The
Charlotte
Jewish
NEWS
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VOL. 1 NO. 7
Charlotte, North Carolina
August, 1979
JCC Children’s Fall Class
Everything
from arts and
crafts, to gym
nastics to pup
petry are avail
able.
Schedule & Registration - Pages 6-7
Educators Hired
Temple Israel Hebrew
A new educational director
has recently been hired by Tem
ple Israel. Arthur Tirsun and
his wife, Rosalyn, will be mov
ing to Charlotte soon and will
reside at Knob Oak I^ne. They
have two sons, the older one,
Daniel, is married and is a
nuclear engineer; Stuart resides
in Washington, D.C. and is an
assistant analyst.
Mr. Tirsun has a strong
background in Hebrew educa
tion having had 20 years ex
perience in children’s education.
For the past seven years he has
been in charge of the Hebrew
School at Temple Beth Shalom
in Roslyn Heights, New York
where he was also advisor to the
USY group. Prior to that he serv
ed as educational director from
1965-1972 at Harzeon Congrega
tion in Silver Spring, Maryland.
He is a graduate of Yeshiva Un
iversity of New York and has a
B.S. degree from l»ng Island
University. He has a teacher’s
diploma and license from
Baltimore Hebrew College and a
teacher’s license and principal’s
license from the Board of Educa
tion of New York.
While a member of the Prin-
cipal Association of
Washington, D.C. he served
terms as secretary, treasurer
and president. He is a member of
the United Principals’ Associa
tion of Greater New York and
has served as treasurer of that
organization. He is also a
member of the Ix>ng Island
Hebrew FVincipals’ Association
and the Educational Assembly
for Educators,
Mr. Tirsun has written
various articles for Hebrew
School publications and has
many outside interests such as
singing and dramatics. Mrs.
Tirsun is interested in the arts;
she paints and sculpts.
Academy
Remember
Venezuela
A year has passed since the
memorable visit to Charlotte of
more than 60 young athletes
and their accompanying adults
from Hebraica, the combination
Jewish School and Community
Center, of Caracas, Venezuela,
There was much talk then about
Charlotteans making a return
visit, but the effort never came
to life and perhaps many
thought it had been forgotten.
Not so! There has been a steady
stream of communication
between the two communities in
an attempt to put together the
winning idea which would make
possible not only a trip to
Caracas but also a return visit to
Charlotte by our South
American friends.
The Jewish community of
Caracas is many many times
the size of our own and it became
(Continued on Page 5)
Federation Funds Pilot Program
Nancy Gtjodman of Seaford,
N,Y. will join the Hebrew
Academy this fall as a general
studies teacher. Nancy has been
teaching general studies, in
cluding math and science,
language arts and social
studies, to a fifth grade at the
Hebrew Academy of West
Queens in Jackson Heights. She
also tutored Israeli and Russian
students.
An elementary education
graduate of State University of
New York College at Oswego,
N.Y,, class of 1978. Nancy is
also a summa cum laude
graduate of Nassau Community
College, Graden City, N.Y. Her
practice teaching experience in
cluded kindergarten through
fifth grades and remedial
reading. Active in student af
fairs at Nassau and Oswego,
Nancy enjoys reading, writing,
camping, needlepoint and cook
ing.
Nancy is a member of the Con
servative synagogue in Seaford,
reads Hebrew and identifies
strongly with her Jewish
heritage.
“I am very excited and look
ing foward to the new ex
periences at the Academy,” she
(Continued on Page 8)
Vocational services and ger
iatric casework will be the two
key components of a pilot
program being funded by the
Charlotte Jewish Federation.
This program which will run
through June 1981 will involve
the hiring of a qualified social
service caseworker on a full time
basis. Recruitment to fill this
position is now being conducted
nationally. While looking for
someone capable of handling
the normal range of family and
children’s counseling, the
Federation is specifically seek
ing someone with extensive
skills in the two areas of job
counseling and service to the
elderly.
In a report submitted by a
committee consisting of Pearl
Kier, Judy Strause, Aaron
Gleiberman, Gail Bienstock,
Sally Schrader, Stan Greenspon
and Ellis Berlin these two areas
were specifically underlined as
priorities. The report cited the
large number of members of the
Jewish community who are
transferred to this area and who
subsequently lose employment
through no fault of their own.
lliere are also those whose dif
ficult individual or family ad-
Bridge For
The Blind
Sunday, June 24th, Roy
Levine, President of the
Charlotte Bridge Association,
presented a check from the
Blind Association to the
Metrolina Association for the
Blind in the amount of $1(X).
This money was derived from a
special charity game held for
the blind.
The JCC presented the Blind
Association with a complete set
of duplicate bridge boards
purchased from proceeds of a
charity game held in April at the
JCC, These boards consist of a
(Continued on Page 9)
justment to the move results in
loss of job. There are those enter
ing the job market for the first
time and finally there are those
long standing residents who
find themselves either un
employed or seeking better
employment. In all these in
stances the people may want to
remain in Charlotte but need
two basic kinds of assistance in
order to do so. The first form of
aid is supportive counseling
designed to help the person
clarify their skills, their con
cerns and their problems with
the aim of making the best
presentation to prospective
employers. The second is to un-
cover employment oppor
tunities in the Jewish and
general community and bring
together employers and prospec
tive employees.
ITie report went on to discuss
the second area of concern - the
elderly, their needs and the
needs of their families. The
retirement years are seldom the
period of quiet reward they are
reputed to be. Instead they are
(Continued on Page 12)
Community
Plan
A group of public-minded
citizens have been working
on a plan which would af
ford an opportunity to
Temples Beth El and Israel,
the Jewish Community
Center and the Hebrew
Academy to relocate their
facilities on a 41-acre tract
of land on Providence Road,
They have also been dis
cussing raising funds to
construct a community
educational facility and a
gymnasium,
Herman Blumenthal, a
member of the group, an
nounced that consideration
was being given to the for
mation of a community
foundation to acquire the
24-acre tract of land now
owned by Temple Beth El
and an adjacent 17-acre
tract presently owned by an
investment group.
It is hoped that sufficient
funds could be raised by the
foundation to pay for the
cost of a joint educational
facility designed to provide
for the educational needs of
the participating in
stitutions. The construction
of a gymnasium for the JCC
is also being considered.
ITie Boards of Directors of
Temple Beth El, Temple
Israel and the JCC have
voted to endorse the concept
in principle. However,
meetings are now being
held with representatives of
these institutions and the
Hebrew Academy to explore
in greater detail the basis of
their participation. After
these meetings are com
pleted, a determination will
then be made whether the
project is feasible. Mr.
Blumenthal estimated that
it would probably be a few
months before his group
would know whether the
concept was acceptable to
the participating in
stitutions. its scope, and the
probability of its success.
Abe Bober supervises at bridge session. (Photo by Sam
Wallace)
Coming In Sept. Issue - JCC Adult Class Schedule of Registration
Classes Begin Week of Oct. 8th