing welcome home.
Stephanie Golden is a junior at Hofstra University.
For more information aboutJCC Macccabi Israel, go towww.jccmaccabiisrael.org,or contact Adinah East [email protected]
16 jcc cicle smme 2008
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We all come from different cornof the world, we eat differentkinds of food, we speak differ
languages, we live in different culturesand each one of us is at a slightly diffestage in life. Evan is about to concludehigh school, Adi will begin college in a months, and I, Ofer, will graduate only a year and a half and will then begin mmilitary service in the Israeli army.
Despite these differences, we were able develop a special relationship through thTri-Center Project initiated by the WorldConfederation of JCCs together with theSuffolk Y JCC and the Greater Five TownJCC in New York, the French Hill CommuCenter in Jerusalem, and the Lamroth HJCC/Synagogue in Buenos Aires, and thato a generous grant from UJA FederationNew York that is administrated by the Je
Agency of Israel.
Im writing this sitting in Evans room inBuenos Aires; Adi is here from New YorWe have spent a whole week togetherexperiencing unique programs, and wehave also found time to discuss everytopic imaginable and develop an amazinfriendship.
On Friday, we went to the synagogue atLamroth Hakol. Adi and I felt it was sodifferent from our synagogues back homIn Lamroth Hakol, they sang and playedguitar. But still, the text was the same teWe are the same people with the same rThis special atmosphere made us open uand speak about everythingschool, frielove, disappointment, and all the issues engage youth all over the world.
This encounter in Buenos Aires is parta three-year project that began two yeago. We first met in Long Island, New Ylast summer. We then continued to meback home and prepare for the next vi
in Buenos Aires, and in a few months aus, together with our parents, will spenweek in Jerusalem.
We want to thank everyone involved the project, and were certain that thnot the end
Oer Polivoda, JersalemAdi Ramer, New YorkEvan Rsak, Benos Aires
A three-county project initiated by the World Conederation oJewish Community Centers and the Suolk Y JCC in New York,with the help o UJA Federation o New York in partnership withJAFI (Jewish Agency or Israel), is bringing together Jewishteenagers rom Israel, Argentina, and the U.S. to orm personaland communal relationships.
The Suolk Y JCC in Commack and the JCC o the GreaterFive Towns in Cedarhurst, both on Long Island, already had anongoing relationship with the French Hill matnas in Jerusalemthrough UJAs Partnership 2000, so it wasnt such a stretch toinclude a JCC rom another country. Nine years ago, we werethe Partnership 2000 pilot project or New York, says JoelBlock, eecutive director o the Suolk Y JCC. We once againplayed the same role or Tri-Center, as the project is called.Twenty-seven teens participated in the project, nine rom eachcommunity, with three adult sta members. The teens havevisited New York and Buenos Aries, and plan to go to Israel inJuly with their parents.
Eecutive Director Marcelo Taussik o Lamroth Hakol JCC/
Synagogue in Buenos Aries, Argentina eplained that when hisJCC was invited by the WCJCC three years ago to join withLong Island and Israel, it helped that we have a lot o peoplewho speak English, so we could communicate on many levels,rom the board to the children. Taussik sees the projectsoverall goal as creating a new group o young Jewish globalleaders who can think o Jews as one people rather than smallseparate groups in the Diaspora, unconnected to one another.These nine, as o 2009, will take over in our community asyoung leaders. We believe these are our uture leaders.
Israeli teens dont know anything about Diaspora Jews, saysYochanan Bechler, the director o French Hill, and he believesthat visiting outside communities makes them better Jews andbetter Israelis. Most o them have too much to do or have toomany priorities, but one o them is not the Diaspora. Whenthe young Israelis have the opportunity to see establishedJewish communities outside o Israel and to see how Jews liveparticularly anything that has to do with religionit opens theireyes, Bechler says. Secular Israelismost o the populationdont view religious practice as part o their Jewish identity,according to Bechler, and visiting synagogues in Argentina or theU.S. helps them to eel less threatened by Judaism the religion.The ultra-Orthodo they encounter in Israel do not representsomething they want to be attached to, Bechler says. Thats whythis connection is so important.
