4
Federation Star
JEWISH FEDERATION
April 2022
No worries as the 7th Jewish Book Federation Star Festival comes to a close Published by Celebrating Jewish Life in Collier County, Israel and the World
Published by the Jewish Federation of Collier County serving Naples, Marco Island and the surrounding communities
By Gayle Dorio, 2021-22 Jewish Book Festival chair
2500 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Suite 2201 Naples, Florida 34109-0613 Phone: 239.263.4205 Fax: 239.263.3813 www.jewishnaples.org Email: info@jewishnaples.org Officers Board Chair: Jane Schiff Vice Chairs: Karen Deutsch (Chair Elect), Marc Saperstein, Beth Wolff Secretary: Rosalee Bogo Treasurer: Elliot Lerner Immediate Past Chair: Alvin Becker
Board of Directors
Frank Baum, Patti Boochever, Harvey Cohen, Marcia Cohodes, Amanda Dorio, Paula Filler, Merlin Lickhalter, Robin Mintz, Les Nizin, William Petasnick, Joel Pittelman, Stuart Price, Nat Ritter, Michael Rubenstein, Jamie Satz, Betty Schwartz, Arlene Sobol, Steve Strome, Jay Weiss, Jeff Zalasky, Board Member Emeritus: Phyllis Seaman
Past Board Chairs
Gerald Flagel, Dr. William Ettinger, Ann Jacobson (z”l), Sheldon Starman, Bobbie Katz, Rosalee Bogo, Judge Norman Krivosha (z”l)
Synagogue Representatives
Cantor Donna Azu, Sue Baum, Rabbi Ariel Boxman, Steve Chizzik, Rabbi Ammos Chorny, Rabbi Mendel Gordon, Rabbi Mendy Greenberg, Rabbi Mark Gross, Rabbi Howard Herman, Rabbi Adam Miller, Charles Flum, Rabbi James Perman, Dr. Arthur Seigel, Daryl Sissman, Rabbi Fishel Zaklos
Staff
Jeffrey Feld: Federation CEO/President Reneé Bialek: Program Director Alicia Feldman: PJ Library Coordinator Marcy Friedland: Capital Campaign & Planned Giving Director Janine Hudak: Admin. Coordinator Nathan Ricklefs: Database Manager Kirk Wisemayer: Annual Community Campaign Director Teresa Zimmerman: Finance & Operations Manager
Federation is the central Jewish community-building organization for Greater Naples, providing a social service network that helps Jewish people locally, in Israel and around the world. As the central fundraising organization for Jewish communal life in our area, strength is drawn from organized committees of dedicated volunteers. Programs include: • Annual Campaign & Endowment Fund • Celebrate Israel • Educational & Cultural Programs • Israel Advocacy Committee • Israel Scouts • Jewish Book Festival • Jewish Community Relations Council • Jewish Young Professionals • Jewish Russian Cultural Alliance • Men’s Cultural Alliance • PJ Library • Publication of the Federation Star, Connections and Community Directory • Women’s Cultural Alliance • Women’s Philanthropy • Youth Activities Committee – sponsoring youth education and scholarships for Jewish Summer Camp and Israel Experience
I
t’s April! I feel like singing “Hakuna Matata” and “The Circle of Life” from “The Lion King.” Why, you ask? As our Book Festival comes to a close for 2021-2022, the cycle begins again. Planning for the 8th year! No sooner does one Book Festival come to a close than we start to plan for the next one. And Hakuna Matata means “no worries;” we’re continuing to make each year informative and interesting while (hopefully) bringing us together to enjoy more authors and events! It was a challenging time with COVID. We had to pivot, changing planned inperson events to Zoom — thank goodness for technology! One of our authors, Joshua Jay, was himself ill with COVID and had to cancel. We rescheduled Mark Sullivan after he informed us that he was unable to speak, having not sufficiently recovered from maxillofacial surgery. And, luckily, Jonathan Santlofer graciously expanded his presentation when Tracy Walder had a family emergency and canceled 30 minutes before she was to go on, turning a two-author event into a single author event! We hope to reschedule both Joshua Jay and Tracy Walder and will let everyone know when we are able to do so.
