xt734t6f4z37 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt734t6f4z37/data/mets.xml Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass Kentucky Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass 2004-03 Newspaper of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass, previously named the Central Kentucky Jewish Association and Central Kentucky Jewish Federation. Published ten times annually. The Federation seeks to bring Jewish community members together through holiday parties, lectures, Yiddish courses, meals, and other celebrations of Jewish heritage and culture. They also host fundraisers and provide financial assistance for Jews in need, both locally and around the world. This collection is part of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass records, 2016ms010. newsletters 2016ms010 English Central Kentucky Jewish Federation Inc  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass records Jews -- Kentucky -- Lexington Jews -- History Shalom, March 2004 text image Shalom, March 2004 2004 2004-03 2025 true xt734t6f4z37 section xt734t6f4z37     

MARCH 2004

halom: ~::

$SeI-Ving the Central Kentucky Jewish Community Since 1962

  

Newspaper of the Central
Kentucky Jewish Federation

$\$h Federefo

f r a! Ken“)

ADAR-NISAN 5764

 

Fifth Annual Women’s Community Seder

Jewish Women Come Together
to Celebrate Life

Q Q 0
By Toni [(14%

On March 28, Women from the Central Kentucky
area will gather together to celebrate the fifth annu—
al Women's Community Seder. In keeping with
the tradition of Passover, we will address what we
consider to be the Four Questions of the Women’s
Community Seder:

1. Why have on this night a
Women’s Community Seder?
Jewish tradition is based upon
coming together as a communi—
ty as well as welcoming the
stranger. When the many
Jewish organizations in Central
Kentucky join together for the
Women’s Community Seder w,e in essence, do
both. We join with those we know from our small—

wifiw'fuf'. 'nw'wl-v» t “ l1".»'~.l‘. “1“.l'")

 

Attire Women’s Community Seder
we set aside time to reflect on the
role of women in Judaism...

 

tions in which we are active, and we welcome
those with whom we are less familiar at the same
time.

2. Why doesn’t the Women’s Community Seder
have a full meal? A key element of the Passover
seder is to recline, relax, and rejoice. Often the
women who are hosting seders at home find them-
selves spending much of their time in the kitchen
cooking or serving others. By eliminating a main
meal, the Women’s Community Seder is designed
to allow for maximum participation by everyone.

3. Why do we gather as
women only?
Unfortunately, history
often neglects the pow-
erful roles that women
have played and the
way that different cus-
toms and traditions have impacted the life of
women. At the Women’s Community Seder we set
aside time to reflect on the role of women in

juy.

 

Speaker Named for MajorGlfts
Event Scheduled for Early May 2004

2004 UJC/CKJF Community
Campaign Features JDC Official

fiQO

Chairpersons Odette Kaplan, Susan Coldstein, and
Marty Barr announce the featured speaker for the
2004 UJC/CKJF Major Gifts event scheduled for
Saturday evening, May 8, 2004 will be William
Recant of the American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee (JDC).

As the Assistant Executive Vice-President of the
JDC, William Recant serves as the senior staff per-
son regarding all of JDC’s non-sectarian and disas—
ter relief programs. In this capacity, he coordinates
projects relating to the rescue, relief, and renewal
of Jewish communities worldwide and develops
non—sectarian programs.

Mr. Recant is also the Desk Director for Latin
America and Europe Community Development at
JDC headquarters in New York, which involves
him in the effort to relieve the Argentinean commu-
nity in crisis.

While serving as the Washington representative for
JDC, Recant helped secure JDC’s license to work in
Cuba. He has visited Cuba over two dozen times
and has helped establish JDC’s programs of com—
munity development and Jewish renewal.

Recant has also worked with US government agen—
cies and Congressional members to brief them on
issues specific to rescue and relief, and with Private
Voluntary Organizations (PVO's) in program coor-
dination, partnership development, and cooperation.

see Gifts event, page 8

 

Central Kentucky Jewish Federation
1050 (hinoe Road 0 Suite 203 0 lexington, KY 40502

Change Service Requested

Sandee wildes
124 N Ashland Ave
Lexington KY 40502-1509

llllllllllll'l'I||l|lllllllIIIIIIIlllllll'l|Ill|‘llll|l"ll‘l‘

 

Non-Prolit Org,
US. Postage

PAID

Lexington, KY

 

 

Permit # 7l9

 

    

 

mandments, mitzvot, and blessings of God impact
on us specifically as women.

