summer 2008 www.jcca.

org 5768 whe

DAY CAMP! SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE

The Magazine of the North American Jewish Community Center Movement

 jcccircle
Summer 2008
dear friends Chair
Alan P. Solow

I have just returned from Miami after participating in our 2008 JCCs of North Honorary Chairs
www.jcca.org Edward H. Kaplan
America Biennial. Those of you who were there know that it was a week of Ann P. Kaufman
5768 whe inspiration, learning and fun. We enjoyed outstanding plenary speakers, wonderful Jerome B. Makowsky
seminar sessions, and the hospitality of a great city. I again want to thank our Morton L. Mandel
Lester Pollack
Biennial Chair Noreen Gordon Sablotsky for her extraordinary efforts, which Daniel Rose

contents resulted in a successful convention.

Vice-Chairs
Lisa Brill
The Biennial reflects the strength and breadth of the JCC Movement. Both lay and Donald Brodsky
staff leaders were able to exchange ideas and discuss opportunities to improve Cheryl Fishbein
2 A Blast in Miami Gary Jacobs
their JCCs and camps. We were also able to talk about ways to build upon our Virginia A. Maas
4 Amazing Experiences successful continental programs such as An Ethical Start® and the JCC Maccabi Stephen R. Reiner
in Atlanta Games® and JCC Maccabi ArtsFest®. The Benchmarking Project at the Mandel Toby Rubin
Stephen Seiden
Center for Excellence in Leadership and Management is continuing to have a Paula Sidman
8 Creating a Mosaic positive impact on the field, and we are confident that more JCCs will participate
Secretary
in Silicon Valley as we move forward. At the Mandel Center for Jewish Education, we continue to Shirley Solomon
turn out great new programs such as The Goodman Family Institute: Yisrael Sheli
10 Finding a Jewish Heart (My Israel): A Teen Program of Israel Education and Experience for JCC Resident
Assoc. Secretaries
Enid Rosenberg
in an American Holiday Camps, and our new adult education initiative, Journeys, which was highlighted Michael Segal
at the Biennial. Michael Wolfe
11 JCC Day Camp Treasurer
Special Section We have the power as a movement to make a difference when we learn from each Edwin Goldberg

other and take advantage of the many services offered by JCC Association. As Assoc. Treasurers
15 Everyone Has a Seat Stephen Dorsky
your chair, working with our outstanding staff, I have been determined to make
at This Table certain that membership in this organization makes a meaningful difference to the
Andrew Shaevel
Doron Steger
16 Welcome Home to Israel field and to those who are enrolled in our JCC programs. The week at the Biennial
President
provided indisputable evidence that we are making real progress and that our Allan Finkelstein
18 It’s a Small World future together is very bright. Let’s make certain that when we gather in Atlanta in
On the cover: JCC of Louisville
2010, we have many new ideas to share, and that those of you who benefited from jcccircle:
20 JCC Happenings this Biennial will bring along a friend to share the experience. Our 2010 continental Sr. Vice-President,
chair, Marvin Gelfand, and our Atlanta hosts, Lisa Brill and Laura Dinerman, Marketing & Communications

jcccirclesponsors promise that Atlanta will build on the fantastic Miami experience!
Robin Ballin
Creative Director
The following sponsors have made this issue of JCC Circle possible. Peter Shevenell
JCC Association thanks them for their generosity.
Communications Manager,
L’hitraot JCC Circle Editor
Accrisoft Iron Grip Barbell Co. Power Systems Sterling & Sterling, Inc. Miriam Rinn
www.accrisoft.com www.irongrip.com www.power-systems.com www.sterlingrisk.com
Design
American Council Landscape Structures Precor STOTT Pilates
Jeremy Kortes
on Exercise (ACE) www.playlsi.com www.precor.com www.stottpilates.com
www.ACEfitness.com Dan Hertzberg
Les Mills North America, Inc. The Redwoods Group Strive, Inc.
Association of Jewish Chaplains www.lesmillsusa.com www.redwoodsgroup.com www.strivefit.com
of the United States Leslie’s Swimming Pool Retention Management Take It Off Alan P. Solow
Chase Paymentech Supplies www.retentionmanagement.com www.takeitoffweightloss.com Chair, JCC Association
www.lesliespools.com For address correction or Information about JCC Circle
www.chasepaymentech.com SciFit TechnoGym contact info@jcca.org or call Alina at (212) 786-5096.
Club Resource Group Macrolease www.scifit.com www.technogym.com
www.macrolease.com ©2008 Jewish Community Centers Association
www.clubresourcegroup.com Schlesinger Newman & Goldman To help support the work of JCC of North America. All rights reserved.
cMarket Mondo www.sng.ca Association and JCC Circle, please 520 Eighth Avenue | New York, NY 10018
www.cmarket.com Recreational Flooring
Sheletron contact Fani Magnus Monson, Phone: 212-532-4949 | Fax: 212-481-4174
www.mondousa.com
The Coca-Cola Company ®
www.sheletron.com vice-president of development, at: e-mail: info@jcca.org | web: www.jcca.org
www.cocacola.com Nautilus
www.nautilus.com
Sporting Essentials JCC Association JCC Association of North America is the leadership network of, and central
CSI Software www.sportingessentials.com agency for, 350 Jewish Community Centers, YM-YWHAs and camps in the
520 Eighth Avenue
www.csisoftwareusa.com Network Services Company United States and Canada, who annually serve more than two million users. JCC
www.nsconline.com
Sportwall International, Inc. New York, NY 10018 Association offers a wide range of services and resources to enable its affiliates
Cybex International www.sportwall.com tel: (212) 532-4958, x5136 to provide educational, cultural and recreational programs to enhance the lives
www.cybexintl.com New Leaf fax: (212) 481-4174
www.newleaffitness.com
Staples Business Advantage of North American Jewry. JCC Association is also a U.S. government-accredited
Expresso Fitness www.StaplesLink.com e-mail: FaniMM@jcca.org agency for serving the religious and social needs of Jewish military personnel,
www.expressofitness.com The Ostroff Group their families and patients in VA hospitals through the JWB Jewish Chaplains
www.ostroffgroup.com
Star Trac Council.
Freemotion Fitness www.startrac.com
www.freemotionfitness.com Power Plate JCC Association receives support from the UJC National Federation/Agency
www.PowerPlate.com Alliance, local federations and Jewish Community Centers.
ISSN 1065-1551
 “Thank you for allowing us to be a part of
this extremely well run, well attended and
professional event. We were very impressed
and I believe your attendees felt the same.”
—Richard Ekstrom, Retention Management

Biennial
Delegates Have a Blast in
T
he compliments streamed in during
the weeks right after our JCCs of North
America Biennial in Miami, and the
consensus of opinion was that this was
the best Biennial ever. Dynamic and provocative
keynote speakers, a redesigned schedule that
allowed more time for participants to connect
with each other and explore Miami, “Great program, and looking forward to Atlanta.”
relevant and information-packed
“On behalf of seminars—all left delegates feeling —William Grossman, board of directors,
the Baltimore that they’d had a great learning Dave & Mary Alper JCC, Miami, FL
and networking experience. One of
contingent, our goals was to provide JCCs with
we want concrete take-home ideas. All of the
session handouts are available and to the recognition of the JCCs of Chicago project, which reached out to
to thank to JCC board members on our recruits at the Great Lakes Naval Base. The Frank L. Weil Award was presented
you for a great four password-protected website to former JCC Association Chair Edward H. Kaplan, and the Florence G. Heller
Professional Award went to JCC professionals Avrum Cohen and Solomon
days. To a person, http://resources.jcca.org/.
Greenfield, which underlined the critical importance of JCC volunteers and staff
our board members For the first time, JWB Jewish in successful JCCs. The Morton L. Mandel Jewish Educational Leadership Award
couldn’t have been Chaplains Council scheduled was graciously accepted by The AVI CHAI Foundation, which has done so much
its meeting to coincide with to enrich JCC camps Judaically. .
more complimentary. the Biennial, so the halls of
Our delegation is the InterContinental were Delegates from around the world attended the Biennial through the World
Confederation of JCCs, giving an international flavor to the events and joining
already sharing with filled with men and women
in as we commemorated Yom HaZikaron and celebrated Israel’s sixtieth
in uniform. In addition to
their peers that they reminding delegates of the long anniversary. And our “green” efforts were a great start to a movement-wide
can’t afford to miss going and valued relationship between initiative. Delegates recycled their soda cans and waste paper, and many turned
the JCC Movement and Jewish in their binders and lanyards at the end of the meeting for us to reuse in the
to Atlanta in two years.” military personnel, the presence future. It gave real impetus to our commitment to bal taschit, the injunction to
—Buddy Sapolsky, of chaplains and military lay avoid waste and needless destruction.
executive director, leaders gave deeper meaning to
the award presentations to Rabbi If you were unable to join the more than 600 JCC leaders in Miami, you can
JCC of Greater Baltimore capture some of the excitement by watching video highlights on our website
Philip Silverstein and Major
General Ronald D. Silverman, jcca.org/biennial. See you in Atlanta in 2010!

