~By Margaret Sheldon, President As Charles Dicken’s wrote well over a century ago in his book A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” So too in our community, in the U.S., in Israel and around the world, in economic and political terms, it has been truly “the best of times and the worst of times.”

The Mission of the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania continues to define our role as the parliament of our Jewish communities. That Mission is “to rescue the imperiled, care for the vulnerable, support Israel, and perpetuate Jewish

life in Lackawanna, Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties, and throughout the world.”

It has a broad mandate that transcends the interests of any one of its agencies, synagogues or affiliates. Its role is to plan for the future well-being of our Jewish communities. Our responsibility is to manage “the garden” while our agencies, affiliated organizations and synagogues represent the “”flowers” within that garden.

As such, the primary role of the Federation is to enhance the quality of Jewish life throughout our region, Israel and the Jewish world by providing the funding and direction necessary to deliver the highest quality programs and services through our funded agencies and affiliates.

I would like to extend my thanks to our 2012 UJA Campaign Chairman, Doug Fink for all his work in expanding our annual UJA Campaign, and to Barbara Nivert (2012 Women’s Campaign Chairman) and all our solicitors, men and women, without whose support, and without whose efforts neither our schools, nor our social service, cultural or educational agencies, nor our commitments to Israel and world Jewry could be fulfilled.

I also want to extend my condolences and that of this Federation to Bobbi Novick and her family on the death of her husband and their father Ed Novick.

Ed was Chairman of our Investments Committee and a veteran leader in our community having served as President of many Jewish organizations in Greater Scranton including the Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania. Among many other achievements, his efforts were instrumental in leading to the establishment of the Jewish Resource Center of the Poconos in Stroudsburg.

Ed was to have assumed the position of Federation President in June had fate not intervened. May his memory be for a blessing. His advice and presence will be missed by our community. We are grateful to Jeff Rubel, our Administrative Vice-President who, with your support, will assume the Presidency of this organization in his place.

This year, we also lost many others who made significant contributions to furthering the efforts and mission of this Federation – members like Kay Swartz, Harold Sprung, David Harris, Howard Ufberg, Bruce Schoenberg, Irv Rosen (from Hemlock Farms), Jerry Fink (Doug’s father), Fran Kaufman (our Office Manager for decades prior to our retaining Dolores Gruber), Henri Deutsch, Herman Margulies, Helen Miller, Dr. Mel Oram and Doris Weissberger – all of whom were mainstays of this Federation. Their absence is felt by all of us.

Finally, I want to thank the Federation staff who work behind the scenes to insure that each and every “T” is crossed and “I” dotted – that our complex administrative and accounting matters are carried out in a timely and proper manner; that every event (Campaign or otherwise) is planned down to the smallest detail; that all notices are issued on time, that all Campaign solicitors and Board Trustees are provided with Campaign updates and Status Reports to insure the proper flow of information to any and all concerned, and that all allocations materials are presented in a simple and comprehensive manner.

For all this, and much more, I thank Mark Silverberg, Dassy Ganz, Tova Weiss, Dolores Gruber, Rae Magliocchi and our retiring bookkeeper Mary Lil Walsh for their caring and their commitment to this Federation.

On a final note, I am honored to report that our Nominating Committee under the Chairmanship of Michael Greenstein has assembled an excellent slate of Trustees to govern our Federation for the next several years. Among those slated to assume office will be Sandra Alfonsi from Stroudsburg who was recently chosen by National Hadassah as one of the top leaders of Hadassah over the past century.

Sandra was a National Vice President of Hadassah and continues to be active on a national level as Director of Textbook Alert - a critically important proj-ect created as an independent think tank to identify and review textbooks and teaching materials in American schools that contain slanted, biased, and/or inaccurate information on Judaism, the Holocaust, and biblical and modern Israel. I encourage all our readers to google “Textbook Alert” to fully under-stand the importance of this project as it relates to monitoring the quality of education in the American public school system and the textbook selections made by American publishing houses and State and local Boards of Education in this country. It seeks to insure standards of education that are historically accurate and ethnically and culturally unbiased.

Jewish Federation oF ne PennsylvaniaState of the Federation Report

Mark SilverbergExecutive Director, Jew-ish Federation of NEPA

Jewish Federation of NEPA • Annual Report

Margaret SheldonPresident, Jewish

Federation of NEPA

Edward Novick(of blessed memory)

2013 UJA Campaign Chairs announced

Jeff Rubel2013 UJA Campaign

Co-Chairman(and incoming Federa-

tion President)

Donald Douglass, Esq. 2013 UJA Campaign

Co-Chairman

Barbara Nivert 2013 Women’s UJA Campaign Chair

I am pleased to announce that Atty. Don Douglass has accepted the Co-Chairmanship of our 2013 UJA Campaign along with his fellow Co-Chair and our incoming Federa-tion President Jeff Rubel. Assisting them will be Barbara Nivert who has agreed, once again, to Chair our 2013 Women’s UJA Campaign. Each is an experienced leader in our community, and we’re fortunate to have their leadership at such a critical time in our history.

Douglas Fink2012 UJA Campaign

Chairman

Barbara Nivert2012 Women’s UJA Campaign Chair

Peter O’Donnell2012 Community Division Chairman

2012 UJa Campaign Chai-lites

Annual Report • Jewish Federation of NEPA2 This year, our Men’s Division raised $695,845 in support of local, regional and world Jewish needs including Israel and that amount included $71,880 from our regional af-filiates from Pike, Wayne and Monroe counties.

Our thanks again to Doug Fink, our 2012 General UJA Campaign Chairman for making this possible. We also raised $169,355 through our UJA Women’s Campaign thanks to the efforts of our 2012 Women’s Campaign Chair, Barbara Nivert and her Cabinet, and $15,300 in our Community Division thanks to the tireless efforts of our Community Division Chairman, Peter O’Donnell.

As a result of their efforts, we were able to allocate $880,500 in the midst of the most severe economic crisis our country has experienced since the Great Depression.

Even under these difficult circumstances, our commu-nity has come forward to do what Jews have always done to preserve their communities in times of great hardship.

Because of our communities’ collective generosity, we have been able to fund our many programs and services provided by our schools, our agencies and our organi-zations – programs, and services that are designed to sustain Jewish life here in Northeast Pennsylvania, in Israel and around the world.

As always, we have pulled together as a community and dis-tributed our Campaign dollars as best we could under dif-ficult circumstances. Many new gifts were received this year especially from our members in Pike, Wayne and Monroe counties. For this, we are especially grateful as we are plant-ing seeds in these communities as well as our own in Lacka-wanna County for those who will follow in our footsteps.

In fact, one of the primary motivations behind establish-ing our NEPA Jewish Federation Business & Trade Alli-ance, as you will read below, is to establish a new genera-tion of leaders from the business field who will carry the torch of Jewish life into the future by supporting their local Jewish communities.

The Alliance is already moving in that direction as sever-al of these businessmen and women from Lackawanna, Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties have become engaged in the new Alliance and will be assuming positions on our new Federation Board of Trustees for the first time. A Business and Trade Alliance UJA Campaign Division is being developed to further these objectives.

Campaign solicitor appreciationI extend our communities’ thanks to our Greater Scran-ton solicitors without whose efforts, this Campaign would not have been possible. In that regard, I am espe-cially grateful to our solicitors in Pike, Wayne and Mon-roe counties for the extraordinary effort they made in soliciting UJA gifts from their Congregational mem-bers. They reviewed lists, made phone calls, arranged meetings, and made certain that their cards were cov-ered as efficiently and effectively as possible. For this, our community expresses its sincerest gratitude.

We are honored to recognize all our Campaign solici-tors. Without their support, there would be no Annual UJA Campaign; there would be no funds raised for the Jewish poor and vulnerable; there would be no funds for assisting Jews in Israel or those seeking to make aliyah to live in a Jewish state free from persecution, threats or

worse because of their religion; and there would be no funds for Jewish education to carry forward our tradi-tions into the future. We are here because of those tradi-tions, while our historical contemporaries – the Hittites, the Ammonites and the Canaanites have long-since been relegated to the dustbin of history.

For all this, we owe a great debt of gratitude to those who assisted us in soliciting UJA gifts this year. There would be no Jewish communities here without them.

For the Men’s UJA Divisions, these solicitors include (and I apologize in advance if I’ve missed anyone):

Jim Alperin, Jack Bernbaum (from Stroudsburg), Rick Bishop, Charlie Cahn (from Stroudsburg), Harris Cut-ler, David Dickstein, Don Douglass, Bernie Dubin, Jim Ellenbogen, Richard Fine, Doug Fink, Moshe Fink, Joe Fisch (from Long Pond), Alex Gans, Alan Glassman, Ken Green, Mike Greenstein, Seth Gross, Sam Harris, Scott Herlands, Dr. Sandy Holland, Ed Krawitz (Stroudsburg), Dr. Barry Kurtzer, Mike Mardo, Ed Monsky, Sam New-man (Stroudsburg), Peter O’Donnell, Howard Pachter, Herb Rosen (from Stroudsburg), Sam Rosen, Filmore Rosenstein, David Rutta, Rabbi Samuel Sandhaus, Dr. Joe Schectman, Irwin Schneider, Ben Schnessel (from Carbondale), Elliot Schoenberg, Richard Schwartz, Steve Seitchik, Alan Smertz, Barry Tremper (from Tamiment), Dr. Steven Vale, Jerry Weinberger and Jay Weiss

Our 2012 Women’s Division UJA Cabinet included:

Lion of Judah: Susan JacobsonGuardian/Hineni: Phyllis Brandes, Jill LinderChaverim/Kadima: Leah Laury, Molly RuttaPacesetter: Iris Liebman, Dale Miller, Paula WasserBereshit: Nancy Friedman, Sara Morris, Millie Weinberg

Our Women’s UJA Division solicitors included:Phyllis Brandes, Lainey Denis, Joyce Douglass, Rosalie Engelmyer, Ruth Fallick, Nancy Friedman, Marion Glass-man, Bonnie Green, Sheryl Gross, Dolores Gruber, Susan Herlands , Susan Jacobson, Gloria Jurkowitz, Leah Laury, Iris Liebman, Jill Linder, Dale Miller, Sara Morris, Barbara Nivert, Sheila Nudelman-Abdo, Helen Pinkus, Carol Ru-bel, Molly Rutta, Margaret Sheldon, Marcia Ufberg, Elaine Utan, Paula Wasser, Mildred Weinberg and Tova Weiss

We extend our thanks to each of them for their help in carrying out our Annual UJA Campaign.

We are especially grateful to Barbara Nivert, Chair-woman of our 2012 UJA Women’s Campaign, and Dassy Ganz, our Assistant Director who coordinated these ef-forts. They, together with our exceptional volunteers, deserve all the credit in the world for what they have done for us, for Israel and for world Jewry.

I would be remiss if I failed to thank Shaya and Phyllis Barax for the use of their home last year for our annual Major Gifts Brunch; Temple Israel of the Poconos in Stroudsburg for the use of their synagogue for our An-nual Pocono UJA Dinner for the past decade, and Lou Nivert for the use of Nivert Metal Supply for our annual Super Sunday Phone-a-thon, and all our volunteers who worked so hard on our Campaign. I especially would like to thank our senior volunteers who made our Senior Adult Club UJA/Federation Lun-

L-r: Micah Halpern spoke to Dr. Ken Miller at the Major Gifts Event on September 18.

Dale Miller and Mark Silverberg attended the Major Gifts Event.

