Making a Difference: Recipients of MOMENT'S Community Service Awards, Part I
Making a Difference RECIPIENTS OF MOMENT'S COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARDS Our 21 distinguished judges were overwhelmed with qualified nominees in moment's second International Community Service Awards...
...What we could do during those two months with students would be everlasting...
...The U.S Army benefited from his leadership training programs...
...Schiff s recent work on supplementary education, after a lifetime devoted to day school education, made a major contribution to improving synagogue schools Emanuel Goldman, executive director of the BJE of Baltimore, confirms "Schiff s study was a milestone m assessing the status of the congregational and community religious schools That study clearly set in motion a good hard look at educational programs...
...She makes a beautiful potpourri of the sources and brings everything that is worthwhile to know about the Bible together " Leibowitz, who by reputation is the best Bible teacher in Jerusalem, taught at the Mizrachi Women Teachers' Seminary in Jerusalem from 1930, when she arrived in Israel from Riga, until 1955...
...Press of America), This I Believe (Jason Aronson) and United States Jewry (Wayne State), the first volume of a four-volume history of the American Jew The second volume will be released this year and the following two in subsequent years Marcus still directs the Archives and serves as Milton and Hatue Kutz Distinguished Service professor at H.U C. He wakes up at 6:45 each morning and works a full day, interrupted only by two or three short naps "When I go to bed at 11:00," says Marcus, "I read in bed, but I only like Westerns and detective stories...
...and Charlotte G Holstein, member, board of governors, American few-ish Committee question remains how we can take the congregational school system and use the available instructional time to retrain the teacher so that the teaching experience between the student and the teacher expands to include parents...
...The Conference of Jewish Educator Organizations, established in 1975, became an umbrella group for the Reform National Association of Temple Educators, the Conservative Jewish Educators Assembly, the inter-ldeological National Council for Jewish Educators and the Orthodox Educators Council of America One of the first in the establishment Sylvia Ettenberg spent her first summers after college graduation as a counselor at the Central Jewish Institute's Cejwin Camp, one of the first Jewish camps...
...It can raise issues and challenge people to think...
...Twenty years from now the establishment leaders are going to sit down and do a study on what happened to my generation and why we're not involved," he continues 'They're going to find three things...
...Expansion and renovation of the World Center for Teaching the Holocaust, which conducts daily seminars for 30,000 participants annually and runs intensive month-long international seminars in English, French and Spanish for selected leading educators who return to their home communities, extending Yad Vashem's educational outreach to the grassroots level worldwide...
...I didn't know what to do," he says, "and this thing just grew and grew, like a prairie fire...
...Almost every entry includes a bibliography...
...Her weekly radio shows in Israel opened the world of commentary to many who had no other access to it," says moment's judge Deborah Lipstadt Vanessa Ochs, who explored women's opportunities to study Bible in Jerusalem in her book Words on Fire (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990), calls Leibowitz "the source, the real thing...
...They are the scholars and artists who touch innumerable lives...
...Yad Vashem deserves tremendous credit for keeping the memory of the Shoah alive," asserts moment's judge Jonathan Sarna...
...O YAD VASHEM Documenting the Short "Long before American Jews were interested in the Shoah, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem, was gathering material...
...Washington attorney David Orbuch is a typical volunteer New to the city and not affiliated with a synagogue, he found volunteering a way to benefit his new When he retires in May 1991 after 20 years as executive vice-president of the Board of Jewish Education (BJE) of Greater New York, Alvin Irwin Schiff will leave a parting shot and a prescription- "Jewish supplementary schools do a poor job in all subject areas and show no positive growth in children's Jewish attitudes " To succeed in educating our children, Schiff advises, "Transform the educational thrust to family education...
...His lifelong volunteensm has been recognized by Israel's Trade Minister Ariel Sharon, President Jimmy Carter, the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the Milwaukee Urban League, among many others...
...When I first started...
...Winter has also been active for many years in the American Jewish Committee, and he recendy participated in a Vatican meeting with Pope John Paul II discussing measures to combat antisemitism in Eastern Europe...
...After traveling to South Africa in 1987, where he organized the Jewish student community into anti-apartheid groups, he was barred from the country...
...To Count a People (Univ...
