Friday, June 8, 2012

Welcome to the Jewish Community of Central Massachusetts

Welcome to our community.

Last night at a newcomers welcome reception, we met several people who are now living in the Central MA area who have moved here for work or study.

Who says young people are not moving here? We are here to help make our newest members of the Jewish community find their social networks, and help them to navigate our community.

Our door is always open and we hope that anyone out there who needs assistance, guidance of just a friendly voice to speak with will reach out.

If you are reading this you probably already know about www.jewishcentral.org

This is your community...we welcome your participation in any way you see fit...and welcome, once again!

Friday, May 18, 2012

Season of Change

At this time of year, families celebrate many important milestones as they see their children and grandchildren graduate from preschool, elementary school, high school, and colleges and universities with various undergraduate and graduate degrees. Spring marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one. Last night we witnessed the graduation of 6 students from the Worcester Community Hebrew High program. Given their individual remarks at this ceremony, we can be encouraged that as a community our efforts and resources expended for Jewish education are paying off and our investment in our young peoples' future is a sound one. Congratulations to our graduates-Sam Shuster,Morgan Fins, Evan Swartz, Josh Kapiloff,Alice Waters, Zoe Summit and their families.

And even as we salute those who are graduating, we also acknowledge the faculty of not only Hebrew High but all of our educational institutions for their dedication and commitment to Jewish education.

Friday, May 11, 2012

New Phase

This week marked the next phase in the creation of the Worcester Community Religious School (WCRS). The interim board chaired by Merilee Freeman and Mary Jane Rein handed the reins over to Karen Kaufman who together with her new board will oversee the implementation of the new school. With representatives from Federation and 3 particpating congregations-Beth Israel, Temple Emanuel and Temple Sinai-, this new board has assumed the responsibility for the operations of the new school. With a champagne toast and the shehecheyanu prayer, the mantle was passed. Politics was in the air as well. The new coalition government in Israel has brought in the Kadimah party making this coalition more centrist and by far the largest coalition in Israel's history. Will this spark a new peace initiative, what will change in Israel's Iran policy and what impact will this have on the growing economic gap in Israeli society? Stay tuned. Information on Israel can be gleaned from several sources. Check out our website for up to date information. And check out www.jpost.com or www.haaretz.com Shimon Peres is on a state visit to Canada and has praised the country and its staunch Israel supporting Prime Minister Stephen Harper, for its friendship and support. It, along with the US are Israel's strongest supporters in the UN and in forums around the world where other nations are only too quick to condemn Israel. Over the next few weeks many events will be taking place in our community...I encourage you to check out our social website www.jewishcentral.org for all of our community's upcomimg programs.

Friday, April 20, 2012

From Sorrow to Joy

This past week, the community came together to commemorate the Shoah, that horrendous period in Jewish history when 6 million of our people were murdered only because they were Jewish. No one asked if they were Orthodox, Reform, Secular or totally assimilated. It did not matter how they defined themselves or how other Jews defined them; in the eyes of the Nazis, they were all the same.

At last Wednesday's program, we heard from Thea Aschkenase, who survived the Holocaust. We also heard from Jacob Maril one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, whose story of persecution and harrowing escape reinforced our fears that genocide and murder are only too frequently occurring phenomena even today.

Their stories also brought to mind several other periods in the not too distant past of the Jewish people.

Thea's heroic story continued with her attempts to reach Israel, then known as Palestine which was under the mandate of the British. After several attempts that were foiled by the British, she made it to Palestine and began her new life there.

Jacob's walk from Sudan to Ethiopia reminded me of the thousands of Jews who walked from Ethiopia through the deserts in their attempts to reach Eretz Yisrael, their holy land as depicted in the Bible. Just as many of Jacob's compatriots lost their lives through brutal attacks, hunger and thirst, so did many Ethiopian Jews.

The one striking difference between Jacob's journey and the one taken by thousands of Ethiopian Jews was that they had a destination in mind: the destination was the Land of Israel, their ancestral home and center of their hopes and dreams for millenia.