2 jcc circle summer 2008 www.jcca.org jcc circle 3

 “Customer service is core a culture change
to our Jewish mission in building To meet its challenges, the MJCCA chose to make a radical
community and creating incredible culture change that began with the adoption of one of
the world’s most successful models of customer service,
Jewish journeys,” says Michael the Disney Approach to Quality Service. Thousands
D. Wise, CEO/executive director of the world’s most successful companies, including
Delta Air Lines, IBM, Target, and Sony Electronics, have
of the Marcus JCC of Atlanta. taken advantage of the business philosophies behind the
“happiest place on earth.”
“The value of Jewish welcoming
To implement this agency-wide culture change, Jared
is deeply rooted in our history, Powers, a senior member of the MJCCA management
beginning with Abraham’s team, traveled to the Disney Institute in Orlando, Florida
and completed a comprehensive three-and-a-half-day
welcoming tent.” customer service training program. “My experience at the
Disney Institute is one I will not soon forget,” said Powers.
In Jewish tradition, Abraham and Sarah’s tent was open “The Disney approach to quality service is an outstanding
on all four sides. Strangers were immediately embraced business model. Although I came away with an impressive
as friends, cared for both physically and spiritually, and amount of information, what really struck me is their
treated as honored members of the family. attention to even the most minute detail.”
According to Wise, the MJCCA should be the modern-day Powers met with senior management upon his return, and
equivalent of Abraham’s tent—an open, all-inclusive, warm they began to implement the Disney model by dividing
and welcoming “Jewish home,” where every member of the it into four critical categories: Training, “Bumping the
community, regardless of affiliation or level of engagement, Lamp,” Policies and Procedures, and Setting. A staff-driven
is welcomed and feels an immediate sense of belonging. committee was created to oversee each.
The Marcus JCC was faced with a unique set of challenges,
however, which included a rapidly growing Jewish
community1 known to have a high rate of intermarriage,
a low rate of affiliation, a large base of newcomers, and
growing “pockets” of Jewish communities in outlying areas.
Innovative approaches were needed if the MJCCA intended
to grow its membership base and keep its current members2
happy and engaged.

“The Disney approach

to quality service is
an outstanding
CREATING AMAZING business model.”

EXPERIENCES 1. According to the 2006 Jewish Federation Centennial Study of Greater

Atlanta, Atlanta went from the 17th (77,000 Jews) to the 11th (120,000 Jews)
largest Jewish population in the United States in just ten years.

Marcus JCC of Atlanta sets the highest standards for customer service. 2. 17,000+, with 90% Jewish

by Pamela A. Morton
www.jcca.org jcc circle 5
Training
Wise, Powers, and the members of the Customer Service
Committee knew that the ultimate success of the new plan
depended largely on a total staff buy-in. They immediately
set about creating a comprehensive training program for
staff, detailing the ideology behind the new Disney model.
Within three months, all employees had successfully
completed a two-hour course. Additional training was
also implemented for new employees, requiring them to
attend a new hire orientation week that includes working or
spending time in every department – from support services
to security – in order to gain a better understanding of how
the agency works.
One of the most exciting new initiatives to come out of the
training program was the creation of a staff professional
development program featuring year-round continuing
education classes. Whether full- or part-time, salaried or
hourly, all employees must earn at least five continuing
education credits annually. (Credits equal the number of
class hours taken, i.e: a two-hour class equals two credits.)
The majority of classes are one- to one-and-a-half hours
long, are always offered during business hours, and taken
on company time. Classes are taught by business/industry
professionals and staff who have volunteered their time and
expertise. There are currently 27 courses offered, with many
more planned.
Offerings encompass everything from personal growth
to professional development. A sampling of current
courses includes: computer software training (Excel,
MS Publisher, MS Outlook, Mail Merge); Jewish learning
(Everything Jewish—Purim to Pesach); customer service
(Guest Service Recovery, Responding Positively to Your
Customer); management training (Effective Supervision,
Team Building); financial (Understanding the Budget
Process); programming (How to Plan a Successful Program or
Event); agency culture (The History of the MJCCA) and skill
enhancement (Be a Better Business Writer).
According to Terry Spector, a member of the Staff
Professional Development Committee as well as the MJCCA’s
human resources manager, “The day we posted the classes on
our intranet, we were inundated with completed registration
forms. Many of our classes filled on that first day, and we had
to create wait lists. What was even more surprising was that
the majority of those registering for their mandatory classes
signed up for more than the required five hours. That told us
that we were definitely on the right track.”
6 jcc circle summer 2008
“Bumping the Lamp”
According to the Disney Institute, the easiest way to exceed
customer expectations is through what they call “bumping
the lamp,” another way of saying “raising the bar”: it’s that
extra special something that makes the customer say, “ah!”
MJCCA member Jacob Greenblat and his 10-year-old daughter,
Hannah, became firsthand recipients of “bumping the lamp”
when they showed up at the MJCCA at 4:40 a.m. on a frosty
January morning to be first in line on camp registration day.
Kenny Silverboard, MJCCA membership director at the time
(Silverboard is now the director of the JCC Maccabi Games®),
was so impressed by the determination of this father to
ensure his daughter’s entry into drama camp (typically
one of the first to fill), that he immediately upgraded the
Greenblats’ membership. “We were totally surprised,” said
Greenblat. “Hannah and I enjoyed all of the special attention
we received from the JCC staff.”
a Marcus JCC service
theme was discussed
and adopted:
“Creating Amazing
Experiences.”
Policies & Procedures
Consistent messaging is key to offering the ultimate
customer experience. Today, all front desk staff are
instructed to answer their phones with a warm tone and
the added personalization of their names. External e-mail
correspondence concludes with a professional “signature,”
and staff who will be out of the office for more than 24
hours are instructed to leave voice-mail messages that offer
alternative personnel assistance.
Setting the Stage
Nothing is more important to exceeding customer
expectations than setting the stage. To create a sense of
identity and continuity, the JCC created staff name tags
Smiles and greetings are
that included the name and birthplace of each employee. the order of the day,
At first, many of the staff were puzzled as to the addition of
their birthplace. The reason soon became clear as members every day.
and guests could be heard asking questions like, “Are you
from San Jose? I lived in San Jose for many years. Do you
know..?” The inclusion of the birthplaces turned out to
be a key point of engagement with members, sparking
conversation where there might not have been any before.
The name tags also included what the Disney Institute refers Is It Working?
to as a “service theme or statement.” Not to be confused with
“A week after we initiated the new customer service plan,
the JCC Association message “You Belong Here,” a service
we began our participation in the 2007 JCC Excellence: A
theme is an internal statement informing customers and
Benchmarking Study. We will definitely have concrete metric
employees of the service your company intends to deliver.
data with which to gauge our overall success after participating
During initial meetings with the new Customer Service
in the study next year,” said Wise.
Committee, a Marcus JCC service theme was discussed and
adopted: “Creating Amazing Experiences.” Until then, the changes at the MJCCA are clearly working
their “magic.” Phone calls are returned promptly. Smiles
While the MJCCA is already aesthetically pleasing,
and greetings are the order of the day, every day. People are
customer-friendly elements such as the new Sheletron
gathering, talking, enjoying each other’s company on MJCCA’s
electronic signage totems and a membership and
customer service office have been added to the MJCCA’s
Main Street, and customers are commenting on the friendly
atmosphere and the attentive service they are receiving. “I
lobby. Additionally, the community service department
recently launched a new program, Center Corps, to enlist
think that the customer service initiative is long overdue.
Both the staff and the members that I have spoken with have
volunteers to act as JCC greeters. Working in teams of
two, Center Corps Greeters will wear MJCCA staff shirts,
commented on the many positive changes around the JCC,”
said Dee Goodman, MJCCA development manager.
be schooled in all things MJCCA, distribute program and
membership information as needed, escort members to To Wise and his MJCCA staff, the mitzvah of hachnassat
their destinations, and be trained in CPR/first-aid. orchim – welcoming guests– have become words to live
and work by.
Pamela Morton is the communications and marketing
manager at MJCCA.
www.jcca.org jcc circle 7