L-r: Miriam Banicky, Bernice Ecker and Nancy Rainey attended the women’s program for the 2012 UJA Federation Campaign of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

More than 50 women attended the women’s program for the 2012 UJA Federation Campaign of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Dassy Ganz, Campaign assistant, introduced speaker Devorah Goldberg, a noted kosher macrobiotic chef and caterer from Englewood, NJ, who was the guest lecturer at the women’s program for the 2012 UJA Federation Campaign of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

cheon possible and Chairman Jim Ellenbogen whose an-nual Super Sunday efforts at Nivert Metal Supply made it the success that it was.

My sincerest thanks to each and all of you.

M a rg a re t S h e l d o n , president of Federation, spoke at the Major Gifts program.

Doug Fink, 2012 Campaign chairman, addressed the crowd at the Major Gifts Event.

3 Jewish Federation of NEPA • Annual Report

Expand Jewish Connections for Your Business!Social Media, Outreach, Networking, Business Referrals Good for you! Good for our community!! Good for the future!!!

www.JewishNepaBTA.orgDuring FY 2011-2012, the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania established the NEPA Jewish Federation Business & Trade Alliance whose primary mission is to connect and promote our vast network of Jewish-owned trades and busi-nesses throughout Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Wayne and Pike counties, and market them region-ally, nationally and internationally.

The Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylva-nia is the smallest Federation in the U.S. to estab-lish such a business and trade network, and other small and intermediate-size Federations around the country are studying our approach and market-ing techniques for use in their own communities.

The Alliance will encourage the greater Jewish community to frequent Jewish businesses, direct interested parties to their business and trade web sites, direct their products and services to the world market, facilitate their hiring processes, and allow the sharing of ideas with one another that will pro-mote their business interests at the local, regional, national and international levels. This is especially important given these difficult economic times.

Alliance members will participate in business card-exchange breakfasts, luncheon or dinner meetings and/or after-hour events designed to build new business relationships and contacts and strengthen existing business connections through-out Northeast Pennsylvania and beyond.

nePa Jewish Federation Business & trade alliance and website inaugurated

They will hear exciting speakers, exchange busi-ness leads and job opportunities, use their busi-ness colleagues as sounding boards for new ideas, discuss mutual investment opportunities, pro-mote their respective businesses, develop critical business skills and solutions, and socialize and network with other successful Jewish business and trades persons and professionals from through-out our region in a relaxed atmosphere.

As stated on the Alliance website (above), the goals of the new Alliance are to:

• develop a culture of directing business to Alliance members by fostering a welcoming environment conducive to Jewish-owned businesses and professionals

• develop business contacts through networking that will facilitate growth in each member’s business

• link each member’s website to the Alliance website through our new Business and Trade Directory

• serve as a sounding board for new ideas and possible joint investment opportunities

• post resumes or job openings on the Alliance website

• use the Alliance web site to promote our businesses through LinkedIn Group, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Yahoo Group

• develop joint business opportunities among Alliance members by exporting nationally or internationally

• host card exchange social events• provide member contact information

through an online catalogue of goods and services offered by Alliance members

• undertake breakfasts and luncheons featuring prominent business people and

Sign up today!Sign up today!

NEPA Jewish FederationBusiness & Trade Alliance in Groups

The Jewish Federation is proud to give a helping hand

to the businesses, business professionals, and

non-profit organizations of NEPA during these difficult

economic times by creating the

NEPA Jewish Federation Business & Trade Alliance.

It will allow people from Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Wayne and Pike counties 24/7 access to:. Exchange Business Leads . Post Job Opportunities and Receive Resumes

. Promote your Business . Increase Search Engine Optimization

. Develop Critical Business Skills and Solutions . Socialize and Network with Other Successful Business people

Sign up for membership at http://JewishNepaBTA.org If you have not yet registered your business on our new Alliance web site, please contact Mark Silverberg at 570-961-2300

or mark.silverberg@jewishnepa.org with your contact person, business name, business phone number,

business e-mail address,and regular business postal address to insure further Business and

Trade Alliance communications and event invitations.

NEPAJFedBTANEPA Jewish FederationBusiness & Trade Alliance

community leaders who have achieved exceptional success in their professional careers

• host discussion forums, workshops and seminars on a variety of professional development subjects

• hold up-to-the-minute briefings on issues that affect the economy, the business world, Israel, and the Jewish people

• organize business-oriented Missions to Israel (utilizing Alliance travel agencies) and work with the America-Israel Chamber of Commerce to capitalize on the latest technologies emanating from Israel

• provide interaction with and support for local Chambers of Commerce

• become active in our NEPA Jewish communal organizations thereby insuring a more enriched Jewish life in our region for future generations, and

• encourage the business community’s financial support for the UJA Campaigns of the Jewish Federations of Northeastern Pennsylvania and Greater Wilkes-Barre

Alliance Membership For the first year, there will be no membership fees. Afterward, rates will be a mere $125 per year to cover its basic program expenses.

Alliance UJa Campaign divisionA gift to our Annual UJA Campaign through our new NEPA Jewish Federation Business & Trade Alliance UJA Campaign Div ision will be expected from each Alliance member as a symbol of their support for our Jewish com-munities and for Israel.

Annual Report • Jewish Federation of NEPA4

Alliance Chapters launched in Scranton, Greater Wilkes-Barre and the PoconosSpecial thanks are extended to Riggs Asset Management for their sponsorship of the Greater Scranton Business & Trade Alliance Chapter’s Inaugural Breakfast that took place on Tuesday, November 29th at the Radisson Hotel and the Greater Wilkes-Barre Alliance Chapter’s Inaugural Breakfast that took place at The Woodlands on the morning of Tuesday, May 1st.

The Inaugural Breakfast of our newest Pocono Chapter took place recently on Thursday, May 31st, at Temple Israel of the Poconos in Stroudsburg. The Po-cono Breakfast was sponsored by JMC Restaurant Group Inc. and the new Pocono Chapter will be chaired by Stroudsburg business entrepreneur Bruce Stein.

Alliance Program sponsorshipsProgram sponsorships by companies like Riggs Asset Management and JMC Restaurant Group Inc. are critical in assisting the Alliance to offset future program expenses. Businesses wishing to sponsor future Alliance programs are requested to contact Becky Schastey at webmaster@jewishnepa.org. Companies wishing to register on the Alliance website (www.jewishnepabta.org) are encouraged to do so.

Scranton Chapter Inaugural Breakfast

Wilkes-Barre Chapter Inaugural Breakfast

L-r: Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania President Margaret Sheldon; Riggs Asset Management representatives Robert H. Graham Jr. and Alan J. Glassman; and Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania Executive Director Mark Silverberg attended the Wilkes-Barre Chapter Inaugural Breakfast.

At left: Becky Schastey, webmaster of the NEPA Jewish Federation and Business and Trade Alliance site, addressed Alliance members at The Woodlands.

Wilkes-Barre Business and Trade Alliance Chapter members listen attentively to the speakers.

At right: Jeff Roth, chairman of the W i l k e s - B a r r e Alliance Chapter, a d d re s s e d t h e audience.

Pocono Chapter Inaugural Breakfast held on May 31st

Our sincerest thanks is extended to our Alliance webmaster Becky Schastey of BLS Web Strategies for her tireless efforts in studying other such Alliance websites in Canada and the U.S., designing a state-of-the-art website appropriate to our business needs in NEPA, and managing the website for our new Business and Trade Alliance.

As Sir Isaac Newton once said: “If I have seen further than most, it’s because I’ve stood on the shoulders of giants.” So it is with the development of our own Alliance website and the programs we intend to offer to the NEPA Jewish business community in future.

As was stated at each Inaugural Breakfast: “We have established this Business and Trade Alliance in Northeastern Pennsylvania because we are one “fam-ily.” We intend to secure our Jewish communities by uniting our collective business and trade bases in each community in a common enterprise. We will assist one another as Jews have done throughout the eons of time. We ask only that Alliance members “pay it forward” by becoming involved in their com-munities, and by contributing to our UJA Campaign through our new Business and Trade Alliance Division when asked to do so in September.”

(Photo courtesy of Kevin Greenberg, Cornerstone Creative)

5 Jewish Federation of NEPA • Annual Report

holoCaUst edUCation rePort

holoCaUst edUCation resoUrCe Center-By Tova Weiss

More than 1,400 students, teachers, and adult guests attended the 24th Annual Teen Symposium on the Holocaust this year (May 15th and May 16th), repre-senting 22 schools in five counties, including one school from Sullivan County, New York. Among the students were several home-schooled children and their parents. They also represent both public and parochial schools.

Planners, initially concerned with recent cutbacks in school busing, were extremely pleased with the participation. Despite very inclement weather on the first day of the program, and despite walking greater distances on campus, things ran smoothly.

The Teen Symposium is a two-day program that has been held on the Mary-wood University campus since its inception in 1988. Different schools attend a 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. program each day that focuses on the Holocaust, its causes, development and consequences. The highlight of each day is personal face-to-face meetings with survivors of the Holocaust – and one liberating soldier – who share their experiences and answer questions. The program thus pro-vides both students and educators with the increasingly rare ability to hear “living history.”

Each guest speaker has his/her story, which often encompasses memories of close family and friends. Some remained sole survivors, others were lucky to survive and reunite with one or more surviving family members and friends. Each story is unique, as is the setting in which students hear the testimony: smaller, more intimate groups rather than a large auditorium.

Educators have reported year in, year out that this personal setting allows for a closer connection and is very special to their students. Each of the speakers, they say, also serves as a positive role model for the young people. Each one built a new life after living through unimaginable hardship, and became a contributing member of society who shares a message of hope and light. The educators are impressed that despite private pain and great trauma, each speaker tries to impress on their young listeners the need to shy away from prejudice, labeling and negative behavior toward their peers and other people.

Each day began in the Performing Arts Center with registration and distribu-tion of a materials kit to each student and teacher. Teachers were also gifted with a book, Words that Burn Within Me – Faith, Values, Survival, a memoir by Hilda Stern Cohen. The book is a gift made possible through the generos-ity of Joanne Aronsohn Monahan.

The program itself began with a welcome by Tova Weiss, outgoing direc-tor of the Holocaust Education Resource Center. Tova then presented Sis-ter John Michelle Southwick, IHM of Marywood University’s Ministry, who made introductory remarks. Sr. John has served as Marywood’s spokesper-son for many years, and her passion for social justice, her deep respect for the survivors and liberators and her appreciation of their “teaching us to remember” were reflected in her remarks. She showed students, through a simple exercise, how easily one could become a target of hate for any reason, even one as simple as wearing glasses.

Each guest speaker was introduced and recognized. Then Rabbi Steve Na-than framed the day for participants with a brief, but comprehensive over-view. A seasoned educator, professional counselor and a father of teens, he knows how to connect with the “electronic generation,” and prepared an excellent power point to accompany his presentation.

The film “Children Remember the Holocaust” was screened. It is a film that uses photographs and film footage from the Holocaust years with voice-overs that are strictly words of children and teenagers, words taken from diaries and memoirs from that time. Narrated by Keanu Reeves, the film begins with life prior to the Holocaust, and continues through the post-liberation period. In the last part, it touches on survivor guilt syndrome, how difficult it was to find and reunite family members, the hospitalization and recuperation of the ill, and the immediate vow made by many who survived to tell the story for those who did not survive.

Thereafter, the large group of participants was divided into smaller groups in order to meet with guest speakers in classrooms. There were eleven sepa-rate groups each day, with students from each participating school repre-sented in each of the rooms. This is carefully pre-planned so that the stu-dents can share the various testimonies they heard upon returning to school thereby extending the learning experience.