...With new government incentives and research and development incenuves, we are trying to show Israeli employers how to expand wisely " Winter is most pleased that CEGI's message of economic growth has finally been accepted by American Jewish establishment organizations like the Council of Jewish Federations Winter wants to get away from what he calls the standard excuse—"I give to U.J.A...
...He cites the National Archives or the Library of Congress manuscript collection as two world-reknowned archives that have a limited scope government documents and donated personal collections, respectively Aside from Marcus's teaching and archival work, he also strives to paint a complete picture of world Jewry through his many books According to Marcus, his The Jew in the Medieval World A Source Book (Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1938) is the oldest Jewish history text book, and it is sull used today in classrooms Last year he published three books...
...Ettenberg may never have thought of herself as a pioneer blazing a path for other women to follow, but her peers consider her one," says moment's judge Rabbi Robert Abramson...
...Established more than 80 years ago, the organizauon, according to Larry Hoffman, director of the northeast region junior camp, has begun to reverse a declining growth rate and holds a renewed sense of optimism about its future...
...Most importantly, they are the builders of a better world...
...market...
...Orbuch, who met his wife Jill Steiger at the first December 25 program, says, "I've probably realized more from the time I spent volunteering than I could have possibly given " For Karen Silberman, volunteer coordinator at the Coalition for the Homeless, the community services department has become invaluable...
...It was interesting and exciting to read of the various individuals and their projects going on in such a variety of settings reflecting unusual imagination, determination, scholarship and enthusiasm for Jewish life...
...He is also familiar with the large scale philanthropic efforts American Jewry is undertaking on Israel's behalf...
...Volunteers spend thousands of hours each year cooking, painting, cleaning, tutoring and providing other services to residents in 28 family apartments, three emergency shelters and four transitional homes that the Coalition operates "They're very consistent and thorough," says Silberman of the DC-JCC volunteers, "And there's always a big response...
...She taught Bible at Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv and now—at age 86— teaches more than 20 hours a week at Hebrew University in Jerusalem Her current students include rabbis enrolled in a special program at Yeshiva University, professional educators in the Jerusalem Fellows program, high school teachers from around the world, international college students in Hebrew University's one-year program and Israelis in adult education...
...I found I had really deep feelings for Judaism, the Jewish community and Israel that were all my own...
...Kibbutz Ketura, founded in 1973 by Young Judaeans and tsofim (Israeli scouts), helps new American immigrants and native Israelis make the transition to the kibbutz, way of life...
...So I organized the Jewish Community Council of Oceanside, the first community council on Long Island, and served as its president for five years...
...Saturdays are now Shabbat and the week is easier to get through with Shabbat to look forward to," wrote a One Pure Shabbat participant Elmer Winter is well aware of the internal and foreign political problems confronting Israel...
...They are the quiet heroes who without fanfare make a difference in our communities...
...They are our neighbors and our friends...
...these documents tell the facts about Jewish life in Europe up to and during the Shoah...
...She was in constant conversation with the best rabbinical minds of the centuries...
...He has directed synagogue religious schools and youth activities and has been a professor ol educauon, having earned his Ph D in educational administration from Yeshiva University in 1959 His most recent books are Jewish Supplementary Schooling' An Educational System in Need of Change (BJE of Greater New York, 1988) and Issachar American Style' Contemporary Jewish Education (Rossel Books/Behrman House, 1988...
...Today the Archives serves as a model research institution worldwide, it contains eight million pages of material, supports 10 to 17 scholastic fellows each year and runs on an annual budget of close to $400,000 But in 1947, Marcus created the Archives under the auspices of H.U C. without a penny 'The Archives is different from any other in the world," he is quick to point out...
...I buy Israel bonds Don't bother me about doing business with Israel...
...The post-high school division, Hamagshimim, serves people up to 30 years old...
...Marcus's vision of Amencan Jewry now seems prophetic In 1916, at age 20, he published his first article, 'The Spiritual Center of Jewry," in the Jewish Community Bulletin of Wheeling, West Virginia...
...3...
...Abramowitz receives a special moment student award in Volunteer Service for the significant impact his work has had on Jewish student life worldwide...
...O of Israel (CEGI...
...At 96, not only has he lived a considerable amount of history, but he virtually created his field According to moment judge Jonathan Sarna, "Marcus is the dean of American Jewish histonans, he developed the tools, indexed collections of documents and always based his work on pnmary sources...
