JEWISH FEDERATION
October 2021
Growing and changing
Reneé Bialek Program Director
Jane Schiff and Jeffrey Feld Federation activities and the number of participants make this change necessary. MCA and WCA have memberships in the thousands. The Jewish Book Festival events draw hundreds for each occasion. The programs of Mix & Mingle, PJ Library, Young Jewish Professionals, JCRC, CJD, IAC, etc., require more space to meet and have their programs. Space for BBYO is needed to bring the Jewish teens of our community together to meet and have programs. Jewish Federation will continue to be a gathering place for meetings, programs and events for our entire Jewish community. With wonder, excitement and joy, we look favorably to the change that will allow us to meet the growing needs of our community. Of course, growing and building our Jewish community is a primary focus of the Federation. You could say, we make all these c h a n g e s i n t h e n a m e o f Je w i s h continuity.
3
October program sampling
J
ewish Federation of Greater Naples is growing and changing. Our Jewish Federation was incorporated in 1992 as the Jewish Federation of Collier County, and Gerald Flagel was the first chief volunteer officer. As such, our Federation is 29 years old — one of the newer ones in the United States. In respect to many other federations, we are still in the developmental stages of our existence. As Jews, we recite the Amidah, that prayer which is sometimes introduced with the expression, “standing on the shoulders of those who came before us.” In Jewish communal service, as in religion, we know that we do stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, and it is our intention that those who come after us have a good foundation upon which to continue to grow and change. Change is a constant. For each of us personally and for organizations as well. Our Federation has changed. The most obvious change is in our name. We are now Jewish Federation of Greater Naples. This change recognizes that we service a larger community than first identified. Over the years, Federation has relocated to two different offices. And as you know, we’re about to make another change. We are going to build a new home for Jewish Federation of Greater Naples — the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center — that will be located on the Temple Shalom campus. We expect that, with this change, our Federation will be able to better serve our Jewish community. The growth in
Federation Star
M
ore Zoom programs have been added to our October calendar! I am constantly adding more Zoom and in-person programs for the entire community and some October programs are announced throughout this issue. The following are a few being offered for your enjoyment. The Jewish Book Festival will offer a wide variety of genres, with something for everyone! Please join us at the free Virtual Preview Event on Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. (ET). Israel Advocacy Committee and Collier/Lee Hadassah is bringing Dina Kraft of “The Branch.” This Zoom program will take place on Monday, Oct. 25 at 10:30 a.m. The cost is $18 per household. “What is the meaning of art?” This free Zoom presentation will be led by guest speaker Dale Hackerman on Wed., Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. (ET). Join us Friday, Oct. 29, with guest speaker, board-certified dermatologist Dr. Brandon Kirsch as he talks about “Beautiful Skin from Within.” The free Zoom program begins at 1 p.m. (ET). Please register at www.jewishnaples. org or via our weekly e-blasts for each of
these programs. The Zoom link will be emailed to you two hours prior to the start of each program. These programs are advertised in the weekly e-blast that is sent out each Monday morning. If you are not getting the e-blast, please let me know so we can add your email and ensure that you stay connected. We have a variety of groups and committees at Jewish Federation of Greater Naples, such as PJ Library, 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.
Save the dates for community-wide events: • Kristallnacht Commemoration Service – Sunday, Nov. 7, 3 p.m. at St. Agnes Catholic Church. *Please stay tuned as to whether this program will be live, live-streamed and/or on Zoom. • Community-Wide Chanukah Celebration – Monday, Nov. 29, 5 p.m. at Mercato. If you would like to reserve a table or become a sponsor, please contact Reneé. If you have an idea for a program or want to be a guest speaker or facilitator, please contact me, at rbialek@ jewishnaples.org.
