RIVER GARDEN GALA More than 500 celebrate this jewel. page 17
COURAGE Federation’s annual Lion of Judah event features daughter of Holocaust Polish page 4 rescuer.
JOURNEY JCA directors return from Israel page 8
Jewish News Jacksonville
January 2013 • Tevet/Sh’vat 5773 • Published by Jewish Federation of Jacksonville • www.jewishjacksonville.org • Volume 25, Number 7 • 24 pages
CJL event Federation holds Chanukah celebration for all honors Sisisky By Jewish Community Foundation
On Thursday, Jan. 31, the Jewish Community Foundation, along with partner synagogues and Jewish agencies, will celebrate and recognize those creating Jewish legacies. The event hosts, chairs and committee changed things up a bit for this year’s event. You won’t want to miss it. Local talent, including Koltrain and Jewish Community Singers, will regale with their sometimes humorous renditions of popular songs. Want to know more about creating a Jewish legacy? Join us and enjoy a video montage of friends and neighbors sharing heartfelt personal stories about why they chose to create Jewish legacies. Nearly 500 members are including Jewish causes in their wills or have made gifts to Jewish organizational endowments. Together we dream of a Jewish community in the future where, just as we have, the generations that follow us will enjoy our rich heritage and traditions. We invite you to come dream with us. Our program includes a presentation of our first-ever Legacy Leader award and a special tribute to Michael Donziger, Foundation’s first president and a driving force behind Create a Jewish Legacy. Jewish Community Foundation President Mark Green will present the award to Richard Sisisky. This is the highest award Foundation can present and will be presented only occasionally to a candidate in our community who best exemplifies the legacy fundraising characteristics of Michael Donziger, of blessed memory. Richard has served on the board of Foundation since its incorporation July 1995, and is its immediate past president and an original founder. As Federation president, he helped with the ground-
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See CJL, p. 22
Rina Fisch votes for kosher hot dogs!
Judges Jesse Olitzky, Henny Fisch and Kari Jaffa had a hard time selecting the winners.
By ISABEL BALOTIN Shalom Jacksonville
Federation’s Young Leadership Division and Shalom Jacksonville planned it and people came – 174 children and adults enjoyed a community celebration of Chanukah in the kid-friendly setting of Ollie Koala’s Backyard. Parents, grandparents, clergymen and /or their spouses had lots of time to schmooze, and meet new and long-time members of the Jewish community. The highlight of the evening was the creative menorah contest in which children up to age 11 and families created menorahs out of Styrofoam, egg cartons, colored water, balloons, Legos, spools, aluminum foil, paper and plastic sculpture. There was an edible menorah and one made from a giant etrog. The judges: Rabbi Jesse Olitzky, Henny Fisch and Kari Jaffa had a difficult time selecting the winners from all the creative entries. Our thanks to Gabrielle Bubis for chairing the event, assisted by Isabel Balotin, Shalom Jacksonville, and Adam Bronstone, YLD, and volunteers Jennie DeBardeleben and Adrienne Biber. We thank Meir Cohen and staff of McKosher for the hot dog platters; Thomas Johnson, manager of Ollie Koala, for his kindness and generosity; Larry Tallis for photos; and Kris Light of Federation for all her hard work on behalf of this event. As always, we thank you all for coming and supporting this Federation program. You all made it very special. We look forward to next year’s Chanukah event.
Above: The Wolchoks are proud of their handmade menorahs. Upper right: Grandpa Alan Kagan enjoys the ride with menorah contest winner, Kagan Gould Right: Itamar Lubliner takes a short break from the arcade to eat his hot dog. To see all the photos, go to jewishjacksonville.org/menorah.aspx. Photos by L. Tallis
Spotlight: JDC helps parents and children American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is a beneficiary agency of the Federation. By Jewish Federation of Jacksonville
In Israel, 80,000 children age 6 and under face great obstacles to developing and thriving at home and in school. These children are often from immigrant families and are at risk of being trapped in a cycle of poverty. Their parents may lack the means — both financial and cultural — to help their young children adequately prepare for school. American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee first developed PACT, Parents and Children Together, to help address these problems within the EthiopianIsraeli community. PACT provides literary enrichment, daycare subsidies, after-school activities, and health education for preschoolers and kindergartners,
See PACT, p. 22 David Robbins works with PACT children in Hadera.