4. Why should I attend? You are a part of our
community and you are a part of our Jewish her-
itage. We are providing a unique forum for a multi-
generational conversation of women. Your ideas
will make an important contribution to the lively
discussions that the Women’s Community Seder
insplres.

And, by the way, the commandment of telling the
Passover story applies to YOU. For once you were
a slave in Egypt and now you are free — free to
attend an afternoon of celebration that is the
Women’s Community Seder.

The Community Women’s Seder will be on Sunday,
March 28 at the Temple Adath Israel from 2 - 4:30
PM. It will be entertaining, thought provoking,
and spiritual. The dynamic community of women
from Temple Adath Israel, Ohavay Zion

. \Vonien's Seder, :1 1 I '

Re
Academic Head
Speaks at TAI

Dr. David Ellenson Acclaimed
as Rabbi, Scholar, Here for
Celebration of TAl’s 100th

Anniversary

09¢

 

The president of the Hebrew Union College —
Jewish Institute of Religion, Dr. David Ellenson
will be the guest speaker at Temple Adath Israel’s
Friday evening services on March 12 in honor of
the congregation’s 100th anniversary celebration.

Dr. Ellenson is the eighth president in the 125 year
history of HUC-JIR. He received his PhD. from
Columbia University in 1981 and was ordained a
rabbi at HUC-JIR’s New York School in 1977. He is
also a Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of
Jerusalem and Fellow and Lecturer in the Institute
of Advanced Studies at Hebrew University in
Jerusalem (1999 to present).

Dr. Ellenson’s work describes the writings of
Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and
Reconstructionist leaders in Europe, the United
States, and Israel during the last two centuries and

sec Judaism Reform Speaker, page 5

  

IN THIS ISSUE:

 

 

Super Sunday Breaks Records ............... 3
Faith In Action Program ................... 3
President's Message ...................... 4
Canadian Professor lst Luckens Prize Lecturer . . .4
We Laughed and Laughed ................. 5
State of israel Bonds Purchased .............. S
From the Executive Director ................ 6
Camp Shalom Plans for 2004 Season .......... 6
Hillel Happenings ........................ 7
Substance Abuse Prevention Workshop ........ 7
Rabbi‘s Corner .......................... 8
Jewish Family Service Shabbat 2004 .......... 9
Tikkun Lexington Volunteer Recognition ....... 9
Ceramics Exhibition at UK. Art Museum ....... 9
Congratulations TAl l00 Anniversary ......... l0
Kenneth Freedman Social Action Award ....... l l
Leisure Club Purim Program ............... l l
Why Me — Part 2 ........................ l2
Musings ............................. l3
Tikkun Lexington Visits the Stewart Home ..... l3
Ask JFS About ......................... l4
Tikkun Lexington Delivers...Every Month ...... i4
JEWLS Goes Cosmic .................... lS
TlA Guest Artist ........................ l 6
B’tay Avon ............................ l 6
Lexington Havurah News ................ 17
we Mtzvahs , ..... ........ .

TAl News .............................

”Emmi at; c l w ‘ ...... 4"

Condolences to...

Evelyn Kossoff Goodman, sons Steven and Philip and their families on the
death of their husband and father, Larry Goodman, on February 20.

Sandy and Marvin Heymann on the death of Sandy’s uncle, Melvin Scissors, on
January 25, 2004.

Micah and Mimi Kaufman on the death of Micah’s grandmother, Frieda
Shumart, on February 1, 2004.

Etta Pollan and Bruce and Mary Engle on the death of Etta’s brother—in—law and
Bruce’s uncle, Abraham Blucher, on January 31, 2004.

Harriet Ades on the death of her mother, Libby Fleishman.

Sue Dworkin on the death of her brother, Lawrence Dworkin.

