COMMUNITY REPORT. Spring Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston

Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston COMMUNITY REPORT Spring 2013 Infusing Family Life with Jewish Values Facilitating Personal Growth and Jew...
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Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston

COMMUNITY REPORT Spring 2013

Infusing Family Life with Jewish Values Facilitating Personal Growth and Jewish Identity-Building Challenging the Mind, Body and Spirit

Dear Friends,

MISSION

Last fall the JCC translated an essential Jewish value of the New Year—new beginnings; second chances—in a series of programs, events and experiences called RE-SET. The RE-SET series encouraged us to use this important time of year to think about how we commit to ourselves, to our families and to our community. We gathered together to blow the shofar; did yoga on the West Lawn of the Leventhal-Sidman JCC; attended performances designed to stretch our thinking about our identities. And many of you told us that you used this opportunity to teach your children and grandchildren about the concept of renewal; of taking chances and of always moving forward.

To advance the aspirations of families and individuals to enrich their lives, bodies and spirits, by providing the best in contemporary programs and experiences, informed by Jewish values for today’s Jews and the people in their lives.

How exciting it is to think about the potential of hundreds of “re-sets” going on within our community! And how gratifying to be a part of so many personal, individual Jewish journeys. Very soon, the JCC will be embarking on a RE-SET of its own. Our wonderful Governing Board Chair, Nancy Kaplan Belsky, will soon complete her term and be succeeded by Phil Sher. Leadership transitions can be challenging, so it’s important that leaders and their organizations are united by a vision. For the past two years I have been writing and speaking about our changing Jewish community and the need to change along with it. We will soon be embarking on a massive effort to improve our facilities in order to meet those needs. We recognize that this is an era of choice, and all of us at the JCC aspire to provide the environment, services and pure sense of belonging that leads you to choose connection. We hope that you will continue to believe, as we do, that there is tremendous joy in learning and living Jewish values and traditions. In short, we hope to continue to partner with you on your path, whatever that path may be. Following through on this vision, and especially making certain that the RE-SET opportunity remains available to all, requires many resources. Human capital is certainly one of them. Financial resources are another. Although the JCC receives fees for certain services, philanthropy continues to play an important role in ensuring our ability to welcome everyone and to provide for the wide range of needs that “everyone” reflects. Your support helps make this possible! So while I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your past generosity, I ask you again: please continue to support our vital work.

With appreciation,

Mark Sokoll President/CEO

Dear Friends,

It is not your obligation to complete the task, but neither are you at liberty to desist from it entirely … - Pirkei Avot 2:16 As Chair of the JCC Governing Board, I enjoy the privilege of working with extraordinary volunteer and professional leaders. I am immensely proud of our numerous accomplishments and our vision moving forward. Over the years the JCC has evolved into the largest community tent, one that welcomes everyone. e JCC has become a destination for individuals, children, and families. Looking through the JCC Program Guide, I see opportunities for people of every age, background and ability. As I complete my term as Governing Board Chair, let us be reminded of the tasks to be completed and how each of us plans to participate to realize shared aspirations. anks to the dedication of the JCC staff and Governing Board members, our organization does indeed have a bold plan. We are developing programs in JCC facilities, including camps and preschools, and expanding programs in our broader community. Furthermore, the JCC is moving forward to reinvigorate our flagship building, the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, as a center of excellence for Greater Boston Jewish life. e decision to re-imagine our flagship building becomes an inspiring outcome of my term. I would not be doing my job if I did not ask for your continued involvement. Your engagement promises to become a gift that keeps on giving. And, in the next three to five years you will take pleasure in the fruits of your investment. I want to thank President/CEO Mark Sokoll for our strong partnership. To my Board colleagues and JCC staff, thank you for your impassioned determination to ensure that this and future Jewish generations thrive. To JCC donors and those of you who benefit from JCC programs and services, I am humbled by and grateful for your loyalty and support.

Warmly,

Nancy Kaplan Belsky Chair, JCC Governing Board

INFUSING FAMILY LIFE WITH JEWISH VALUES As you teach, you learn. (Midrash Tehilim) PJ Library® Every month, more than 3,000 young children in 98 Greater Boston communities (and thousands more in hundreds of communities across North America) receive the free gift of Jewish learning in their mailboxes. PJ Library (“PJ” for “pajamas), a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation supported locally by the JCC and Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), offers books and music to families raising Jewish children, many of whom are not otherwise connected to Jewish life. Each book or CD is accompanied by a resource guide to help Jewish and non-Jewish parents and caregivers share the experience.