Creating a Mosaic
in Silicon Valley
C
an reading a book ignite the spark of Jewish life in
a diverse community? The Addison Penzak JCC of
Silicon Valley in Los Gatos, California, has shown
that it can. Before the high-tech boom of the 1990’s, the JCC
had struggled in a rundown former school building that
few valley residents visited. After the boom, a beautiful new
facility rose in its place. But the new JCC faced a challenge:
What role should it play in Silicon Valley’s increasingly
diverse Jewish community, and how could it have a
significant impact on a limited budget?
“There aren’t exact numbers, but I’ve heard only eight
percent of Jews here are affiliated with any Jewish
organization. That’s far below the national average,” said
Rabbi Joshua Fenton, head of APJCC’s Center for Jewish
Life and Learning, which opened in mid-2007 with funding
from the Koret Foundation.
8 jcc circle summer 2008
by Jenny Green
As Silicon Valley residents of all faiths flocked to join the
JCC’s new fitness center, supporters and staff worried that
the focus on exercise might overwhelm the building’s role as
a center for Jewish life. And the question of how to reach the
area’s highly mobile, largely unaffiliated Jewish population
was a concern as well. Fenton decided to begin with the One
Community One Book initiative, which he based on the
One People One Book program developed in Los Angeles.
The program encouraged everyone connected to the Silicon
Valley Jewish community to read Milton Steinberg’s novel
As a Driven Leaf. The novel’s theme of a man torn between
his own culture and the larger society struck a chord with
Silicon Valley’s diverse residents.
Fenton had no funding to market the program, but he partly
solved this problem by inviting local synagogues and schools
to join the initiative as co-sponsors. Those organizations
“Because they’re non-denominational, [the JCC] has
a broader opportunity to work with all segments of
the community…”
then encouraged their members to participate. Rabbis from
Silicon Valley’s four major synagogues agreed to do a series
of lectures at the JCC over several months, discussing topics
related to the book such as “Tradition and Modernity” and
“Faith and Doubt.”
The APJCC also developed a guerilla marketing campaign
for One Community One Book. APJCC staff took photos
of people of all ages and backgrounds reading Steinberg’s
historical novel, and posted the photos outside local Jewish
community organizations with the tagline “Have You Read
the Book?” The photos created a buzz, and later, when
the APJCC sent out an e-mail blast to several thousand
community residents mentioning the One Community One
Book program, As a Driven Leaf sold out on Amazon.com
within a few hours.
Local rabbis felt excited by the program’s success and by
the experience of working together and using the JCC
as a connection point. “Ultimately, it strengthens the
community,” said Rabbi Joshua Berkenwald of San Jose’s
Congregation Sinai. “I like what Rabbi Fenton has done so
far… in terms of making the JCC a forum for the entire
community to come together.”
“The JCC has filled a void,” commented Rabbi Aaron
Schonbrun of Congregation Beth David in Saratoga, another
Silicon Valley locale. “Because they’re non-denominational,
[the JCC] has a broader opportunity to work with all
segments of the community… and they’re beginning to serve
as a conduit to other Jewish organizations, which strengthens
the community.”
The JCC built on the success of the community-wide
collaboration with its Community Night of Learning in
February, which brought over two hundred people to the
JCC to hear 20 local rabbis and other educators teach on the
theme of “Eretz Yisrael: Land, People and Soul.”
“Most of our programs thus far have been primarily made
up of people from the Jewish community,” Fenton explained,
“but increasingly we’re seeing interest from the non-Jewish
community as well. Silicon Valley is unique in its ethnic
makeup. Our population is 30 percent Asian, and we have
www.jcca.org jcc circle 9
a large Indian community. So when people say ‘I want to
see what a rabbi looks like,’ it’s because they actually haven’t
encountered Judaism before.”
The multicultural nature of Silicon Valley’s Jewish
community affects the types of Jewish programming that
have been successful at the APJCC. For example, Fenton said,
“We have many interfaith families where the non-Jewish
spouse is Chinese” and the family is raising the children with
a strong commitment to their Chinese heritage. “Because of
that, people want to show their children there’s something
more to the Jewish side of their background, beyond lighting
candles on Hanukkah,” he said.
One of the APJCC’s most popular offerings thus far has been
its Hebrew crash course, designed to give participants the
ability to sound out Hebrew words and follow along in a
synagogue service in just five lessons. Every session that has
been offered has filled to capacity. The APJCC promoted the
program with a large photo of a young man saying “It took
me five years to learn Hebrew. It took my wife just five days.”
Next on Fenton’s agenda is a discussion group for non-Jewish
parents who are married to Jews and want to raise their
children with some level of Jewish identity.
APJCC executives and board members are pleased with the
success of the Center for Jewish Life and Learning thus far.
“It has been recognized by area rabbis and educators as a
dynamic force for Jews from all backgrounds…Even though
they may have many different perspectives [they can come
together at the JCC] in an atmosphere where that is okay,”
said APJCC CEO Hal Bordy.
“I want us every day to become more and more relevant
to the Jewish community, and to the greater Silicon Valley
community,” Fenton said. “We want to be the place where
you send your children to preschool or after-school
enrichment classes, you go for parenting help, you work out,
you meet friends for a meal, you come in the evening for a
lecture series or a film that’s interesting to you… There’s so
much we can do from here. We want to embody the idea of
being a light unto the nations.”
Jenny Green is the marketing communications director at
Addison Penzak JCC Silicon Valley.

Finding the Jewish Heart
in an American Holiday by Mimi Sells
O
n a very rainy Monday in January, nearly 250 people
from across the South Peninsula of the San Francisco
Bay came together to participate in a range of
community service projects as part of the first Albert L. Schultz
JCC Mitzvah Day to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
Mitzvah refers to our obligations as Jews to live lives based
on compassion and justice. But how do we find time to do
that in our busy lives? The national movement for a day of
community service in memory of the life and work of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. provided both the inspiration and the
opportunity for the JCC to take a leadership role. Because
many businesses are closed on MLK Day, it allowed people to
step up and use the time as a “day on” instead of a “day off.”
What we needed to take this event off the drawing
board and into reality were three key elements:
• other community organizations to join us
• service projects that could be easily executed
in a few hours
• participants who wanted to give their time
And we needed a “visionary” to pull it all together. That
visionary was our new Adult Programs Manager Jane-
Rachel Schonbrun, who became the driving force behind
the ALSJCC Mitzvah Day. Schonbrun and her team first
reached out to other Jewish organizations from synagogues to
schools to service agencies, and they quickly got on board. Our
co-sponsors were BBYO, Congregation Beth Am, Congregation
Emek Beracha, Congregation Etz Chayim, Congregation Kol
Emeth, The Friendship Circle, Gideon Hausner Jewish Day
School, Hillel at Stanford, Jewish Family & Children’s Services,
Keddem Congregation, Kehillah Jewish High School, and
Temple Beth Jacob. All agreed to promote this event to their
members, students, and constituents.
Lining up interesting projects was the next task. We wanted to
offer a range of times, interests, and skill sets so that projects
would be interesting and age-appropriate for families with
young children as well teens, adults, and seniors. The team
reached out to local community agencies, and soon had
projects that included meal preparation at soup kitchens and
homeless shelters; environmental clean-up activities at local
beaches, and nature preserves; visiting residents of a senior
center; creating cards and gift packages for American and Israeli
soldiers on active duty abroad; constructing bookcases for a
needy school; and building affordable housing. Additionally,
many participants willingly contributed to planting a Palo Alto
Jewish Community Tree Garden in Israel. A $5 per person
donation to the Jewish National Fund was suggested.
10 jcc circle summer 2008
Now, it was time for marketing! The marketing team
developed an attractive brochure and poster promoting
the various projects and details for participation and
distributed it to all of the participating co-sponsors. A
press release announcing the event resulted in pre and post
coverage by both the Jewish and mainstream press. The
word went out at synagogue services, was sent home with
students, and was inserted into agency newsletters.
We designed an online registration form to ensure that
every project had appropriate staffing. Participants could
sign up alone or with family and friends. When projects
filled up, registration for that event closed. Participants
also indicated their T-shirt sizes so that everyone could get
a colorful T-shirt when they arrived to sign in on January
21. Thanks to publicity and active word of mouth, every
project filled up!
Then came Mitzvah Day….and the rains! Despite
downpours throughout the day, people showed
up—excited to participate even if it meant a day
of working in the mud!
Most people’s projects took place indoors, luckily.
For example, in one classroom at Kehillah Jewish High
School, families worked together on making cards and
gifts for hospitalized children. In another room, participants
of all ages wrote thoughtful letters to Jewish and American
soldiers. One small girl wrote on her card: “Dear Soldier—My
name is Natalie. I am eight years old. Thank you so much for
protecting me and my friends. We love you.“
One of the parents working on gifts for hospitalized kids told a
reporter that his family signed up for Mitzvah Day because “it’s
important to us to look for opportunities to promote people
getting along with each other, no matter their background or
skin color.”
A parent of preschoolers commented, “I know it seems young,
but we feel like it’s good to start early, that it’s not about doing
things for ourselves, but about doing things for other people.”
Schonbrun summed the day up best: “Mitzvah Day was a
unique opportunity for unity and cooperation that brought
people together for a shared mission to promote Dr. King’s
legacy of tolerance, peace, and equality while improving
conditions in our own community. Best of all, it was a fun and
inspirational day that left participants feeling accomplished
and energized…and ready to come back next year!”
Mimi Sells is the director of marketing and communications at
the Albert L. Schultz JCC.
JCC Association HELPS
JCC day camps shine
JCC day camps are the solution for busy parents looking
for a fun and inspiring summer experience for their
children. From traditional arts-and-crafts and swimming
to trendy film and culinary projects, JCC day camps offer
children the joy of exploring new arenas, making lifelong
friends, and just having fun.
Our Days of Caring and Sharing grants
enrich camp days
With the aid of The Coca-Cola Company® for
the past several years, we were able to help
our resident and day camps make community
service an integral part of the camp curriculum
and view it through a Jewish lens. We are
continuing to provide grants to camps with the
support of another generous donor, and this summer we are helping 45 camps
introduce their campers to the satisfaction of helping others, and to a deeper
understanding of the word mitzvah. The Mandel Center for
Jewish Education prepared a special unit on shalom, peace,
with art, music, and drama activities, to provide a richer
Jewish context for our camps’ JCC Association/Legacy
Heritage Fund Days of Caring and Sharing projects. Happily,
our donor has funded Days of Caring and Sharing for three
years, so we will be able to continue funding community-
service projects, which add so much to the camp day. For
more information, contact:
Charlene Wendell, consultant on camping services,
(212) 786-5126, cwendell@jcca.org.
We provide intensive training
for day camp directors
This past year we concluded our first Lekhu Lakhem for Day
Camp Directors Senior Seminar sponsored by the Mandel
Center for Jewish Education. Lekhu Lakhem is a two-year,
intensive, Jewish educational leadership program with
five seminars in North America and one extended seminar
in Israel. In the interim between the seminars, the Lekhu
Lakhem Fellows studied every other week with our faculty/
mentors, who also visited the camps to watch the directors
in action during the two summers of the program. Of the 18
day-camp directors accepted to Lekhu Lakhem as fellows,
sp Su
ec mm
ial er
17 completed the program.
in 2 0 0
ser 8
We even made a shidduch!
One couple met at Lekhu Lakhem
t
and were married by the program’s
director, Dr. Alvin Mars, in South Florida.
Three babies were born to the fellows over
the course of the programs, including one
set of twins. Participants found the program
so enriching that they didn’t want it to end.
So we launched an alumni program for
graduates of the fellowship, which meets
twice a month via phone conference calls.
JCC day camps have been immeasurably
enriched by this extraordinary program.
TAG: Jewish Values
through JCC Camping®
TAG: Jewish Values through JCC Camping®
is a curricular initiative designed to enrich
the Jewish component of the JCC camping
experience.
TAG has discrete Jewish content and
programming units for day and resident
camps, finding ways to integrate Jewish
life, experience and values into the fabric of
camp. Each initiative has drama, discussion,
games, art and music components.
TAG is:
• An acronym for Torah (learning and
living), Avodah (service and spirituality),
and Gemilut Chasadim (acts of loving
kindness). According to the saying of
our sages in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the
Sages), these are the three principles
upon which the world stands.
• A child’s game in which a special
quality of being “it” is passed on by
touching another person.
• Tagim (plural) are the ornate crowns
on letters found in the Torah scroll that
adorn and add beauty to the words of
the Torah, give them special emphasis
and hidden meaning, and make them look
different from any other text we read.

