Shabbat Shalom!
Here we are in January and the 2021 Birmingham Jewish Federation’s
Annual Campaign is kicking off in less than a month! This year our chairs, Robin and Clayton Bromberg and Lauren and Drew Weil have come up with exciting COVID safe events for the entire community. You each should have received a “Save the Dates” for the upcoming programming and invitations should arrive this coming week! It’s an exciting time here at the Federation with a little something for everyone ensuring Federation Today
for a Brighter Tomorrow.
Our community campaign kick-off and volunteer appreciation event is Saturday, February 6 at the Grand River Drive in at 6:30 p.m. with a special screening of An American Tale. The event is free and open to the entire community – snacks included! While everyone will be safe and socially distanced in their cars, it will be fun to wave hello to the friendly faces that warm our community. Please click here to register as space is limited or visit the 2021 Campaign Events button on bjf.org. Many thanks to our host committee: Alyssa and Brad Blair, Lisa and Alan Engel, Cathy and Paul Friedman, Arlene and Milton Goldstein, Susan and Steve Greene, Andrea and Kent Haines, Amanda and Layne Held, Sheri and Jimmy Krell, Susan and Billy Lapidus, Marion and Edgar Marx, Brittany and Andy Saag, Carlie and Colt Sommerville and Danielle and Alan Weintraub as well as our campaign volunteers .This event is being made possible by generous support from the Dr. Sandra R. and Harold Apolinsky Fund, the Helena and Bill Lubel Volunteer Enrichment Fund and the Julian Lichter Volunteer Appreciation Fund at The Birmingham Jewish Foundation.
Our second community event takes place on Wednesday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m. via zoom and will feature a community conversation with Mosab Hassan Yousef, a former Israeli spy and author of The Son of Hamas. A formal invitation will follow in mid-February. You may also register on BJF.org/campaign. Additionally, there will be a NextGen event of Saturday, April 17 with more details to follow soon.
I know for many of us it feels like we just ended last year’s campaign, and we are wondering how could it possibly be time for another? Well, the answer is, last year we got a late start. I did not arrive until March and with COVID things were a bit upside down, however, this year we are off and running!
Our goal for 2021 remains $2 million to support our local agencies, Israel and overseas, as well as our broader community efforts. In the coming months you will each receive a pledge card and a call from one of our campaign volunteers asking for your commitment by Passover. As a reminder, the pledge that you make this spring does not have to be paid until the end of 2021. With that said, it is of utmost importance that you sign your card and return it so that we know what we are able to allocate to our agencies that depend on all of us for funding.
In the coming Weekly Round-Ups I will begin to share more information about our agencies that rely on the campaign for funding, as well as, the events mentioned above. Last year we exceeded our goal in the middle of COVID, I am so very excited to see what we can do now that a vaccine is here and hope is on the horizon. I also look forward to seeing many of you at the kick-off event in person for the very FIRST time!
Wishing you a restful Shabbat and a peaceful week.
Danny
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Supporting Agencies Overseas! |
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IWJB
The Israel-World Jewry Bureau (IWJB) is a unique allocations process, developed in 2004, that has allowed The Birmingham Jewish Federation to help fund smaller, yet equally important agencies, doing vital work for people in need in Israel and around the world. Comprised of community members who become Local Advocates for each organization supported, IWJB is a year long process that involves vetting of each organization, presentations to the committee and the hard decisions of whom to support.
Through the IWJB allocations process, dollars raised by our annual campaign, as well as dollars contributed by the Birmingham Jewish Foundation, are not only making an important difference in the lives of those we help, but also enable members of our Birmingham community to work in direct partnership with our brothers and sisters in Israel and elsewhere around the globe.
Our IWJB allocation allows us to support the following organizations:
- JDC – helps provide medicine to elderly Holocaust survivors in the Former Soviet Union
- Leket Israel – feed the hungry in Israel through a food rescue program that harvests excess fresh food from caterers, cafeterias, manufacturers, grocers, and farmers
- Operation Lifeshield - provides above ground protective shelters for areas of the country vulnerable to incoming rocket attacks.
- Ethiopian National Project (ENP) -empowers young Israelis from Ethiopia who have academic potential.
- Birthright Israel – provides free, first time, peer group, educational trips to Israel for young Jewish adults from around the world.
ICC
The Israel Connections Committee (ICC) is a committee of the Birmingham Jewish Federation. Its mission is to connect the Birmingham Jewish Community to Israel, focusing especially on our Sister City of Rosh Haayin. ICC hopes to provide Israel education through programming, work with Birmingham’s Sister City Commission to promote business to business opportunities for both communities, and overall promote Israel in our Jewish and broader community.