Besides receiving the books, thousands of parents and children connect with one another and the Jewish community through a plethora of PJ Library family-friendly events held throughout Greater Boston. Story time brunches, holiday celebrations, beach parties and more are among the many ways families are gathering, engaging and coming back for more. Parents learn about these events as well as other JCC and community-wide opportunities from a monthly PJ e-newsletter. Please join us to celebrate PJ Library’s 5th Birthday in Boston on Sunday, June 9, 2013 at the Leventhal-Sidman JCC. Please contact [email protected] or 617-558-6587 for more information. PJ Library is a gift from the JCCs of Greater Boston with generous support from CJP and valued community partners. To support PJ and share the gift of Jewish learning, please contact 617-558-6471.

Words cannot express our gratitude to The PJ Library for consistently bringing Jewish culture and values into our home in an enjoyable, tangible, age-appropriate way. My child has gained so much from your gifts. The books and materials have added greatly to her Jewish identity and knowledge, and reignited my own. – PJ parent

Special Needs at the JCC Camps e JCC is deeply committed to providing a warm, welcoming and nurturing environment for all, regardless of background or abilities, and including children, teens and adults with physical, developmental, neurological, learning and mental health challenges. Programs and classes in adapted aquatics, social pragmatics, and exercise and movement are offered year-round, facilitating independence and a feeling of empowerment. at very special sense of being included is exemplified at the JCC camps, where boys and girls with special needs are integrated into the mainstream program—with the support they need to be successful. At JCC Grossman Camp on the Westwood/Dover line, for example, campers with challenges have access to a “quiet space.” anks to generous anonymous donors, children here find a dedicated retreat from the constant stimulation of the camp day. e room will be outfitted in summer 2013 with computers and other new equipment, courtesy of the Dedham Institution for Savings Foundation. JCC Grossman Camp, JCC Kaleidoscope Arts + Science Camp and JCC Maccabi Camp Kingswood all offer campers with mild to moderate disabilities a regular camp program under the guidance of experienced counselors. Interviews are required. Learn more at bostonjcc.org/camp. JCC programs and services for individuals with special needs are supported by donors to the JCC Annual Fund, CJP, and generous designated gifts. For more information, contact the JCC Development Office, 617-558-6471.

Helping Others (literally, “sending of portions”), participants purchased postcards in honor of the holiday, continuing the tradition of increasing the joy of both the recipient and the sender. Proceeds from the postcard sales support various programs at the JCC, including camp scholarships and senior hot lunch cultural programming.

JCC members and program participants take seriously the Jewish value of making a difference. Some examples: • e JCC Early Learning Center, Brookline/Brighton, hosts annual clothing drives to benefit Cradles to Crayons, a local organization that provides low-income and homeless families with the essential items they need to thrive at home, at school and at play. e Transitional Kindergarten class personally delivered contributions from JCC families and toured the facility where they got to appreciate their own generosity and that of our neighbors. • e JCC Adult Special Needs Drop-In Group in Brookline pooled their financial resources and contributed $50 to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy relief. • e South Area Women’s Event, held annually at Purim time, unites community members for celebration and a worthy cause. Participants in the 2013 event, “Cocktails, Caring & Comedy,” brought children’s and adult pajamas and used cell phones to be donated to New Hope, a South Shore organization that works to end domestic and sexual violence. • To celebrate the month of Adar and the joy of Purim, JCC visitors were able to “send a smile” to friends and colleagues. In a modern-day twist on “mishloach manot”

• JCC staff and members honored Passover by constructing an Elijah’s Cup made entirely of donated cans of tuna fish. e cans were given to Centre Street Food Pantry (Newton), Newton Food Pantry, Needham Community Council Food Pantry, and Family Table, the Greater Boston Jewish community’s kosher food bank. • e Transitional Kindergarten at the Bernice B. Godine JCC Early Learning Center, Newton, held a walk-a-thon to raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital and to promote healthy eating and exercise. e children completed an impressive 605 laps around the JCC gym, raising more than $2,200. • Campers at JCC Maccabi Camp Kingswood, Bridgton, Maine, reflect on consumerism in a program designed to reduce food waste and encourage collective responsibility. Each day they measure and weigh their discarded food—and, working as a team, make significant progress toward their goal of more conscious consumption.