JCC DAY CAMPS COME IN ALL FLAVORS AND SIZES
Film, fashion, and fun
this summer at the 92nd
Street Y in New York
Two recent additions to the 92nd
Street Y’s roster of specialty camps
offer children ages 9-12 a chance to
experience film and fashion in the Big
Apple. At the 92nd Street Y Fashion
Design Camp with F.I.T., young Project
Runway fans spend a week learning
different techniques for hand and
machine sewing as they explore how
to turn a creative idea into an actual
design. Under the guidance of an FIT
(Fashion Institute of Technology)
professor, campers sketch and sew
with an eye toward developing both
“fashion sense” and a creative flair.
The camp takes place the week of
August 4–8 at the 92nd Street Y’s
main facility in Manhattan.
Back for a second season is the two-
week 92nd Street Y Filmmaking Camp,
where campers learn basic filmmaking
skills and then create their own short
films. Last year’s films featured wacky
superheroes battling boredom, a series
of “on the pathway” interviews called
“The Lunchtime Monologues,” and
“American Idol: Stranded Edition,” in
which a singer lost in a forest is saved
by a song. Children work with mini-DV
digital video cameras and Final Cut
Express computer editing equipment;
they get to show their films at a special
screening (parents welcome) at the
end of camp. The camp runs Monday,
July 28 to Friday, August 8 at the
Y’s campgrounds in Rockland County
(transportation provided). The 92nd
Street Y also offers specialty camps in
basketball, soccer, baseball, gymnastics,
science, and the arts, which supplement
its long-running co-ed day camps for
children ages 5-14 at the bucolic Henry
Kaufmann Campgrounds in Rockland
County, just north of New York City.
For more information about the 92nd
Street Y’s camp programs, please visit
www.92Y.org/camps.
Cooking and clowning
around at Marcus JCC
At Marcus JCC of Atlanta Camp
Isidore Alterman, campers who register
for Clowning Around will be instructed
by Babycakes, the professional clown,
in magic, costumes, clown face design,
juggling, balloon animal making and
more! During the weekly Shabbat
celebration, Clowning Around campers
get a chance to perform their “shtick”
for the entire camp!
Campers who register for Cooking
Capers just may be the next Iron Chef
or Top Chef. Creating edible delights
from Israel and Jewish heritage dishes,
campers also use items from the camp’s
organic garden. With an emphasis on
healthy recipes, campers prepare, cook,
and eat their own creations. They even
bring home their own camp cookbook
with all the recipes.
Merage JCC’s Camp
Haverim gets little ones
ready for kindergarten
To ensure preschoolers in Orange
County, California are developing
the skills they need for a successful
transition to kindergarten, Camp
Haverim “Tiny Tots” K’Ton Ton builds
on listening skills, motor skills, and
cognitive skills through daily routines
that incorporate games, songs,
movement experiences, stories and art
experiences. These developmentally
appropriate activities continue to build
self esteem and social awareness and
also help develop skills in the area of
language and early writing.
There are many opportunities for
children to incorporate kindergarten
readiness skills into their daily camp
routine: camp greetings and learning
each camper’s name, listening to the
daily activities, hearing camp rules and
guidelines, learning camp songs and
movement games—all help children to
explore, discover, create and grow.
JCC day camps promote creativity
and a love of the arts through many
performing-arts specialty camps.
JCC day campers
strut their stuff
at performing-arts
specialty camps
At Spotlight Youth Musical Theatre
Camp at the Jewish Community
Center of Louisville campers step into
a world of imagination and get caught
up in the magic of CenterStage’s youth
theater program. The camp culminates
in a musical theater performance with
each child playing a starring role. “The
campers work so hard for two weeks
in order to perform for all the other
campers and their families on the final
day of camp.” says Frank Goodloe,
lead instructor.
Milton & Betty Katz JCC of Atlantic
County Camp by the Sea is a seaside
camp along the beach and bay of
Margate, New Jersey. Over the past
three summers under the direction
of Lisa Gajdzis, Camp by the Sea’s
performing and visual arts camp has
reached approximately eighty girls
every summer. This group of talented
young stars participate in workshops
with professional dancers, vocal
coaches, various musicians,
and artists in residence
throughout the
summer working
towards a final
performance. “By the time
the show is performed,”
Lisa explains, “the
campers have total
ownership of the
final product, which
is magical to watch!”
After a fifteen year hiatus, one of
the JCC of Houston’s Performing
Arts Camp returns in the summer of
2008. In the first session, which runs
from June 16 – July 11, campers will
perform the Hooray for Hollywood, a
review of popular songs and scenes
from classic Hollywood movies such
as Singing in the Rain and Hello
Dolly. During the morning sessions,
campers will focus on building their
stage skills in dramatic arts, musical
theater, and dance, which will enhance
their performance skills and build
up their confidence for their final
presentations. The curriculum will
include guest artists in the specialty
fields of make-up, improvisation,
dance, voice, stage combat, and other
disciplines.
In the second session, from July 14
- August 8, campers will Give Their
Regards to Broadway, while working
on Broadway numbers that are positive
and uplifting for all ages. Campers will
be exposed to America’s—and American
Jews’—great heritage of musical theater
and dance. Throughout both sessions,
campers will also enjoy many of the
great aspects of JCC camping, including
Judaic programming, sports, camp
games, art and more.
 We have a huge network of day camps!

CANADA NJ Margate City Milton & Betty Katz JCC

AB Calgary Calgary Jewish Community Centre NJ Scotch Plains JCC of Central NJ
AB Edmonton JCC of Edmonton NJ Tenafly Kaplen JCC on the Palisades
BC Vancouver JCC of Greater Vancouver NJ Township of Wash. Bergen County Y, a JCC
NJ Wayne YM-YWHA of North Jersey

MB Winnipeg Rose & Max Rady JCC
ON Ancaster JCC of Hamilton and Area
ON Ottawa Soloway JCC
ON Toronto Bathurst Jewish Community Centre
ON Windsor JCC of Windsor
QC Montreal YM-YWHA/Montreal JCCs
everyone
NJ West Orange JCC MetroWest
NM Albuquerque Ronald Gardenswartz JCC Grtr Albuquerque
NY Albany Sidney Albert Albany JCC
NY Vestal JCC of Binghamton
NY Getzville JCC of Greater Buffalo

UNITED STATES
AL Birmingham Levite JCC
AZ Chandler Barness Family East Valley JCC
AZ Scottsdale Valley of the Sun JCC
AZ Tuscon Tuscon JCC
has a
NY Rochester JCC of Greater Rochester
NY New City JCC-Y of Rockland
NY Niskayuna Robert & Dorothy Ludwig Schenectady JCC
NY Utica Jewish Community Fed Mohawk Valley
NY Bronx Riverdale YM-YWHA
NY Brooklyn Shorefront YM-YWHA of Brighton

CA Foster City Peninsula JCC
CA Irvine Merage JCC of Orange County
CA Long Beach Barbara and Ray Alpert JCC
CA Rancho Mirage Jewish Community Center of the Desert
CA Pao Alto Albert L. Schultz JCC
seat at
NY Brooklyn Edith & Carl Marks JCH of Bensonhurst
NY Brooklyn Sephardic Community Center
NY Brooklyn Hebrew Educational Society
NY Brooklyn Kings Bay YM-YWHA
NY Long Beach Barry & Florence Friedberg JCC: Long Beach
NY Cedarhurst JCC of Greater Five Towns

CA La Jolla Lawrence Family JCC of San Diego County
CA San Francisco Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
CA Los Gatos Addison Penzak JCC of Silicon Valley
CA San Rafael Osher Marin JCC
CA Sherman Oaks Friends of Valley Cities JCC
CA Walnut Creek Contra Costa JCC
CA West Hills JCC at Milken
this table
NY East Hills Sid Jacobson JCC
NY Plainview Mid-Island Y JCC
NY Commack Suffolk Y JCC
NY New York JCC in Manhattan
NY New York YM & YWHA of Wash. Heights & Inwood
NY New York Sol Goldman YM-YWHA Educ. Alliance

The Educational Alliance and Boys & Girls Clubs of

NY New York 92nd Street Y
CO Denver Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center NY Forest Hills Central Queens YM-YWHA
CT West Hartford Mandell Jewish Community Center NY Little Neck Samuel Field/Bay Terrace YM-YWHA
CT Southbury JCC of Western Connecticut NY Staten Island JCC of Staten Island

America Help Kids Succeed by David Billotti

CT Stamford JCC of Stamford NY Tarrytown JCC on the Hudson
DE Wilmington Bernard & Ruth Siegel JCC NY Pleasantville Richard G. Rosenthal JCC
DC Washington Washington District of Columbia JCC NY Scarsdale JCC of Mid-Westchester
FL Boca Raton Adolph & Rose Levis JCC NC Asheville Asheville JCC