...moment recognizes the DC-JCC's Community Services Department for the active role the group has taken in enhancing the quality of life in Washington, D.C O The judges for this category were Albert Erhck, managing editor, the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent...
...The Valley of the Destroyed Communities, a memorial to the 5,000 communities in 22 countries that were destroyed by the Nazis...
...The people coming are highly qualified, but we still have many more applicants than jobs...
...To have studied with Nehama is to have been in analysis with Freud, to have been educated in nursery school with Maria Montessori, to have been inoculated against polio by Jonas Salk " Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, dean of Ohr Torah Institution in New York and in Efrat, Israel, in May 1987, invited Leibowitz to give guest lectures in Bible to his rabbinical students...
...I got involved out of a sense of obligation to my community...
...a dedicated couple from a small town in Vermont working doggedly to keep their tiny Jewish community together by organizing a minyan (prayer quorum...
...very many roles she played, it would probably take six of us 'young-'uns' to fill her shoes, and that's what's happening now...
...I find in my follow-up calls to the volunteers that they really enjoy it and feel gratified...
...to teach general Jewish history, medieval Jewish history and Jewish history of the Talmu-dic period "My speciality until 1942 was German social history in the early modern penod," recalls Marcus "Then all of a sudden—I have never been able to determine what prompted me to do it, subconsciously maybe the persecutions in Europe which intimated to me that Europe was through as a Jewish community because of Hitler—I switched to Amencan Jewish history...
...As cofounder of the Milwaukee-based Manpower, Inc , the world's largest temporary employment agency, Winter has the business savvy and contacts to assist CEGI in its latest project: a job placement service for Russian immigrants...
...For 30 years she has given special encouragement to women who have aspired to become directors of Jewish supplementary and day schools, a field previously dominated by men, and has been a mentor to many At the time of her appointment as associate dean of JTS's undergraduate school, Ettenberg was the first woman in academic administration at JTS...
...Generations of Jewish children have read his World Over magazine in Jewish schools...
...The Hebrew University honored Ettenberg with its most prestigious education award, the Samuel Rothberg Pnze, in 1981...
...She receives the moment International Community Service Award in educauon for her lifetime achievements O YOUNG JUDAEA Keeping the Zionist Vision Alve The nauon's oldest Zionist youth movement, Young Judaea, through its clubs, camps, academic and leadership development programs, has kept Judaism and the Zionist vision of Jewish destiny alive for generations of American Jewish youth...
...According to Sharon Brey, adult and community services director at the DCJCC, the department offers numerous ways for people to get involved in volunteensm There are one-day activiues, like the December 25 project, monthly programs, such as visiting sick children at a hospital or elderly residents at a nursing home and a mitzvah corps to assist anyone with an immediate short-term need, like running errands for a bed-ridden adult...
...As a buddmgjournalist he adds, 'The Jewish media is an under utilized vehicle I believe that [the Jewish media] are a potent educational tool that is being ignored...
...Abramowitz is most interested in re-turningjewish student leadership to the students He believes that rephcaung the larger communal organizations with student federation fundraising appeals, B'nai B'nths and Israel lobby organiza-Uons is not the way to reach his generation...
...These honorees include world famous scholars and a student activist, a generous business leader and a life-long community volunteer, a camp founder and an education specialist, an internationally recognized Holocaust archive and a Jewish community center's grassroots volunteer program...
...Sturman says her volunteensm is motivated by a great sense of obligation "As a child in the Midwest, I remember feeling that this obligation had to do with the great reward I felt as living freely as a Jew...
...Begun in 1989, One Pure Shabbat encourages Shabbat observance in a supportive environment by leading a group of volunteers through a series of educational seminars that culminate in a single Shabbat experience Many former participants have added to their weekly Shabbat experience because of this program "We have learned to give ourselves the luxury of a day to relax...
...1) that they didn't send enough students on quality programs to Israel, 2) that they didn't support innovative, student-run, relevant programs from the grassroots level, and 3) that young people are turned off from the community by petty turf issues " Abramowitz, who is currently a Wexner fellow and student at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, has been called the most influential Jewish student leader of the past decade...
...The American Jewish Archives was born...
...Today the department is a sophisticated organization made up of multiple committees, chairpeople, a full-time community services director and hundreds of volunteers...
