CONSECRATION OF THE NEW SOUTHSIDE CEMETERY HELD Chabad leads special service inside Sha-rei Shamayim Gardens at Greenlawn in Jax Page 4
AN OVERSEAS HONOR
Local woman is inducted into Int’l Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Page 13
NEW JEWISH STUDENT UNION FORMING IN JAX
Stanton Prep will be the site of the first JSU in the River City Page 17
A publication of
August 2017
• Av/Elul 5777 •
www.jewishjacksonville.org
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JaxJewish
@jaxjewish
JaxJewishTV • Volume 30, Number 2 • 28 pages
Jacksonville Jewish News celebrates 30 years of storytelling in Northeast Fla.
Former JJN editor Susan Goetz looks over an early edition of the paper By Jacksonville Jewish News
For the past three decades, the Jacksonville Jewish News has been a reliable source of local news related to synagogue and secular life for Jewish men, women, families and retirees in Northeast Florida. While the colors, logos and faces in photos associated with the stories may have changed, one thing has not: the commitment to telling relevant and compelling narratives that inhabit Hebrew homes and hallowed halls in and around Mandarin.
in the 21st century (2011-15)
The early years (1988-92)
One person who has been there in one way, shape or form-from even before day one-is former JJN editor Susan Goetz, who assumed the significant role in 1990, a post she held for 18 years until her departure in 2008. “It started out for me being a very part-time type of thing, reporting, editing, rewriting articles and bringing it to our production people to do all the pre-press work,” she remembered. Goetz’s role seemed like a natural one, since she previously edited a publication in the mid-1980s known as ‘The Commentator’, which preceded the JJN.
“I had a monthly ritual that included bringing the paper to Florida Sun Printing in Callahan and waiting for the mechanicals to be shot, the plates to be made and the paper to be printed,” Goetz vividly recalled. “So I would wait around for anywhere between three to four hours and it was fun watching the paper rolling off the presses.” Fast forward 30 years, and while Florida Sun Printing is still producing high quality editions of the Jacksonville Jewish News, the process of printing and publishing has vastly changed. Now a monthly trip along I-95 to rural
Nassau County is no longer necessary as a simple click of the mouse uploads the finished PDF product to the printer, saving time and gas money for current editor and Communications Director Matt Franzblau. The Jacksonville Jewish News may be the longest standing Jewish news outfit in Northeast Florida, but it is certainly not the first. Before its inception in August 1988, a publication called the ‘Kehillah’ found its way into mailboxes around town during the 1980s, while the aforementioned ‘Commentator’ was around mainly in the 60s, 70s and a portion of the 80s.
Someone else who has seen the JJN grow from infancy to adulthood is none other than current advertising sales representative Barbara Nykerk, who once held a very different post with the publication. “I had a section of the paper called ‘People and Places’ and ‘Mazel Tovs’, Nykerk recalled. “I used to use the synagogue bulletins, the Jacksonville Business Journal and the Florida Times-Union, in addition to calling people if I knew there was a Mazel Tov in their family such as graduations,
See JJN 30 YEARS, p. 17
Israeli Scouts dazzle at Federation’s annual five agency meeting By Jewish Federation of Jacksonville
8505 San Jose Blvd. Jacksonville, FL 32217
Jewish Federation of Jacksonville
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The Southeastern Caravan of the Friends of the Israeli Scouts made a stop in Northeast Florida in early June, to help community members celebrate the year gone by in Jewish Philanthropy here in Jacksonville. Once the new board members and officers were officially installed for Federation,
JFCS, the JCA, JCF and River Garden, where the event was held, the eight Israeli teens took to the stage with the direction of their two counselors from the floor. A near hour performance was highlighted by the singing of the Hatikvah, or the Israeli National Anthem along with Michael Jackson’s ‘Heal the World’, spreading a message of peace and love. Along with some of the more traditional and well-known favorites, the scouts also gave the audience in attendance a rousing rendition of some lesser known Israeli tunes, helping bring the Land of Milk and Honey to River Garden’s Cohen Auditorium that night. The Caravan is celebrating more than 40 years of bringing excitement, energy and friendship to North America. Founded in 1973, the first Caravan came to the United States to bring a message of hope and peace for Israel. Since that first Caravan, the program has grown to three different Caravans
travelling across North America, from New York to California to Wyoming and Tennessee. Each Caravan is made up of a group of five girls and five boys and their two leaders. They are chosen to be members of the Caravan based on their maturity, fluency in English, and of course their talent in the performing arts. After several rounds of competitive auditions and interviews, the scouts spend a year training and rehearsing for their exciting summer in North America. The Scouts appearance in Jacksonville was one of their first stops in a summerlong tour of the Southeastern United States. The group heads back to Israel in midAugust. To track their progress follow them on Facebook, @SoutheastCaravan and for more information on the program visit israelscouts.org/friendship-caravan.
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