So too did Thea's desire to go to Israel come from her desire to live in a Jewish state where fear of persecution and hatred would be forever a thing of the past. Only when Israel became a state in 1948, did that dream come true.

This week we mark the 64th Anniversay of the founding of the State of Israel. Whatever one's political view of Israel is today, we can only imagine what Jewish life today would be without an Israel-a homeland for the persecuted among us, a safe haven for Holocaust survivors, a new home for a lost segment of our people, our Ethiopian family, the free and open society that welcomed over a million Soviet Jews after the Iron Curtain fell.

This melting pot of Jews is continuing to create and shape our Jewish present and future. Israel cares about its Jewish family outside of Israel just as much as I hope we care about it. It partners with us in improving Jewish education, in offering Birthright Israel trips and in helping to develop Jewish culture in all its many forms.

Let us all be proud of Israel's many accomplishments in its very short existence of only 64 years..and let us all celebrate our relationship with Israel by attending at least one of the many community Israel celebrations over the next few weeks.

Yom Huledet Sameach, Eretz Yisrael! Happy Birthday Israel!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Israel, AIPAC, Iran and Us.

I returned from the AIPAC policy conference with a renewed understanding of how are elected officials view Israel. Whether Democrat or Republican, the support for Israel is overwhelmingly positive. Support for Israel seems to be the common denominator on Capital Hill, even if our elected officials can't agree on anything else.

I am sure that Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, feels the love. His exhuberant welcome at the AIPAC event on March 5 was probably a wonderful relief from the pounding and split opinion of him in Israel. But in DC he is a hero!

President Obama gave one of his most positive speeches on Israel and outlined for the assembled delegates how his administration has supported and defended Israel in international forums. He enumerated the items and assured a sometimes skeptical community that his support for Israel is steadfast and unwavering.

Netanyahu and Obama differ on the startegy to prevent Iran from having the capablilty of developing a nuclear weapon, although both agree that all efforts must be made diplomatically first. Where they differ is what the redline is and when does the diplomacy end.

Support for Israel within the Jewish community is strong, but nuanced. With the emergence of JStreet and other more liberal opinion groups, support for Israel can take many different approaches, and those who sometimes say they are pro-Israel, have a very different way of expressing that support.

We will delve into that issue -Who and what constitutes support for Israel- at a community breakfast forum on Sunday morning March 18 at 9:30 AM at Congregation Beth Israel in Worcester. Our guest will be Professor Steven Cohen, arguably the most prominent sociologist of the American Jewish Community. Check this site for the details.

At this time, it is important to provide the context that can help us better understand the issues that the American Jewish community faces in its ever changing relationship with Israel. Hope to see you at the forum on the 18th.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Winter in March

OK....did we really believe that we could get through a winter without snow. The possibility existed, and as we crept closer to spring, we became infatuated by the idea.

Well, reality does usually set in, and it did yesterday. But I still find it hard to believe that in good old New England, yesterday's weather was able to spook eveyone and cause as many cancellations as it did. On my trip up Salisbury Street, that beautiful majestic drive to the Worcester JCC and Federation, the road was clear, well plouged and easily manageable. When there is a REAL storm, the street is a hazard, slippery, treacherous and one to avoid.

Maybe it's because there have been so many unused snow days, or maybe the weather forecasters, given the uneventful winter to date, felt they needed to create a major snow panic or maybe it's because we have grown dare I say it....soft!

Whatever the reason, I hope that will be the last snowfall of the season (sorry skiers) and that spring will really be just around the corner.

And don't forget...It's Adar, Be Happy, It's Purim!

Friday, February 17, 2012

We're in it together

Our Worcester Community Religious School is thrilled to welcome Temple Sinai to our midst.

At a recently held Sinai board meeting, the vote was unanimous to join efforts with Beth Israel and Temple Emanuel in its initiative to create our new religious schol, scheduled to begin classes this fall.

We are indeed fortunate to have bold leadership at this time in our community's history who are willing to not just talk about change, but to see it actually happen.

Our community will be strengthened by this leadership and provide us all with new and innovative solutions to the challenges that we face a a Jewish community.