FL Plantation Samuel M. Helene Soref JCC
FL Coral Springs Alvin S. Gross Coral Springs- branch Soref
FL Davie David Posnack JCC
FL Jacksonville Jewish Community Alliance
FL North Miami Beach Michael- Ann Russell JCC
FL Miami Dave & Mary Alper JCC
FL Miami Beach Miami Beach JCC
FL Maitland JCC of Greater Orlando Maitland Campus
FL West Palm Beach JCC of Greater Palm Beaches- Kaplan JCC
FL Boynton Beach JCC of Greater Palm Beaches-Hochman
GA Dunwoody Zaban/Blank Branch- Isadore Alterman
GA Marietta Shirley Blumenthal Park Branch
GA Savannah Jewish Education Alliance
IL Chicago JCCs of Chicago
IL Chicago Hyde Park JCC
IL Chicago North Central Region Bernard Horwich JCC
IL Buffalo Grove JCC at Woodland Commons
IL Flossmor Sothern Region Anita M. Stone JCC
IL Northbook Z Frank Apachi Day Camp
IN Indianapolis JCC of Indianapolis
KS Overland Park JCC of Greater Kansas City
KY Louisville JCC of Louisville
LA New Orleans New Orleans JCC
LA Metairie Goldring-Woldenberg JCC- Metairie
ME Portland Jewish Commuity Alliance
MD Owings Mills JCC of Greater Baltimore/Camp Milldale
MD Rockville JCC of Greater Washington
MA Newton Centre JCCs of Greater Boston/ Camp Grossman
MA Framingham Metrowest JCC
MA Stoughton Striar JCC on the Fireman Campus
MA Marblehead JCC of the North Shore
MA Springfield Springfield JCC
MA Worcester Worcester JCC
MI Ann Arbor JCC of Washtenaw County
MI West Bloomfield JCC of Metropolitan Detroit
MN St Louis Park Sabes JCC
MN St Paul JCC of the Greater St. Paul Area
MO St Louis Carolyn H. Wohl Building
MO Chesterfield Marilyn Fox Building
NE Omaha Omaha JCC
NV Las Vegas JCC of Southern Nevada
NJ Bridgewater Shimon & Sara Birnbaum JCC
NJ Cherry Hill Betty & Milton Katz JCC
NJ Clifton YM-YWHA Div. Jewish Fed Clifton/Passaic
NJ Deal Park Ruth Hyman JCC of the Greater Monmouth
NC Charlotte Sandra and Leon Levine JCC
NC Durham Durham-Chapel Hill Jewish Federation
NC Raleigh Raleigh-Cary JCC
OH Akron Jerry Shaw JCC of Akron
OH Canton Canton JCC
OH Cincinnati JCC of Cincinnati
OH Beachwood JCC of Cleveland
OH Columbus Leo Yassenoff JCC of Greater Columbus
OH Dayton Majorie & Oscar Boonshoft Center for Edu.
OH Sylvania JCC of Toledo
OH Youngstown Youngstown JCC
OK Oklahoma City Oklahoma City Jewish Federation
OK Tulsa Charles Schusterman JCC
PA Allentown Allentown JCC
PA Harrisburg Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg
PA Wynnewood Kevy K. & Hortense M. Kaiserman JCC
PA Pittsburgh JCC of Greater Pittsburgh
PA Pittsburgh JCC of Greater Pittsburgh/ South Hills
PA Scranton Scranton JCC
PA Wilkes Barre JCC of Wyoming Valley
PA York York JCC
RI Providence JCC of Rhode Island
SC Charleston Charleston JCC
SC Columbia Katie & Irwin Kahn JCC
TN Memphis Memphis JCC
TN Nashville Gordon JCC
TX Austin Jewish Community Association of Austin
TX Dallas Aaron Family JCC of Dallas
TX Houston JCC of Houston
TX Houston JCC/ West Houston
TX San Antonio Barshop JCC of San Antonio
UT Salt Lake City I.J & Jeanne Wagner JCC
VA Fairfax JCC of Northern Virginia
VA Virginia Beach The Marilyn & Marvin Simon JCC
VA Richmond Weinstein JCC
WA Mercer Island Stroum JCC of Greater Seattle
WI Milwaukee Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC
For more information, contact:
Charlene Wendell,
consultant on camping services,
(212) 786-5126, cwendell@jcca.org
t
he Educational Alliance has been serving Lower East
Side youth and teens since its founding in 1889,
introducing innovative youth programs in the arts,
in counseling, in addiction services, and in education.
In those early years, the youngsters who flocked
to The Educational Alliance’s classes and programs
were the children of Jewish immigrants from Eastern
Europe, eager to learn the language and customs of
their new home. As the years passed, The Educational
Alliance continued to serve the children of immigrants,
but most of them came from Latin America and Asia.
Many of their needs were the same, and some were
different. Recently, after a careful planning process,
The Educational Alliance began seeking out like-minded
organizations that could help expand their offerings for
neighborhood youth. So the partnership between the
Educational Alliance and the equally-venerable Boys
& Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) was born. The BGCA,
through its mission statement, defines its purpose as “to
enable all young people, especially those who need us
most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring,
responsible citizens.” This is the same business The
Educational Alliance has been in since its inception.
With seven sites serving youth through after-school
programs, The Educational Alliance was immediately
ready to put to use the additional resources BGCA
brought to the table. As a charter member (which
means an organization that houses a BGCA club), The
Educational Alliance was eligible for funds, and the
www.jcca.org jcc circle 15
BGCA grants it received were more than enough to get
two new sites running, raising the number of Alliance
youth sites to nine. The Alliance now serves nearly three
thousand boys and girls through BGCA Charter Clubs.
Those signature programs range from homework help
and tutoring to financial education.
In addition to expanding The Educational Alliance’s slate
of offerings at its youth sites, the partnership with BGCA
has sharpened the skills of The Alliance’s staff. Through
conferences and curriculum training sponsored by
BGCA, Alliance staff has the opportunity to learn about
the latest trends in working with youth, as well as
to interact with peers from around the country. This
active listening and learning keeps The Alliance youth
programs vital. The BGCA offers a wealth of trainings,
including both program specific and general, to make
sure the sites are up to the standards and maintain the
quality experience expected of a Boys & Girls Club. In
addition, the BGCA maintains a robust intranet site for
program administrators, which has reports, position
papers, tool kits for assessment, and much more. BGCA
staff are also easily available by phone as needed to
answer questions and give guidance.
There are numerous examples of how the partnership
has paid off for program attendees. In the fall, Francisco
Feliz and Samantha Grant from the Edgies Teen Center
in The Alliance’s flagship building on East Broadway
won two of only ten $2,000 scholarships awarded