More recently, the Birmingham Jewish Federation is working with the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans and our sister city of Rosh Haayin on a virtual cross cultural exchange. This series will span the next 12 months and provide a low barrier opportunity to talk and learn about Jewish Birmingham, the New Orleans Jewish community, and the diverse community of Rosh Haayin.
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Supporting Small Business in Israel
Jewish Federation invests in Israel’s future by funding
small business in underdeveloped areas
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Image is courtesy of The Jewish Agency for Israel |
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Balsam Halifa recently marked his one-year anniversary as an independent entrepreneur. The ambitious 34-year-old from the Druze village of Maghar in the Galilee owns a franchise of the Israeli coffee chain
Aroma Espresso Bar.
Halifa’s success is due, in part, to the work of Jewish Federations and our partner agencies. As an aspiring entrepreneur, Halifa studied Management and Industry, but during difficult financial times, he was forced to give up his studies and seek an income.
Halifa slowly climbed the ranks at the Mitzpe Ramon branch of Aroma in the Southern Negev of Israel before deciding to open a Northern Galilee location. Then came the question of startup funds.
Halifa was able to buy the coffee shop thanks to a loan from The Jewish Agency for Israel, which is supported by Jewish Federations. The Jewish Agency Loan Funds, part of The Jewish Agency’s Partnership2Gether program, guided him toward realizing his dream.
"The loan funds in the agency's Partnership2Gether unit supported me throughout (the process), and made this whole thing possible. The staff support gave me a sense of strength and added confidence," he said.
The young businessman had an additional agenda: "The first branch I managed was in the desert of the Negev, and now I'm in the green of Galilee. It is important to develop the Israeli geographical peripheries which are immensely in need of growth."
With the help of Jewish Federations, through the funding of programs at The Jewish Agency, Halifa was able to fulfill his ambitions -- and invest in the future of other economically disadvantaged Israelis while doing so.
"Joining Aroma Espresso Bar six year ago made me realize that I'm actually practicing what I intended to learn in the first place -- and very much loving it,” he said. “I realized how much I enjoy my job and that I aspired to be a manager and better yet — an independent businessman!"
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Join us for a riveting conversation on Birmingham’s early Jewish history and some myth busting around Birmingham’s earliest Jewish settlers. Drawing off her dissertation, “Magic City Jews: Integration and Public Memory in Birmingham, Alabama,” Dr. Melissa Young will focus on three figures; Herman Simon, Charles Neumann and Sophia Wise, their roles in Birmingham’s history and the role of public memory in recording it. Dr. Young received her PhD from University of Alabama’s History Department and is currently the primary scholar on the Beth El Civil Rights Experience. This is a chance not only to learn about Birmingham Jewish history, but to get to know this new member of our Temple Beth El community.
Register here to receive Zoom information!
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Welcoming the Stranger:
Local Response to the Global Migration Crisis
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Thursday, January 28th at NOON
Welcoming the stranger is a core principle of Judaism and has always been an integral part of who we are. Join us for a conversation with Lynda Wilson, President of the AIRP to learn about the work they are doing to support refugees and asylum seekers locally and globally.
This JCRC program is the first in our Lunch and Learn series and is co-sponsored by CJFS, N.E. Miles Jewish Day School, Temple Emanu-El and Temple Beth-El
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On January 24 and 25, meet the world’s most influential female philanthropists. Join us for the 2021 International Lion of Judah Conference — a conference that’s virtual, and #VirtuallyLimitless.
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“The New Jewish Canon”:
A Conversation about Contemporary Judaism
January 12 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 PM
The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have been a period of mass production and proliferation of Jewish ideas, and have witnessed major changes in Jewish life and stimulated major debates. Join this class to talk about the book, “The New Jewish Canon,” which came out this year in July. This book offers a conceptual roadmap to make sense of some of this rapid change. The New Jewish Canon is an entry point for the Jewish intellectual and communal zeitgeist of the contemporary period and the recent past, canonizing our most important ideas and debates of the past two generations; and just as importantly, stimulating debate and scholarship about what is yet to come. Join Rebbetzin Bethany with your lunch on zoom to talk about some of these debates. Register here for the zoom link.