Judy Levenfeld “Our goal is to infuse a thread of Jewishness into all aspects of our family life,” says Judy Levenfeld, who joined the Leventhal-Sidman JCC in the early 1990s. “The JCC has been an important point of connection.” Levenfeld-Hollenberg family members have been avid users of JCC programs and facilities. “My husband and I swim, use the gym and take fitness classes. With the children, we enjoyed swimming lessons, ceramics, tennis camp, chess class, Magic Ark performances, birthday parties, and shooting hoop in the gym. In fact, my oldest and youngest sons have a JCC basketball date this afternoon! “I enjoy sharing the facilities with older people and younger families. I love buying challah at the JCC each Friday. In the summer, starting the day with laps in the Outdoor Pool is a treasured ritual. “My advice to new members? Take the time to engage with others and hear their stories. And, when in doubt...try it!”

FACILITATING PERSONAL GROWTH AND JEWISH IDENTITY-BUILDING As the leader, so the generation; as the generation, so the leader. (Talmud Yerushalmi, Arachim 17a) Five Years of JCC Diller Teen Fellows

Golan Cohen

Beginning in 2008, the JCC has partnered with the Helen Diller Family Foundation and the Boston-Haifa Steering Committee of CJP to host the nationally acclaimed Diller Teen Fellows program in Greater Boston. Each year, a highly diverse cohort of 20 high school sophomores and juniors, selected in a competitive process that evaluates their leadership aptitude, commitment to Jewish learning, interest in exploring their connection to Israel, and passion for community service, enters a rigorous 15-month experience. Among the highlights are monthly workshops, weekend retreats, a personal Tikkun Olam project, 10-day exchange hosting with the Haifa Diller Teen Fellows in Boston, and a three-week summer trip to Israel.

Class of 2008-2009 Paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Enthralling as this may sound, the results are even more so. Representative teens reflect here on their Diller experience.

“I was born in Israel, and lived there until I was 12 years old. Going back and serving in the IDF was always part of my life plan, and I applied to Diller because I wanted a program that involved Israel and other Israelis. I wanted to give back to Israel as well as the Boston community. I also hoped to make new friends from Boston and Haifa.” Diller met all of those expectations. I am in touch with my Diller friends who live in Israel and serve with me in the IDF. It’s a long time ago, but I remember how much fun I had in the program and how satisfied I felt after the program ended.

Brynn Pollets

Adam Lassman

Debbie Lee Baskir

Class of 2010-2011; Junior Counselor 2011-2012 Nursing student at the University of Pittsburgh

Class of 2011-2012 Junior at Needham High School

Class of 2012-2013 Sophomore at Maimonides School

“Some say that you can pinpoint a moment in time when your life changes; my ‘moment’ was spent with rocks, rubble and rifts between two countries which I will hopefully see stand together one day. On our Israel trip we visited a site where a bomb had detonated only three months before. I saw two countries, two different beliefs, and yet one human race. e Fellowship gave me the power and sense of mind to challenge what I feel is unjust and necessary to change.” This Fellowship is not a ‘do it and leave it’ deal, but more of a ‘do it and live it.’ I was a bit lost in the Jewish world between the years of my Bat Mitzvah and the beginning of Diller. It’s not to say that I found my place in Judaism, but I seemed to have found Judaism’s place in my world.

“After my mother’s successful battle with breast cancer, I wanted to help other women and offer their children hope for the future. e Pink Seat Project aims to increase breast cancer awareness and access to screening services for women in the US and Israel. Funds are raised through donations from sports and entertainment venues showcasing a pink seat and donating the proceeds from the ticket sales to the Project. A Seat is in place at the JCC; others were featured at the Boston Jewish Music Festival, and countless opportunities lay ahead.” Diller gave me the leadership training, support and now the financial means to get my project off the ground. An alumni grant has allowed me to apply for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and to expand the reach of my project. In fact, I am in contact with several Haifa Diller fellows who are actively trying to implement a Pink Seat.

“Coming from day school I had an idea of what a pluralistic group is, but I was nervous about joining in because I think my views may be different, more conservative. I am finding that you can be whoever you want to be and say whatever you want to say. Having a different opinion in the group makes it more interesting. Everyone contributes … when someone’s not there you can feel their absence.” Diller has already shown me how much impact tikkun olam [repairing the world] has, and how it is so vital to Jewish identity. I don’t want to think about the program ending … but … at the end I think I will see myself more connected to community service and to Israel, my home away from home. I am being presented with opportunities that I would have never been exposed to, and I’m so grateful for this incredible experience.