There are other Tri-Center projects on the way. The SephardicJCC in Brooklyn is being matched with a JCC in Toulouse,France and one in Gilo, Israel. JCCs in Staten Island, London,and Pisgat Zeev are also beginning to work together. Bechlerand Block are developing a joint program with the Islamic Centerin Westbury and an Arab center in Jerusalem. We like thisposition o being leaders or international projects, Block adds.
It is the dream o the World Conederation that every JCC inthe world have at least two ellow JCC partnersone in Israel andone in another Jewish community, says Jerome B. Makowsky,WCJCC president.
Its A Small Wold Ate All:
The Ti-Cente Poject
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20 jcc cicle smme 2008 www.jcca.og jcc cicl
JCCSF Photo Exhibition
Shows Common Gond
among JesalemsChilden
JCC o San Fancisco
San Fancisco, CA
In Jersalem, Jewish and Mslimchildren are deeply divided byadlt isses o religion and politics,bt are they really so dierent?Beyond the Wall: Kids withCamerasThe Jersalem Project,a recent photography exhibit at theJewish Commnity Center o SanFrancisco, was born when New Yorkphotojornalist Jason Eskenazi set otto teach photography to Jersalemschildren, and in the process discoveredthe common grond o childhoodamong these disparate neighbors.
Eskenazi spent eight months teaching24 kids12 Israeli, 12 Palestinianbasicphotographic techniqes. Thenhe stood back and watched as the
bdding photographers, ages 8 to12, told the stories o their day-to-day lives in photos. The photographspresented the expected contrastsagirl reading the Koran, Jews prayingat the Western Wallas well assimilarities in how children experiencethe world arond them.
Langage barriers and cltraltensions made a joint workshopimpossible, bt the two grops wereltimately broght together, at leastfgratively, by viewing the otherswork. The children initially expressedhostility towards one another, bt oncethey saw the photographs, they weredrawn into each others worlds. Theywere ascinated to see the lives o theirconterparts, Eskenazi said.
The exhibition, on display romFebrary 1 throgh April 30, 2008,came to the JCCSF throgh alongstanding relationship withthe JCC in Manhattan, where theshow ran last all. A very specialrelationship has developed betweenthese two JCCs, explains Directoro the Egene & Elinor Friend Centeror the Arts Lenore Naxon. Werevery similar: were both in diverse,rban areas and were at the samestage in or organizational lie cycles.Were constantly sharing ideas andresorces; it is a pleasre to work withcolleages there.
New Yo JCC Hosts
Nation O BhtanJCC o Mid-Westcheste
Scasdale, NY
The JCC o Mid-Westchester inScarsdale hosted varios dignitariesrom the small nation o Bhtan inJanary. The visitors were on a act-fnding mission on special-needsedcation in the united States. Theyspent time in the JCCs TowardTomorrow special needs nrseryprogram and visited all classrooms,therapy areas, and the JCCsgymnastics acility. The JCC site wasrecommended by Larie Levine, aNew York State regional trainer orSETRC, Special Edcation Training andResorce Center.
Based on what they learned dringtheir trip, the Bhtanese team intendsto defne a special-needs edcationsystem appropriate or their contryand to begin training sta and teachersaccordingly. Crrently, the primaryproviders o special edcation inBhtan inclde one school or theblind and one school or the hearingimpaired, pls a vocational school oryong adlts that oers training in
local handicrats and msic.
Bhtan is a small contry in theHimalayan Montains between Indiaand Tibet, east o Nepal. until themiddle o the twentieth centry,Bhtan was almost completely isolatedrom the rest o the worldthe onlyway to see it was on oot or horseback.
jcchappeningswhats going on in the north american
jewish commnity center movement
Innovative Mlti-
Sensoy Theapy room
o Special Needs
Childen and AdltsJCC o the Geate Five Towns
Cedahst, NY
Expanding the services oered tochildren and adlts with special needs,the Jewish Commnity Center o theGreater Five Towns in Cedarhrst,New York opened a mlti-sensory,or Snoezelen room to treat thosewith a wide range o cognitive andnerological disorders sch as atism,tramatic brain injries, dementia andAlzheimers disease.
The idea to incorporate the innovativetherapy came rom Exective DirectorRina Shkolnik. I saw a Snoezelen room
in Israel and noticed there was a positiveresponse to mlti-sensory therapy andwanted to know more abot it and howwe cold sccesslly integrate it intoor programs, explained Shkolnik.The room is hosed at the JCCs site atTemple Israel in Lawrence.
