The Westchester Jewish Council's
Community Connection
November 5, 2020 18 Cheshvan 5781
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Hello!
“Patience is a form of wisdom. It demonstrates that we understand and accept the fact that sometimes things must unfold in their own time.”
― Jon Kabat-Zinn
While we can't tell you the final results of this week's Presidential election, we can tell you that there are a multitude of events happening in our backyard in the next few weeks and we are excited to share them with you. At noon today/Thursday, we will host an Israel Honors Day program honoring Israel's wounded soldiers. Continuing the Israel theme, the next event in our Israel Connection series focuses on how the US election impacts Israel and that will take place on Tuesday, November 17th. Next up, we are looking forward to the Annual Fairfield/Westchester Thanksgiving Diversity Breakfast which will take place virtually this year and then to the Biennial Night of Music Celebration (who doesn't love to listen to beautiful music) presented by Kol Hazzanim and the Council. Lastly, we are excited to be planning for our 45th Anniversary Gala which is scheduled for Saturday evening on January 30th. Details can be found below for all of these events or on the Council calendar.
We hope you can take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather this weekend and get outdoors. Thank you for reading.
Shabbat Shalom
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Lisa Roberts, President
Lori Kurlander, Communications Manager
Elliot Forchheimer, CEO
WESTCHESTER JEWISH COUNCIL
"HERE WHEN YOU NEED US
YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW"
(The Council is financially supported by donations from individuals,
dues from 136 member organizations and generous grant support from UJA-Federation)
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Please support the work of the Westchester Jewish Council. Your donation makes a difference each and every day. Click here to donate.
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WESTCHESTER JEWISH COUNCIL
UPCOMING EVENTS
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*THIS EVENT IS TAKING PLACE TODAY/THURSDAY*
ISRAEL'S 2020 HONOR DAY VIRTUAL DELEGATION
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We invite the community to join our Israeli Heroes, the wounded IDF Veterans, for an Israel Honors Day zoom presentation today, Thursday, November 5th at 12pm. We will hear from Major Ofir Anidgar Ofir who served in a combat engineering unit which searched for terror tunnels and from Shahaf Segal who served in the special anti-terror unit, Sayeret Golani, as a sharpshooter and a medic. This event is co-sponsored by The Jewish Agency for Israel and the Westchester Jewish Council and UJA.
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The Annual Westchester/Fairfield County Thanksgiving Diversity Breakfast
will take place virtually on November 19th.
Event co-sponsors are AJC Westchester/Fairfield and the Westchester Jewish Council.
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For more information, contact Jill Friedman, AJC Westchester/Fairfield Associate Director at friedmanj@ajc.org or Pam Goldstein, Westchester Jewish Council Assistant Executive Director at pam@wjcouncil.org.
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You are invited to the
The Biennial Night of Music & Joy Virtual Celebration
Saturday, November 21, 2020 at 7:30pm
presented by Kol Hazzanim and The Westchester Jewish Council
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Kol Hazzzanim and the Westchester Jewish Council
invite you to the beloved biennial
Night of Music in a virtual format this year.
Please register in advance for this free event:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
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LAST CHANCE!
Distinguished Service Award Nominations are Now Open
The Westchester Jewish Council is now accepting nominations from its member organizations for the prestigious Julian Y. Bernstein Distinguished Service Award.
This year’s award celebration will be held virtually on Tuesday evening March 16, 2021.
Nominations are due by Monday, November 9, 2020 and must be submitted using this form. One nomination per Council member organization. If you have any questions, please contact Donna Bartell at donna@wjcouncil.org.
The Julian Y. Bernstein Distinguished Service Award Committee thanks you in advance for your participation!
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SAVE THE DATE
FOR THE 45th ANNUAL COUNCIL GALA:
It happened last week - we revealed the honorees for our 45th Anniversary Gala! The planning is already underway, so make sure to mark your calendar for Saturday, January 30th when we will honor three amazing community members -
Lisa Roberts (Council President)
Harriet Kaplan Suvall
Marc Suvall
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WESTCHESTER JEWISH COUNCIL'S
SECURITY AND SAFETY UPDATE
"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail" B. Franklin
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**Don’t fall for it!**
Jewish organizations in Westchester County and beyond continue to be targeted by scammers using a technique known as “Phishing” to convince congregants to send money or gift cards based on false information such as to support a known charity or victim of some type of tragedy.
This scam has usually taken the form of an email was received from someone impersonating a sender within the congregation that is known and trusted such as the Rabbi, President, or Executive Director, requesting that the recipient purchase gift cards and give the card numbers to the sender of the email. If victims comply with the request, purchase the gift cards, and provide the card numbers to the scammer, the money spent by the victim on the gift cards is not recoverable.
The scammers are counting on you to trust the source of the email and comply with the request without questioning it, so the best remedy is to QUESTION EVERY REQUEST TO SEND ANY FORM OF MONEY that you receive and verify that the request is legitimate.
The best verification is a phone call to the actual requestor named in the email BEFORE sending any payment. In the vast majority of cases, this simple act will prevent you from becoming the victim of a crime.
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WESTCHESTER JEWISH COUNCIL'S
ISRAEL CONNECTION
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Westchester Jewish Council's
Israel Connection
invites you to
The US Election's Impact on Israel
Join us on Tuesday, November 17th at 7:30 pm for a conversation with Yuna Leibzon, a US Correspondent at Channel 12 News Israel. This event will be hosted and moderated by Nadav Shachmon, Westchester Shaliach, and Karin Lagziel, Upper East Side Shlicha. This event is the second in our new series.