Carole Wilson on the death of her mother, Sylvia Bernstein.

Mazel Tov to...
Rebecca Sharer on the birth of her son, Dylan Thomas.

Jennifer and Neal Kash on the birth of their son, Judah Samuel.

Refuah Shlemah (Get Well Wishes) to...

Cookie Wenneker ' Kevin LaZur ° Sheldon Schneider

 

 

 

sbALom

Published ten times annually by the
Central Kentucky Jewish Federation, Inc.
1050 Chinoe Rd., Suite 203, Lexington, KY 40502
Phone (859) 268-0672 0 Fax (859) 268—0775
e—mail: shalom@jewish|exington.org

March 2004, Volume XI, Issue 2

David Feinberg, President
Daniel Chejfec, Executive Director
Fran Morris, Jewish Family Services

Jana LaZur, Activities Director

Editorial Board
Gay Adelstein, Marcia Blacker, Evelyn Dantzic Geller,
Judy Levine, Ruth Poley, and Stan Saxe

Production Services by Direct Response, Inc.

The editorial staff has the right to edit all articles submitted
for publication in sbALom. The appearance of any
advertising in this publication does not represent a kashruth
endorsement on the part of CKJF or any other agency or
organization. sbALom is supported by the advertisements
appearing in the paper,

© 2004 by Central Kentucky Jewish Federation

 

 

2 - mARCb 2004 sbAlom

 

 

 

SbALOm Léu Central Kentucky
OGAOUDQ JeWIsh Federation

 

 

 

Deadline for articies for Executive Committee:
the April Shalom is David Feinberg, President
March 10. Phil Berger, Vice-President
Marcia Blacker, Secretary
Email artides to: u Ginger Knight, Treasurer
shalomQjewishiexington.org Stanley Saxe, lmm. Past-President
Martin Barr, At-Large
Articles submitted in hard
copy should be, douhtwpaced;
.:“ - : . - z :, . CKJF Board:
r-------------------1 RayArCher ....................... TAI
l I | Rachel Belin ................. At-Large
DON T MISS OUT. I Aviva Bowlin ................ At-Large
I Gail Cohen .................. At-Large
Get this paper delivered I Vicki Doukas ................. Havurah
I Stan lsenstein .................... 025
F R E E | Steve Kesten ................. At—Large
to your home ten times annually. : fgiiléegjy ...................... DrZASI
Mail 3'0“" name and address to: : Zoya Orlov ...................................... At-Large
Ruth Poley ................... At-Lar e
SbAiom/CKJF : Gloria Rie ................... At-Large
1050 Chinoe, Rd., Suite 203 I Walter Salomon .................. 025
Lexington, KY 40502 I Davrd Sogln . . ................. At-La rge
ore-ma” m l Merle Weksteln ............... At—Large
shalomcl‘jwishlexingmnmg I Carole Wilson ................ Hadassah
-------- ----- ------l

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
L

 

 

 Super Sunday Breaks Records

 

February 8th brought many volunteers to CKJF to
work on Super Sunday. They phoned Jewish
households across the Bluegrass to ask for support
of the annual UJF/ CKJF campaign. Proceeds from
the campaign support Jewish communities here at
home, in Israel, and across the world. Equally
important, the phone campaign

Danielle Roth and Jeff Westermmi.

 

 

and thanks to those who came and worked:
Salomon Alkhasov, Penina Goldstein, Heidi
Zimmerman, Asher Finkel, Jeff Westerman, Aria]
Elias, Liza (joldenberg, and Danielle Roth.

  
   

Special thanks also go to Jeff Kaplan and Subway
for helping feed the volunteers, to Elise Klein for
donating special gifts for our youth volunteers, and
to AT&T wireless for donating the use of the cellu-
lar phones for the day. Thank you most of all to all
those who answered the call to help us provide for
people in need.

 

Li-a Goldenberg. Solomon Alkliasov, and Jacob Rosenberg.

offers an
opportunity to engage members of the community
one-on-one in a Jewish dialogue and to make them
aware of the programs and services offered by the
Central Kentucky Jewish Federation; it offers a
connection.