Made possible by a special grant romNew York State Senator Dean Skelos,the Snoezelen room is a therapeticmlti-sensory environment that seslighting eects, color, sonds, msic,scents and toch to create a soothingand relaxing atmosphere. Basedpon individal needs, each sensorycomponent can be adjsted to enhancetherapy, learning, and relaxation.Mlti-sensory rooms have been provento enhance awareness and positivebehaviors or those with severe sensoryimpairment or nerological disorders.
Thanks to Senator Skelos, the JCC isable to oer a sae and non-threateningenvironment or people with specialsensory reqirements where they canexperience greater sel-control andachievements that overcome inhibitions,
enhance sel-esteem, and redcetension, conclded Shkolnik.
Yo Go, Gil!St. Lois JCC
St. Lois, MO
The St. Lois Jewish Commnity Centercelebrated the twenty-second annalNational Girls and Women in SportsDay (NGWSD) by hosting a Girls NightOt or more than orty girls romthe St. Lois commnity at the newlyrenovated JCC Marilyn Fox Bilding.First to eighth grade girls had the rno the JCC to participate in sports andftness activities. Form er high schooland college athletes coached soccer,basketball, track, and cheerleading, andthe girls tried their hands in the battingcages, and the sport wall. The night alsoinclded a T-shirt, rereshments andrae prizes rom local sports teams,stores and the JCC.
NGWSD began in 1987 as a day toremember Olympic volleyball player FloHymann or her athletic achievementsand her work to assre eqality orwomens sports. Hyman died o Maranssyndrome in 1986 while competing in avolleyball tornament.
The St. Lois JCC has spportedNGWSD since 2003, and is passionateabot emale athletics and getting girls
involved at a yong age.
Chicago JCC Opens
Sepaate-GendeWoot rooms
Benad Howich Jewish
Commnity Cente
Chicago, IL
How can religios women work ot inJewish environment and still maintaisense o modesty? This past FebrarChicagos Bernard Horwich JewishCommnity Center provided a waywhen they lanched separate-gendeworkot acilities. Keycard-only acceand window blinds give the areas privThe JCCs o Chicago designed thesespaces to help Orthodox Jews maintthe level o modesty with which theyare comortable, and a large spike inmembership was the reslt. By theend o the two-hor grand openingevent, 55 people had signed p or trmemberships (the nmber has sinceclimbed to 121).
The acilities opened at a time whenthe Orthodox commnity is becominmore conscios o the importance ohealth and ftness, according to EmilyMinkow, regional director, NorthernRegion o Jewish Commnity Center
o Chicago. A 2006 stdy pblished the Jewish Commnity Health Srveo West Rogers Park and PetersonPark ond that 31 percent o adltswere overweight, with an additional 2percent were obese.
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A Petty Gil
Is Lie a MelodySpingfeld JCC
Spingfeld, MA
Golden Girls are strtting their stat the Springfeld Jewish CommnityCenter. This year the Springfeld JCCis celebrating its sixteenth year assponsor and organizer o the Ms.Senior Massachsetts Golden GirlPageant. Any woman 60 years o ageor older and living in Massachsettscan enter the competition. Thepageants main prpose is to givewomen who have entered the age oelegance a showcase or their talents,lie experiences, intelligence, andinner and oter beaty. The winner othe Ms. Senior Massachsetts GoldenGirls Pageant goes on to compete on
the national level or the title o Ms.Senior America.
In the months leading p to thepageant, contestants meet severaltimes to get to know each other andto rehearse with Frank P. Jackson,the pageants msical director andaccompanist. Each contestant is givenadvice on hair color, hair style, andstage make-p by a local beatician, andcoached on modeling and interviewingskills by two ormer contestants. Themayor o Holyoke, where the pageant isheld, hosts a brnch or the contestantsat a city msem.
Althogh the pageant is basedon competition, we stress theopportnity to make new riendsand improve ones sel image,says Bobbie Levin, director o thesenior adlt department at theSJCC. The Springfeld JCC invites allcontestants to join the approximatelysixty members in the JCCs CameoClb, and they perorm throghotMassachsetts dring the year. Theyalso write and prodce an annal
cameo perormance at the SJCC.Proceeds spport the reigning qeento go to the next national competition.