nationwide by Money Matters: Make It Count, a
BGCA financial literacy program sponsored by
the Charles Schwab Foundation. The Alliance
has incorporated programs like Power Hour
and Project Learn, which not only reinforce the
importance of homework and study outside of
school, but explore fun ways to make the most
of that study time. And, offerings like Smart
Girls and Passport to Manhood address life
skills and health and wellness. Says a program
attendee, “These after-school programs keep
me off the street and thinking about things that
are important.”
To be a charter member, The Educational
Alliance pays BGCA $11,000 in annual dues and
also files regular reports, including an annual
CELEBRATING ISRAEL @ 60Hiking up Masada at 5 a.m. to watch the sun rise from behind
Impact Assessment Report. This 29-page book
of checklists assesses every point of contact
a client will have with the clubs, from what
happens when the client walks in the door, to
relationships with staff, quality of programs, and
even the environment of the building and space
in which the programs are housed.
Ultimately, the partnership with CELEBRATING
Boys &
ISRAEL @ 60
Girls Clubs of America demonstrated The
Educational Alliance’s commitment to blending
public and private dollars to benefit the
organization’s neighbors. And, it forwards The
Alliance’s interpretation of its role as a Jewish
organization: to be open to all opportunities to
advance its efforts in caring for the community
of which it is a part.
“It’s an obvious partnership,” says Robin
Bernstein, president and CEO of The
Educational Alliance. “I don’t know why every
2 their service, as well as personal likes and dislikes, which
JCC doesn’t do it.”
David Billotti works in the communications
department at The Educational Alliance.
16 jcc circle summer 2008
Welcome Home
to Israel
by Stephanie Golden
“Welcome home.”
When you are 6,000 miles away from home in a place you have
never been before, “welcome home” is not what you expect. But
after you’ve heard it over and over from strangers on the street,
at Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, and everywhere in between, the
words seem right.
For me, going on Taglit-Birthright Israel with JCC Maccabi
Israel® was taking advantage of a free trip to visit the land where
it all began—where the Jews have faced hardships (and still do)
and where they fight to maintain a Jewish state, a place that
all Jews in the world can feel at home every single day. I didn’t
expect to come home changed. To be completely honest, I had
no idea what to expect.
I did know, though, that I wanted to have fun, and friends who
had taken the trip told me I would have a great time. I had no idea
that I would return feeling closer to 40 people I’d met ten days
earlier than to others I have known for years. I never expected to
meet eight Israeli soldiers who joined us for the second half of
our trip and discover they are just like me. More than anything, I
never anticipated feeling the connection with Israel that I feel upon
returning home.
1
the mountains was amazing, one of the most beautiful sights
I have ever seen(2
inpossibilities)
my life. Floating effortlessly in the Dead
Sea was easily one of the strangest experiences I’ve ever had; I
giggled uncontrollably because it felt so peculiar. Everyone was
enjoying slapping mud all over themselves and posing for funny
pictures. Looking out at the mountains in the Golan Heights was
breathtaking, although it was freezing and my feet were numb
within 20 minutes. I look back on these moments and realize that
they were firsts for me, and to experience them with my group
added so much to the intensity I felt.
Not all of our stops during our ten-day tour of Israel were to
admire the landscape. We visited the Old City of Jerusalem
For more information about
JCC Macccabi Israel, go to
www.jccmaccabiisrael.org,
or contact Adinah East at
easta@jcca.org
twice—the first and last days of our trip. I approached the
Western Wall for the first time, a little nervous, folded piece
of paper in hand, trying to absorb the moment. Touching
the cool, smooth stones and placing my prayer in a crack was
unforgettable. I’m not a particularly religious person; I never
have been and don’t expect to become one. I know that the
Kotel is a place of worship, but it is also a place where one can
make her time her own, and in my moment in front of the
Wall, I felt a strong connection to my Jewish heritage. I felt
proud to stand there.
We slept in Bedouin tents our second night, which was New
Year’s Eve. I was a little apprehensive, especially after seeing
that 40 of us would sleep all in one tent. Although it was
a little chilly and definitely out of many people’s comfort
zones, it turned out to be wonderful. A few people made a
mock ball drop, and everyone danced around a fire and sang
songs and hugged friends and strangers alike with happy
wishes for the new year.
Our group was also able to meet different people with stories
to tell: a Bedouin woman who went against her community’s
standards, never married, and started a successful skincare line;
a man who left Detroit 13 years ago looking for something to
define his life, found Tsfat and Kaballah and never came back;
eight Israeli soldiers who shared stories of courage during
helped us realize that they are just like us—fun-loving, gossip-
following, loudmouthed, talented young people. Meeting
many different people from many areas of the country from
diverse communities helped open our eyes to the real lives of
www.jcca.org jcc circle 17
the people who live in Israel, not just Jews, but all the different
people who make up the country.
The soldiers added so much to our experience. In many places,
we weren’t able to interact with the people. Having young
adults give us a glimpse into their lives in Israel helped us
to understand so much more about the country. They were
so open and honest, no matter how serious or frivolous our
questions were. Many of us weren’t sure what army service was
like, but hearing about the experiences that helped them grow
up and mature was important for us.
On the last night, we talked as a group about our “ah ha!”
moment. It was hard for me to choose. I felt like the whole trip
was my moment. But being in Independence Hall in Tel Aviv,
listening to our tour guide who closed with words along the
lines of, “This is your home, my friends. We welcome you with
open arms, and I want you to know that I consider you as much
of a citizen of this country as I do myself and my children. You
will always have a home here in Israel. Welcome home.”
Then she played “Hatikva,” and the whole group began to sing.
It was a moment when I was exactly where I was supposed to
be. I was a Jew in Israel, and it was the right place to be; any
other place wouldn’t have felt the same.
Leaving Israel was hard. I remember looking over at my
friends and seeing all our faces so gloomy. But I know that’s an
opportunity to go back— hopefully, within a year or so. More
than anything, I look forward to hearing “welcome home.”
Stephanie Golden is a junior at Hofstra University.
 It’s A Small World After All:
The Tri-Center Project
18 jcc circle summer 2008
A three-county project initiated by the World Confederation of
Jewish Community Centers and the Suffolk Y JCC in New York,
with the help of UJA Federation of New York in partnership with
JAFI (Jewish Agency for Israel), is bringing together Jewish
teenagers from Israel, Argentina, and the U.S. to form personal
and communal relationships.
The Suffolk Y JCC in Commack and the JCC of the Greater
Five Towns in Cedarhurst, both on Long Island, already had an
ongoing relationship with the French Hill matnas in Jerusalem
through UJA’s Partnership 2000, so it wasn’t such a stretch to
include a JCC from another country. “Nine years ago, we were
the Partnership 2000 pilot project for New York,” says Joel
Block, executive director of the Suffolk Y JCC. “We once again
played the same role for Tri-Center,” as the project is called.
Twenty-seven teens participated in the project, nine from each
community, with three adult staff members. The teens have
visited New York and Buenos Aries, and plan to go to Israel in
July with their parents.
Executive Director Marcelo Taussik of Lamroth Hakol JCC/
Synagogue in Buenos Aries, Argentina explained that when his
JCC was invited by the WCJCC three years ago to join with
Long Island and Israel, “it helped that we have a lot of people
who speak English, so we could communicate on many levels,
from the board to the children.” Taussik sees the project’s
overall goal as creating a new group of young Jewish global
leaders who can think of Jews as one people rather than small
separate groups in the Diaspora, unconnected to one another.
“These nine, as of 2009, will take over in our community as
young leaders. We believe these are our future leaders.”
Israeli teens don’t know anything about Diaspora Jews, says
Yochanan Bechler, the director of French Hill, and he believes
that visiting outside communities makes them better Jews and
better Israelis. “Most of them have too much to do or have too
many priorities, but one of them is not the Diaspora.” When
the young Israelis have the opportunity to see established
Jewish communities outside of Israel and to see how Jews live—
particularly anything that has to do with religion—“it opens their
eyes,” Bechler says. Secular Israelis—most of the population—
don’t view religious practice as part of their Jewish identity,
according to Bechler, and visiting synagogues in Argentina or the
U.S. helps them to feel less threatened by Judaism the religion.
The ultra-Orthodox they encounter in Israel do not represent
something they want to be attached to, Bechler says. “That’s why
this connection is so important.”
There are other Tri-Center projects on the way. The Sephardic
JCC in Brooklyn is being matched with a JCC in Toulouse,
France and one in Gilo, Israel. JCCs in Staten Island, London,
and Pisgat Ze’ev are also beginning to work together. Bechler
and Block are developing a joint program with the Islamic Center
in Westbury and an Arab center in Jerusalem. “We like this
position of being leaders for international projects,” Block adds.
“It is the dream of the World Confederation that every JCC in
the world have at least two fellow JCC partners—one in Israel and
one in another Jewish community,” says Jerome B. Makowsky,
WCJCC president.
www.jcca.org jcc circle 19
W
e all come from different corners
of the world, we eat different
kinds of food, we speak different
languages, we live in different cultures,
and each one of us is at a slightly different
stage in life. Evan is about to conclude
high school, Adi will begin college in a few
months, and I, Ofer, will graduate only in
a year and a half and will then begin my
military service in the Israeli army.
Despite these differences, we were able to
develop a special relationship through the
Tri-Center Project initiated by the World
Confederation of JCCs together with the
Suffolk Y JCC and the Greater Five Towns
JCC in New York, the French Hill Community
Center in Jerusalem, and the Lamroth Hakol
JCC/Synagogue in Buenos Aires, and thanks
to a generous grant from UJA Federation of
New York that is administrated by the Jewish
Agency of Israel.
I’m writing this sitting in Evan’s room in
Buenos Aires; Adi is here from New York.
We have spent a whole week together
experiencing unique programs, and we
have also found time to discuss every
topic imaginable and develop an amazing
friendship.
On Friday, we went to the synagogue at
Lamroth Hakol. Adi and I felt it was so
different from our synagogues back home.
In Lamroth Hakol, they sang and played the
guitar. But still, the text was the same text.
We are the same people with the same roots.
This special atmosphere made us open up
and speak about everything—school, friends,
love, disappointment, and all the issues that
engage youth all over the world.
This encounter in Buenos Aires is part of
a three-year project that began two years
ago. We first met in Long Island, New York
last summer. We then continued to meet
back home and prepare for the next visit
in Buenos Aires, and in a few months all of
us, together with our parents, will spend a
week in Jerusalem.
We want to thank everyone involved in
the project, and we’re certain that this is
not the end…
Ofer Polivoda, Jerusalem
Adi Ramer, New York
Evan Rusak, Buenos Aires
 The exhibition, on display from
February 1 through April 30, 2008,
Innovative Multi-
came to the JCCSF through a Sensory Therapy Room
longstanding relationship with
for Special Needs
jcc
the JCC in Manhattan, where the
show ran last fall. “A very special Children and Adults
relationship has developed between
JCC of the Greater Five Towns

happenings
these two JCCs,” explains Director
of the Eugene & Elinor Friend Center
for the Arts Lenore Naxon. “We’re
very similar: we’re both in diverse,
urban areas and we’re at the same
stage in our organizational life cycles.
what’s going on in the north american We’re constantly sharing ideas and
jewish community center movement resources; it is a pleasure to work with
colleagues there.”
Cedarhurst, NY
Expanding the services offered to
children and adults with special needs,
the Jewish Community Center of the
Greater Five Towns in Cedarhurst,
New York opened a multi-sensory,
or Snoezelen® room to treat those
with a wide range of cognitive and
neurological disorders such as autism,
traumatic brain injuries, dementia and