The survivor testimony was followed by lunch and a return to the main the-ater for the closing event; the Keynote address, also known as the Abe Plot-kin Memorial Lecture on the Holocaust and Social Justice. This year, the Keynote was given by Alan Moskin, a World War II combat veter-an who served in the 66th Infantry, 71st Division of General Patton’s 3rd Army. Beyond serving in heavy battles, Alan became a liberator of the Gunskirchen concentration camp, a sub-camp of Mathausen. Alan is particularly skilled in transporting his listeners back in time to feel and see what he is describing, whether telling stories of his war buddies or of the horrors the soldiers encountered when they entered the camp. These were, he said, unmatched by anything previously encountered in the worst of combat. He described the help these un-prepared young men were able to offer - the compassion and care with which they tried to treat people who barely looked human after their mistreatment, and credited medics with doing the greatest job. He also enumerated and stressed positive actions people can take to prevent such atrocities from occurring.

His talk was extremely well received and was followed by many questions.

The wrap-up at day’s end included a remind-er to fill out evaluation forms, which are an important source of feedback to planners. Marywood University and the Jewish Fed-eration were warmly thanked for their com-mitment to this program that, to date, has reached some 15,000 young people in this area. They have been co-sponsors of the Teen Symposium for twenty-four years.

This year, Marywood’s Communication De-

Holocaust Symposium 2012partment generously worked with the HERC on two special pieces: Several speakers were filmed in the classroom by Marywood’s Department of Broad-casting, as was Mr. Moskin in the Theater by Chanel 19, so as to preserve their testimony for the future. Second, a panel discussion was filmed in Marywood’s TV Studio moderated by Carol Rubel. Participating survivors were Elly Gross, Michael Herskovitz, Sol Lurie and Judith Sherman. Rather than each panel-ist retelling his or her entire story, guiding questions lead to reflection on and discussion of personal aspects of their experiences. The resulting DVDs will be placed n the resource collection of both Marywood University and the HERC.

Perhaps the following can provide insight into the breadth of experiences students are exposed to and can then share further. Among the guest speak-ers were:

Ronnie Breslow, an adolescent survivor of the infamous journey of the SS St. Louis, brings with her a warm, welcoming manner and a positive attitude, as well as photos and documents of the weeks at sea, and vivid memories of hanging in limbo and being sent back to Europe to a detention camp. Her goal is to sensitize young people to pre-vent the repetition of history. Sonia Goldstein, originally from Vilna, lived in a ghetto, labored in the Stuthoff concentration camp and was miraculously liberated while on a “death march.” A pic-ture of style and grace, she, too, ends with positive messages for the young despite the many hardships life dealt her.

Elly Gross, a teen in Romania who survived several concentration camps, lost her entire family, married, fell under the Communist regime and eventually came to America. She is a painter, poet and the author of four books who stresses the need for justice and dealing properly with one’s fellow human being. In fact, Mrs. Gross served as the main plaintiff in 1988 in the initial lawsuit for reparations for all former slave laborers, Gentiles and Jews alike.

Jack Gruener is a survivor of ten concentration camps, including Auschwitz where his arm was tattooed with a number - and several escapes and roundups. He asks of his listeners to act with consideration towards other human beings.

Ruth Gruener was a hidden child in Poland under extraordinary circum-stances: she was hidden in a home in which the rest of the family would have turned her over to the Nazis if they knew the mother and grandmother were hiding her in a trunk under their noses. Although she conveys clearly the fear she faced daily as a seven year old, and tells of a harrowing day of nearly being turned in, her focus is on hope and on kindness to one another.

Ruth Hartz was a young child in France initially hidden by nuns, then hid-den with an “ordinary French farm family,” a Christian family, that risked their lives to protect her. In the days of the French Vichy Government and the Gestapo, it was anything but ordinary to rescue a Jewish child, so hers is a story of courage, goodness, and gratitude. She and her family saw to it that the rescuers were honored by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, and she has directed and produced a DVD about them, “A Legacy of Goodness.” Her message of gratitude is eloquently expressed.

Frida Herskovits, originally from Czechoslovakia survived three concentration camps, and after liberation attempted to get to Palestine only to have the boat she was on sent to Cyprus by the British. Many would be bitter after such hard-ships, yet Frida espouses a message of friendship, kindness and love.

Michael Herskovitz, also originally from Czechoslovakia, was ghettoized with his parents, sent to Auschwitz and separated from his family, sent onto other camps to do labor as a 15 year old, and after liberation went to Palestine and fought in what became the Israeli army. He provides positive messages to his listeners, stressing that hate corrodes a person from within.

Manya Perel, originally from Poland, survived hard labor and cruel treat-ment as a young teen in eight different concentration camps. She remem-bers it all, but, remarkably, she is a very positive person and ends her presen-tation with a message of love and hope. Manya always has students who linger behind to keep talking to her.

Sol Lurie of New Jersey lived through hell in the Kovno Ghetto starting at age 11, and survived Dachau, Auschwitz and Buchenwald as a young teen. It is because he loved his nuclear family so dearly and lost them all, that he initially agreed to speak at a grandchild’s school. Since then, he travels all over the United States spreading messages of respect and love for parents, and respect for other people. His motto is “Love, don’t hate.”

Judith Sherman, now from New Jersey, was a hidden child betrayed to the Nazis. She was then imprisoned, miraculously released, hid in the forests, was captured and sent to Auschwitz, and then to Ravensbruck - the only camp set up strictly for women. Soft spoken and deeply intellectual, she speaks of the miracles that saved her along the way, and focuses her message on personal responsibility and fair treatment of other people.

Abe Zilberberg, an area survivor who was separated from his family as a young-ster, was shipped to and survived several concentration and death camps, and ultimately remained a sole survivor, relates his story, yet seeks to inspire his au-dience to act humanely and find the strength to persevere against all odds. Mr. Zilberberg shared his session with Soni Sandhaus, who recounts her parents’ stories very effectively and provides a window into the experience of growing up as a child of survivors.

This year, one classroom had the distinction of shared speakers who, in a sense, were being reunited as survivor and liberator. The story is an amazing piece of the larger picture of the Holocaust. Scrantonian Walter Gantz, who was a medic with the 95th Medical Battalion, traveling with the 30th Infantry Division, shared a room each day with a child survivor of an abandoned train that had been discovered by that Division. It was a train of cattle cars filled with survivors of Bergen-Belsen discovered on April 14, 1945, about a month

before the end of the war. Elisabeth Sea-man, who spoke on Tuesday, and Micha Tomkiewicz, who spoke on Wednesday, were young children packed on this train with their mothers.

They had been traveling for most of a week with almost no food and water, unaware that they were headed toward Theresienstadt. When the Germans heard that the Americans were ap-proaching, they simply abandoned the train and took off.

The American soldiers who discovered the train and opened its doors saw hor-rors they had not encountered before -“people packed in like sardines” - and immediately called for medics to set up a field hospital and tend to the sick and dying. Young Walter was among the medics who treated these survivors for seven weeks – first at the train site, then in a building in a nearby town that was converted into a hospital - before being shipped on to the Pacific. Both Mrs. Sea-man and Dr. Tomkiewicz have been in touch with Mr. Gantz in the last year but had never met him, and each made the

special effort of traveling to meet him and spoke together with him to a group at the Symposium. Students heard the story from two different angles, and also heard more from each survivor of their family’s personal story.

Mrs. Seaman, who lives on the West coast, happened to be visiting briefly on the East coast and agreed to travel from Philadelphia to be at the Symposium despite having to return to California a day later. Dr. Tomkiewicz - who teaches physics at Brooklyn College, drove in at the crack of dawn on the second day of the program. A most extraordinary story came to be told here at Marywood University due to extraordinary circumstances.

Another highlight attached to the Symposium was that on Wednesday morn-ing, Ruth Hartz spoke to the entire student body of North Pocono High School at an assembly, arranged in connection with her presence in Scranton for the Symposium.

Approximately one thousand students heard the story of life in France under the Nazis, and the incredible story of her res-cue by a Christian family. Special thank s to Tomm Evans, High School English De-partment Chairperson and John Marichak, high school principal, for arranging for this wonderful event to occur.

There are many thanks due to many people:

Coordinators: Mary Ann Answini and Tova Weiss.Dedicated staff: Rae Magliocchi Planning Committee: Bill Burke, Carol Burke, Maggy Bushwick, Jerry Chazan, Phyllis Chazan, Jim Connors, Susie Con-nors, Dassy Ganz, Seth Gross, Jim Kane, Leah Laury, Dr. David Malinov, Phyllis Ma-linov, Rabbi Joe Mendelsohn, Carol Rubel and Laura Santoski.

Materials Packing: Mary Ann Answini, Carol Burke, Phyllis Chazan, Jim Con-nors, Susie Connors, Jim Kane, Leah Laury, Rae Magliocchi, Dr. David Ma-linov, Phyllis Malinov and Tova Weiss.Marywood University: Liaison Anne H. O’Neill, Office of Conferences & Special Events; Sr. John Michelle Southwick, IHM; President Sr. Anne Mun-ley; Vince Gatto, Information Technology Department ; IT students Mary Kay Hart and Harry O’Neill. Thanks, too, to the Security personnel, the Din-ing Services workers who did an outstanding job and to Pat Toolan and his staff at the Theater, Theater tech wizards Jim Langan and Phil GomezFilming at Marywood: Dr. Michael Mirabito, Professor, Communications De-partment , Ernie Mengoni, Coordinator of Broadcast Operations, and Al Monelli, staff of Broadcast Operations.Filming Coordinator: Laura SantoskiGuest Speakers: Ronnie Breslow, Sonia Goldstein, Elly Gross, Jack Gruener, Ruth Gruener, Ruth Hartz, Frida Herskovits, Michael Herskovitz, Sol Lurie, Manya Perel, Elisabeth Seaman, Judith Sherman, Micha Tomkiewicz and Abe Zilberberg – all survivors of the Holocaust. Sonia Sandhaus, Child of Survivors; WWII veteran and medic, Walter Gantz, and Liberator Alan Moskin. Facilitators: Bill Burke, Carol Burke, Maggy Bushwick, Phyllis Chazan, Sue Colombo-Diamond, Atty. David Fallk, John Farkas, Seth Gross, Santina Lo-nergan, Dr. David Malinov, Phyllis Malinov, Rabbi Joe Mendelsohn, and Laura Santoski.Facilitator Training Workshop Leader & Panel Discussion Moderator: Carol Rubel.General Overview Presenter: Rabbi Steve Nathan.Volunteers: Jerry Chazan, Phyllis Chazan, Jim Connors, Susie Connors, Georgie Conrad, John Farkas, Antonine Kane, Jim Kane, Leah Laury and Carol Rubel.Driving Volunteers: Nancy Ben-Dov, Jerry Chazan, Phyllis Chazan, Dassy Ganz, Leah Laury, Ruth Luchins, Dr. David Malinov and Jay Weiss.Support: The Pennsylvania Holocaust Education Council for generously funding the Abe Plotkin Memorial Lecture on the Holocaust and Social Justice; Sam Rosen and the Rosen Family Holocaust Education Fund, which helped to cover lunch expenses, driving expenses and more; Joanne Ar-onsohn Monahan for the purchase of books for teachers and libraries; Jim and Susie Connors; Jerry and Phyllis Chazan.

As always, thank you to all school principals and educators who committed to this program as well as to Marywood University and the Jewish Federation.

We sincerely hope that we’ve given thanks to the many people who made this event possible. If a name was inadvertently left out, please accept our apologies and our gratitude.