The JCC welcomes women rom allbackgronds to the Ms. Senior MAPageant and encorages them to enjoytraditional JCC hospitality.
Potecting Ceation
and Betteing the
Commnity One Tee
at a Time
JCC o Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN
Smmer soon will be a little cooler and alittle greener or children and amilies atthe Arthr M. Glick JCC in Indianapolis,and the JCC will lfll the Jewishobligation to care or the world. The JCCplanted 26 treesmade possible throgha partnership with Keep IndianapolisBeatil, Inc.arond the JCC sportsfeld and playgronds at a tree-plantingevent in April. Families, those concernedabot the environment, and the generalpblic joined in this celebration. The treeplanting was part o the NeighborWoodsprogram, a partnership between KeepIndianapolis Beatil, Inc. and the Cityo Indianapolis to plant 100,000 treesin Indianapolis over the next ten years.NeighborWoods is made possible in part
by sponsors, inclding onding sponsorsIndianapolis Power & Light Company;Veolia Water, Indianapolis; and romrecent ederal nding secred by u.S.Senator Richard Lgar, u.S. Senator EvanBayh and the late u.S. RepresentativeJlia Carson.
Levite JCC knittes
keep Thei Needles
Clicing o OthesLevite JCC
Bimingham, AL
Thirty-fve knitters meet reglarlyat the Levite Jewish CommnityCenter in Birmingham, Alabama, topractice their crat together and tolet those whose lives are toched bycancer know that their commnity issrronding them with love, warmth,and hope. The Circle o Lie knittersrecently presented 180 pink scarvesand shrgs to the university oAlabama at Birminghams (uABs)Comprehensive Cancer Center inhonor o National Breast CancerMonth or patients in the radiationand chemotherapy otpatient clinics.Erin Shaw Street, director o uABsComprehensive Cancer Center, saidshe was tremendosly gratel or theeorts o the knitters and the LJCCand thanked everyone or starting
what she called a caring revoltion.
read Me a StoyJCCs o Geate Boston
Boston, MA
The Jewish Commnity Centers oGreater Boston (JCCGB) lanched thelargest edcational program in its 50-year history with The PJ Library, aninitiative providing ree Jewish booksand CDs or as many as or thosandyong children within the next year.
Each participating child will receivea monthly git o an age-appropriateJewish book or CD at no cost or all year. Along with the books andmsic, amilies receive parent gidesdesigned to complement and enhancethe PJ experience. Ater the frst year,amilies can re-enroll their children ata signifcantly sbsidized rate.
Boston is among the latest cities to
participate in the program, whichwas started two years ago by theHarold Grinspoon Fondation in WestSpringfeld, Massachsetts, and hasnow expanded to more than fty-fvecommnities across the contry.
Reading stories and listening tomsic together are among themost powerl and nrtring earlychildhood experiences. The PJ Librarywill trn these special momentsinto Jewish moments, said WinnieSandler, a member o the GrinspoonFondations board o trstees.
A team o experts in childrensliteratre, msic and edcation selectsthe PJ Library books and CDs tocommnicate Jewish stories, heritageand vales. This is one othe most exciting andimportant programsin the JCCs history,
said Mark Sokoll, president and CEO othe JCCs o Greater Boston. The PJLibrary makes it possible or a kid toask or a great Jewish book as otenas she wants Goodnight Moon, and orparents to have the tools they need totalk abot the book with their child asthey embark on their Jewish jorneytogether, he said.
A Harold Grinspoon Fondationsrvey ond that beore joiningThe PJ Library, the amilies inthe program owned ive or ewerJewish childrens books, and only23 percent o the parents said theywere very likely to by Jewish booksor CDs. However, 75 percent o theparticipants srveyed said they nowread The PJ Library books to theirchildren once a week or more.
More than $230,000 has already beenraised by the JCCGB to lanch thelocal program. The JCC will be sendingot letters to nearly 60,000 amilies inthe region inviting them to participatein The PJ Library. The annal cost othe books and CDs is being entirelycovered by donations.
We have nding or over threethosand amilies and I am convincethat we will be able to attract additispport, as needed, Sokoll said. Hesaid the JCCs goal is to enroll 11,00children over the next three years,representing more than eighty perco all Jewish amilies with yongchildren in the Greater Boston area.