Owing to the efforts of the many who came and
made phone calls. the day was a rousing success,
ll’t ifl *‘_tll-. H mom

"tun: \l 14*: and an n c magi

int lease ot io m r tl\ll gut. Band) (loldbeig and
PatShraberg cpgctiaired the session; ~Steve Caller,
Marty Barr, Barbara Barr, Steve Kesten, Bonnie .
O’Neill, Stanley Saxe, Evelyn Geller, Rose Rita
Wurmser, Robert Orbach, Stuart Kaufman, and
David Feinberg were the volunteers. In addition, a
contingent of our youth joined the task. Thanks to

Jacob Rosenberg for organizing the young people, Penimi Goldsfein and Heidi Zimmermmz.

 

    

 

    

/

" Main Street . Lexington, KY 40507
859.253.9300

 

 

 

 

IF YOU FEEL . . .

Dissatisfied with your relationships
T00 often angry and frustrated
Disconnected and depressed
Stressed or Anxious

Displeased with your work situation

I can help you make changes that will
improve your relationships and allow you
the happiness you deserve. Please contact
my office to schedule an appointment.

      

 

 

 

 

DAVID L. FEINBERG, Ph.D.

1? .
.Max “3 L6

(859) 233—3390

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faith In Action Program Promotes
“A Neighbor’s Independence”

 

 

T"

 

flit .lllcir' tirilstr'nr Iikkmr

[eriiietuii l ei'iuifeer

Fayette County ranks
second in percentage of
population oyer age 63
in the Commonwealth
of Kentucky ln the

the three-hour training
program with the assis-
tance of training facili—
tators Beth Hunter and
Bob Voll. The follow—
up to this program
occurred in early

February and we now

have nine certified yol-
unteers on board to
help people who are in
need.

Faith In Action’s mis—
sion is to assist older
adults and their fami—

lies to maintain inde—
pendence, dignity, and
quality of life by pro-
yiding quality horne-
based volunteer care—
giying services. Their
goal is to help older
adults by training yol—
unteers to

Federation is one of
the community
organizations which
benefit from the pro—
gram.

Volunteers in atten-
dance represented a
wide range of the

 

 

 

 

 

fulfill the
mission of

year 2050, o\ er 20% of
all people in the United

Dr, Cam Stewart lends training:

Central Kentucky . _
session tar Tilt/(III) Lexmgnm eel—

Jewish community,
‘ tuliu'rx

States will be o5 or
older. "A neighbor's
independence depends
on you" was the theme
of the first Faith ln

the Faith In
Action pro—
gram which

the Robert

\ction training pro— Hoods
gram held at the Johnson

Central l\entucl\_\

 

Foundation.
The Central

 

lewish Federation tf“ “
._ , . ' ind, / ‘ . ,
ottices in rate lanuan. Y . , . .. . . . _ _ [\tntuck}
_ . ' I Mime .‘Miiietsteui Rut/i .\lesci am: Jami] .\loon' participate in l‘\\'is‘l‘l
Dr. tiary Stew art led gt .

flrllillllgy \t'fiSItUl.

 

is funded by

including members of
Temple .r\dath lsrael
and Ohayay Zion con—
gregations. Central
Kentucky lewish
Federation representa—
tiyes. and members of
Tikkun Lmington.
Those present were
Daniel Cheifec, Andrea
Tapia, Fran Morris. Jack

mARch 2004 sbAtom . 3

 

.\liller, Julie Smoak,
Barbara Barr, Angie
Ornstein, Dawn Moore,
Ruth :\loser, lanice
Kuperstein, Anne Craft,
and Jana LaZur.

The two primary focus—

see Faith In Action,
page 17

 

  

aaéavseoes

:reeeegaflxahqe c w
963%,! ~¢ : .