...We will continue seeking out the best and the most innovative— the scholars and the activists, the artists and the teachers, all those who make a difference in our lives—for next year's International Community Service Awards Only if you, our readers, bring people to our attention can moment recognize the most deserving...
...Just retired as dean of educational development and lecturer in Jewish education at JTS, Ettenberg developed new programs in educauon and supervised the Seminary's Melton Research Center, the Ramah camps and the Prozdor, the Seminary's high school division, which she also founded She recruited graduate students and developed JTS's graduate program in Jewish education...
...From 1987 to 1990 he served as the chairperson of Israel-based World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS), where he worked diligendy to create what he calls a "mihtantly nonpartisan" environment in which to involve students in Jewish programming During his tenure, Abramowitz traveled to 20 countries and met with government officials, Jewish community leaders and Jewish students to create new Jewish student unions in India, the Soviet Union, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Argentina and Costa Rica The Jewish Student Activist Handbook (WUJS, 1990), published during his tenure, is an invaluable tool for Jewish campus leaders, instructing them on the how-to's of campus activism, including how to produce a newsletter and how to refute a speaker from the audience As an undergraduate, he founded the Boston University anti-apartheid movement, where he led a two-week hunger strike, organized demonstrations and eventually took the university to court when he was evicted from his dorm in retahauon for his protests The case set a legal precedent in Massachusetts by extending free speech rights to private university students...
...I am an old woman and have taught many people...
...In the early 1940s, Marcus sought something concrete that would document American Jewry in its entirety...
...Schiff has "provided unique and strong leadership in Jewish education that transcends his role in the BJE," affirms moment's judge Bennett Yanowitz...
...O Gladys Sturman has been working to create a cohesive Jewish community for 35 years A Midwesterner transplanted to the San Fernando Valley, California, Sturman recalls, "When we moved to the Valley, the Jewish community consisted of disparate organizations that were in competition with one another for members and funds " As an antidote for this condition, nine years ago she founded Kehilla (community) to get every Jewish organization in the West Valley area to work as a team to attain common goals Completely volunteer run, Kehilla, made up of nearly 20 separate organizations ranging from synagogues to nursery schools to independent Zionist and religious groups, does not raise funds and is a unique concept in American Jewish life "Over the years," says Sturman, "I found that synagogues, nursery schools, chavurol (Jewish fellowship groups) and other organizations began to help one another...
...In his WUJS-sponsored travels, Abramowitz found that Jewish students' needs are often the same worldwide "In our generation people don't have the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War or the raid on Entebbe as part of our experience There's a great deal of curiosity about Israel and people want to get in touch with Israel, but we need quality Israel programming .which includes contact with Israeli young people, some degree of Judaic studies and positive Jewish experiences...
...Schiff moved to Oceanside, New York, some 30 years ago...
...Young Judaea has five junior camps for second through eighth graders and one senior camp, Tel Yehuda, in Barryville, New York...
...Spurred on by the 1975 UN resoluuon equating Zionism and racism and the ensuing impact it would have on Israel's economy, the idea was to create a nonprofit organization to assist Israeli companies in expanding their marketability in the United States while opening up the opportunity for American companies to expand their businesses in Israel The 200 American and 30 Israeli directors on the CEGI board believe that while Diaspora contributions to Israel are important, it is most essenual that the country develops a strong, viable and independent economy...
...moment's judge Shulamith Elster recalled that "We used to joke that when and if Sylvia Ettenberg retired and people discovered how...
...Yad Vashem's Encyclopedia of the Holocaust (Macmillan, 1990) presents condensed entries that include selected individual names, major events, the countries involved, the concentration camps, the ghettos, the external movements and trends and resistance movements...
...They are the activists who inspire us and the teachers who lead us...
...As much as possible, Hebrew is the official language of the camps Campers participate in daily services, observe kashrul and Jewish rituals, study Hebrew and Judaica and participate in more typical camp activities—sports, crafts, music...
...With this overwhelming response the DC-JCC Community Services Department was born...
...He brought educators from different denominational groups under one roof to work toward common educational goals...
...The organizers, part of the District of Columbia Jewish Community Center (DC-JCC), expected 30 or perhaps as many as 50 people to show up ready to work Instead more than 120 people came out to cook and serve dinner, sort donated clothes, replace staff at nursing homes and clean, repair and paint homeless shelters...