Docmentay Is the
Highlight o Tenth
Annal Loisville
Jewish Film FestivalJCC o Loisville
Loisville, kY
Capacity adiences at the JCC anda local theater enjoyed the eight
international award-winning flmsscreened at the tenth annal LoisJewish Film Festival sponsored by tJCC. This years estival inclded TBlack Book, Saved by Deportation,What a Wonderful Place, Jellyfish, TFirst Basket, The Tribe and MauvaisFoi. The estival received spport over fty individals and patrons.
The highlight o the estival was thSpeed Art Msem Gala. This evein the Speed Sclptre Garden andtheater eatred hors doevres ana screening o the award-winning The Rape of Europa. The stnningdocmentary depicts the story othet, destrction and miraclossrvival and recovery o Eropesgreat art treasres dring WorldWar II. Prior to the flm, Kim Spenassociate crator at the Speed ArtMsem, discssed the msemproessions ongoing attempts toretrn looted artwork to its rightowners and the Speeds research oits own collection.
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Ol o JewMex!Bolde JCC
Bolde, CO
This is why there are JCCs. Thiswas a perect event, Wayne Seltzersaid as he headed ot the door othe Bolder JCC on a chilly Janarynight ollowing JewMex: The Sights,Sonds and Tastes o Jewish Mexico.Wayne was not headed home,despite having jst enjoyed an artshow, a concert, a meal, a flm, anda panel discssion. He and his wiewere o or a nightcap at Mamacitas,where they kissed the mezzah on thecozy Mexican restarants door on theway in and otand where the idea orJewMex began.
Bolder JCC program director KathrynBernheimer was having dinner withriends when she noticed that aMexican painting on the wall lookedsspiciosly like a yeshiva bocher. Shethoght lie as a Jewish proessionalwas casing her to see everythingthrogh a Jewish lens. Trns ot,owner Carmen Epstein was indeed aJewish Mexican artist.
For JewMex, Carmen pt 35 large,colorl canvases on display at theBolder JCC. The opening nightreception inclded a SephardicMexican mealthe pistachio mole wasfantastico.The overow crowd o 100then settled in or a short concert omelancholy Ladino msic by visitingcantor Robert Michael Esormes,
ollowed by a screening o the one-hordocmentary, Tijuana Jews. Ater theflm, fve local Jews rom Mexico tookthe stage to share their own cross-cltral experiences.
The adience, a mix o BJCC reglarsand frst-timers, let eeling satiated
with ideas, avors and msic.Enlightened by their immersionexperience, they headed home to bed.All except Wayne.
rosh Hodesh:
Its a Gil Thing!JCC o the Noth Shoe
Mablehead, Massachsetts
The JCC o the North Shore invitesgirls in grades 5 and 6 or a copleo hors one night a monthandencorages them to bring someriends. Rosh Hodesh, the frst day othe Hebrew month, is traditionally aholiday or women. Girls get togetherat the JCC on or near the new moonto do rital, to mnch on snacks, tolearn, and to eel comortable, Jewish,and good abot themselves. JocelynSegal, the leader o the grop, said,The girls are ll o deep qestionsabot Jdaism and lie. It is amazinghow mch they want to talk anddiscss. Activities I predict will take
10 mintes take easily 20-25! Theywere eqally engaged in discssingsocietys pressre rom the mediato look a certain way. They critiqedmagazines and had to fnd positiveand negative images. Ater that thegirls began a letter writing campaign,letting companies and magazinesknow what their reactions were to thecontent and pictres inside.
Beach Boys Povide the
Beat o the SolowayJCCs fst Pim Play
Soloway JCC
Ottawa, ON Canada
Prim is a time o topsy trveymasqeraderabbis in carnivalcostmes, the roaring o greggarsover the voices on the bima, and lotso p-trned wine glasses and over-the-top escapades. The Soloway JCCcelebrated Prim mishigas with its frstPrim play, The Megillah According tothe Beach Boys.
What do the Beach Boys, blonde iconso Caliornias srfng cltre, have todo with royal intriges in the Persiancort and Jewish tradition? Theanswer was not immediately apparent,bt as in the Megillat Esther, manysecret identities were revealed.
