Chag Pesach Sameach!

By Federation President/CEO Jeffrey Feld and Federation Board Chair Jane Schiff

You will be reading this just as Passover begins. Once again, our celebrations are not what we remember from past years, with large gatherings and festive meals. Maybe you’ve had both of your vaccinations and feel comfortable going to someone’s home, where everyone has had their vaccination. But a large gathering? No thank you, not yet.

When will we return to our previous celebrations? This year’s High Holy Days? Channukah? Next year’s Pesach? Who knows? But we are hopeful it will be soon. Vaccinations, COVID cases trending down (as of the writing of this article), and a general optimism seems to be in the air.

When we do begin to resume a new normal life, what will it look like? It will certainly include some gatherings and meetings in person, possibly with an online capacity for those who choose to continue the virtual option.

Our current office does not provide the capacity for that. Thankfully, at the new Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center, we will be able to offer that option. Possibly not for mahjong, bridge or canasta, but for lectures, classes, and possibly, exercise classes. Electronics will be built in that should be able to provide a virtual experience as well as an in-person one.

So, maybe you want to hear an author at the Jewish Book Festival, who will be speaking at 7:30 on a cool, rainy January evening and you don’t want to go out. Well, you won’t have to. You will be able to Zoom in, just like we’ve all been doing this year. You will have more choices and you will continue to feel part of our community, no matter how you choose to participate.

In order for the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center to become a reality, we need everyone in the community to pitch in. And more than 270 families have done just that. So far, we have raised over $8.5 million to make this dream a reality. Without those 270 families, we would not be able to break ground or even think that this could happen. Those families are listed on page 7. We thank each and every one of them for their foresight and commitment.

Still, we need to raise another $6.5 million dollars. The construction costs are just under $10 million and that doesn’t account for the costs of running and maintaining a beautiful building. The extra $5 million being raised will be put into an endowment, allowing the interest each year to defray the costs associated with the building — including finance costs, extra personnel, security, cleaning, air conditioning and landscaping maintenance.

You know, you can’t purchase a property that you can’t afford to maintain; well, this is the same thing! And as with your home, we will not take money from the annual campaign to pay for the building. Our annual campaign dollars are needed by our elderly, our children and our agencies here in Naples and all over the world. We need to keep our promises to be there, wherever we are needed, to continue building and supporting Jews and our community.

Jane Schiff and Jeffrey Feld

When will we start holding events in the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center? About a year after groundbreaking.

When is groundbreaking? As of the writing of this article, we do not know. But watch the e-blasts for date, time and all the details. It will be exciting and there will be drive-by options as well as virtual options (we hope).

We think groundbreaking will be sometime in April or May, but there are still details and permits that could push that timeframe later. Of course, we could get lucky and it will happen as we hope, in early April. The Jews were able to escape Egypt, so we know that sometimes miracles do happen.

Our miracle, the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center, will become a reality with your support. Please contact Marcy Friedland at mfriedland@jewishnaples. org or call 239-263-4205 to join the 270 families that have already made a financial commitment.