Since 1994, the Holocaust Education Resource Center (HERC) of the Jewish Federation of North-eastern Pennsylvania has been providing Holo-caust education to educators – elementary school through college – and students in public and paro-chial schools and colleges. It has also created and provided programs for the general community.

The essential purpose of the HERC is to teach the facts of the Holocaust and the consequences of ig-norance, intolerance and apathy. This is achieved through community and school programs and teacher training. Often, the programs are creative collaborative efforts with area colleges, universities, agencies and organizations. Prime among these have been NEIU 19, the University of Scranton, Marywood University, the Everhart Museum and Lackawanna College.

The HERC is the only such institution in NEPA and does not duplicate services offered by any institu-tion in the area.

One priority of the HERC is the presentation of role models to young people whose life stories ad-dress issues of import in their own lives. These role models demonstrate the ability to survive great dif-ficulties and/or loss, resistance to desensitization and dehumanization, and, despite traumatization, exemplify the choice of making positive contribu-tions to society after undergoing hardships.

A second priority is helping both educators and students face and deal with the issues of prejudice and hate; hate crimes, hate groups, ways to promote tolerance and prevent the spread of prejudice and hate. Today’s youth are exposed to violence and an-ger in world news, in movies and in the local news (witness the desecration of a synagogue in Wilkes-Barre in 2007), and the HERC is positioned well to help out.

The HERC attempts to provide positive ideas and frames of reference for positive action through teaching the Holocaust.

A third – and prime – priority for the HERC is both teaching teachers and providing them grade appropriate materials and other support. The aim is to provide accurate and factual information that broadens their knowledge, along with interdisciplinary lessons and materials that are immediately ap-plicable in the classroom.

A group shot of some of the survivors and facilitators was taken in sunshine on Wednesday morning. L-r, first row: Frida Herskovits, Judith Sherman, Ronnie Breslow, Manya Perel, Sonia Goldstein, Ruth Gruener and Jack Gruener. Second row: John Farkas, Tova Weiss, David Fallk and Sol Lurie.

This group shot includes several facilitators and volunteers, and some who served double duty. L-r: Bill Burke, Phyllis Malinov, Phyllis Chazan, David Malinov, Carol Burke, Jim Kane, Georgie Conrad.

A panel discussion was filmed in the TV Studios of Marywood University’s Communications Department on Tuesday afternoon, the first day of the Symposium. Seen l-r are Moderator Carol Rubel, Michael Herskovitz, Sol Lurie, Judith Sherman and Elly Gross. The finished DVD will be part of the resource collection at Marywood University and at the HERC.

Tova Weiss, Director, HERC, welcomes the participants in the name of the Holocaust Education R e s o u r c e C e n t e r, thanks both Marywood University and the Jewish Federation for 24 years of commitment to the Teen Symposium on the Holocaust, and thanks co-coordinator Mary Ann Answini and all the volunteers who helped bring this year’s program to fruition.

Mary Ann Answini, H o l o c a u s t S y m p o s i u m

Coordinator

Annual Report • Jewish Federation of NEPA6

2011 israel Mission (december 3rd-15th, 2011)

Jay Weiss, Odyssey Travel, Israel Mission Coordinator

Last year’s 2011 Israel Mission (December 3rd to 15th, 2011) was directed primarily to members of our community who had never before journeyed to our ancestral homeland. Our 2011 participants included Marna Berman, Joyce Chizever, Robin Gittleman, Michael Krakow and Fran Olick, Char-lene and Joel Ostro, Lorraine and Stephen Schur, Paul Solomon, Karen and Joel Vener, Phyllis and Michael Weinberg, Mark Silverberg and Barry and Jay Weiss.

As is always the case during Missions such as these, tears of joy and pride over the achievements of the Jewish state in improving the lot of humanity in virtually every field of human endeavor were mixed with tears of sorrow when matched against the sacrifice Jews have made throughout the eons of time, and the price Israelis continue to pay to insure the survival of the Jewish state today – surrounded as it is by those who are committed to its destruction.

On Masada, the Herodian fortress that fell to the Roman Empire two millennia ago ending the Second Jewish Commonwealth, Mission participants vowed to their People and to the Third Jewish Commonwealth (the modern State of Israel), that they would do all in their power upon their return to the U.S. to insure that “Masada shall never fall again.”

This year’s participants experienced:

• the Herodian port city of Caesaria and viewed the Roman amphitheater that is still used for Israeli festivals• walked through the caves of Rosh Hanikra on the Lebanon border • journeyed through the city of Tiberias on Lake Kinneret and shared its history• prayed in a medieval synagogue in Safed • walked through the ancient Bet She’an excavations dating back to pre-Roman times • descended into the former Syrian bunkers on the Golan Heights and overlooked a major battlefield where hundreds of Israeli soldiers died

defending the Jewish state during the Yom Kippur War• walked through the Old City in Jerusalem • journeyed along the Western and Southern Walls of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem• descended into the Kotel (Western Wall) tunnel recently excavated along the base of the Western Wall, and touched the foundation stones laid

during the time of King Solomon• visited Yad Vashem (Israel’s Holocaust Memorial) and the Hall of Mirrors representing the faces of 1.5 million Jewish children who were

slaughtered by the Nazis during World War II • participated in an archeological dig for Western Wall artifacts near Jerusalem (finding several significant ancient artifacts in the process)• overlooked the Mount of Olives cemetery that has been used as a Jewish cemetery for more than 3,000 years and holds more than 150,000

graves including those of prophets, Zionist leaders, rabbis, writers, and an Israeli prime minister• drove to the Machal memorial (dedicated to Diaspora Jews and Christians who died fighting for Israel’s Independence in 1948 - whose names

and countries of origin have been memorialized in stone),• planted trees in a JNF forest in memory of loved ones • traveled to the Tank Museum at Latrun near Jerusalem where the names of hundreds of young Israelis who died in tank battles in its many

wars are forever memorialized• prayed on Masada in its ancient synagogue (in Southern Israel); and• traveled to Independence Hall (where the State of Israel was declared by David Ben Gurion), the Palmach Museum in Tel Aviv, and a secret

Haganah bullet factory built during the War of Independence under a laundromat and across from a British guard post in the town of Rehovot.

More than anything the Federation has done over the past decade, it has been Israel Missions such as these that have bound together the diverse Jewish communities of Pike, Wayne, Monroe and Lackawanna counties that comprise the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Our thanks to Jay Weiss of Odyssey Travel, our 2011 Israel Mission coordinator, and Mark Silverberg, our Israel Mission leader, for their efforts in making this Mission the wonderful experience it was for everyone involved.

At right: l-r: Jay Weiss, Charlene Ostro, Joel Ostro, Dr. Paul Solomon, Lee Glassman, Mark Silverberg, Marna Berman, Stephen Schur, Lorraine Schur, Fran Olick, Tova Weiss, Michael Krakow, Barry Weiss, Joyce Chizever, Robin Gittleman, Karen Vener, Phyllis Weinberg, Greg Weiss, Joel Vener and Michael Weinberg. (Photo by Michael Weinberg)

7 Jewish Federation of NEPA • Annual Report

2012 Budapest/israel Mission

information Meetings

Scranton Jewish Community Center (Federation office)601 Jefferson Avenue

Scranton/Lackawanna CountyMonday, June 18th, 2012 @ 7:00PM

Congregation B’nai HarimRoute 940, Sullivan Road & Sullivan Trail

Pocono Pines/Monroe CountyTuesday, June 19th, 2012 @ 7:00 PM

Temple Israel of the Poconos660 Wallace St.

Stroudsburg/Monroe CountyThursday, June 21st, 2012 @7:00 PM

Jewish Fellowship of Hemlock FarmsLords Valley/Pike County

Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 @ 7:00 PM

Jewish resource Center of the Poconos

Rabbi Yehuda Salkow, director of the Jewish Resource Center of the Poconos, Stroudsburg, PA

Participants of the Senior Lunch Club meet at the Jewish Resource Center.

Funded initially through a series of annual grants from the Federation’s endowment fund for the past six years, and designed for the purpose of expanding Federation and other Jewish programs and services directly to the Jewish communities of the Pocono region of NEPA, the Jewish Resource Center of the Poconos (JRC) under the direction of Rabbi Yehuda Salkow was founded in November 2006 in Strouds-burg as a joint venture between the Jewish Federa-tion of Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania and Jewish Family Service based in Scranton.

The JRC is located at 727 Main Street in Stroudsburg. The Center’s easy access to the public, combined with its high visibility in a high-traffic area of the city, and its many and varied Jewish cultural, recreational and social programs have contributed to its six productive years of operation.

The concept aimed at providing a central facility that would offer cultural, ed-ucational, social and recreational programs and activities designed to attract members of the Jewish communities of Pike, Wayne and Monroe counties into the mainstream of Jewish life.

At the JRC, information and pamphlets are made available to newcomers inquir-ing about the Jewish Federation, the Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania, Jew-ish Family Service and the Jewish synagogues and religious services offered in the Poconos for all religious streams of Judaism at Temple Israel of the Poconos (Stroudsburg), the Jewish Fellowship of Hemlock Farms (Lords Valley), Congre-gation B’nai Harim (Pocono Pines), Congregation Beth Israel (Honesdale) and Chabad of the Poconos (Stroudsburg). Referrals are made regularly to Jewish Family Service in Scranton whose counselors use the JRC for conducting inter-views.

Over the past six years, the JRC has provided support for Federation activities in many areas. It has facilitated and provided a base of operations and a central meeting place for the Federation to conduct its cultural programs in the Pocon-os. These programs have included the NEPA Artists’ Street Fair in the spring of 2011, recruitment efforts for Federation’s participation in the annual Salute to Israel Parade in New York each June, and the Federation’s annual Israel Mission each October/November.

Through introductions made by Rabbi Salkow, the Federation has acquired new Campaign gifts with key organizers of these events, and all participants in JRC programs are encouraged to participate in the annual UJA Campaign.

In that regard, the JRC has hosted solicitor training workshops for Federation’s Pocono UJA solicitors, facilitated recruitment of participants for the Federa-tion’s annual Israel Mission, hosted a joint luncheon for the Executive Directors of Wilkes-Barre, the Lehigh Valley and the Federation, as well as a dinner brief-ing for the Federation’s Executive Committee.

Mark Silverberg, our Federation executive director, has also been a featured speaker on several occasions at the JRC covering current events in the Middle East, and the Pocono phone book lists the Jewish Federation of NEPA and the JRC phone number (570-517-0815) from which calls are referred to the Federa-tion office in Scranton. The Federation is also a member of the Pocono chamber of Commerce.

Separate and apart from the above Federation-related issues, the JRC offers its own programs (and those of the Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsyvlvania) including:

• senior adult activities• a Senior-Adult Lunch Club featuring instructions in physical fitness, pet

therapy, poetry readings, financial and legal workshops, senior living and films on a wide variety of subjects

• a weekly Jewish Business Persons’ Lunch and Lecture Series • children’s activities including a popular weekly Kidz Klub and summer

camp• a Computer Multimedia Center• a children’s book library and games• the monthly Café Yehudi Restaurant Night offering menus featuring a

wide variety of ethnic themes• weekly Torah and Talmud classes, holiday preparation workshops,

Shabbaton-weekend retreats in downtown Stroudsburg• mah jongg groups, and• lectures on subjects as far-ranging as Jewish ethics to health and life

cycle events, Jewish holidays, Jewish history, current events on Israel-related subjects, Jewish and civil law, Jewish philosophy... .and much more.