The Tikkun Middot Project
January 12 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 PM|
The Tikkun Middot Project is an innovative, national program to promote character development through mindful engagement with the Jewish Mussar tradition. Beth El is participating by building a small group that will meet to study, discuss, and practice character-forming techniques. Created by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, the purpose of the program is to bring positive communal change by helping individuals acknowledge and reduce negative behavioural patterns. The course will help you be more skillful at navigating challenging situations by building up your wisdom and compassion. Beginning November 17th, Rebbitzen Bethany will be leading a group through this program using a curriculum created by Rabbi David Jaffe.
JewCurious?
January 13 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 PM
Are you JewCurious? Have you heard that Judaism is about asking questions? Questions are the start of a great conversation. I would say, Judaism is about a great conversation. Come learn more about what that conversation sounds like by joining this JewCurious Class. This class is for everyone looking to get a broad overview of Judaism. This 101 class lasts for 20 weeks and is open to anyone who is curious. We’ll explore the major narratives, history, practices, theology and values of Judaism. You can expect that the learning will happen with curiosity and open-mindedness and respect for one another’s boundaries and beliefs. Taught by Bethany Slater from Temple Beth El. To register: Click here to register!
Jewish Cooking and Bal Taschit with the
Institute of Southern Jewish Life
January 10 @ 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Learn how to be mindful of the environmental impact of our eating habits and to avoid food waste while trying some fun, sustainable Jewish recipes. This is the perfect workshop leading up to Tu B’Shevat, when we celebrate trees and the Earth, and a chance to connect with the broader Birmingham Jewish community. To receive Zoom information please register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZckcuiqqD0uGNA5ODNjkxsWMtfxZisvlT1r
PJ Library: Parenting, it's in the bag!
January 11, 2021 @ 8:00 PM
Join us for wine and treats as you Zoom in for a special conscious parenting class with Miriam Friedman, Director of JAHM Chai Tots Pre-School.
RSVP to Florina at florinan@bjf.org by January 5th!
Bearing Witness: Stories of the Holocaust – “Talent-Luck-Courage: My Family’s Story of Survival”
January 12 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 PM
As Jews in Paris in the early 1940s, Brenda Hancock’s mother’s family endured the entire spectrum of experiences resulting from Nazi occupation. Some members hid in their home towns without ever being arrested. Some were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Hancock’s mother, Nicole Widerman Holland, managed to escape from Paris in 1942 with the birth certificate of a Catholic girl. She worked with the Forces Françaises De L’Interieur (French Forces of the Interior/French Resistance). Hancock’s uncle, Robert Clary (born Robert Max Widerman; LeBeau on the television show Hogans’ Heroes), is the only one of 14 immediate family members who survived the concentration camps and returned to Paris. He spent 31 months in 4 different concentration camps. Find out more and register here!
CJFS 2021 Annual Meeting on Zoom
January 13 @ 5:30 PM
Join us as we honor Incoming President -- Joyce Shevin; Outgoing President -- Michelle Bearman-Wolnek; Volunteer of the Year – David Ovson; and our CJFS Community Partnerships. Click HERE to register.
“Hidden Histories: The Lives and Legacies of Birmingham’s First Jewish Families”
with Dr. Melissa Young
January 14 @ 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Join us for a riveting conversation on Birmingham’s early Jewish history and some myth busting around Birmingham’s earliest Jewish settlers. Drawing off her dissertation, “Magic City Jews: Integration and Public Memory in Birmingham, Alabama,” Dr. Melissa Young will focus on three figures; Herman Simon, Charles Neumann and Sophia Wise, their roles in Birmingham’s history and the role of public memory in recording it. Dr. Young received her PhD from University of Alabama’s History Department and is currently the primary scholar on the Beth El Civil Rights Experience. This is a chance not only to learn about Birmingham Jewish history, but to get to know this new member of our Temple Beth El community.
Collat Jewish Family Services Bereavement Group
The meetings will be led by Gail Schuster, and the group will determine the frequency and meeting times.
For more information and to register for the Zoom meeting, please contact Gail Schuster at gail@cjfsbham.org or at 205-879-3438.
Financial Assistance Available
for Jewish Community Members
Thanks to a grant from the Greatest Needs Fund of the Birmingham Jewish Federation’s COVID Relief Campaign, Collat Jewish Family Services is offering financial assistance to Jewish community members who are facing financial insecurity because of job loss, caring for family or other issues. Confidential assistance is available to members of the Birmingham Jewish community who need help with rent or mortgage payments, utilities, prescription costs or other needs. To learn more, please email CJFS Clinical Director Marcy Morgenbesser LICSW, marcy@cjfsbham.org or call 205.879.3438.
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The Birmingham Jewish Federation
@jewishbirmingham
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