the bserver inside: Jewish
Alina Gerlovin Spaulding selected as new head of Akiva School
Win a Lexus or $35,000 in the GJCC Annual Raffle 2 JFS honors community leaders and partners
2
ECLC: new preschool playgrounds
7
Shabbat Outreach wraps up at the Holland House
7
Sections Lifecycles
9
A
lina Gerlovin Spaulding, a dynamic national figure in the arena of Jewish leadership, has been appointed head of school for Akiva. Spaulding, whose appointment begins this summer, was the founding dean of admissions at the American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro, N.C., an international Jewish college preparatory boarding school. Most recently, she served as the school’s director of communications and alumni relations. Since 1994, Spaulding has also served as an inspirational speaker and fundraiser for the United Jewish Communities/Jewish Federations of North America, speaking around the world about the importance of building strong Jewish communities through engagement and philanthropy. Spaulding has also worked extensively to create and enlarge youth programs in Fort Lauderdale, Rochester, Boston and Greensboro. She has been involved in humanitarian aid work in
the U.S. and overseas, and was instru- the world to take part in the first class mental in creating a Sister Cities part- of the Brandeis/Bronfman Institute for Informal Jewish Education, nership between GreensSpaulding was also one of boro and Beltsy, Moldova. 10 people worldwide select“We are extremely ed to be part of the prestipleased to have attracted a gious Covenant Foundnational leader of Alina ation’s Jewish Educational Gerlovin Spaulding’s calLeadership Program. She is iber to advance our miscurrently one of 16 fellows sion for our students,” said enrolled in the Jewish Shaul Kelner, presidentTheological Seminary’s Day elect of Akiva’s Board of School Leadership Training Trustees and professor of Institute. sociology and Jewish studAlina Gerlovin “I am honored to have ies at Vanderbilt Spaulding the opportunity to lead at University. “Alina brings the kind of experience and leadership Akiva, nationally renowned for excelto allow Akiva to continue to grow in lence in Jewish and secular studies,” Spaulding said. “There is tremendous strength and excellence.” Born in Kharkov, Ukraine, talent among the faculty and staff, and Spaulding emigrated to this country the warmth and inclusivity of the stuwith her family in 1979. She graduat- dent body are second to none. What a ed from Muhlenberg College with a privilege it will be to help nurture the double major in psychology and future Jewish leaders of our communiRussian studies and from Barry ty, our world.” Spaulding and her husband, Dr. University with a Masters degree in human resource development for Christopher Spaulding, will move to Nashville with their five-year-old nonprofit and religious organizations. One of 17 Fellows from around daughter. c
Conversations about Israel result in five communal goals By Mark S. Freedman
E www.jewishobservernashville.org
A Publication of
www.jewishnashville.org VOL.77 NO. 10 May 25, 2012 4 Sivan 5772
arlier this month, the Nashville Jewish community completed a historic engagement process of goal-setting and intensive large-group discussions that resulted in the creation of five goals that can guide the community when it holds strong and conflicting views about issues related to Israel and its future welfare. More than 150 community members, each holding personal views about Israel that range across the full political and ideological spectrum, were able to come to agreement on the five consensus goals that appear in the box to the right. The Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee sponsored the “Conversations about Community and Israel” project in the hope of establishing a broad communal platform where widely divergent views on Israel could be expressed in a civil and respectful manner, no matter how sharply divided the views might be. All of the data collected from the
participants and five “Conversations” sessions were conducted by Roger Conner, an experienced independent facilitator and mediator from Vanderbilt University.
Goal #4, which engendered considerable discussion in the final “Conversations” meeting, established a profound and important benchmark Continued on page 2
Goals for our Jewish community When people hold strong and conflicting views about issues related to Israel and its future, the goals of the Jewish community of Nashville are: 1. To respect each other and uphold Jewish values by carefully listening, hearing each other out and seeking to understand each other’s perspective. 2. To create a safe, inclusive environment in which members, without being pejoratively labeled, vilified or excluded, can freely and respectfully express their viewpoints. 3. To educate ourselves and deepen our understanding of modern Israel, its history, current realities and the quest for peace through the critical evaluation of diverse sources. 4. To stand as a united community in our support of Israel as the homeland for the Jewish people. 5. That the leadership of all Jewish communal institutions will actively take responsibility to support the implementation of these goals.