JCCSF Photo Exhibition
Shows Common Ground
among Jerusalem’s
Children
JCC of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
In Jerusalem, Jewish and Muslim
children are deeply divided by
adult issues of religion and politics,
but are they really so different?
“Beyond the Wall: Kids with
Cameras—The Jerusalem Project,”
a recent photography exhibit at the
Jewish Community Center of San
Francisco, was born when New York
photojournalist Jason Eskenazi set out
to teach photography to Jerusalem’s
children, and in the process discovered
the common ground of childhood
among these disparate neighbors.
Eskenazi spent eight months teaching
24 kids—12 Israeli, 12 Palestinian—basic
photographic techniques. Then
he stood back and watched as the
budding photographers, ages 8 to
12, told the stories of their day-to-
day lives in photos. The photographs
presented the expected contrasts—a
girl reading the Koran, Jews praying
at the Western Wall—as well as
similarities in how children experience
the world around them.
Language barriers and cultural
tensions made a joint workshop
impossible, but the two groups were
ultimately brought together, at least
figuratively, by viewing the others’
work. The children initially expressed
hostility towards one another, but once
they saw the photographs, they were
drawn into each others’ worlds. “They
were fascinated to see the lives of their
counterparts,” Eskenazi said.
New York JCC Hosts
Nation Of Bhutan
JCC of Mid-Westchester
Scarsdale, NY
The JCC of Mid-Westchester in
Scarsdale hosted various dignitaries
from the small nation of Bhutan in
January. The visitors were on a fact-
finding mission on special-needs
education in the United States. They
spent time in the JCC’s “Toward
Tomorrow” special needs nursery
program and visited all classrooms,
therapy areas, and the JCC’s
gymnastics facility. The JCC site was
recommended by Laurie Levine, a
New York State regional trainer for
SETRC, Special Education Training and
Resource Center.
Based on what they learned during
their trip, the Bhutanese team intends
to define a special-needs education
system appropriate for their country
and to begin training staff and teachers
accordingly. Currently, the primary
providers of special education in
Bhutan include one school for the
blind and one school for the hearing
impaired, plus a vocational school for
young adults that offers training in
local handicrafts and music.
Bhutan is a small country in the
Himalayan Mountains between India
and Tibet, east of Nepal. Until the
middle of the twentieth century,
Bhutan was almost completely isolated
from the rest of the world—the only
way to see it was on foot or horseback.
Alzheimer’s disease.
The idea to incorporate the innovative
therapy came from Executive Director
Rina Shkolnik. “I saw a Snoezelen room
in Israel and noticed there was a positive
response to multi-sensory therapy and
wanted to know more about it and how
we could successfully integrate it into
our programs,” explained Shkolnik.
The room is housed at the JCC’s site at
Temple Israel in Lawrence.
Made possible by a special grant from
New York State Senator Dean Skelos,
the Snoezelen room is a therapeutic
multi-sensory environment that uses
lighting effects, color, sounds, music,
scents and touch to create a soothing
and relaxing atmosphere. Based
upon individual needs, each sensory
component can be adjusted to enhance
therapy, learning, and relaxation.
Multi-sensory rooms have been proven
to enhance awareness and positive
behaviors for those with severe sensory
impairment or neurological disorders.
“Thanks to Senator Skelos, the JCC is
able to offer a safe and non-threatening
environment for people with special
sensory requirements where they can
experience greater self-control and
achievements that overcome inhibitions,
enhance self-esteem, and reduce
tension,” concluded Shkolnik.
You Go, Girl!
St. Louis JCC
St. Louis, MO
The St. Louis Jewish Community Center
celebrated the twenty-second annual
National Girls and Women in Sports
Day (NGWSD) by hosting a “Girls Night
Out” for more than forty girls from
the St. Louis community at the newly
renovated JCC Marilyn Fox Building.
First to eighth grade girls had the run
of the JCC to participate in sports and
fitness activities. Former high school
and college athletes coached soccer,
basketball, track, and cheerleading, and
the girls tried their hands in the batting
cages, and the sport wall. The night also
included a T-shirt, refreshments and
raffle prizes from local sports teams,
stores and the JCC.
NGWSD began in 1987 as a day to
remember Olympic volleyball player Flo
Hymann for her athletic achievements
and her work to assure equality for
women’s sports. Hyman died of Marfan’s
syndrome in 1986 while competing in a
volleyball tournament.
The St. Louis JCC has supported
NGWSD since 2003, and is passionate
about female athletics and getting girls
involved at a young age.
Chicago JCC Opens
Separate-Gender
Workout Rooms
Bernard Horwich Jewish
Community Center
Chicago, IL
How can religious women work out in a
Jewish environment and still maintain a
sense of modesty? This past February,
Chicago’s Bernard Horwich Jewish
Community Center provided a way
when they launched separate-gender
workout facilities. Keycard-only access
and window blinds give the areas privacy.
The JCCs of Chicago designed these
spaces to help Orthodox Jews maintain
the level of modesty with which they
are comfortable, and a large spike in
membership was the result. By the
end of the two-hour grand opening
event, 55 people had signed up for trial
memberships (the number has since
climbed to 121).
The facilities opened at a time when
the Orthodox community is becoming
more conscious of the importance of
health and fitness, according to Emily
Minkow, regional director, Northern
Region of Jewish Community Centers
of Chicago. A 2006 study published in
the Jewish Community Health Survey
of West Rogers Park and Peterson
Park found that 31 percent of adults
were overweight, with an additional 25
percent were obese.

20 jcc circle summer 2008 www.jcca.org jcc circle 21

A Pretty Girl
Is Like a Melody
Springfield JCC
Springfield, MA
Golden Girls are strutting their stuff
at the Springfield Jewish Community
Center. This year the Springfield JCC
is celebrating its sixteenth year as
sponsor and organizer of the Ms.
Senior Massachusetts Golden Girl
Pageant. Any woman 60 years of age
or older and living in Massachusetts
can enter the competition. The
pageant’s main purpose is to give
women who have entered the “age of
elegance” a showcase for their talents,
life experiences, intelligence, and
inner and outer beauty. The winner of
the Ms. Senior Massachusetts Golden
Girls Pageant goes on to compete on
the national level for the title of Ms.
Senior America.
In the months leading up to the
pageant, contestants meet several
times to get to know each other and
to rehearse with Frank P. Jackson,
the pageant’s musical director and
accompanist. Each contestant is given
advice on hair color, hair style, and
stage make-up by a local beautician, and
coached on modeling and interviewing
skills by two former contestants. The
mayor of Holyoke, where the pageant is
held, hosts a brunch for the contestants
at a city museum.
“Although the pageant is based
on competition, we stress the
opportunity to make new friends
and improve one’s self image,”
says Bobbie Levin, director of the
senior adult department at the
SJCC. The Springfield JCC invites all
contestants to join the approximately
sixty members in the JCC’s Cameo
Club, and they perform throughout
Massachusetts during the year. They
also write and produce an annual
cameo performance at the SJCC.
Proceeds support the reigning queen
to go to the next national competition.
The JCC welcomes women from all
backgrounds to the Ms. Senior MA
Pageant and encourages them to enjoy
traditional JCC hospitality.
22 jcc circle summer 2008
Protecting Creation
and Bettering the
Community One Tree
at a Time
JCC of Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN
Summer soon will be a little cooler and a
little greener for children and families at
the Arthur M. Glick JCC in Indianapolis,
and the JCC will fulfill the Jewish
obligation to care for the world. The JCC
planted 26 trees—made possible through
a partnership with Keep Indianapolis
Beautiful, Inc.—around the JCC sports
field and playgrounds at a tree-planting
event in April. Families, those concerned
about the environment, and the general
public joined in this celebration. The tree
planting was part of the NeighborWoods
program, a partnership between Keep
Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. and the City
of Indianapolis to plant 100,000 trees
in Indianapolis over the next ten years.
NeighborWoods is made possible in part
by sponsors, including founding sponsors
Indianapolis Power & Light Company;
Veolia Water, Indianapolis; and from
recent federal funding secured by U.S.
Senator Richard Lugar, U.S. Senator Evan
Bayh and the late U.S. Representative
Julia Carson.
Levite JCC Knitters
Keep Their Needles
Clicking for Others
Levite JCC
Birmingham, AL
Thirty-five knitters meet regularly
at the Levite Jewish Community
Center in Birmingham, Alabama, to
practice their craft together and to
let those whose lives are touched by
cancer know that their community is
surrounding them with love, warmth,
and hope. The Circle of Life knitters
recently presented 180 pink scarves
and shrugs to the University of
Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB’s)
Comprehensive Cancer Center in
honor of National Breast Cancer
Month for patients in the radiation
and chemotherapy outpatient clinics.
Erin Shaw Street, director of UAB’s
Comprehensive Cancer Center, said
she was tremendously grateful for the
efforts of the knitters and the LJCC
and thanked everyone for starting
what she called a “caring revolution.”
Read Me a Story
JCCs of Greater Boston
Boston, MA
The Jewish Community Centers of
Greater Boston (JCCGB) launched the
largest educational program in its 50-
year history with The PJ Library, an
initiative providing free Jewish books
and CDs for as many as four thousand
young children within the next year.
Each participating child will receive
a monthly gift of an age-appropriate
Jewish book or CD at no cost for a
full year. Along with the books and
music, families receive parent guides
designed to complement and enhance
the PJ experience. After the first year,
families can re-enroll their children at
a significantly subsidized rate.
Boston is among the latest cities to
participate in the program, which
was started two years ago by the
Harold Grinspoon Foundation in West
Springfield, Massachusetts, and has
now expanded to more than fifty-five
communities across the country.
“Reading stories and listening to
music together are among the
most powerful and nurturing early
childhood experiences. The PJ Library
will turn these special moments
into Jewish moments,” said Winnie
Sandler, a member of the Grinspoon
Foundation’s board of trustees.
A team of experts in children’s
literature, music and education selects
the PJ Library books and CDs to
communicate Jewish stories, heritage
and values. ”This is one of
the most exciting and
important programs
in the JCC’s history,”
www.jcca.org jcc circle 23
said Mark Sokoll, president and CEO of
the JCCs of Greater Boston. “The PJ
Library makes it possible for a kid to
ask for a great Jewish book as often
as she wants Goodnight Moon, and for
parents to have the tools they need to
talk about the book with their child as
they embark on their Jewish journey
together,” he said.
A Harold Grinspoon Foundation
survey found that before joining
The PJ Library, the families in
the program owned five or fewer
Jewish children’s books, and only
23 percent of the parents said they
were very likely to buy Jewish books
or CDs. However, 75 percent of the
participants surveyed said they now
read The PJ Library books to their
children once a week or more.
More than $230,000 has already been
raised by the JCCGB to launch the
local program. The JCC will be sending
out letters to nearly 60,000 families in
the region inviting them to participate
in The PJ Library. The annual cost of
the books and CDs is being entirely
covered by donations. First Basket, The Tribe and Mauvaise
“We have funding for over three
thousand families and I am convinced
that we will be able to attract additional
support, as needed,” Sokoll said. He
said the JCC’s goal is to enroll 11,000
children over the next three years,
representing more than eighty percent
of all Jewish families with young
children in the Greater Boston area.
Documentary Is the
Highlight of Tenth
Annual Louisville
Jewish Film Festival
JCC of Louisville
Louisville, KY
Capacity audiences at the JCC and
a local theater enjoyed the eight
international award-winning films
screened at the tenth annual Louisville
Jewish Film Festival sponsored by the
JCC. This year’s festival included The
Black Book, Saved by Deportation,
What a Wonderful Place, Jellyfish, The
Foi. The festival received support from
over fifty individuals and patrons.
The highlight of the festival was the
Speed Art Museum Gala. This evening
in the Speed Sculpture Garden and
theater featured hors d’oeuvres and
a screening of the award-winning film
The Rape of Europa. The stunning
documentary depicts the story of
theft, destruction and miraculous
survival and recovery of Europe’s
great art treasures during World
War II. Prior to the film, Kim Spence,
associate curator at the Speed Art
Museum, discussed the museum
profession’s ongoing attempts to
return looted artwork to its rightful
owners and the Speed’s research on
its own collection.