Gayle Dorio To the sponsors — some new sponsors and many long-time sponsors, some who sponsored several events — thank you for being so generous and so important! We couldn’t do this without you! To the patrons – all three levels, Platinum, Silver and Bronze — thank you for showing your support. Your enthusiasm, spreading the word, feedback and financial support make the Book Festival possible! To Federation representatives, Jeffrey Feld and Jane Schiff — thank you for your gracious welcomes and information provided at each event. Without Federation support, there is no Book Festival! You are so appreciated. To the Jewish Book Council in New York — thank you for introducing us to the 250+ authors and facilitating their selections.
To Jake Tavill of Indigo Soul Entertainment — thank you for providing technical support during the Zoom events. Without your help, the authors would not have been lighted properly nor heard as well. You always made sure everyone was on camera, and that slides, photos, videos and music happened when they were supposed to. To Sharon Hood and her team at MarketCrank, Inc. — thank you for designing Book Festival ads and for giving the Book Festival prominent placement in Federation Star. Thanks for your help designing the bookmarks and handouts, too. Thanks for allowing the articles I write to be published in entirety, even though I forget how many words I’m supposed to have. To Federation staff — thank you for your work behind the scenes. And, of course, to Reneé Bialek, who works
To the authors — Yes, how fortunate we are to have such articulate, interesting authors! Such important books, some subjects we had not heard of before, fiction, nonfiction, a thriller, cannabis, technology, humor, and several optioned for movies, award winners and translated into many languages! We were fortunate to have an interesting variety and each author’s intellect and sparkling personality came through as they seemed to be right in your living room, thanks to the benefit of Zoom! To Larry Israelite — thank you for creating the Reg Fox forms, allowing everyone to easily register and select patron levels and events. You possess talent, expertise, calm dedication and the pursuit of excellence. We are so lucky to have you. Thanks for putting up with the changes and questions and for making everything work!
behind the scenes and in front of the scenes, night and day, Sundays, early mornings and late nights, answering texts and phone calls, responding to Zoom link requests, handling all interactions with authors, etc. You do so much, it’s mind boggling. You need to be bronzed! Wait, no, we need you! I’m sure everyone recognizes that the Book Festival would not be the same without you. Thank you! Without the support of everyone in the community, we would not be able to bring our community together to enjoy these authors and these events. It is with your generosity, your enthusiasm, that this is possible. Thank you for giving me the opportunity, along with all these amazing people and organizations, to bring you this 7th Jewish Book Festival presented by Jewish Federation of Greater Naples. It’s a privilege and an honor!
Thank you to all
The Book Festival is an extensive undertaking each year, requiring time and talent from a variety of people, whom I would like to officially thank: To t h e J B F c o m m i t tee — thank you for reading books, writing reviews, and doing all the things I listed in last month’s article. You are all greatly appreciated! To the author review team — Jan Goldman, Carol Hirsch, Reneé Bialek and me — thank you for intensive days and nights, listening to over 250 authors, evaluating and working to make the best selections based on both JBF Committee reviews and author presentations. To Carole Greene, our book review specialist — thank you for writing monthly reviews published in Federation Star. Your insight, dedication and talent greatly promoted these authors and books. To Iris Shur — thank you for masterfully executing the Preview Event and thank you to the committee members who participated. (The Preview Event is on the website if you want to see Iris, et al., in action.) To the articulate moderators — thank you for introducing the authors, handling the questions and, many times, being “in conversation with” the authors. (We ask each author if they have a formal presentation that they want to give or prefer answering questions in a conversational format. The majority this year chose the latter.) To the committee members (too many to list) — thank you for asking businesses and organizations to be sponsors!