President’s Message

 

Can You Believe It??
o + o

It happened one Sunday. I am not usually one foi
talking on the telephone any mo1e than necessary,
but today was diffe1ent; it was SUPER SUNDAY.
My father always said that money does not grow
on trees so it was clear that we needed to go out
and get those pledges to continue our programs.
Asking for people’s money as a professional
providing a service is one thing; it’s quite another
to ask in the name of CKJF. Although in our
community there is a well—established tradition of
charitable giving, still, asking for people’s money is
a bit of a challenge. I felt bolstered by the
camaraderie of my fellow solicitors. l was on the
early shift, which this year was staffed mostly by
"old hands" who had done this many times before.

It was my third Super Sunday and, surprisingly,
went much more easily than I had recalled. The
people I called were virtually all polite and most
knew it was Super Sunday. I asked people to add
to what they have given in the past and I was
impressed by most people’s willingness to do so.
Some people who had not given in past years were
willing to pledge. It was very gratifying I must
say. It was a validation that CKJF was moving in
the right direction and that people wanted to sup—

’OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.OO......COOOOOOOOOOOOOOC‘I

51h Annual

Women’ 3 Community Seder
Nico/ch ‘PB WW

7*‘004/30pm.
mt Temp/e ltdm‘h :Csrae/

Passover Ham a Woman s F5rsp-ch7V5... .a W/h—yemcrafioha/ Egret/[emu

Sunday,

Women and +55

«Hex/1d an even/14 o? Passover mus/c, «Cw/1 é £5s+Nf+/5s
fin‘ua/ and symbolic £0006 wad great/r oksscri‘s wi/l be served ’th5r5 W/// 55 ‘40 mafia m5al.
* Casual Dress
*firw Childcare Provided
*Brm? a meow/w or other rhythm instrumem‘s. mraoas, shaker.

David Feinberg

port it. 1 know more and more people are showing
up for Federation events, but having them also
support our goals and programs financially was
very pleasant. Some of the people I called were
talkers who wanted to tell me some anecdote about
Federation. Others had to think a minute before
saying what they were comfortable pledging. A
few needed to be coaxed with reminders about all
the programs that Federation sponsored and sup-
ported. Most gratifying of all was the warm
response to my requests made by people whom I
knew personally. As success grew, 1 found that
instead of my two—hour shift I had been telephon—
ing for almost four hours The e\citement of a pos—
iti\ e 1esponse added to m\ enthusiasm and to m\
effectiv eness in sharing with others my sense of the
impoitance of then financial suppoit.

I certainly would like to thank all of the many vol-
unteers involved in this effort. Particularly deserv—
ing of recognition were the youth that co—chair
Sandy Goldberg enlisted as solicitors. He and
Daniel (‘hejfec helped with their training and
turned them loose on the telephones. If there is
substance to our desire to have younger people
involved in Federation, this was a concrete embod—
iment of their involvement. 1 have to be honest, I
was not sure how the young people would do. I
came away impressed and thankful for their enthu-

 

yiv/s ar5 Mvh‘ed +0

douuuuuuuouooouuuu

 

 

 

.—_--_--_-___—--_-_-_-----—-—-—-_-_-——_
. Name(s)

: Address (for tickets)

0 Phone Email Address

____Enclosed is my 5 7.50 for the seder only.

I would like to participate in__the following:
Set-Up Clean-Up
I will need childcare for children. ages

PLEASE RETURN
: Ovyawzed

Including

Ohavay Zion Sway»

{x

- mARCb 2004 shalom

Please bring your copy of the Ma‘yan Passover Haggadah The Journey Continues.
This is the same Haggadah from our previous seders and is written from the women’s perspective.
You can order a copy of your own. We recommend that each person has her own copy.
Some copies will be available for sale at the Seder.

Enclosed is my $15.00 for the seder AND Haggadah.
On-Site Registration

mail to: WOMEN'S SEDER/CKJF
IOSO CHlNOE ROAD. SUlTE 203
LEXINGTON. KY 40502

#15 women 05 +145. Cekrfva/ Kenn/ck? Tau/sh Comma ‘
a/ Kenn/ck? jaw/sh fitcdcra-fiom HWsa/L Lexi

 

Food Preparation

BY MARCH ISTH

h H'avura/I,
Md ’lEmf/c fidaf/q israe/

siasm and chut/pah. l
want to personally
acknowledge staff and
Super Sunday coechairs‘,
l’at Sh raberg and Sandy

 

 

Goldberg; they are busy

people and we appreciate their efforts for CKJF.
For the second year in a row Sandy has done a
very fine job. He is doing so well that we have set
yet another Super Sunday record. I have yet to
mention this to Sandy but I am thinking of making
him Super Sunday co-chair for life.

