5007 Providence Road
Charbtte, NC 28226
Address Correction Requested
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
Charlotte, NC
Permit No. 1208
The Charlotte
JE^SH
Vol. 18 No. 10
Seated, right to left,
llan Lusky, Amir
Neufeld and Boaz
Kremer. Standing,
Reuven Heller.
Special Jewish Athletes Will Come to Charlotte
By Cynthia Chapman
Charlotte will play host to
some special young athletes on
December 4 at the JCC, thanks
to the generosity of Abraham
and Rose Luski and the Friends
of Israel Sports Center for the
Disabled. A tribute reception
and wheelchair sports e^ibi-
tion featuring children with
disabilities from Israel will
introduce our community to
these young people. To help
.you appreciate their accom
plishments, we provide you
with some background infor
mation about the participants.
Amir Neufeld, athlete, is
limited in his mobility because
of cerebral palsy from birth.
His is now fourteen years old
and has only limited control
over his arms and upper torso.
He uses an electric wheelchair
which he operates by using
stick hand controls. He joined
the Israeli Sport Center for the
Disabled when he was three
and he now mainly concen-
U-ates on swimming to improve
his motor skills and strengthen
his self-confidence. Amir is in
the eighth grade at the Center’s
school, which coordinates its
educational program with
another junior high school.
Amir serves as the pupil’s rep
resentative for his class and is
an excellent student, particular
ly in math. He uses a computer
in the classroom with specially
adapted controls.
Han Lusky was bom with a
muscular disease which affect
ed both his legs. When he first
came to the Center at age fcHir,
he mobility was limited to
crawling. With intensive work,
his physical condition
improved. He trained hard four
times a week and concentrated
on swimming, field events,
table-tennis and tennis. He
took first place several times in
the Rosenzweig Family
Championship for Disabled
Children in Israel. When he
was twelve, he won the Wcvld
Championship for Disabled
Children in Miami. Now sev
enteen years old, llan swims
and does wheelchair racing.
Like Amir, he is also an excel
lent student.
Boaz Kremer was in his
mother’s womb during an auto
mobile accident and experi
ences paralysis as a result. He
is a triplegic; both his legs and
his left arm are affected. He
uses a wheelchair for mobility
and is active in basketball, ten
nis, table-tennis and swimming
at the Center. He won four gold
medals in Miami at age twelve
for swimming and athletics at
the World Championships for
Disabled Children. His favorite
game is basketball and he has a
reputation as a real play maker.
He has been chosen to be a part
of the Israeli Youth Basketball
team. Besides sports, Boaz
enjoys playing the piano. He is
an outstanding high-school stu
dent as well.
Reuven Heller, the team
Coach, worked with wounded
soldiers at a rehabilitation cen
ter during his Israeli army ser
vice.
He later became Head
Coach at the Israel Sport
Center for the Disabled, and
coached the Israel National
Wheelchair Basketball team,
which won many Olympic
medals, and world and
European championships. At
the 1980 Paralympic Games,
Reuven was chosen as the best
international wheelchair bas-
kedwll coacb. He is a member
of the IntematiM)al Wheelchair
Sports Coordinating
Committee, and is a member of
the International Wheelchair
Sports Executive Committee.
Moshe Rashkes is the -
Director of the Israel Sports
Center for the Disabled and
former Chairman of the Israel
Disabled War Veterans’
Association. Mr. Rashkes was
wounded in the 1948 battle for
Jerusalem and received the
Citation of Valor. He is also an
author, scriptwriter and drama
tist.
Editor's note: Specialized
adaptive equipment such at the
individuals above need to lead
active lives costs thousands of
dollars. Ask Tammy Menaker,
who was formerly Counselor-
in-Charge with the N.C.
Vocational Rehabilitation
Independent Living Program,
where we worked together. An
electric wheelchair can cost a
minimum of $8,000. Special
ized athletic wheelchairs, made
of lightweight materials, are
very expensive as well. Support
these young athletes, their
accomplishments, and the
Sports Center by coming out to
the JCC on December 4!
Cheshvan-Kislev 5757 November 1996
L’Chaim Charlotte
‘96 Great Success
The inaugural L’Chaim
Chariotte festival on October 13
drew more than 3,000 peq>le to
Shalom Park to celebrate and
explore Jewish heritage, culture
andfaiti).
“The response was over
whelming in terms of turnout,
enthusiasm, and positive com
ments during and after,” said event
chair Adam Bernstein. “Clearly,
this was an idea whose time has
come.”
The festival Nvas presented by
the Jewish Community Relations
Committee of the Jewish
Federation of Greater Charlotte as
an outreach and community-build-
ing project and as part of Ae 10th
anniversary celebration of Shalom
Park.
“Our goal was simply to bring
Jews and non-Jews together to cel
ebrate and leam more about Jewish
culture and heritage,” Bemstein
said. “With the exception of High
Holy Day services, no other single
event has drawn that many peo
ple—^and certainly mm-Jews—to
Oie park at cme time. It was a «ic-
cess and set a solid beginning for
u^at we hope will be an annual
event Uiat the Jewish community
can be proud of.”