For more information on JRC activities, please contact Rabbi Yehuda Salkow at 570-517-0815.

Annual Report • Jewish Federation of NEPA8

CoMMUnity relations (CrC)educational awareness of Jewish

high holy daysOur Community Relations Committee,

under the leadership of Atty. David Fallk continues to work with our regional school superintendents making them aware of the Jewish students who attend their schools, and who would be expected to be absent during major Jewish religious holidays.

It has also forwarded this information to each and every high school, middle school and elementary school principal in Lackawa-nna, Pike, Wayne and Monroe counties.

While there are occasional conflicts in the school districts across the region during the major Jewish holy days, these conflicts are based more on ignorance or internal scheduling problems than on apathy, insen-

sitivity, or any anti-Jewish bias. The CRC has also sent detailed information on our re-

gional synagogues and religious services to each major hotel in Northeast Pennsylvania as an added service for their Jew-ish clientele who may wish to pray with their fellow Jews on Shabbat or during a Jewish holy day, and who may be far from home. The message behind this service is to tell these visitors that they are at home with us here in Northeast PA. Minion information has also been added to the new Federation web site as part of its synagogue directory.

This year, Michael Mahon, Superintendent of the Abington School District, on his own initiative, contacted the Abing-ton Heights Centennial Celebration Committee Chairman concerning a planned Centennial Parade down State Street in Clarks Summit, PA involving the Abington Heights School Band. The event conflicted with a major Jewish Holy Day and, as a courtesy to the Jewish community, it was re-scheduled.

As thanks for the assistance of the Abington Heights School District for their continuing cooperation in these matters, the Federation sent a Christmas basket to Michael Mahon (Super-intendent) and his staff at their Clarks Summit Administrative Office on Grove Street.

Monitoring the Media for anti-israel biasThroughout the course of the year, the CRC, in coordina-

tion with the Federation’s affiliates, monitors the press and air waves for anti-Israel reporting. Our thanks to Rabbi Melman of Temple Israel of the Poconos in Stroudsburg who, on several occasions and on his own initiative, issued Letters to the Editor of the Pocono Record in response to such actions – both proac-tive and reactive.

The CRC continues to maintain good relations with the media outlets in NEPA. It can be said, without doubt, that our region continues to support Israel as the only liberal democracy in the Middle East, and, in that respect, parallels the feelings of more than 85% of Americans who feel the same way – Americans who understand that Israel is the “canary in the mineshaft” - the front-line of defense against those who threaten our way of life.

In the past, the CRC has also coordinated a series of Israel Emergency Campaigns - the largest of which was Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002. It managed media relations, brought in speakers from the Israeli Consulate in Philadelphia, conducted letter-writing campaigns to each mass circulation newspaper in NEPA, and managed an Israel Emergency Cam-paign that resulted in the purchase of an ICU ambulance for Magen David Adom – an ambulance that bears the name of this Federation, and has saved hundreds of Israeli lives in the intervening years.

It also raised funds for Haiti Relief (in the wake of a mas-sive hurricane in 2008) and earlier, for the New Orleans Jewish community that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

For all this, the Jewish community of NEPA is grateful for the continuing support of the general public as well as our own Jewish communities for these activities.

Congregation B’nai Harim was represented at the fair by Joe Fisch (standing), Sandy Spinner and Phyllis Miller (seated).

David Fallk, Esq., ChairmanCommunity Rela-tionsCommittee

2011-2012 CRC Programs

The 700 block of Main Street in Stroudsburg was the site of our first NEPA Artists’ Street Fair on Sunday, May 22nd, 2011.

Fifteen (15) diverse and talented artists registered for the Fair to display and sell their unusual and gifted art. Several painted in oils and watercolors. Some worked in pastels, and some created both trendy and clas-sic jewelry. Dramatic photography, fine woodwork and calligraphy as well as quilting and fabulous bonsai tree art were available to appreciate and purchase.

Artists included Judy and Marty Hamer, Myra Trumpaitzky, Jeff Ganz, Gail Weinberger, Dr. Mel Wolk, Phyllis Vogel, Alex Brodsky, Cassandra Ferrari, Devorah Goldberg, Nancy Pitcher, Norma Fisch,

Gesia Rosenberg and Jeanette Szmak. And then, there was the kosher food court featuring Middle East-

ern selections. Julie Harter and Elisheva Kosmerl led a group of dedicated volunteers including Heidi Cohen, Esther Elefant, Phyllis Harrison, Brittany Cohen, Danielle Cohen, Atara Raven and Miriam Raven. Donna Waite and Barbara Fredericks were our cashiers.

A special treat was the visit of another NEPA artist, guitar virtuoso Ben Barshai of Beach Lake, who graced the kosher food court with an impromptu concert of jazz selections.

Mark Silverberg of the Jewish Federation of NEPA, Dan Cardonick and Vince Kalin-owski of the Scranton JCC had a table on Main Street advertising the many programs and services that the Federation and our agencies offered and both Temple Israel of the

Poconos (Stroudsburg) and Congregation B’nai Harim (Pocono Pines) had display tables encouraging people to find out more about our Pocono synagogues.

The weather was unseasonably cold, but there was a steady stream of passersby with a number of Scranton families coming to show support.

Thanks must also be extended to the group of men and women who came early to set up the event and who stayed late to clean up afterward.

We especially wish to mention our sponsors and to thank them for their participation in our project. They are the Scran-ton JCC, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Newman, Mr. Richard Berkowitz and the Sherman Theater, D.R.’s Custom Design Framing/Art Gallery, Shawnee Mountain Ski Area, and The Journal of the Pocono Plateau.

nePa artists’ street Fair (sunday, May 22, 2011) -by Dassy Ganz, Assistant Federation Director

Dassy GanzAssistant Federation

Director

L-r: Betsy Kosmerl and Julie Harter worked as chefs of the kosher food court.

L-r: Heidi Cohen, Phyllis Harrison and Esther Elefant prepared pita sandwiches.

Temple Israel of the Poconos was represented at the fair by Debbie Smith and Suzanne and Barry Tremper.

The Scranton JCC was represented at the fair by Vince Kalinoski, program director, and Dan Cardonick, executive director. The Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania executive director, Mark Silverberg, provided information about the JCC and Federation.

Above, l-r: Barbara Fredericks and Donna Waite worked in front of the kosher food court.

“A ManiCURE for Sharsheret”Federation held “A ManiCURE for

Sharsheret” – a day devoted to helping young Jewish women who are battling breast and ovarian cancer and to provide family support.

The event was held on Sunday, Decem-ber 18, 2011, at Elan Gardens in Scran-ton. Reporters from the Scranton-Times-Tribune and WBRE-TV were present and

interviewed several of the participants. Fifty women and girls received manicures

in support of the cause. The event raised more than $500 for Sharsheret.

Six students from the Jolie Hair and Beauty Academy in Wilkes-Barre also donated their time to do the manicures, and OPI Inc. donated 50 bottles of nail polish.

On behalf of the Federation, we thank the program orga-nizers - Dassy Ganz, Laney Ufberg, Jill Linder as well as Ilise Rubinow, Executive Director of Elan Gardens, and Eta Rich-man for their roles in making this event a success.

Dassy GanzAssistant Federation

Director

Laney Ufberg and Nancy and Rozzie Ben-Dov got the first manicures.

More than 25 mayors from six continents

attended Israel’s annual International Mayors Conference from June 12th to June 16th, 2011,

hosted by the mayors of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv,

and Haifa. Among the participants was Scran-

ton’s Mayor Christopher Doherty.

Expenses associated with his stay in Israel

were funded by the American Council for

World Jewry, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign

Affairs and the Union of Local Authorities in

Israel, while the mayor’s flight to Israel was

funded by the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Mark Silverberg, Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania

executive director, said the hope was that Mr. Doherty’s visit would

expose him to new ideas, concepts and contacts concerning econom-

ic development - specifically the technological, educational and en-

vironmental advances made by Israel in recent years – advances that

could produce benefits to both Israel and northeast Pennsylvania.

“It was our hope that he would return with ideas and contacts that

could assist in the economic re-birth of our region,” Mr. Silverberg

said. “We want to insure that Northeast Pennsylvania is economically

secure for our children”.

The theme of the Conference was:International Cooperation on Hi-Tech, Clean Tech and Education. Prime Minister Binyamin Ne-

tanyahu and the mayors of Israel’s three largest cities - Jerusalem, Tel

Aviv and Haifa - hosted the mayors from around the world for the

Christopher Doherty, mayor of Scranton

Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty attends International Mayors’ Conference in Israel – courtesy of Federation

unique Conference on municipal cooperation.

Mayors from the United States (including Scranton, PA and Juno,

AK), Canada, Australia, the Philippines, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gam-

bia, Hungary, Greece, Kenya, Tanzania, El Salvador, Uruguay, Malta,

Cape Verde, Peru and Bosnia and Herzegovina attended, and met with

their local counterparts, national leaders, heads of leading non-profits

and private industry experts to discuss ways that local authorities can

leverage international cooperation for the betterment of their cities.

The opening reception was held on Sunday, June 12th with Prime

Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat fol-

lowed by briefings at the Knesset.

The following day, a panel discussion on the use of technology

in education was held with Education Minister Gideon Saar and Dr.

Yossi Ben Dov, CEO of Time-to-Know. The mayors then dined on

Monday evening with Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai.

On Tuesday, June 14th, the visiting mayors met with Opposition

Leader MK Tzipi Livni and visited the Bialik-Rogozin School in Tel

Aviv (which was featured in the documentary “Strangers No More”)

where non-Jewish migrant children from 48 different countries study.

Later in the day, they were treated to a private tour of Haifa’s port

and a night-time cruise of the harbor with Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav.

Wednesday featured a tour of the mixed Jewish-Arab neighbor-

hood of Kababir in Haifa, followed by a briefing at Rambam Medi-

cal Center’s state-of-the-art underground parking garage that can be

converted into a war-time emergency room/bomb shelter in under

three hours.

9 Jewish Federation of NEPA • Annual Report

the n.y. “Celebrate israel” Parade (Bigger and Better than ever) (Sunday, June 3, 2012)

In mid-November 2011, the Jewish-owned Birdsong Winery near Dushore, PA, was vandalized and antisemitic graffiti was left on several locations. The vandalism received a significant amount of press and media coverage. The following day, Mark Silverberg, executive director of the Federation contact-ed Jon Crane, owner of the Winery and spoke with him for almost an hour to determine what, if any assistance the Federation could provide.

One result was a Community Picnic (as a show of support) jointly sponsored with Temple Israel of Scranton at the Winery. Many members of the greater Jewish community attended.

As it happens, the Federation was also in the process of establishing the NEPA Jewish Federation Busi-ness and Trade Alliance and was hosting a large Inaugural Breakfast for the Greater Scranton Chapter at the Radisson Hotel in Scranton on Tuesday, November 29th.

Mr. Crane not only accepted a courtesy invitation to attend the Breakfast (in addition to forty other Jewish business persons from the area), but was introduced to the assembled guests and made several significant contacts. The BirdSong Winery is now listed in the new NEPA Jewish Federation Business and Trade Alliance Directory.

Anti-Semitic vandalism at Dushore’s BirdSong Winery and Vineyards

Israel Deputy Consul General visits ScrantonDeputy Consul General Raslan Abu Rukun from the Israeli Consulate in Philadelphia was in Scranton on Sunday, July 24th, and Monday, July 25th, as a guest of the Federation, the Scranton JCC and the Israel Bonds organization. Consul Rukun, an Israeli Druze, met with the Times-Tribune editorial staff, Scranton Mayor Christo-pher Doherty, State Senator John Blake and Penny Cannella, President of Penn’s Northeast. Discus-sions centered around the political situation in the Middle East, and the many economic opportunities that could be of mutual benefit to Northeast PA and Israel in the business, biomedical, academic and industrial sectors.