1 would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the
tremendous efforts of Marty Barr and Harriet
Cooper, the co-chairs of the extremely successful
2003 CKJF Campaign. The 2003 campaign was
more successful than any other we have ever had.
1 federations have seen
decreases in their campaign pledges we set a new

In a vear when other
record.

I feel very blessed that CK] F and our community
have such fine people willing to give their time,
ability, and money to support our goals. Thank
you to our volunteers and thank you Central
Kentucky for your generous support of your
Federation.

 

Canadian
Professor First
Luckens Prize
Lecturer

By Dan Frank, Director, UK Judaic Studies Program

The Judaic Studies Program at the University of
Kentucky inaugurates the Luckens Prize lecture—
ship in Jewish Thought on Monday 1 March, with
a lecture by Professor Aaron Hughes of the
University of Calgary (Alberta, Canada).

The topic of the lecture is "Jewish Imagination and
the Italian Renaissance: The Case of Judah
Abravanel's Dialoghi d'amore." The lecture will be
held on campus in room 363 of the Student Center
at 8pm. There is ample parking in the lot adjacent
to the Student Center.

The Luckens Prize honors the late Mark and Ruth
Luckens, who wished to establish an international
prize in Jewish thought at UK. For this inaugural
year we received submissions from Canada,
Europe, Israel and the US Our first winner, Aaron
Hughes 15 an assistant professor of religious stud-
ies at Calgary, where he specializes in medieval
Jewish and Islamic thought.

We look forward to greeting many of you at this
event, which promises to establish Judaic Studies
at UK as a program of distinction.

 We Laughed and Laughed

Comedy Off Broadway Night
Enjoyed by All

OQO

By Ruth Paley

About 80 members of the Central Kentucky Jewish
Community had their funny bones royally tickled
when they attended Comedy Off Broadway on the ‘
evening of February 7. '

The program started with opening remarks and
chuckles by the house emcee Scott Wilson, who is
also the morning deejay for the the Bull radio sta-
tion. He was followed by Cleveland (that’s one
name—like Madonna or Beyoncé). The man was
funny. His humor was topical (you know it’s topi—
cal when Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl fiasco is part

of the commentary) and he had the
crowd laughing and nicely
warmed up for the headliner,
Louisville’s own Mark Klein.

Klein, who’s been in the business
for more than 20 years, knows
how to work the crowd. He started
off with a bang and built from
there. There was hardly a moment
when he did not have the audience {i
laughing and clapping at his
humor. We left feeling it was an

Ruth and Neil Paley and David and Pat Sclzraberg enjoy the comedy of Mark Klein
at recent evening at Comedy Off Broadway.

     

 

evening well-spent and looking
forward to repeating the experience in the future.

The event was organized by the Community
Activities Committee of the Central Kentucky

Jewish Federation. If you would like to be involved
in planning future community activities, or have an
idea you would like to see developed, call Jana
Lazur at 268-0672, ext. 4#.

 

Judaism Reform Speaker (from page 1)

employs a sociological approach to illuminate the
history and development of modern Jewish reli-
gious denominationalism. His application of this
method has allowed him to emphasize the inter-
play between Jewish religious tradition and mod-
ern society in unique ways, and has prompted him
to write and lecture on topics ranging from early
Reform and Orthodoxy in 19th century Germany
and conversion to Judaism at the beginning of the
19005 to the problems of medical ethics in present—
day America.

He has written over 200 articles and reviews in
diverse academic and religious journals and books.
lll\ .ii .itlt'mlt lt‘t lint-s li.i\ e liven clelneretl at such
institutions as k liarles Liiiversity in l‘rague, Ben
‘ Gurion and, Barllan~ Universities in Israel,
Haverford College, Harvard, Yale, Brbwn, and the
Jewish Theological Seminary.