Thank you to event Co-Sponsors UJA, Park Avenue Synagogue, Jewish Agency for Israel and Westchester Jewish Council.
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PROGRAMMING AND EVENTS YOU CAN ENJOY FROM HOME
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Join JCC of Mid-Westchester (Council member), and partner, the Boulder JCC, from your own kitchen and bake along with others during The Great Big Virtual Challah Bake 2020!
If you are a weekly challah baker, or if you have never baked one before, please join us and participate in this amazing, powerful, and inspiring event! Nine baking sessions are being offered via zoom from November 8-13.
Please Note that all session times are mountain time (2 hours behind Eastern Time).
Sessions have a cost and include gluten free, traditional, vegan and a rainbow challah. Special sessions are available; designed for families, teens and young professionals.
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Leffell School Meet & Greet (Council member)- Thursday, November 12 @ 9:30 a.m.
Connect with school leadership of The Leffell School in White Plains to learn more about academics, community, and Jewish life at an upcoming Lower School Meet & Greet on November 12 at 9:30 a.m. You'll have a chance to have all of your questions answered about what life is like at Leffell (a K-12 independent Jewish school), which is open for full-days, 5 days a week, on both our 25-acre campuses. This is especially helpful for parents of kids ages 3-5 as you look ahead to kindergarten.
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Pardes (Council member) has two programs to share, a Jewish spirituality retreat and a learning seminar. To register, please click on the links below.
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NEWS AND HAPPENINGS FROM MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS |
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The Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center (Council member) held their annual gala last week. So many of our Council leaders were in “attendance” and it was so nice to see many friends and leaders and hear their compelling stories during the program.
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IMPACTISRAEL’S (Council member) VIRTUAL CELEBRATION OF GRATITUDE AND HOPE RAISES $670,000 FOR ISRAEL’S AT-RISK YOUTH
U.S. Representative Nita M. Lowey received ImpactIsrael’s Tikkun Ha’Lev Award for her devotion to underserved children and families. Donations during the hour-long event totaled $100,000.
To read the full press release, please click here.
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UJA-FEDERATION OF NEW YORK IN WESTCHESTER |
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Round Table With Andrew Levine, Chief Legal Officer at SL Green Realty Corp.
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 • 8:00 - 9:00 pm
Join us to hear Andrew’s view on the impact Covid-19 has had on the commercial real estate industry. He’ll discuss marketplace trends, explain how SL Green is adapting to our new world, and share lessons learned throughout his career. He’ll also discuss his commitment to giving back to our community, and you’ll learn more about UJA's efforts to help people in need in these challenging times
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WESTCHESTER JEWISH COUNCIL ROUNDTABLES (ConnecTables) |
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Westchester Jewish Council
Upcoming Community Roundtables
(The Council thanks the hundreds of people that dedicate time to attend our Roundtables-
a signature initiative of the Council often sponsored with wonderful partners from among our member organizations)
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We will be hosting our roundtables via Zoom until further notice.
Some Upcoming Virtual Council Roundtables:
Synagogue Presidents +1 - Tuesday November 10th, 7:30 pm
Synagogue Executive Directors - Weekly
Greening Roundtable - Tuesday, November 10th at 6pm
Israel Roundtable - Wednesday, November 17th at 7:30pm
Marketing Roundtable - coming sooner or later
Contact the Council office at (914) 328-7001 or info@wjcouncil.org for information on these and other Roundtables--a key offering of the Westchester Jewish Council.
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We invite teens in the community to represent their agencies and synagogues at our WJC Youth Volunteer Roundtable. We ask our Youth Professionals to recommend a teen(s) to join us at the table. Please send the name and contact and any questions to Donna Bartell - Donna@WJCouncil.org
Westchester Jewish Council Teen Organizations include:
Thank you to the Jewish Education Project for working so closely with our Teen professionals and volunteers!
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HELP US SEND WARM WINTER GEAR TO THE NAVAJO NATION
Covid-19 has dramatically impacted Native Americans in the Navajo Nation, especially elders. As infection rates rise and the temperature drops, elders are in need of warm winter material, particularly single-person blankets, gloves, scarves, and socks. Please join us and the Afya Foundation in this warm winter gear drive collecting material for Navajo elders in Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico, in partnership with CORE Response.
The Shames JCC on the Hudson and the JCC of Mid-Westchester are partnering with us by including this campaign information in the publications for their communities. Together, we hope to send many pounds of winter items to the Navajo Nation --helping others as we appreciate all we are grateful for during our Thanksgiving celebrations in this difficult time.
Donations may be made through Amazon (tinyurl.com/afyadrive) until December 4, 2020. After choosing the items you wish to contribute, please select the shipping address labeled Sarah Schuyler's Gift Registry. Your purchased items will be sent directly to the Afya warehouse in Yonkers.
QUESTIONS ?
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Foremost Caterers Thanksgiving Menu is available for you to peruse. Please click on the image for the full menu.
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Refuah shlema to:
Rabbi Shmuel Greenberg, rabbi of the Young Israel of White Plains. To include Rabbi Greenberg in your tefilot and for a misheberach, please note that his Hebrew name is now Alter Shmuel ben Chava Leah.
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JBS can be seen live 24/7 on Cablevision (channel 138), Verizon FIOS (channel 798), ROKU and on https://jbstv.org/
The Hudson Valley 211 Helpline is Here
This is a service of United Way of Westchester and Putnam.
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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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The next Community Connection will be published on or about November 12, 2020
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