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Federation Star
JEWISH FEDERATION
February 2021
JCRC’s Day and Evening of Learning Jews of Persia
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Published by College in 2009 and her cantoThis special program will rial ordination in 2010. feature a clergy panel discusThis year, she will be celsion on the topic of “Keepebrating her 10th anniversary ing the Faith and So Much as the Cantor at Temple Shalom More During the Pandemic.” in Naples. The distinguished panel memCantor Azu’s topic stems bers will include: Reverend from her family roots as Persian Edward Gleason from TrinityJews. She was fascinated with the by-the-Cove Naples; Fr. Hugh history, traditions and culture McGuigan, representing Our Cantor Donna Azu that were part of her parents’ Lady of Light Catholic Comupbringing. Her presentation rounds munity in Estero; Rabbi Adam Miller from out the day portion of the program that Temple Shalom in Naples; and Reverend includes Dr. Steven Derfler (The Jews of Dr. Dawson Taylor, who serves the Naples China) and Dr. Ron Hart (Crypto Jews). United Church of Christ. The theme of this year’s program is “It’s To register for this event, please access the Chai Time to Visit Jewish Neighbors.” Federation website at www.jewishnaples.org. The program this year is being offered The Annual Day and Evening of Learnfree of charge and will be presented in ing is proudly sponsored by the Jewish Zoom format. Community Relations Council of Greater And there’s a bonus this year — an Naples (JCRC), a committee of the Jewish Evening of Learning, which will take place Federation of Greater Naples. on Wednesday, March 10 at 7 p.m.
BookBuddiesOnline receives JCRC Human Needs Award By Betty Schwartz, member, Human Needs Award Committee
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he Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples (JFGN) engages in many activities to fulfill its mission of fostering and increasing good will and friendship between the Jewish community and the community of Greater Naples. The selection and presentation of the Human Needs Award to deserving organizations is one of the most gratifying of all its activities. Our community has many nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping people with needs that would otherwise go unmet. The Human Needs Award Committee, chaired by Judi Palay, has the difficult task of selecting two worthy agencies to receive recognition and cash awards. Together we are making the world better — tikkun olam. This year, the committee has chosen BookBuddiesOnline (BBOL) as one of the award recipients. A literacy project of Emerson Academy @ UUCGN (Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples), BBOL is a summer program
aimed at giving the top academic-achieving high school students from economically challenged minority ethnic populations a head start in preparing for college. Emerson Academy was started as a collaborative effort of the Collier County Branch of the NAACP and UUCGN. The mission of BBOL is to keep elementary school children reading at or above grade level with the hope of instilling a love of reading at an early age. Each grade school student, with the support and participation of parents, is paired with a high school volunteer tutor, who will earn community service hours for tutoring in the program. The student and tutor use a Webex or Zoom meeting platform, ideally for two 30-minute sessions a week. Each reading session is recorded, allowing teachers to later assess the quality of the learning process and measure the child’s reading proficiency and comprehension. As much as possible, grade school students are matched with tutors with the
same ethnic and language backgrounds. It is hoped that BBOL tutors will become strong academic role-model buddies for the students. The format of the tutoring sessions is designed to be fun instead of another version of school. The BBOL program enjoys the enthusiastic support of the administration and faculty of Shadowlawn Elementary School as well as educational reading specialists throughout the Collier County Public School system. Plans in early 2021 include expanding the program into Lee County Public Schools with FGCU college students joining the team of BBOL tutors. The BBOL website, www.uunaples. org/BookBuddiesOnline, provides additional information. On the site, you may also meet Lindsey Abellard and Brittany Nguyen, the Emerson Academy students who conceived the original library-based Book Buddies project. The Human Needs Award Committee is honored to support this program.
Naples Pride to receive JCRC Human Needs Award By Suzanne Cherney, Member, Human Needs Award Committee
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n acknowledgement of its vital services to an under-served community, Naples Pride has been selected as one of the recipients of the Jewish Community Relations Council’s 2021 Human Needs Award. A volunteer-based grassroots nonprofit, Naples Pride aims to unite and empower Southwest Florida’s LGBTQ community, to educate, and to foster social change and equality for all. Naples Pride helps meet the needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community of Southwest
Federation Star Published by the Jewish Federation of Collier County serving Naples, Marco Island and the surrounding communities
By Jeff Margolis aples’ own Cantor Donna Azu will present a program on the Jews of Persia as part of the annual Jewish Day and Evening of Learning on Sunday, March 7, at 2 p.m. and on Wednesday, March 10 at 7 p.m. Originally from Southern California, Cantor Azu earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Opera Performance and Music Education from California State University of Long Beach. Prior to attending the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City, she earned a California teaching credential in K-12 music and taught both elementary and middle school music and theater. In addition, Donna Azu sang professionally throughout Southern California with Opera Pacific, Long Beach Opera and the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony. Cantor Azu received a master’s degree in Sacred Music from Hebrew Union
Celebrating Jewish Life in Collier County, Israel and the World
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am YHWH.” Leviticus 19: 17-18 Florida from its community center, where it offers support groups for a wide range of individuals in need of support. Examples include the bereaved, veterans, transgender individuals and those suffering from substance dependency. Notably, it offers a professionally facilitated live chat support group for teens. The
focus on youth protection arises from bullying, violence and even family rejection. Young people from the LGBTQ community seriously contemplate suicide at almost three times the rate of heterosexual youth and are almost five times as likely to have attempted suicide compared to heterosexual youth. To serve allies of the LGBTQ community, the Naples Pride Center hosts the monthly meetings of PFLAG, a national organization, some members of which continued on page 5
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, Marc Saperstein, Phyllis Seaman Secretary: Rosalee Bogo Treasurer: Elliot Lerner Immediate Past Chair: Alvin Becker
Board of Directors Patti Boochever, Harvey Cohen, 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, Michael Sobol, Steve Strome, Jay Weiss, Beth Wolff, Jeff Zalasky Past Presidents Gerald Flagel, Dr. William Ettinger, Ann Jacobson, Sheldon Starman, Bobbie Katz, Rosalee Bogo, Judge Norman Krivosha Synagogue Representatives Cantor Donna Azu, Sue Baum, Rabbi Ariel Boxman, Rabbi Ammos Chorny, Shelley Goodman, Rabbi Mark Gross, Sue Hammerman, Rabbi Howard Herman, Stephen P. McCloskey, Rabbi Adam Miller, Rabbi James Perman, Dr. Arthur Seigel, Daryl Sissman, Rabbi Fishel Zaklos Staff Federation CEO/President Jeffrey Feld Reneé Bialek: Program Director Marcy Friedland: Capital Campaign & Planned Giving Director Janine Hudak: Admin. Coordinator Nathan Ricklefs: Database Manager 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 the Israel Experience