Born in Brookline, Mass, in 1947, Dr. Ellenson was
raised in Newport News, Virginia. He is married
to Rabbi Jacqueline Koch Ellenson, who was
ordained at HUC-JIR in New York in 1983 and is
Chaplain at the Harvard-Westlake School in Los
Angeles.

 

 

Do YOU WANT
To LEARN Plate? '

 

Svetlana Alkhasova is giving piano lessons for adults who would
like to sharpen their minds. and for children at all skill levels.
Svetlana Alkhasova was educated in Russia (St. Petersburg Con-
servatory). She taught at the college level for 20 years and has
taught for four years at the University of Kentucky. If you want
to schedule a lesson and/or get more information please call
(859) 263-2327 or email her at syalkh0@hotmail.com. ‘

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

State of Israel Bonds Purchased by
Unique Loan Arrangement

Led by the organizing efforts of Leon Cooper, 46
people in Lexington over the past few years have
enabled the purchase of $1.475 million in State of
Israel Bonds.

Working with his co-chairs, Leon Ravvin and Steve
Caller, Leon has approached Central Kentucky resi-
dents to be guarantors of three substantial loans.
Half-million dollar loans were made from local

banks for the most recent purchases of Israel Bonds
in Zilllll and 2002. The bonds will ntature in fixe
years. As a good-will gesture to the local Jewish

community, Fifth Third Bankagreedto which 2

loan for the most recent bond purchase.

     

Leon Cooper and Michael Ben-Ami m Jerusalem.

 

Each of 20 people guarantee $25,000, or one-twenti-
eth of the $500,000 loan and pay $125 per year to
cover the difference between what the bond pays
in interest and the cost of the bank loan. Since
some of these people have volunteered to be guar-
antors more than once, there is currently a total of
46 people in the community who have aided in
these purchases of State of Israel Bonds.

Since the first bond was sold in 1951, the Israel
Bonds program has produced ‘more than $26 bil-
lion in investment capital to build Israel’s economy

and help resettle over one million immigrants from
the former Soviet Union and other countries. And
the State of Israel has repaid $20 billion to investors
who have submitted bonds for redemption while
making every payment of principal and interest on
time and in full.

During the recent UJC/ CKJF Mission to Israel,
Leon, who was one of the Central Kentucky people
on the Mission, met with a State of Israel Bonds
official. Leon writes 0i that experience in the tn\e
lowing:

i; uffiv-figgf; /

"At the request of the Cincinnati Band brace}
got a call from Michael Ben-Avi, of the intema-
tional Bond Office in Jerusalem. He wanted to
meet a representative from the Central
Kentucky Jewish community and express the
appreciation of the Bond organization for our
outstanding contribution toward the sale of
Israel Bonds.

' We met in the lobby of the Sheraton Plaza
Hotel in Jerusalem. He said it is remarkable
that in a community of our size we were able
to provide Israel with a million dollars through
the sale of Bonds. It is also indicative of our
dedication thatwe were able to get 40 people
to guarantee the loans that were used to pur-
chase the two half million dollar bonds that are
currently in force. I reminded him that we pre—
viously purchased $475,000 in seven—year
Bonds that matured in 2000 using the same
technique of getting a group of guarantors to
underwrite the loan.

I thanked him on behalf of all of us whovwere
instrumental in getting the job done.

At my request the tour guide on our bus point-
ed out several projects that were done, or in
progress, using the funds that we provided.
This included the new North—South toll road
that we rode on going to Haifa.”

mARCl) 2004 shalom . 5

 

 From the Executive Director

 

Who is A Jew?

#00

Nestor Kirschner, the current President of
Argentina, stated at the beginning of the
presidential race that his grandparents came from
Eastern Europe and first settled in an agricultural
colony called "La Esperanza." Let us think on this
for a while. "La Esperanza" was one of the colonies
set up by the Alliance Israelite Universelle headed
by Baron Maurice Hirsch, and the name was
chosen after the song "Hatikvah" (the hope, or in
Spanish —- La Esperanza). The last name, Kirschner,
is a Central European Jewish name, and the
historical circumstances appear to point to the fact
that Kirschner’s grandparents were Jewish. Yet
shortly after arriving in Argentina, his family left
the colony for the city and lived as practicing
Catholics. Their son was raised in the Catholic
faith.

