COMMUNITY Alliance’s annual meeting highlights accomplishments, future plans

BY FRAN OSTENDORF

PROVIDENCE – The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island celebrated our Jewish community at its 12th annual meeting, held June 15 in the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center. More than 85 people attended the in-person meeting, the second since the pandemic.

THE EVENING BEGAN on a bittersweet note as three longtime community educators, Larry Katz, Esta Yavner and Christine Wendoloski, were celebrated on the occasion of their retirements.

A video of each educator, including their reflections on their careers, was played for the audience, and Adam Greenman, president and CEO of the Alliance, presented each with framed Israeli artwork.

Of Larry Katz, retiring as the Alliance’s director of Jewish Life and Learning after 26 years serving in various capacities, including with the Bureau of Jewish Education, Greenman said, “Katz is the definition of a mensch.” Greenman told the story of how Katz had created a travel journal for the Greenman family before their trip to Israel.

“His advocacy for any community member … the warmth and care he shows toward each Israeli emissary, is just so special,” Greenman said.

Esta Yavner retired as a teacher in the David C. Isenberg Early Childhood Center after 31 years in a variety of teaching positions. Greenman pointed out how Yavner has taken on many roles to make the Rhode Island Jewish community strong and vibrant.

“You can see her warmth and caring for the kids in how she shares Shabbat with her class, reading stories to them,” he said.

Christine Wendoloski retired as a teacher in the Isenberg ECC after 15 years. Teaching has not just been a job for her, but a calling, Greenman said, telling the story of how at a staff meeting during the pandemic, Wendoloski was emotional in sharing how hard it was to not be with her preschoolers every day.

“It’s that kind of energy, it’s that kind of enthusiasm, that we are going to miss,” he said.

One leadership award was presented this year: The Joseph W. Ress Community Service Award went to Samuel Zurier, a state senator representing the 3rd District, in Providence. Zurier was unable to accept the award in person as the legislature was meeting to vote on the 2024 state budget at the same time as the Alliance’s meeting.

Zurier has served as president of Jewish Family Service and on the boards of Temple Beth-El and the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island. He was a member of the Providence School Board, 2000-2002, and from 2011 to 2018 represented Ward 2 on the Providence City Council. An attorney, Zurier has also taught law as an adjunct professor at Roger Williams University Law School.

The award was presented by Rabbi Leslie Y. Gutterman, who called Zurier “the personification of human decency.”

“No one deserves the Ress Award more than my first adult Bar Mitzvah boy,” said Rabbi Gutterman. “[Ress] would have been proud.”

In accepting the award on Zurier’s behalf, his sister, Sarah Zurier, read his remarks: “Joe Ress saw the paramount role that education has in this community. … In the broader community, education, particularly public education, is the civil rights issue of our time. … I am humbled to be associated with this brilliant constellation of luminaries [previous award winners].”

The presentation of the Ress Award to Zurier marked a multigenerational first – Zurier’s father, Melvin, received the Ress Award in 1999.

In his remarks, Greenman recognized departing and incoming board members for their service, as well as Alliance staff members. And he thanked the audience and the community for their continuing support of the Alliance. Funds raised this year included close to $3.1 million from the annual campaign and $200,000 for special projects and initiatives.

Greenman outlined how the community works together, and likened it to the 12 tribes of Israel, with partners, synagogues and community members all gathering to make a thriv-