...He sees for the first time a new breed of young executives interested in promoting development of Israeli industry, exports and business relationships Jewish federations have also recently created Israel Economic Development Task Forces to mobilize communities to develop business relations with Israel "If we had these programs in place over the years, Israel might have been further ahead by now," admits Winter, "but it's still not too late to get companies to invest in Israel...
...It is my greatest pelasure I don't deserve an award...
...Marcus asserted that America was that center long before the rest of the Jewish world turned its eye away from Eastern European Jewry toward American Jews...
...he recollects that "Synagogues and Jewish organizaUons had no common agendas...
...About one fourth of Young Judaeans make ahyah (immigrate to Israel...
...She brought them into the classroom, spoke to us in their voices and manifested, in her own devotion to the study of Torah, what the mitzvah [commandment] of hlmud Torah [studying Torah] had been for them, and might be for us " Not given to hyperbole, Leibowitz remarked about her award: "I like teaching...
...Ramah, founded in 1947, strengthens the Conservative movement by acting as a lab school, educating Jewish youth and giving JTS Teachers' Institute students an opportunity to work with youngsters in an informal setting...
...In addition, she recently earned a bachelor's degree in Jewish studies from the University of Judaism, Los Angeles, and is currently working on her master's thesis in Jewish history...
...No one could have as deep a commitment to any text as she had to the Bible...
...One judge wrote, "It did take more work than I thought—but it was more pleasurable than I had anticipated...
...New projects at Yad Vashem include' • The 24-volume Comprehensive History of the Holocaust, which is planned as a definitive work on the Shoah Archivists are scouring the sites of the annihilated communities to rescue and restore crucial documents that are crumbling or being destroyed...
...His first major book was The Jewish Day School in America (Jewish Education Committee Press, 1966) and to this day he feels day schools are one of the most important constructs in Jewish life O summer Jewish studies program...
...Reflecting on how he felt about Young Judaea 30 years ago, David Ruderman, professor of the history of Judaism and chairperson of the Judaic studies program at Yale University, recalls that Young Judaea was "a moment of discovery—of self and of purpose— that remains a powerful and transforming event today...
...Now, as always, Ettenberg's telephone line is open—she takes help-me calls any time of the day or night from new teachers and is a national one-woman support group for Jewish educators...
...Although Rabbi Eliezar Schach, head of the Shas party, condemned Riskm and Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, former Sephardic chief rabbi, said that a mechitzah (partition dividing the men's and women's sections) was needed in the classroom, Riskin told the men studying with her that if they were uncomfortable without a mechitzah separating her from them, they should sit behind it, not she...
...This is a crucial time of life when everything about you is coming together, solidifying...
...Sturman points out that unaffiliated Jews are more likely to attend classes sponsored by a community organizauon because they find it less threatening than attending a synagogue program Sturman's One Pure Shabbat program is becoming a model for San Fernando Valley-area synagogues...
...There was nobody else in the field," he exclaims, "and there was no interest in Amencan Jewish history in general But I realized that [America] was unquestionably going to be the great Jewry of the world...
...Leibowitz receives moment's International Community Service Award for her lifetime accomplishments in Biblical scholarship "Everyone reaches first for Nehama Leibowitz's [six-volume] Studies in the Weekly Sidra [WZO, 1981...
...Many campers later become recruits in JTS programs...
...Israel programs are based in the Hadassah Youth Center on Mount Scopus, Jerusalem...
...We still can do it " As chairperson of CEGI, Winter publishes a free semi-monthly report for 2,000 business leaders worldwide informing them about growth and development in Israel's business community...
...I have had a long odyssey in history," says Marcus, who in 1920 began teaching biblical history at Hebrew Union College (H.U C ) in Cincinatti, following his own graduation from the college He received a doctorate from the University of Berlin in 1925 and then returned to H U.C...
...The Community Council presented forums with major speakers, formed Yiddish and Hebrew classes, designed dramatic programs for children and held political sessions and rallies " Schiff achieved one of the most difficult objectives in the Jewish world...
...Consequently, said Riskin, "not only did Nehama teach the class, but she is still going strong, teaching the rabbinical students without a screen " One of Leibowitz's former students, Rachel Salmon, now a lecturer at Bar Ilan University, praised her in the spring 1987 issue of Kol Emunah: "No literature teacher I had ever known had a sharper eye than [Leibowitz] for detail and for deviation in a text...