CHALLENGING THE MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT

It’s not how much or how little you have that makes you great or small, but how much or how little you are with what you hav JCC Family Wellness Expo Reducing stress, eating nutritiously and staying fit: for busy families, these must be not just goals, but necessities. e JCC Family Wellness Expo, held on a snowy Sunday afternoon in February, hosted more than 300 family members sampling healthy snacks, receiving child identification kits, learning about composting, running off steam in a kids’ obstacle course, relaxing with complimentary chair massages, posing for photos with the Red Sox’s Wally the Green Monster, and learning about JCC programs for families and children. The Family Wellness Expo received generous support from sponsors Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center-Needham. To learn more about JCC program sponsorship opportunities, contact the Development Office at 617-558-6471.

ve. (Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch) What’s the Word? Spoken Word Festival with Larry Smith, Vanessa Hidary (aka The Hebrew Mamita), Steve Almond (short story writer/essayist), Lou Cove (creative capacity-builder/film producer), Piper Kerman (memoirist) and Rachel Sklar (author/blogger) Can. Six. Words. Describe. A. Life? ey can! is was the premise of the JCC’s first Spoken Word Festival, held March 16 at the Leventhal-Sidman JCC. e event, hosted by SMITH Magazine founder/editor Larry Smith (also founder of e Six Word Memoir Project), challenged five renowned journalists, essayists, novelists, songwriters and storytellers to share the six words that tell their life stories—and the stories behind the stories. e results were deeply personal (and deeply moving) as the audience joined in. Strangers somehow became friends through the course of this inspiring evening. All JCC arts and humanities offerings are programs of the Ryna Greenbaum JCC Center for the Arts.

Larry Smith

Vanessa Hidary

Steve Almond

Lou Lou Cove Cove

Piper Piper Kerman Kerman

Rachel Rachel Sklar Sklar

Found love at 40. Who knew? Mother’s Alzheimers. Forgets family. Remembers Auschwitz.

Sheri Gurock “The JCC is a really vibrant place,” says Sheri Gurock, a Leventhal-Sidman JCC member with her family only since the fall of 2012. “I had no idea how much goes on there!” The Gurocks joined when they decided to home school their children. “One of our children went to JCC Grossman Camp…now I wanted to engage them in some activities with other kids during the academic year as well. The JCC had great options. And on Sundays we take turns watching the kids and working out. We’ve gone swimming and played on the basketball court. We’re thrilled that our four-year-old loves his swimming lessons. “I’m always amazed by the programming for adults with special needs. It’s very inspiring for my kids to interact with them and their caregivers in the pool and the locker room. My advice to new members is: put things on the calendar and go! Don’t be shy—it’s a nice community.”

MEET PHIL SHER

Brookline resident Philip J. Sher, CFP®, CRC® will succeed Nancy Kaplan Belsky as Chair of the JCC Governing Board in June. Managing Director of an independent investment advisory firm, e Sher Wealth Management Group of Newton, and a longtime JCC member, Phil is the former President of the Jewish HealthCare Center and Eisenberg Assisted Living Facility in Worcester and is currently a longtime member of the ompson Island Outward Bound Education Center Board of Advisors and Finance Committee. He and wife Rachel are also active volunteers with e Brookline Community Mental Health Center and the Brookline Community Foundation. At the JCC, Phil is currently First Vice Chair of the Governing Board and a member of the Finance, Development and Camping committees. We sat down with Phil to discuss his thoughts on the JCC and its future role in serving the Jewish community. Congratulations on being named incoming Chair! How did your involvement at the JCC start? PS I joined the Leventhal-Sidman JCC more than 15 years ago, shortly after we moved to Brookline. Very soon I began to feel that if I was going to be at the JCC and use it, I should get more involved. e members of the Men’s Health Center encouraged me, Stan Goldstein in particular. I served on several committees, chaired the Golf Outing, and then joined the Leventhal-Sidman Board of Directors. After the JCC boards were consolidated, I joined the Governing Board. What impact has being involved had on you, your family and your life? PS We are carrying on a family tradition of service. My grandfather helped establish the Jewish Healthcare Center and my father and I both succeeded him as President. e facility shares its campus with a temple and the Worcester JCC. I learned to swim and play basketball at the JCC, and I went to JCC camp and worked there. Now Rachel and I both use the JCC fitness facilities and attend lectures there. My son attended JCC Grossman Camp. So our involvement at the JCC connects the past to the present.