Our thanks to David Fallk, CRC chairman, for his efforts in arranging for these meetings.

L-r: Dan Cardonick, JCC executive director, Deputy Consul General Raslan Abu Rukun, Atty. David Fallk and Mark Silverberg, Jewish Federation of NEPA executive director.

Atty. David Fallk and Deputy Consul General Raslan Abu Rukun discuss the itinerary for the day.

-By Dassy Ganz

On Sunday morning June 3, 2012, 58 mem-bers of the Jewish Federation of Northeast-ern Pennsylvania went to New York City to march with thousands more in the annual “Celebrate Israel Parade.”

Pre-schoolers to very senior adults were led by Mark Silverberg, executive director of the Jewish Federation and Dan Cardonick, ex-ecutive director of the Scranton JCC. Aaron Brooks, advisor to Scranton’s BBYO Chapter guided a number of our teens while whole families from both Scranton and the Poconos boarded the coach bus.

The theme of this year’s Parade was Israel Branches Out. Our Federation used that theme to celebrate a number of our local families who have made aliyah (becoming Israeli citizens).

While we were not able to get photos of ev-eryone who has made aliyah over the years, our banner “NEPA Branches take “root” in Israel” boasted beautiful photos of the Glass-man/Rosenschein families, Steve and Linda Grossman, Dan and Andrea Cutler Lubitz, Avi and Chana Esther Ganz, Akiva and Sara Weiss Davis and Amram and Tziona Acker-man Rister.

What a thrill to be part of the most auspi-cious showing of support for the State of Israel in the United States! The entire length of Fifth Avenue was lined with enthusiastic throngs cheering the marchers. Jewish and Israeli music filled the air.

After the Parade, our group got back on our coach bus and went to Teaneck, N.J. to enjoy an early dinner at one of the many kosher restaurants available. Mrs. Mary Beth Lorber thoughtfully brought along a hand-out of the various choices coming our way including kosher sushi, Japanese fusion and, of course, the popular corned beef and pastrami on rye.

With time to spare, participants walked around to visit a Judaica store as well as a kosher take-out and bakery.

We extend our thanks to Marcia Ufberg and Starr Uniform in Scranton for our Parade T-shirts and to Barth Rubin of the Budget Inn and Suites on I-80E for the use of his estab-lishment for our Pocono pick-up location.

Thank you as well to B’nai B’rith and the Arenberg Fund of the JCC for help in spon-soring our event this year, and a special thank you to Mark Silverberg and the Jewish Federa-tion for sponsoring this event and for their commitment to our Jewish community and to the state of Israel.

Annual Report • Jewish Federation of NEPA10

The group from Northeastern Pennsylvania who traveled to the state capitol on a mission designed by the Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition in cooperation with the Jewish Federation on Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Joseph Fisch, Esq., NEPA Federation c h a i r m a n , P e n n s y l v a n i a

Jewish Coalition

Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition (PJC)

NEPA Federation Mission to HarrisburgTuesday, May 3, 2011

(Briefing at the State Capitol by the Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition)

-By Joe Fisch, Esq., Federation’s representative to the PJCIn recent years, the Federation has be-

come actively involved in the work of the Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition (PJC), our Jewish lobby group in Harrisburg.

The May 3, 2011, visit to our State Capitol was the first of its kind in recent years, and assisted us in better understanding our re-sponsibilities to our communities and to each other as members of the Commonwealth. The Mission was facilitated by Hank Butler, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Jew-ish Coalition.

The PJC deals with issues of importance to Pennsylvania Jewry including funding re-lated to private and public educational insti-tutions, the delivery of human services and the expansion of grants and loans to these institutions. Politically, it has taken a leading role in the passage of Terror Free Investing legislation divesting state funds from companies operating and in-vesting in Iran and Sudan. It has also lobbied for state legislation to make ethnic intimidation an offense.

On the matter of immigration reform, the PJC has taken the position of opposing all state and local efforts to implement im-migration reform. It believes that this is a purely federal issue and one that should be addressed in a comprehensive and non-dis-criminatory manner. It has also expressed concern over the impli-cations of the $2.7B state budget reduction, and how that would impact Jewish social service agencies in the Commonwealth.

On the matter of covering the cost of caregivers under the Pennsylvania Caregiver Support Act, the PJC was instrumental in obtaining legislation allowing for exceptions to the current $200 per month reimbursement up to the federal maximum of $500 for approved out-of-pocket expenses, the expansion of reimburse-ments to non-relative caregivers as well and adult family mem-bers, and the elimination of the requirement that the caregiver must live with the care recipient. Funding for this legislation will be through the Lottery and Federal funds and not through the state’s general fund.

The purpose of the Harrisburg Mission was three-fold - to at-tend the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s 2011 Civic Commem-oration of the Holocaust, to spend a day on the Hill, and to tour the Capitol Building.

The 2011 Civic Commemoration of the Holocaust featured a candle-lighting ceremony in the Capitol involving Scranton Holo-caust survivor Sam Rosen and remarks by many dignitaries, the most notable of whom were Governor Tom Corbett, the Honor-able Samuel Smith - Speaker of the House, and the Honorable Joseph Scarnati III - President Pro-Tempore of the Senate. Sena-tor Michael Stack and Representative Babette Josephs presented Senate and House Commemoration Resolutions.

In past years, participants in the Commemoration have in-cluded the late Tom Breslauer from Stroudsburg, and the late Abe Plotkin from Scranton. This program has been held for the past 18 years and has become an important and long-standing tradition ensuring that the Holocaust remains in the public view of all citizens of the Commonwealth. The morning session on the Hill included private meetings with important policy makers at the State level including State Senator John Blake (22nd District covering Northeast PA), Lt. Governor James Cawley, Dan Frankel (Chairman of the House Minority Caucus) and Representatives Josh Shapiro and Eddie Pashinski.

The afternoon sessions included intensive briefings on heath, social welfare and educational matters from policy makers includ-ing Martin Raniowski (Deputy Secretary, Department of Health), Amy Morton (Executive Deputy Secretary of the Department of Education, who expressed deep concern over the cuts to the education budget) and Todd Shamash (Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Tom Corbett).

Harrisburg Mission participants included Emily Davis, Mark Davis, Joe and Norma Fisch, Dr. David and Phyllis Malinov, Mark Silverberg, Dassy Ganz, David Fallk, Miriam and Laura Litvak, Sam Rosen and Joe Fisch. All participants returned with a deeper un-derstanding of the workings of State government and the problems we face throughout the Commonwealth on issues that impact di-rectly on each of our lives and families here in Northeast PA.

We are very grateful to those members of our community who contributed funds to offset the cost of bus transportation to and from Harrisburg. They included Joe Fisch, Joan and Mark Da-vis, Joyce and Don Douglass, Sheryl and Seth Gross, Phyllis and Dr. David Malinov, Suzanne and Barry Tremper and Marcia and Howard Ufberg (of blessed memory).

Special thanks must also be extended to Dassy Ganz, our assis-tant director, for her efforts in making the program a resounding success.

nePa Jewish Federation Film loan library

Carol Nelson Dembert, Chairwoman of NEPA

Jewish Film Festivals

The Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania wishes to express its sincerest thanks to Carol Nelson Dembert whose time, effort, determination and creativity allowed our Federation to sponsor two (2) NEPA Jewish Film Festivals in 2007 and 2009, the films of which were comparable to those featured by the major Jewish Film Festivals held annually throughout this country.

The establishment of our NEPA Jewish Federation Film Loan Library is a tribute to her efforts and those of the twenty working Film Festival Committees that she managed in bringing this enter-tainment bonanza to Northeast Pennsylvania.

In doing so, Carol and her volunteers brought honor to our community, to our People and to Israel for which she has our deepest gratitude.

A Stranger Among Us - A New York policewoman enters the Hasidic community to investigate a diamond robbery/murder.Cast a Giant Shadow - U.S. Colonel David “Mickey” Marcus goes to 1940s Israel to help re organize its army.Defiance - The extraordinary true story of the Bielski brothers who turned a group of war refugees into powerful freedom fighters against the Nazi regimeFrisco Kid - It’s 1850 and new rabbi Avram Belinski sets out from Philadelphia toward San Francisco. Cowpoke bandit Tom Lillard hasn’t seen a rabbi before. But he knows when one needs a heap of help. And getting this tender-foot to Frisco in one piece will cause a heap of trouble - with the law, Native Americans and a bunch of killers.Gentleman’s Agreement - A magazine writer (played by Gregory Peck) posed as a Jew to expose anti-Semitism in 1940s America.Good - Featured at the 2009 Jewish Film Festival of NEPA In an attempt to establish its credibility, the new Nazi government is seeking out experts to endorse its policies, and they trip across Johnnie Halder’s (Viggo Mortensen) sensitively written 1920s novel of a husband who aids his terminally ill wife in an assisted suicide. Although John-nie despises Naziism he is flattered by the attention paid to his novel, and accepts (with misgivings) an honorary commission in the SS. This opens the door to promotions at the University. He becomes Dean of Literature after the former Dean, Herr Mandelbaum “leaves in such a hurry.” He is tapped to inspect facilities for the care of the mentally ill, based on his “humanitarian” writings. Throughout “Good”, Johnnie is “good,” but he becomes increasingly blind to what is happening around him as he travels down the slippery slope that eventually takes him to Auschwitz on an inspecton tour. Never evil, Johnnie Halder is an Everyman who goes along, accepts what he told without question, and is increasingly co-opted by flattery and comfort. In the end, he comes to realize that he is stumbling through a waking nightmare of which he in part created. Not judgmental of its protagonist, GOOD invites us to question just what a “good” man is and does and where the bounds of responsibility lie.Kazablan*- Israel’s all-time Great Musical, nominated for two Golden Globe Awards. This 1970s mega-hit is Israel’s answer to the musical West Side Story, with its story of star-crossed lovers, street gangs and cultural differences. With its exhilarating music and choreography, Kazablan is sure to entertain.Lies My Father Told Me - The heart-warming story of the Jewish immigrant community of 1920s Montreal. David, the grandson, lives with his parents, his grandfather Zaida and Zaida’s aging horse Ferdeleh.Noodle - (PAL version- can only be played on computer NOT regular DVD players)At thirty-seven, Miri is a twice-wid-owed, El Al flight attendant. Her well-regulated existence is suddenly turned upside down by an abandoned Chinese boy whose migrant-worker mother has been deported from Israel. The film is a touching comic-drama in which two human beings -- as different from each other as Tel Aviv is from Beijing -- accompany each other on a remarkable journey, one that takes them both back to a meaningful life. Schindler’s List*-The Academy Award winning film by Steven Spielberg tells the true story of Oskar Schindler, the man responsible for saving the lives of hundreds of Jews during the Holocaust. School Ties - A young man from the wrong side of the tracks gets a football scholarship to a private school, which will lead to his entrance to Harvard. He is well accepted at the blue blood school until it is revealed that he is Jewish.The Angel Levine - Things couldn’t get worse for Jewish tailor Morris Mishkin (Zero Mostel). His shop has gone up in flames, his daughter has married outside the faith and, worse yet, his wife is slowly dying. But just when he decides to give up on God, a mysterious man (Harry Belafonte) appears, claiming to be his Jewish guardian angel! Doubtful that the stranger is Jewish, never mind an angel. Mishkin must overcome his skepticism if he want ones last chance at redemption.The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz -*A Jewish teenager is determined to “make it” no matter what it takes. On his path to success he faces anti-Semitism, betrays family and friends, and faces the responsibilities of being an adult.The Boy in the Striped Pajamas -* Set during World War II, this is the story of Bruno, an innocent, and naïve eight-year –old boy who meets a boy while romping in the woods. A surprising friendship develops. The Impossible Spy*- Elie Cohen was a family man leading a quiet, normal life, when at the age of 35, he was recruited by Israel’s secret service (Mossad) and assigned a mission that would forever change his life, and the his-tory of Israel. Today he is regarded as a legend and a national hero.The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob -*In this French comedy, Louis de Funes stars as Victor Pivert, a hope-lessly bigoted man. Victor loves people, as long as they’re Caucasian, French, and Catholic. But when it comes to foreigners, Victor draws the line. His ultimate nightmare becomes a reality the day of his daughter’s wedding, when he stumbles across a group of Arab revolutionaries and is forced into hiding as a rabbi. Gerard Oury’s film features an onslaught of hilarious chase sequences.Ushpizin- A fable set in the orthodox Jewish world in Jerusalem, Ushpizin tells the story of a poor childless couple, Moshe and Malli (played to perfection by award winning actor Shuli Rand and his real-life wife, Michal Bat-Sheva Rand) whose belief in the goodness of the Almighty follows a roller coaster of situations and emotions but leads to the ultimate happiness, the birth of their son.