...The community while also meeting like-minded people...
...There," Ettenberg reminisces, "I decided that we must really use the summers for supplementary Jewish education...
...Irwin Schiffs accomplishments are lasting innovations in Jewish education He established the National Bible Contest and hosted Jewish history-oriented television shows in New York...
...JTS presented her with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree in 1989...
...In our next issue we will recognize our moment honorees in the categories of Religion, Literature and the Arts, Charitable Fundraising and Social Service...
...The project has had inestimable influence on scholars...
...O ¦ DISTRICT Of COLUMBIA JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT Prtchng m Evepywhere It all started on December 25, 1987, when a few young professionals from the Washington, D.C , area organized a group of volunteers to relieve Christian workers at nursing homes and homeless shelters on Christmas day...
...Most are antiquarian institutions that only collect specific types of documents...
...and a woman from Miami who collects and distributes food for 500 needy Jewish families each Passover...
...And that's how we fashioned Ramah [the Conservative movement's Jewish camp] " Thanks to Ettenberg, camping has become a center of great vitality in informal Jewish education...
...Youngjudaea is divided into 15 regions across the U.S., including Puerto Rico...
...The Year Study Course in Israel usually attracts more than 100 17-19-year-olds who study Hebrew, Judaism, history, geography and archeology and work as volunteers in kibbutzim, moshavim and in development towns...
...Over the years, CEGI has worked with 325 Israeli companies, advising them on the suitability of their products, catalogues, prices and marketing strategies for the American market When an Israeli company is ready for the American market, CEGI will set appointments with appropriate business contacts Winter recalls one Israeli company that wanted to sell its electric insect killer in the U S After some American business representatives examined the product, they noted five problems, including that the bulb used was not available in the U S , making the product useless when consumers would need replacement bulbs Armed with this advice, the Israeli company reworked the product for the U.S...
...No matter how htde you do, it can have an impact" Schmutter, who volunteered at the first December 25 program, became co-chairperson of the department, which enabled her to meet many like-minded people "Most of our projects attract young professionals in their 20s and 30s," says Schmutter...
...In tandem with the report, he publishes a monthly newsletter for Israeli business leaders that presents marketing strategies, business ideas and useful information for companies to expand into the American market...
...That's what brought me to the idea of having a to support the innovative, grassroots Coalition for Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE) when it formed 15 years ago, Schiff was a scholar-in-resi-dence at the first CAJE conference when others in educational bureaus shunned this maverick group Schiff began teaching in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1947...
...Massive rock forms with the names of the destroyed communities engraved on them rise 20 to 30 feet from the valley's floor, recalling the ruins and rubble left by the Nazis...
...Really close ties develop very quickly, and in a very short time you discover that we have a very strong bond to build on We're all out to make a difference...
...Videotapes of educational programs, slides and prints of art work, creative home services, documented histories of rural Jewish communities and scholarly dissertations were all carefully considered by our judges...
...Yad Vashem has a central archive for research purposes that contains more than 50 million documentary pages, microfilms, museum objects, films and records, a library with more than 35,000 books and periodicals and millions of Pages of Testimony with the names of Shoah victims Its museum, memorial hall and monuments impart emotional as well as educational impact Its photograph exhibit, "A Day in the Warsaw Ghetto- A Birthday Trip in Hell," is now touring the United States (see "A Birthday Tour of Hell," p. 22...
...That's all...
...The Jewish establishment is totally out of touch with my generation," says Yosef Abramowitz, a 26-year-old Jewish student activist who has devoted more than 10 years to organizing, activating and programming for the world Jewish student community...
...But Winter, a past president of the American Jewish Committee and lifelong volunteer, is most concerned with making Israel economically independent Toward that goal, in 1976, Winter, taking up the challenge of Israel's then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, founded the Committee for Economic Growth Along with Sturman's involvement with Kehilla, her extensive life-long volunteer activities include organizing educational programs and health fairs, serving on the local board of Jewish education, establishing a synagogue chavurah program and initiating organized home visits for elderly synagogue members...