Our interest in Jewish institutions and causes extends beyond the JCC as well. Rachel volunteers at a Jewish Family & Children’s Service dance class for people with Parkinson’s. Our dog Haylee is even trained as a therapy dog; she accompanies Rachel to several nursing homes for sessions with the residents. What do you value most about the JCC? PS e JCC is a place where everyone can be comfortable and feel connected to our Jewish community, whatever their backgrounds or beliefs. is is important to me both personally and as a leader. Because if people know that they are welcome and valued, they are more likely to want to be and stay connected. What do you want to accomplish during your term as Chair? PS I’m very pragmatic. e JCC has a vision and a plan to take us into the future. We need to build on programming and improve our facilities in order to bring the vision to life. e JCC is a wonderful gift that was given to me by our community more than 30 years ago. My job now is to build, literally and figuratively, for the next 30 years of Jewish life in the Greater Boston area. If you could have a theme for your term, what would it be? PS I have challenged our Board and staff to articulate what it is that makes the JCC relevant and important for our Greater Boston community. So first: “Did you know?” ere is just so much that the JCC does beyond our walls; I want to make certain that all of our constituencies understand all of our contributions to Jewish life. e other is “Plus One.” Nobody can do this very big job alone. We need everyone to be involved. We will need volunteers, expertise and funding, and we will need people to spread the word, so that even more people get involved. Plus One: one more person; one more idea; one more donor. All of us in it together, creating a thriving Jewish community for the future.

AROUND THE JCC

Ninth Annual Winter Benefit with actor/comedian Seth Meyers Nearly 450 revelers crowded a ballroom at the InterContinental Boston on December 2, 2012, for an evening of community, connection and celebration to benefit the JCC. Actor/comedian Seth Meyers entertained with lively commentary on a wide range of topics, from love to politics to family life (with his own parents looking on). Attendees shared the ideas and activities that inspired them—and inspired them to give. The event, which was co-chaired by Shoshana and Daniel Farb, Tamar and Kenneth Frieze, and Devra and Donald Lasden, raised $650,000 for JCC programs. If you’d like to get involved with the planning for next year’s event, please contact the JCC Development Department, 617-558-6471. Seth Meyers

Kenneth Kenneth and and Tamar Tamar Frieze, Frieze, Daniel Daniel and and Shoshana Shoshana Farb, Farb, Seth Seth Meyers, Meyers, Devra Devra and and Donald Donald Lasden Lasden

SAVE THE DATE JCC AnnualGolf Benefit

Honoring Joan Arbetter Rosenberg Recognizing Joan Astor, Stanley Goldstein and Mark Rosenthal Jeffrey Glassman, Chuck Rodman and Richard Scherr, Event Co-chairs

Monday, June 10, 2013 Blue Hill Country Club bostonjcc.org/golf

Mark Sokoll, and Ted Cutler

Hot Buttons, Cool Conversations Can the Olam be Tikkuned? (Can the World Be Repaired?)

with Rabbis Ari Hart (Uri L’Tzedek) and Sharon Brous (IKAR), journalist/political commentator EJ Dionne, Jr. and moderator Leonard Fein Can the world be repaired? How are we doing with this? These were the central questions posed to the panelists at the third of five programs in this year’s HOT BUTTONS, COOL CONVERSATIONS series, held February 28 at the Leventhal-Sidman JCC. Responses ranged from a discussion of the obligation to attempt repair and the potential contributions of this and forthcoming generations; to questions about whether American Jews embrace tikkun olam authentically, or simply use the concept to engage otherwise less-engaged Jews; to a highly charged interaction that made distinctions between systemic attempts at change (for instance, advocacy) and individual acts and service work that the group agreed were important and satisfying, but saw more as “chesed” (loving kindness) than as tikkun olam. As always, the discussion challenged the audience—this time, to honor and engage in a fundamental Jewish value and, at the same time, to carefully consider the impact of our efforts at repairing the world. And, as always, respectful and honest debate allowed us to draw our own conclusions; this time, about how to secure righteousness and justice for all. It is every Jew’s life’s work to leave Egypt. - Rabbi Sharon Brous

All JCC arts and humanities offerings are programs of the Ryna Greenbaum JCC Center for the Arts. The 2012-2013 series was underwritten by The Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation, with additional donor support from Carolynn H. Levy and family.

GOVERNING BOARD Nancy Kaplan Belsky, Chair Philip Sher, First Vice Chair Tamar Salter Frieze, Secretary Mark Barrocas, Treasurer Standing Committee Chairs Eric B. Brenman, Esq., Audit Louis J. Grossman, Finance Faith Kaplan, Campus Operations Carolynn Levy, Governance and Leadership Development Joan Arbetter Rosenberg, Resource Development Directors Beth L. Backer David Begelfer Rachel Chafetz Jill Cohen Richard Cohen Robert Cutler Beth Lappen Virginia (Ginny) MacDowell Wendy Pierce Robert L. Riemer Maggie Gold Seelig Lori Sidman James Snider, MD Harold Tubman Debra Yanofsky

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