Blessed is the Match*- In 1944, 22-year old Hannah Senesh parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe with a small group of Jewish volunteers from Palestine. Theirs was the only military rescue mission for Jews that occurred in World War II. Told through Hannah’s letters, diaries and poems, her mother’s memoirs and the recollections of those who knew and loved her, the film traces her life from her childhood in Budapest to her time in British-controlled Palestine, to her daring mission to rescue Jews in her native Hungary. Budapest to Gettysburg*- The past and present collide as a world-renowned historian confronts a history he has refused to study- his own. Gabor Boritt is an expert on Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War. But it took his son’s urging to get him to return to his native Hungary and learn about the Jewish experience there from the time of his childhood until, together with his family, he escaped to the United States.Constantine’s Sword - Constantine’s Sword is an astonishing exploration of the dark side of Christianity, fol-lowing acclaimed author and former priest James Carrol on a journey of remembrance and reckoning. Warning of what happens when military power and religious fervor are joined, this new film from Oscar-nominated director Oren Jacoby asks: Is the fanaticism that threatens the world today fueled by our own deeply held beliefs? I Have Never Forgotten You - The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal*- Wiesenthal, a Holocaust sur-vivor who lost 89 family members, helped track down over 1,00 Nazi war criminals and spent six decades fighting anti-Semitism and prejudice against all people.Into the Arms of Strangers - A superb documentary that chronicles the Kindertransport, an extraordinary rescue operation to save the youngest victims of Nazi terror.Making Trouble - A just released documentary telling the story of six of the greatest female Jewish comics entertainers of the last century- Molly Picon, Fanny Brice Sophie Tucker, Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner and Wendy Wasserstein.Night and Fog - One of first cinematic reflections on the horrors of the Holocaust, Night and Fog, filmmaker Alain Renais investi-gates the cyclical nature of man’s violence toward man and presents the unsettling suggestion that such horror could come again.Steal a Pencil for Me*- 1943: Holland is under Total Nazi occupation. After deportation Jack his wife and his new love find themselves living in the same barracks in a concentration camp. This documentary chronicles the secret love letters written by Jack and Ina which gives them the strength to survive the war.The Case for Israel - Democracy’s Outpost Famed attorney, Alan Dershowitz, presents a vigorous case for Israel- for its basic right to exist, to protect its citizens from terrorism and to defend its borders from hostile enemies. Featured commentators include: Ehud Barak, Caroline Glick, Dore Gold, Tzipi Livni and Natan Sharansky.The Jewish Americans - A Series by David Grubin*- This series traces 350 years of Jewish American history from the arrival of the first Jews in 1654 up to the present day.The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg - As baseball’s first Jewish star, Hammering’ Hank Greenberg’s career con-tains all the makings of a true American success story. An extraordinary ball player notorious for his hours of daily practice, Greenberg’s career was an inspiration to all and captured the headlines and the admiration of sportswriters and fans alike. This is the story of how he became an American hero.With All Your Heart- (Hebrew with English subtitles)The poignant true story of the life of Leut. Roi Klein, who gave up his life to save his battalion during the Lebanon War of 2002.

Jewish Federation of NEPA

Jewish Film LibraryThe Jewish Film Library Update - Check out new titles in both feature & non-feature films.

Contact Dassy Ganz dassy.ganz@jewishnepa.org for information. Feature FiLms CurrentLy avaiLabLe

*Films marked with an * are newly acquired by the Film Library.

non-Feature FiLms

Jewish Federation Acquires New Film Festival Picks

Dassy Ganz, assistant to executive director of the Jewish Federation, announces that thanks to the generosity of the Glassman family of Scranton, the

Federation film library has acquired a number of newly released films recently shown at film festivals around the country.

Film Library Continues to Grow Thanks to Your DonationsThanks to the generosity of Ms. Lindsay Leventhal, the film library now owns

5 new films of Jewish interest:A Film Unfinished- Using footage completely unparalleled, A Film Unfinished provides new insight into the Nazi propaganda machine further exposing an agenda already known to be deceitful beyond our greatest beliefs. (non-feature)

A Matter of Size- Winner of numerous international awards, this Israeli comedy is a hilarious and heart-warming tale about four overweight guys who learn to love themselves through the Japanese sport of sumo wrestling. (not rated)

Blessed is the Match- The life and death of Hannah Senesh (non-feature)

Inglorious Basterds- This popular WWII revenge fantasy film follows a Nazi-scalping squad of American soldiers is on a daring mission to take down the leaders of the Third Reich (rated R)

Komediant-(non-feature) The glory days of the Yiddish stage are brought to life in this funny saga of a legendary theatrical family, the Bursteins. Smoothly incorporating rare archival footage and interviews with Yiddish stage veterans, this tightly edited and briskly paced documentary is as richly bittersweet and the Yiddish theater itself.

Nora’s Will- When his ex-wife Nora dies right before Passover, Jose is forced to stay with her body until she can be properly put to rest. He soon realizes that he is part of Nora’s plan to bring her family back together for one last Passover feast, leading Jose to reexamine their relationship. (not rated)

Rashevski’s Tango- Just about every dilemma of modern Jewish identity gets an airing in this packed tale of a clan of more or less secularized Belgian Jews thrown into spiritual crisis by the death of the matriarch who has held all doubts and family warfare in check. (not rated)

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas- Based on the best-selling novel, this movie is set during WWII and tells the inspiring story of two boys and the power of the human spirit. (rated PG-13)

The Hidden Child- A gripping tale of survival, The Hidden Child tells the story of a six-year-old girl and her sister, separated from their parents, dodging bullets, lying for survival, and relying on the compas-sion of strangers

To Take a Wife- A powerful drama about a woman’s struggle for independence and emotional freedom in the face of family tradition. (not rated)

The following are also now available for private and synagogue viewing:

Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story. This excellent documentary, narrated by Dustin Hoffman, portrays the contribu-tions of Jewish major leaguers and the special meaning that baseball has had in the lives of American Jews. Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story was shown at the 2012 UJA Kick-Off in Scranton this past September.

The Debt- Academy Award® winner Helen Mirren and two-time Academy Award® nominee Tom Wilkinson star in The Debt. In 1966, three Mossad agents were assigned to track down a feared

Nazi war criminal hiding in East Berlin, a mission accomplished at great risk and personal cost - or was it?

Sarah’s Key- Julia Jarmond (Kristin Scott Thomas), an American journalist married to a French-man, is commissioned to write an article about the notorious Vel d’Hiv round up, which took place in Paris, in 1942. She stumbles upon a family secret which will link her forever to the destiny of a young Jewish girl, Sarah. Julia learns that the apartment she and her husband Bertrand plan to move into was acquired by Bertrand’s family when its Jewish occupants were dispossessed and deported 60 years before. She resolves to find out what happened to the former occupants: Wladyslaw and Rywka Starzynski, parents of 10-year-old Sarah and 4-year-old Michel.

Please contact Dassy Ganz at the Federation to borrow these or other films in our library.

*The Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania expresses it sincerest gratitude to Lee Glassman and his family in Israel for their donation of several recent Israeli films on DVD that are now part of our NEPA Jewish Federation Film Loan Library.

new Federation web site developed

Becky Schastey, F e d e r a t i o n /Alliance webmaster

The new Federation web site (www.jewishnepa.org) and the new e-mail addresses for Federation staff are now functional. The site was developed by webmaster Becky Schastey based on designs adapted from several major Federa-tions across the country.

New programs, exciting links to Israel, aliyah, sum-mer-in-Israel programs, and news alerts have been added. A detailed Planned

Giving section has been designed, as is a “Dona-tion” link that includes stock donations and a corporate matching gifts program (with links to companies that have such a program), and “volun-teer opportunity” links have been made for each Federation program to increase involvement in Federation activities.

Up-to-the-minute news from Israel is now only a click away, and links are provided directly to Ynet News, Israel Hayom, Kol Israel.com, Debka.com, Arutz Sheva (Israel National News), The Jerusalem Post, and the Jerusalem Report.

The site also promotes Federation and agency events on Facebook including showcasing the work of the annual UJA Campaign and programs like our annual Israel Missions, the NEPA Jewish Film Loan Library, our NEPA springtime programs, our Salute to Israel Parade program in New York, our Holocaust educations programs, etc.

11 Jewish Federation of NEPA • Annual Report

new 2012-2013 allocations procedures instituted

On November 16, 2011, the Federation established an Allocations Review Subcommittee to review allocations procedures that have been in place over the past decade. In a departure from the established process of individual agency presentations, all regular Allocations Ses-sions (including the Initial Plenary) for FY 2012-2013 were cancelled for this year, except for the Final Plenary.

It was decided that, for FY 2012-2013, the Allocations Review Subcommittee would be comprised of nine Federation leaders who would meet in private session to review materials submitted by the agencies and seek clarification of any issues arising from these materials. It was also agreed that members of the Committee would serve one-year, two-year, and three-year terms.

In accordance with the new procedures, a marathon session was held at Pennsylvania Paper and Supply on Monday, May 7, 2012, under the chairmanship of 2012 UJA Campaign Chair-man Doug Fink. The Allocations Review Subcommittee then made its recommendations to the full Allocations Committee at the Final Plenary on Thursday, May 24, 2012, at which time all 2012-2013 allocations were determined.

I’m pleased to announce that the following allocations for FY 2012-2013 were approved by our Board of Trustees at its Friday, June 1st, meeting:Israel/Overseas Allocation $279,800Jewish Community Center of Scranton $130,000Scranton Hebrew Day School $56,000Jewish Family Service $60,000Bais Yaakov of Scranton $7,500Scranton Temple Israel Religious School $6,407Temple Hesed Religious School $7,500Yeshiva Beth Moshe $7,500Temple Israel of the Poconos Hebrew School $4,100Scranton Ritualarium (mikveh) $2,700Jewish Fellowship of Hemlock Farms Religious School $2,000B’nai Harim Religious School $1,800Chabad of the Abingtons/Jewish Discovery Center $7,500Bnos Yisroel of Scranton $5,000 $577,807** The Board of Trustees has also approved dividing any additional funds pledged between May 24th (the Final Plenary) and June 1st (final budget approval) among all the above agencies in proportion to their listed allocation.Federation/Campaign/Reporter expenses $272,756Uncollectible pledges $29,937 $302,693

Total $880,500

Planning

Alan Glassman, Chairman

P l a n n i n g Committee

Two important developments in Federation’s Planning Division took place this year under the chairmanship of Alan Glassman.

