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Federation Star
Celebrating Jewish Life in Collier County, Israel and the World
Federation Star
Happy holidays!
Published by the Jewish Federation of Collier County serving Naples, Marco Island and the surrounding communities
Published by
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, Roberta Obler, 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 Division • Youth Activities Committee – sponsoring youth education and scholarships for Jewish Summer Camp and Israel Experience
JEWISH FEDERATION
December 2021
Reneé Bialek Program Director
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e begin December with State Attorney Andrew Warren speaking on Sunday, Dec. 5 at 1 p.m. on the topic, Anti-Semitism: Ancient Threat in a Modern World. Andrew Warren is a strong advocate for Jews and Israel and a passionate speaker about antisemitism. He is a leader in promoting justice and fairness for everyone and remains committed to making neighborhoods safer. This free event is offered both in person at Beth Tikvah and on Zoom. Please make sure to register via the link found on our homepage at www.jewish naples.org. The event is cosponsored by Beth Tikvah, Jewish Community Relations Council and the Israel Advocacy Committee of Jewish Federation of Greater Naples.
Jewish Book Festival The Jewish Book Festival will offer a wide variety of genres with something for everyone! The month of December, there are three virtual and in-person events: Dec. 2, Dec. 10 and Dec. 17.
PJ Library and Jewish Families with Young Children PJ Library and Jewish Families with Young Children are invited to the Headquarters Library, 2385 Orange Blossom Drive, for a joint PJ Library program on Dec. 2 at 6:30 p.m. Please make a reservation at programs@jewishnaples.org. Another fun program for these groups will be a park playdate on Sunday, Dec. 19, 3-4 p.m. at “Can You Dig It” playground, 15000 Livingston Rd. Let’s celebrate Tu B’Shvat, the “New Year of the Trees,” together. Please email programs@jewishnaples.org to let us know you will be attending.
People of the Book If you would like to be a Patron for People of the Book (POB) on Wednesday, Feb. 2, please contact me. As a POB Patron,
you will enjoy dinner with author Joshua Greene before the presentation.
How to register Please register at www.jewishnaples.org or via our weekly e-blasts for each of these programs. The Zoom link will be emailed two hours prior to the start of each program. These programs are advertised in the weekly Federation e-blasts sent out on Monday mornings. If you are not getting them, please let me know as we want to keep you connected. We have a variety of groups and committees at Jewish Federation of Greater Naples, such as PJ Library, Jewish Families with Young Children, Cardozo Legal Society, Catholic-Jewish Dialogue, Israel Advocacy Committee and Jewish Community Relations Council. Please join the group and/or committee that best fits your needs. A taste of each one can be found throughout our website at www.jewishnaples.org. If you have an idea for a program or want to be a guest speaker or facilitator, please contact me at rbialek@jewish naples.org.
The “Pope’s Rabbi” is coming to town Save the date, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022 at 3 p.m. By Richard Price, Catholic-Jewish Dialogue member
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he Catholic-Jewish Dialogue of Collier County proudly presents Rabbi Abraham Skorka, who will describe his 25-year “deep and sincere friendship” with Jorge Bergolio, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, who is now Pope Francis. This friendship, which continues to this day, began a dialogue that became an important component of both their personal lives and responsibilities as clergy. They collaborated in writing a book and engaged in 31 TV discussions.
at 3 p.m. The ballroom is in According to Rabbi Skorka, “Our personal diathe building directly behind logues had taken on the misthe church, which is located sion of spreading a culture of at 625 111th Avenue N. dialogue throughout society in Naples. in as many ways as possible.” Join us on Sunday, Feb. This program is brought 20 at 3 p.m. The doors will to you by the Catholic-Jewish open at 2:30 p.m. All are invited to purchase $18 tickets Dialogue of Collier County Rabbi Abraham at www.jewishnaples.org. If and the Diocese of Venice Skorka in Florida. seats remain available on the The event will be in the ballroom of day of the program, tickets will be sold at the door for $25 each. St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church
Two upcoming Catholic-Jewish Dialogue events One with Rabbi Skorka! By Marty Gauthier, Co-chair of the Catholic-Jewish Dialogue
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he Catholic-Jewish Dialogue of Collier County has two related and exciting events scheduled for January and February. We are honored to have received a commitment from Rabbi Abraham Skorka to visit us in February to give a presentation on his experience in dialoguing with the Pope. He and then Cardinal Bergoglio of Buenos Aires met several times over many years to promote interreligious dialogue. They both sought to build bridges among Catholicism, Judaism and the world at large. At the time, Rabbi Skorka was the leading rabbi in Argentina. Before Bergoglio became the Pope, the two men published a book recounting
their many dialogue sessions. The book, “On Heaven and Earth,” shares their thoughts on religion, reason and the challenges the world faces in the 21st century. On Sunday, Jan. 16, Rabbi Adam Miller of Temple Shalom and Fr. Robert Kantor of St. Agnes Church will read excerpts from the book, presenting their observations, and inviting the audience to interact with them. This promises to be a very interesting afternoon and it is a great way to prepare for the live presentation by Rabbi Skorka in February. You do not have to get the book to participate, but we strongly encourage you to read this book to see how successful dialogue works.
The book is available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com — “On Heaven and Earth” Jorge Mario Bergolio, Abraham Skorka Image Publishing. Mark both Catholic-Jewish Dialogue of Jewish Federation of Greater Naples’ events, held at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 625 111th Avenue N. in your calendar: Sunday, Jan. 16, 2:30 p.m. at St. John’s Claussen Center building. This is a free event. Sunday, Feb. 20, 3 p.m. at St. John’s ballroom. $18 per person or $25 at the door. Purchase advance tickets at www. jewishnaples.org.