Beach Boys Prim was directed byGavriella Silverstone, who majored intheater at the university o Ottawaand is now fnishing her degree indrama therapy. Silverstone captredthe essence o Prim, Or castmembers were rom 18-80 yearsold, and or ocs was on n andplaylness. No matter what age yoare, yo shold still have n andsilliness in yor lie.
www.jcca.og jcc cicle
ANDY SHAEVEL IS ABUFFALO BOOSTER.Bualo is an incredible place to liveand raise a amily. Its small enoughso that you eel you can make adierence, but big enough that you
dont eel youre living in Mayberry,he says. Although Shaevel loves hisadopted home town, hes not sanguineabout its problems. Like many rust-belt cities across the North andMidwest, Bualo aces real economicand demographic challenges. Manyo the actories, mills, and plantsthat provided middle-class lives tothousands o workers are gone, andthe population is shrinking and graying.A lot o my riends went to collegeout-o-town and rooted their careersin major urban centers, Shaevel says.What remains in Western New Yorkare their parents and grandparents.To maintain an inviting place to live,a place where young people want tostay or settle, Bualo needs to ind anew neus o opportunity, he believes.Because the State University o NewYork has multiple university locationsacross the state, one strategy isto transorm Bualo into the AnnArbor o New York. We have asolid core o hospitals and researchcenters in Western New York, andin conjunction with the University
at Bualo, signiicant research andspin-o business opportunities arebeing created, Shaevel says. This isan investment that I believe will payreal dividends.
Similar challenges ace BualosJewish community. Demographictrends show a population o 25,000Jews in the 1970s, less than 12,000today and recent orecasts projectonly 8,000 by 2018. The Jewish
ederation is raising roughly the samedollars, but with inlation, the dollarsare worth less and theyre comingrom ewer donors. Yet Bualo hasmore Jewish programs, services andinstitutional buildings now than it did25 years ago. Shaevel believes theres
a need to adjust the communitysinrastructure. Were supporting theinrastructure o 30 years ago witha population and donor base that isless than hal the size it was then. Allthe agencies in this community needto come together and collaborate ina smarter way, he says. One o theprojects Im heavily invested in is tobring all the constituencies togetherto realign our community. Were doingsome very inclusive and creativelarge-scale planning, with the hope oproactively creating new scenarios orour community beore we are besiegedwith crisis.
Shaevel moved to Bualo romParsipanny, New Jersey, at nineyears old when his ather went towork or a rozen-ood company.A ood technologist by training,Shaevels ather started his careerat Manischewitz and then went on toNabisco where he developed deliciousnew products, including double-stued Oreos. The younger Shaevel,an entrepreneur, is more interested in
inance and marketing than cookies orcrackers, and has ocused his careerin investment banking and strategicplanning since he graduated CanisiusCollege. Its the thrill o doing deals,Shaevel says, that interests him.The eciting part is developing auniue strategy and then iguringout how to put the pieces together.Shaevel has successully cratedbusinesses in banking, automobileinance, mortgages and receivable
management, as well as applying henergy and talent to the local andnational philanthropic community.list o communal ailiations is longand diverse, ranging rom the HilleFoundation o Bualo to United Wato Junior Achievement, as well as
Florence G. Heller-JCC AssociationResearch Center and the EecutivCommittee o JCC Association.Shaevel chairs the BrandingImplementation and Marketing TasForce, which rolled out the JCCBrand, the wide-ranging brandingproject that JCC Association oerto JCCs.
A ormer president o the JCC oGreater Bualo and chair o the LoRange Planning Task Force o theJewish Federation o Greater BuaShaevel has deinite ideas about whneeds to be done to ensure the vitao the Bualo Jewish community. have to break out o the traditionalinstitutional silos, eliminate theduplication o eorts, and share spand resources across the communitIn addition to providing health anditness services, early childhoodprograms, and camping, the JCChas the uniue opportunity to serveas a central gathering place, a neuwhere our community gathers. Eaon in the planning process, Shaevel
consulted with JCC Associationand learned that other mid-sizecommunities were acing similarchallenges, although some are growwhile others are shrinking. They hasimilar issues but dierent emotionbaggage. Were hopeul that theoutcome o our planning process wbe very successul and create a newmodel or us and other communitieDespite our challenges, in many wathink were ahead o the curve.
leadership prof
Andew Shaevel:
Planning Ahead Inse
a Bette FteBy Miiam rinn
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