Demographic Survey completedThe first is a Demographic Survey recently completed by the

Federation that shows a number of important Jewish demographic trends in Northeast Pennsylvania.

The Study confirms a steady decline in the number of known Jew-ish households in Greater Scranton and Lackawanna County from 860 families in 2000 to 548 Jewish families in 2011. These figures are based on Reporter mailing lists matched against Temple membership lists and takes into account deceases, moves, and out-of-state members over the past decade.

As it happens, these figures are consistent with the findings of an earlier study conducted by the Federation and presented to the Federation Board on August 25th, 1996. That survey concluded there

were 900 identifiable Jewish families (or an estimated 2,500 individuals) in Greater Scran-ton alone.

The current survey did not analyze the number and ages of children per Jewish house-hold (although a factor of 2.78% from the 2000 National Jewish Population Study was used as the accepted average figure per American Jewish household), nor did it take into account intermarried households with ‘non-Jewish names’ other than those registered as members with our synagogues and agencies.

It does, however, identify a disturbing trend in declining Jewish population in Lackawa-nna County that is being addressed through greater emphasis on outreach programs and information sharing with our regional synagogue affiliates.

The second f inding, based upon demographic research in the tax rolls of Pike, Wayne and Monroe counties, indicates that only 24% of identif iable Pocono Jew-ish households are aff iliated with our Pocono Temple aff iliates while the esti-mated Jewish population in the tri-county area is more than twice that of Lacka-wanna County.

This finding has led to the introduction of several significant Federation programs over the past few years designed to attract and involve affiliated and unaffiliated mem-bers of the Jewish communities of Lackawanna, Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties.

These programs have included the NEPA Federation Jewish Film Festival (chaired by Carol Nelson Dembert) during 2007 and 2009, the NEPA Jewish Film Loan Library (cur-rently available to all Federation agencies and members of our Jewish communities at no cost), a NEPA Artists’ Street Fair in Stroudsburg in 2011, an annual Mission to Israel (that has taken over 150 members of the Jewish communities of Pike, Wayne and Monroe counties to Israel over the past decade), an annual Mission to Harrisburg, and annual participation in the Salute to Israel Parade held each June in New York City. The Jewish Federation of NEPA is the only Pennsylvania Federation to participate in this important and joyous annual event.

The Federation has also included annual allocations in support of the educational goals of our part-time Hebrew Schools in Lackawanna as well as Monroe, Pike and Wayne coun-ties – specifically, Temple Israel of the Poconos (Monroe County), Congregation B’nai Harim (Monroe County), and the Jewish Fellowship of Hemlock Farms (Pike County); program grants to Congregation Beth Israel (Wayne County), and the establishment (with the Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania and Jewish Family Services of Scranton) of the Jewish Resource Center of the Poconos in Stroudsburg under the direction of Rabbi Yehuda Salkow.

Each of these organizations sustains Jewish life in NEPA, and continues to attract new Jewish families.

The Jewish communities of the tri-county Pocono area donated $71,880 in contribu-tions during our 2012 annual UJA Campaign this year - separate and apart from several large Campaign endowments from Pocono Jewish leaders including Herb Rosen, Lester Abeloff and Leni Eismann among others, as well as many individual contributions to the Federation’s “Friends of The Reporter” Campaign conducted annually each spring throughout NEPA.

Management Consultant retainedSecondly, in February, 2011 at the request of the Planning Committee, the Federation

Board of Trustees approved a grant for the purpose of retaining a management consul-tant to review and analyze the administrative operations of several major agencies in the Jewish community.

The management consultant, Don Ryan, was charged with analyzing the adminis-trative operations of the Federation, the Scranton JCC, and Jewish Family Service of Lackawanna County to assist the agencies in becoming more efficient and to explore any administrative areas in which cooperation between the agencies could lead to greater efficiencies.

Mr. Ryan met with the directors and staff of all three agencies.His recommendations included a need to combine, where possible, certain agency

administrative services that shared commonalities with one another. Ryan noted, however, that several factors might make such an arrangement problematic. These fac-tors involved the difficulty in developing a common reporting mechanism with staff accountability; recognition that there was no appropriate person to lead/manage a combined administrative services function (and hiring one would be cost prohibitive); the need to maintain confidential information such as donor lists and JFS medical records; and the logistical separation of JFS from JCC and Jewish Federation adminis-trative staffs.

On the other hand, he noted, if these obstacles could be overcome, there could be cooperative purchasing of goods and services; cooperative use of office equipment; job restructuring and elimination of “silo” jobs; efficiencies that would arise from technology, and the ability to use technology, proactive performance management and higher produc-tivity standards.

As a result of the Study, the Federation completed several significant administrative and structural changes that will fall under the jurisdiction of the Personnel Committee during 2012-2013. The Federation Office Manager will now have supervisory respon-sibilities for financial, accounting and administrative matters in the Federation office; upgraded computers and an upgraded server have been purchased and installed; new software programs (Microsoft Office Operating System 2007 and Donor Perfect) have been purchased and installed; Federation staff is being cross-trained on these new software programs with the new computers; time sheets for non-exempt personnel are being completed on a bi-weekly basis; and more attention is being paid to the timing of the sale of donated securities.

Other matters under discussion with the Scranton JCC and Jewish Family Service (JFS) include networking copiers to desktops, standardizing member information, establishing a common records retention policy (archiving), common ordering of office supplies for combined purchasing power, and common telephone upgrades – all with economies of scale in mind. Also mentioned was the retention of a common grants writer.

Personnel

Donald Douglass, Esq., 2013 UJA Campaign Co-Chairman

Pursuant to the recommendations of the Ryan Report, the job descriptions and responsibilities of the Federation Office Manager and Secretary have been modified. The position of Bookkeeper was phased out effective March 31st, 2012, and Mary Lil Walsh’s responsibili-ties have now been re-assigned to exist-ing staff members.

A generous six-year health care cov-erage package for Ms. Walsh, a 27-year Federation employee, was determined by the Committee, and subsequently ap-proved by the Board of Trustees.

Members of the Personnel Commit-tee included Michael Greenstein, Robin Jacobson, Jeff Rubel, Elliot Schoenberg,

Mary Lil Walsh, bookkeeper

investments

Steven Seitchik, Margaret Sheldon (ex of-ficio), Alan Smertz and Paula Wasser.

Ben Schnessel, Esq., Interim Chairman, Investments Committee

The Investment Committee expresses its sincerest condolences to the family of its late Chairman, Ed Novick, who passed away in Janu-ary. His presence, guidance and expertise will be sorely missed by the Jewish community.

The Committee continues to review the management of the Federation’s endowment portfolio to insure that we achieve the maximum return pos-sible on our investments while still maintaining the integrity of the funds for the future.

This year, after extensive telephone conference calls with Michael Dye of The Associated (The Baltimore Federation’s Endowment Foun-dation), $500,000 from various Federation endowment funds were transferred with Federation Board approval to the Foundation for investment purposes. As of the end of 3/31/12, the value of the Fund transfer stood at $534,122.

As at 3/31/2012 the portfolio was constituted and valued as follows:Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowment (P.A.C.E.): $3,349,746Unrestricted Endowments: $3,000,484Restricted Endowments: $448,828 Philanthropic Funds: $555,219The fair market value of all Federation endowments as of December 31, 2011 was

$7,354,277.Members of the Committee include Ben Schnessel (Interim Chairman), Bernie Dubin,

Doug Fink, Alan Glassman, Michael Greenstein, Seth Gross, Mel Mogel, Margaret Sheldon and Steven Seitchik.

12 Jewish Federation of NEPA • Annual Report

The Reporter

You are cordially invited to the Annual Meeting of the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Please join us as we elect our Officers and Trustees, celebrate the achievements of the past year, and honor several individuals for their leadership contributions to our community and Klal Yisroel.

2012 Annual Meeting - “Celebrating our Partner Agencies”

Scranton Jewish Community Center - Koppelman Auditorium • Thursday, June 14, 7:00 pm Welcome & introductions ............................................................ Seth/Sheryl Gross, Chairpersons Anthems ....................................................................................... Cantor Charles Osborne Invocation ..................................................................................... Rabbi Daniel Swartz, Temple Hesed Perspectives/Memoriam ................................................................ Margaret Sheldon, President Presidential Award Presentation .................................................. Mark Silverberg, Executive Director Presentation UJA Campaign Chairman Award ........................... Margaret Sheldon, President Presentation - UJA Women’s Campaign Award ........................... Margaret Sheldon, President Recognition - UJA Campaign leadership ..................................... Douglas Fink, General Campaign Presentation of Holocaust Education Award ............................... Bill & Carol Burke Presentation of Award to Mary Lil Walsh .................................... Mark Silverberg, Executive Director Nominating Committee Report .................................................... Michael Greenstein, Chairman Installation of Officers and Trustees ............................................. Rabbi Daniel Swartz, Temple Hesed Concluding Remarks .................................................................... Jeff Rubel, Incoming President

Special Tribute to Ed Novick

Michael Greenstein, ChairmanNominating Committee*

Proposed Slate of Officers & Trustees 2012-2013

2012 AnnuAl MeetingI I

I I

1-Year Term Expiring in 2013Alex Gans, Robert Klomp, Sandra Alfonsi, Susan Jacobson, Janet Holland, Lewis Sare,

Suzanne Tremper and Eric Weinberg

3-Year Term Expiring in 2013Shlomo Fink, Robin Jacobson, Michael Mardo,

Ann Monsky, Barbara Nivert (2013 Women’s Campaign Chair), Bobbi Novick, Sam Rosen,

Ben Schnessel, Esq., and Alan Smertz

*Members of the 2012 Nominating Committee included Michael Greenstein (Chairman), Phyllis Brandes, Seth Gross, Robin Jacobson, Leah Laury, Dr. David Malinov, Barbara Nivert,

Bobbi Novick, Elliot Schoenberg, Steve Seitchik, Margaret Sheldon, Barry Tremper, Marcia Ufberg and Paula Wasser.

OfficersPresident ................................................................... Jeff Rubel Administrative Vice-President............................ Douglas FinkVice-President ...........................................Michael GreensteinVice-President ........................................... Dr. David Malinov

Vice-President .............................................Elliot SchoenbergTreasurer ............................................... Jerry Weinberger, Esq.Assistant Treasurer ............................................ Barry TremperAssistant Secretary ............................... Donald Douglass, Esq.

Board of Trustees3-Year Term Expiring in 2014

Esther Adelman, Jeanne Atlas, Mark Davis, Jacques Deutsch, Alan Goldstein,

Jill Linder, Molly Rutta, Paula Wasser and Steven Weinberger

3-Year term Expiring in 2015Herb Appel, Phyllis Brandes, Lainey Denis,

Richard Fine, Esq., Natalie Gelb, Laurel Glassman, Ed Monsky, Esq., Laney Ufberg and Jay Weiss

We thank the following Trustees whose terms of office are expiring in 2012Jim Ellenbogen, Joseph Fisch, Esq., Susan Herlands, Gloria Jurkowitz, Leah Laury, Dr. Geordee Pollock,

Herb Rosen and Alma Shaffer