Olé for JewMex!
Boulder JCC
Boulder, CO
“This is why there are JCCs. This
was a perfect event,” Wayne Seltzer
said as he headed out the door of
the Boulder JCC on a chilly January
night following JewMex: The Sights,
Sounds and Tastes of Jewish Mexico.
Wayne was not headed home,
despite having just enjoyed an art
show, a concert, a meal, a film, and
a panel discussion. He and his wife
were off for a nightcap at Mamacita’s,
where they kissed the mezuzah on the
cozy Mexican restaurant’s door on the
way in and out—and where the idea for
JewMex began.
Boulder JCC program director Kathryn
Bernheimer was having dinner with
friends when she noticed that a
Mexican painting on the wall looked
suspiciously like a yeshiva bocher. She
thought life as a Jewish professional
was causing her to see everything
through a Jewish lens. Turns out,
owner Carmen Epstein was indeed a
Jewish Mexican artist.
For JewMex, Carmen put 35 large,
colorful canvases on display at the
Boulder JCC. The opening night
reception included a Sephardic
Mexican meal—the pistachio mole was
fantastico. The overflow crowd of 100
then settled in for a short concert of
melancholy Ladino music by visiting
cantor Robert Micha’el Esformes,
24 jcc circle summer 2008
followed by a screening of the one-hour
documentary, Tijuana Jews. After the
film, five local Jews from Mexico took
the stage to share their own cross-
cultural experiences.
The audience, a mix of BJCC regulars
and first-timers, left feeling satiated
with ideas, flavors and music.
Enlightened by their immersion
experience, they headed home to bed.
All except Wayne.
Rosh Hodesh:
It’s a Girl Thing!
JCC of the North Shore
Marblehead, Massachusetts
The JCC of the North Shore invites
girls in grades 5 and 6 for a couple
of hours one night a month—and
encourages them to bring some
friends. Rosh Hodesh, the first day of
the Hebrew month, is traditionally a
holiday for women. Girls get together
at the JCC on or near the new moon
to do ritual, to munch on snacks, to
learn, and to feel comfortable, Jewish,
and good about themselves. Jocelyn
Segal, the leader of the group, said,
“The girls are full of deep questions
about Judaism and life. It is amazing
how much they want to talk and
discuss. Activities I predict will take
10 minutes take easily 20-25! They
were equally engaged in discussing
society’s pressure from the media
to look a certain way. They critiqued
magazines and had to find positive
and negative images. After that the
girls began a letter writing campaign,
letting companies and magazines
know what their reactions were to the
content and pictures inside.”
Beach Boys Provide the
Beat for the Soloway
JCC’s first Purim Play
Soloway JCC
Ottawa, ON Canada
Purim is a time of topsy turvey
masquerade—rabbis in carnival
costumes, the roaring of greggars
over the voices on the bima, and lots
of up-turned wine glasses and over-
the-top escapades. The Soloway JCC
celebrated Purim mishigas with its first
Purim play, The Megillah According to
the Beach Boys.
What do the Beach Boys, blonde icons
of California’s surfing culture, have to
do with royal intrigues in the Persian
court and Jewish tradition? The
answer was not immediately apparent,
but as in the Megillat Esther, many
secret identities were revealed.
Beach Boys Purim was directed by
Gavriella Silverstone, who majored in
theater at the University of Ottawa
and is now finishing her degree in
drama therapy. Silverstone captured
the essence of Purim, “Our cast
members were from 18-80 years
old, and our focus was on fun and
playfulness. No matter what age you
are, you should still have fun and
silliness in your life.”
Andy Shaevel is a
Buffalo booster.
“Buffalo is an incredible place to live
and raise a family. It’s small enough
so that you feel you can make a
difference, but big enough that you
don’t feel you’re living in Mayberry,”
he says. Although Shaevel loves his
adopted home town, he’s not sanguine
about its problems. Like many rust-
belt cities across the North and
Midwest, Buffalo faces real economic
and demographic challenges. Many
of the factories, mills, and plants
that provided middle-class lives to
thousands of workers are gone, and
the population is shrinking and graying.
“A lot of my friends went to college
out-of-town and rooted their careers
in major urban centers,” Shaevel says.
“What remains in Western New York
are their parents and grandparents.”
To maintain an inviting place to live,
a place where young people want to
stay or settle, Buffalo needs to find a
new nexus of opportunity, he believes.
Because the State University of New
York has multiple university locations
across the state, one strategy is
to transform Buffalo into the Ann
Arbor of New York. “We have a
solid core of hospitals and research
centers in Western New York, and
in conjunction with the University
at Buffalo, significant research and
spin-off business opportunities are
being created,” Shaevel says. “This is
an investment that I believe will pay
real dividends.”
Similar challenges face Buffalo’s
Jewish community. Demographic
trends show a population of 25,000
Jews in the 1970’s, less than 12,000
today and recent forecasts project
only 8,000 by 2018. The Jewish
www.jcca.org
www.jcca.org jcc circle
Andrew Shaevel:
Planning Ahead Insures
a Better Future
By Miriam Rinn
federation is raising roughly the same
dollars, but with inflation, the dollars
are worth less and they’re coming
from fewer donors. Yet Buffalo has
more Jewish programs, services and
institutional buildings now than it did
25 years ago. Shaevel believes there’s
a need to adjust the community’s
infrastructure. “We’re supporting the
infrastructure of 30 years ago with
a population and donor base that is
less than half the size it was then. All
the agencies in this community need
to come together and collaborate in
a smarter way,” he says. “One of the
projects I’m heavily invested in is to
bring all the constituencies together
to realign our community. We’re doing
some very inclusive and creative
large-scale planning, with the hope of
proactively creating new scenarios for
our community before we are besieged
with crisis.”
Shaevel moved to Buffalo from
Parsipanny, New Jersey, at nine
years old when his father went to
work for a frozen-food company.
A food technologist by training,
Shaevel’s father started his career
at Manischewitz and then went on to
Nabisco where he developed delicious
new products, including double-
stuffed Oreos. The younger Shaevel,
an entrepreneur, is more interested in
finance and marketing than cookies or
crackers, and has focused his career
in investment banking and strategic
planning since he graduated Canisius
College. “It’s the thrill of doing deals,”
Shaevel says, that interests him.
“The exciting part is developing a
unique strategy and then figuring
out how to put the pieces together.”
Shaevel has successfully crafted
businesses in banking, automobile
finance, mortgages and receivable
leadership profile
management, as well as applying his
energy and talent to the local and
national philanthropic community. His
list of communal affiliations is long
and diverse, ranging from the Hillel
Foundation of Buffalo to United Way
to Junior Achievement, as well as the
Florence G. Heller-JCC Association
Research Center and the Executive
Committee of JCC Association.
Shaevel chairs the Branding
Implementation and Marketing Task
Force, which rolled out the JCC
Brand, the wide-ranging branding
project that JCC Association offered
to JCCs.
A former president of the JCC of
Greater Buffalo and chair of the Long
Range Planning Task Force of the
Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo,
Shaevel has definite ideas about what
needs to be done to ensure the vitality
of the Buffalo Jewish community. “We
have to break out of the traditional
institutional silos, eliminate the
duplication of efforts, and share space
and resources across the community.”
In addition to providing health and
fitness services, early childhood
programs, and camping, “the JCC
has the unique opportunity to serve
as a central gathering place, a nexus
where our community gathers.” Early
on in the planning process, Shaevel
consulted with JCC Association
and learned that other mid-size
communities were facing similar
challenges, although some are growing
while others are shrinking. “They have
similar issues but different emotional
baggage. We’re hopeful that the
outcome of our planning process will
be very successful and create a new
model for us and other communities.
Despite our challenges, in many ways, I
think we’re ahead of the curve.”
jcc circle 25
25
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