...O The judges for this category were Rabbi Robert Abramson, director, United Synagogue of America department of education, Shulamith Reich Elster, headmaster, Charles E Smith Jewish Day .School, and Bennett Yanowitz, president, Jewish Education Service of North America SCHOLARSHIP "Nehama Leibowitz is a Bible commentator in the traditional way She is absolutely informed," declares Samuel Iwry, professor emeritus of Bible and Hebrew literature at Balnmore.Hebrew University and Johns Hopkins University...
...More than 200 scholars worldwide contributed to the work, led by editor in chief Israel Gutman, from Hebrew University's Institute of Contemporary Jewry...
...It helps me get away from all this history stuff for a while...
...In this issue moment honors eight men and women and two organizations in the fields of Volunteer Service, Scholarship and Education...
...O The judges for this category were Deborah Lipstadt, director of research, Skirball Institute on American Jewish Values, Jonathan D. Sarna, professor of American Jewish history, Brandeis University, and Lawrence H Schiffman, professor of Hebrew and Judaic studies, New York University Jacob Rader Marcus has been called the father of Amencan Jewish history for good reason...
...She was a regular weekly commentator on the Israel Broadcasting Service and for 30 years, from 1951, she published sidra (weekly Torah portion) study pages that reached students—factory workers, soldiers, kibbutzniks and scholars—worldwide...
...It's opened me up to a world of committed individuals, dedicated people who have become real friends...
...Many Young Judaeans visit Israel to tour and learn together...
...For volunteers interested in a long-term commitment, serving as a mentor to at-risk youths allows an ongoing relationship to develop as the volunteer helps a teen-age parent with study, employment and parenting skills "It's changed everything in my life," enthuses Rona Schmutter, a Washington, D C , healthcare worker, about her volunteer involvement...
...According to Winter, Israel will need to create between 50,000 and 400,000 jobs in the coming years to support the expanding population The Tel Aviv-based service is free and matches Soviet engineers, scientists and mathematicians with jobs in Israeli hi-tech firms "This ahyah is a brain gain for Israel," says Winter...
...Located on Israel's border with Jordan 20 miles north of Eilat, the kibbutz won the Knesset Prize in 1987 as a symbol of religious and political toleration Gidon Isaacs, recent past president of Young Judaea, says, "Once I was exposed to Young Judaea, my feelings about what it means to be a Jew and a Zionist were changed forever.„For me, it was the answer to that yearning for something more that everyone experiences at sometime or another...
...Young Judaea is part of Hadassah's youth activities department, Hashachar, a coeducauonal youth movement whose operations include leadership training, summer camping, regional events and local clubs...
...Making a Difference RECIPIENTS OF MOMENT'S COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARDS Our 21 distinguished judges were overwhelmed with qualified nominees in moment's second International Community Service Awards program—180 in all—from every aspect of Jewish life: a rabbi whose five-year struggle with cancer has inspired him to help others fighting painful, long-term illnesses...
...Maps, photographs, diagrams, a glossary and chronology supplement the entries (See review, p. 57 The idea of establishing a center in Palestine to sustain the memory of the martyrs and for research and documentation came at a Zionist meeting in London in 1945, which charged the proposed center "to gather in material regarding all those Jewish people who laid down their lives, who fought and rebelled against the Nazi enemy and their collaborators and to perpetuate their memory and that of the communities, organizations and institutions which were destroyed because they were Jewish " The Knesset founded Yad Vashem in 1953, and it has since become the central memorial to the Shoah and the world's most complete repository of documents and exhibits detailing the destruction of European Jewry "Yad Vashem remains the most important, the best, the most meaningful institution devoted to remembrance in the world," says Ehe Wiesel...
...The materials in support of the nominees flooded moment's offices last spring and summer, demonstrating the high caliber of Jewish creativity, scholarship, education and activism...
...we are not I determined in advance that we ought to collect every type of material—political, economic, social, religious We want a total picture of the American Jew...
...Jewish student leaders need to be supported on a grassroots level ..What is the Jewish community doing to assure continuity'1 We need to put idealogy back on the agenda," he says...
...In the San Fernando Valley, where 80 percent of the 260,000 Jews are unaffiliated, Kehilla's open programming has become a way to conduct outreach The annual one-day Exodus festival that Sturman organizes combines music, entertainment, food and crafts and draws 40,000 Jews, many of whom have had little or no involvement m the organized Jewish community...
...Michael C Gelfand, MD, associate professor, Georgetown School of Medicine...
Vol. 16 • February 1991 • No. 1