Madeleine Albright discovered that she was a
"Holocaust baby," given away to a non-Jewish fam-
ily, but she personally was never involved with
Jewish life.

Presidential candidate John Kerry has a Czech-

. Jewish connection. Evidently, his grandfather
changed his name from Fritz Kohn to Frederick
Kerry just before immigrating to America. They
lived as practicing Catholics and distanced them-
selves from their Jewish origins as much as they
know of the Jewish connection.

These stories pose the same question, Are these
people Jewish? The answer is complex and simple

 

  
     
    
     

‘grodes 6-8l

Featuring:

. A Parent’s Story

Substance AW“
Prevention WorkserP . a

‘ for Middle School Kids & Parents

. Specialists from the Bluegrass Prevention Center

Daniel Chejfec

at the same time. According to Halachic Rule, to be
a Jew means to be "the child of a Jewish mother, or
a convert to Judaism, who is not practicing another
religion." This rule 18 followed by Orthodox and
Conservative congregations and has been adopted
with a modification to include patrilineal descent
as a standard by the Reform Movement. In the
three cases, there was an active pratice of another
religion, so from a strictly legal standpoint, these
people were not Jewish. Can we, however, accept
that their descendants
are banned from the
Jewish people?

At Passover, we read
from the Hagaddah a
portion which states
that, "In each generation
each person must see
him or herself as coming
out of Egypt," and it is
also said that we receive
the Torah in each gener-
ation. What does all this
mean? It means that
each generation must appropriate the Jewish her-
itage and make it its own. Without this pre-requi-
site of commitment and acceptance, there is no
Judaism. So if my father chose to abandon Judaism,
does that put me outside the pale?

There is, however, another way to look at the issue.

We are shaped, not onl by heritage, but b experi-
ence This is them-101g” .Y 7

of‘Na‘true vs
Nurture" To be Jewish means to be born into it, but
also to be inducted through education into it.
Hence the Halachic rule contemplating both situa-
tions: Jew by Birth and Jew by Choice. The prob—

 

 

lem arises, though, when
people actively abandon
Judaism. In these cases,
individuals go the extra
mile to cut the connec-
tion. In other words, they will actively distance
themselves or even attack Judaism. The case of
Daniel Burroughs, an Orthodox Jew who became
the Grand Dragon of the New York Ku Klux Klan,
is a case in point. People who actively abandon
Judaism are less likely to
transmit love of Judaism and
the Jewish people to the next
generation (after all, it is hard
enough for committed Jews to
achieve that).

 

Another layer of the problem
is that Judaism demands
action, not just belief. And
action demands commitment
and not just adherence. To be
Jewish demands one to be
truly active and to participate
in Jewish life. It 15 only
through the Jewish environment of activism that
the values can be made real.

So Mr. Kerry, Ms. Albright, and Mr. Kirschner. I am
flattered that there is some distant genetic connec-
tion between me and you, and I am delighted that
that does not seem to constitute an obstacle for
gnaw careers. I_hp_ve to sa , however. that
flit-W

Jewish 1'th a " ”m“
right of birth but a right of choice; the choice to be
active and the choice to accept the mandate to 4

improve the world in the context of Jewish princi-
ples.

 

  

  

Camp Shalom Plans for
2004 Season

By Eileen Keplingcr

Plans for the 2004 season for Camp Shalom are well underway. The camp,
sponsored by CKJF since 1967, is for children aged four to ten and is open to
children in the Jewish community and the general public.

This year Camp Shalom will be held from August 2 through August 13.
Activities include arts and crafts, games, swimming and a variety of other
activities to keep the children interested and excited about camp. Kathy
Feinberg will return as camp Director for another year and cxpoch that this
will be a banner year for the camp. Kathy will be joined by Elissa Brown, who
will serve as Assistant Director. Elissa teaches Hebrew and fourth gr