Brightly-colcMied tents with
exhibits from 19 area organiza
tions stretched across the entire
lower parking lot in fh)nt of the
JCC’s main entrance. An eclectic
mix of Jewish music, provided by
everything from rousing klezmer
bands to children’s choirs, filled
the air. Festival goers wandered
from booth to booth, pausing to
sample ethnic food such as falafel,
knishes, blintzes and bagels from
the food tents. In front of the stage,
circles of people swiried and
clapped as they learned Israeli
folk-dancing.
The educational dieme was
prevalent throughout At Temple
Beth El’s tent, volunteers wrote
visitor’s names in Hebrew on
refrigerator magnets. More than
400 bags of Jewish baked-goods
were sold, each with a tag explain
ing the religious relevance of the
enclosed mandelbrodt, mgulach or
other tasty treat. At the Charlotte
Jewish Pre-School booth, young
sters decorated their own kipot
Tzedakah was the theme of the
Qiavurah Tikvah exhibit, where
visitors were invited to build and
decorate their own tzedakah boxes.
Dozens of people toured the tem
ples and die JCC building.
Perh^^ the highli^t of the
day was a mock Jewi^ wedding
ceremony. Rabbi Jim Bennett
“married” Jennifer and Jonathan
Lahn, pausing to explain the rituals
and nuances to the large crowd of
onlookers. The ceremony featured
singing by Cantor Elias
Roochvarg, and there was even
chair dancing at the end.
Event organizers were pleas
antly surprised by the turnout,
although the large crowd posed
challenges. Walkie-talkies crack
led non-stop as volunteers scram
bled to find parking spaces and re
supply food and drink vendors,
who were overwhelmed by
demand.
“As with any fu^t-time event,
there were glitches, and we learned
a loC’ said Cary Bemstein, project
coordinatCHT. “But what was amaz
ing was there were no complaints.
Even peq>le waiting fw food—
and there were times in tfie after-
nocxi when those lines were very
long—told our volunteers, “No
problem—we’re having a great
time.”
L’Chaim Charlotte was the
brainchild of JCRC member Jerry
Klein, local radio talk show per
sonality and long-time Charlotte
resident. It follows several earlier
attempts to establish a Jewish festi
val similar to the Greek communi
ty’s annual Yiassou Festival.
The Bank of Mecklenburg
was the lead corporate underwriter
for the festival. Presbyterian
Healthcare Services, Temple Beth
El, Temple Israel, the Federation
and the JCC also provided finan
cial support.
Planning is already underway
for L’Chaim Charlotte ‘97. To vol
unteer, or for more information,
contact Cary Bemstein,
Federation Development Director
and project coordinator, at 365-
5007, ext 209.
Many, many thanks to all
who volunteered to make this
year’s effort such a huge suc-
cess.Special thanks go as well the
following for all their hard work:
Wendy Rosen (L’Chaim Booth
Organization Co-Chair), Jerry
Klein (L’Chaim Co-Chair),
Priscilla Walters (Event Planning
Consultant), Yossi Shem-Avi
(Entertainment), Debby Rosen-
berger (Food), Sus^ Hennes
(Decorations) and Julie Tache
(Media Relations Chair).
Federation Kicks Off Bernstein Leadersliip Development Program
As exciting new program
sponsored by the Jewish
Federation will offer the next gen
eration of Jewish leaders an oppor
tunity to leam more about what it
meais to be Jewish.
After a very successful pre
view kick-off party on September
7th, fifty-three pec^ have joined
the program.
Stacy Gorelick, F^ration
Chair for Leadership
Development, said that she was
“overwhelmed. Our g»l is to pre
pare the next generation of leaders
for the entire Jewish community.
Strong leadership is the key to suc
cess for ttie future.”
Ms. GorelKk also announced
that E>on and Bobbi Bemstein have
graciously agreed to sponsor the
program for the first two years. The
Bernsteins, who an strong aid
active community leaders, feh that
underwriting diis program wouM
contribute lo the fiiture overall
strength of ttie community.
Steering Committee members
Alison and Mark Lemer and Stacy
and Dan Levinscm worked together
to create a program diat will be
both stimulating and informative.
Participants will meet over the
next 18 mondis to increase under
standing of their own Jewish iden
tity and its effect on their roles as
ieaders. The itinerary has been cre
ated to foster undostanding of the
ofganized Jewish conmiunity, its
local, national and international
agencies.
The first meeting of the pro
gram was held on Sunday, October
6th at the home of Mark and
Louise Bemstein. Emily Zimmem,
former Federation Pr^ident and
UJA National Young Leadership
Cabinet Chair, spoke about her
experiences as a leader and chal
lenged the participants to take
advantage of this leadership pro
gram as a way to expand their
Jewish horizons.
Other featured speakers in the
first year will irxrl^ Makobn
Hoenlein (Executive Director of
the Conference of Presidents of
Major Jewish Oganizations),
Karen Marcus (Co-Chair of the
UJA National Young Leadership
Cabinet), and Joseph Telushkin
(renowned Jewish author and
schola-).
In the Spring, the group will
tdce aone-day trip to die Holwaust
Museum in W^^ington, D.C., and
in March of 19^, they will attend
the UJA Young Leadei^ip
Conference, also in Washington.