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The Westchester Jewish Council's
WE-stchester
Comm-UNITY
Connection
March 12, 2026 23 Adar 5786
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Greetings!
Good morning.
The spring countdown is on - only 8 days until that glorious season begins.
There’s a lot happening in the weeks ahead! We’re excited to share several upcoming community programs designed to bring us together. Mark your calendars.
We hope you’ll join us:
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The annual Yom Hashoah ceremony, in partnership with the Human Rights and Holocaust Education Center, on Tuesday, April 14 at noon
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Yom Hazikaron/Israel Memorial Day on Monday evening, April 20
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Westchester CountyYom HaAtzmaut celebration on Sunday afternoon, April 26
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The 31st Annual Julian Y. Bernstein Distinguished Service Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, April 28 (Stay tuned next week for a dedicated DSA newsletter with little known tidbits of information about the honorees.)
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Celebrate Israel Parade on 5th Avenue on Sunday, May 31st
You can find more information about all these programs in the newsletter.
Fun fact, Israel premiered its Eurovision entry last week—a song about a woman named “Michelle.” This track will be performed by Noam Bettan at the international song competition later this spring. You can listen to it below.
Shabbat Shalom!

Michael Mittelman, President
Elliot Forchheimer, CEO
Lori Kurlander, Communications Manager
WESTCHESTER JEWISH COUNCIL
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HERE WHEN YOU NEED US - YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW:
Since 1975, the Council has connected our Jewish community to:
Each other, to Israel, to our elected officials and
to our brothers and sisters from other faiths and ethnic groups
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(The Council is financially supported by donations from individuals,
dues from 120 member organizations and generous financial support from UJA-Federation.)
| | FLASHBACK FROM OUR MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS | | Over 250 Zionists from Westchester and Fairfield counties gathered for Jewish National Fund-USA’s Main Event for Israel, a powerful evening supporting the organization’s vital work at a critical time for the land and people of Israel. | | The JCC Mid-Westchester held their Annual Benefit on Sunday. It was a wonderful celebration of 70 years of community, culture, and connection! They honored their founding families, as well as four amazing teens. | | UPCOMING COUNCIL PROGRAMS | | |
Get Ready: Our Annual Julian Y. Bernstein
Disntiguished Service Awards Ceremy Is Coming Soon!
| | We invite you to join us on Tuesday, April 28th to celebrate this year's Distinguished Service Awards honorees, each of whom has an amazing story to share. Details can be found below and on our website. | | UPCOMING PROGRAMS AND HELPING ISRAEL | | |
CELEBRATE ISRAEL PARADE - Sunday, May 31, 2026
The annual Israel on Fifth - Celebrate Israel Parade in NYC will take place on Sunday, May 31, 2026 and the Westchester Jewish Council will again be organizing the Westchester marching group. More than ever, it is so important that Westchester unite with pride in celebration of Israel. We hope your organization or synagogue is able to join our group.
We are thrilled to be joined by our Westchester community shlicha (emissary) and our shinshinim (young emissaries) who will be marching with us in their first-ever Celebrate Israel Parade.
IF YOUR ORGANIZATION WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US, PLEASE LET DONNA (donna@wjcouncil.org) KNOW BY FRIDAY March 31st, 2026.
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As Israel enters extremely tense days, Latet (member organization) has launched an emergency operation to support displaced families, homebound elderly, Holocaust survivors, and civilians forced into prolonged shelter stays.
Latet is distributing 3,000 emergency kits (food, hygiene, and essential supplies), and might expand as needed. Any support at this critical time will make a real difference. Thank you for standing with us.
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WESTCHESTER JEWISH COUNCIL'S
SECURITY AND SAFETY UPDATE
“Repetition Reinforces Retention and Recall”
| | For more information about the Westchester Jewish Council's Security Roundtable initiative, contact security@wjcouncil.org. Working together we are all safer. | | WESTCHESTER JEWISH COUNCIL ROUNDTABLES | | |
Westchester Jewish Council
Upcoming Community Roundtables
(The Council thanks the hundreds of people who dedicate time to attend our Roundtables - a signature initiative of the Council, often sponsored with wonderful partners from among our member organizations)
Mosaic LGBTQ+ - Wednesday, March 18 via Zoom
Synagogue Presidents - Wednesday, May 6
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SAVE THE DATE for two UJA Westchester events:
Rachel Goldberg-Polin Book Launch
Thursday, April 23, 2026
Save the date for the Westchester launch of Rachel Goldberg-Polin’s book When We See You Again. Registration coming soon.
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UJA Westchester Annual Celebration - SAVE THE DATE
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 • 6:30 pm
Save the date to celebrate our community’s support for UJA and help us honor Karen and Ed Friedman for their deep commitment to the Jewish community, and recognize Kim Goldberg and Lauren Shalem as the recipients of our Young Leadership Award.
| | A SMALL SAMPLE OF WHAT'S HAPPENING... | | |
Join us for a night of high-energy music and community spirit!
A Concert to Benefit HOPE Soup Kitchen & The Kosher Food Pantry
Sunday, March 29th, 6 – 9 pm
Featuring! The Subourbons
“Rock for a Reason: Feeding the Soul” is a premiere benefit concert dedicated to fighting food insecurity in our community. All proceeds from the event will directly benefit the HOPE Soup Kitchen and the Kosher Food Pantry, ensuring that our neighbors have access to nutritious meals and essential resources.
$36 per ticket/per person.
Part of the ticket price will be donated to HOPE Soup Kitchen and the Kosher Food Pantry, but you are welcome to give an additional donation when you are RSVP’ing! Thank you in advance!
When you purchase a ticket, you aren’t just getting a seat at an incredible show—you are helping to stock shelves and fill plates. Whether it’s providing a warm meal at the soup kitchen or supporting the specialized needs of the Kosher Food Pantry, your contribution makes a tangible difference in the lives of families and individuals facing hunger.
Let’s turn up the volume on compassion.
Together, we can rock the house and feed the soul!
Click here to RSVP…and give more!
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Press Release Pesach - From Chabad of Rivertowns
"This Passover, Amid Rising Antisemitism, Dobbs Ferry Jews
Turn to Faith and Tradition, Recalling the Exodus
Rabbi Available to Talk About Passover’s Message for this Fraught Time for Jews"
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CONDOLENCES:
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Claire Miriam Eisenstadt z”l, wife of our friend and colleague, Rabbi Sandy Bogin, mother of Judith Belasco (Mark Berkowitz) and Daniel Belasco (Risa Kaufman), sister of Karen Rosner (Mike Rosner), and cherished grandmother of Frieda and Reuben Belasco, and Noah and Sarai Berkowitz.
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MAZAL TOV TO:
Rabbi David Z. Vaisberg on being appointed as Temple Beth Abraham's next Rabbi, effective July 1, 2026. And of course to Rabbi David Holtz for his 3+ decades of service to TBA and to our community.
| | SOME QUICK MEDIA/COMMUNITY LINKS | | |
Westchester Jewish Council
925 Westchester Avenue, Suite 200, White Plains, NY 10604
914-328-7001 | info@wjcouncil.org | www.wjcouncil.org
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For information regarding submissions, please contact Lori Kurlander
The next Community Connection will be published on or about March 19, 2026
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