The Charlotte Jewish News - August 2001 - Page 16
Jewish Family Setyices
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All Israel is Responsible for Each Other
By George Cronson, Jewish
Family Services Friends
Campaign Chair
“All Israel is Responsible for
Bach Other.” And that is what our
Charlotte Jewish Community has
done. It has taken the responsibil
ity of assisting the needy Jewish
people in our community through
Charlotte’s Jewish Family
Services (“JFS”).
The JFS office, under the lead
ership of Executive Director
Penny Wagner-Schuster, last year
held 970 counseling sessions for
seniors, families, couples and chil
dren. The JFS food pantry has
been accessed almost 400 times
supplying bare essentials: food,
soap, toilet paper — items that
you and I take for granted but are
so vital to individuals in need. JFS
provides a Jewish connection to
homebound individuals and resi
dents in senior facilities, ensuring
these elderly and lonely people
that they have not been forgotten
and remain a part of our Jewish
community. JFS Family Life
Education Workshops have been
held on vital topics such as caring
for aging parents, parenting ado
lescents and dealing with teenage
violence. In addition, there have
been support groups on parenting,
bereavement and divorce.
Emergency financial assistance
has been administered by JFS for
housing, burial, medical assis
tance and many other unfortunate
crises. In all, last year over lOOO
individuals and families were
helped. No one has been turned
away because of the inability to
pay.
A major portion of Jewish
Family Services operating budget
is funded through the Annual
Friends Campaign. In May, JFS
sent over 2,800 mailings asking
for donations to this year’s cam
paign. While we have received
generous donations, there are still
many of you from whom we have
not yet heard. Please take the time
now to help us raise enough funds
to enable JFS to carry on their
vital programs and services.
JFS Board members may be
contacting you for a pledge to the
Annual Friends Campaign. If you
do not receive their call, or simply
have misplaced your pledge card,
please call the JFS office at 704-
364-6594 with a donation pledge
and we will honor your generosity
at that time. A list of all donors
will appear in the Charlotte
Jewish News later this year. At JFS
we depend on the kindness of
Friends, so please be a Friend and
add your name to the list by mak
ing a donation to the Jewish
Family Services Annual Friends
Campaign. Helping others is the
soul of our community. Thanks for
helping and thanks for caring.
The following is a letter of
thanks from a JFS client.
November 20, 2000
Dear Penny,
I cannot adequately put into
words how much the JFS has
meant to me these past few
months.
As a practicing health care
worker of many years, I never
expected to become disabled. My
injuries, work related, resulted in
massive soft tissue injury as well
as brain damage from a closed
head injury. Now I am a mess.
Over the years, I received
numerous state and regional
awards for my services to persons
with disabilities. Now, "the shoe is
on the other foot. ” / have had such
significant losses over the past
several years, numerous financial,
legal and emotional hardships, to
the point that I have been on the
verge ofsuicidefa loaded revolver
to my head) as I feel that I am in
fact already a dead man. Even
though I have been ho.spitalized
five or six times for depression
and .suicidal ideation, I still felt
abandoned, that no one really
gave a damn whether I lived or
died, until now.
JFS has offered me hope, a
"ray of sunshine" in an otherwise
cloud of darkness. / have been in
counseling on a weekly basis with
Dawn Jett since last February.
She is truly a fine, competent and
compassionate therapist. If it
weren’t for her a.ssi.stance, I prob
ably would not be here to write
this letter. Our weekly .se.ssions
have meant so much to me, helped
me .see an alternative to death as a
way out of my nightmare.
There have been times when /
was .so financially strained that /
literally did not know where my
next meal was coming from. The
men’s shelter in Shelby has clo.sed
and the thought of rummaging
through trash bins was revolting.
The JFS food pantry and food cer
tificates have been a God.send. /
get to eat good, wholesome food.
Thank you, thank you.
/ al.so appreciated the help in
obtaining some of my p.sychotrop-
ic medications without which I felt
like the movie title "Dead Man
Walking. ”
Thank you .so very much, for all
of you. Dawn and JFS, have done.
It matters knowing that .someone
cares.
God bless,
"Walter"*
*name has been changed to
protect confidentiality
Mitzvah Makers
Hot Meal
Program for
June and July
Ann Abel, Emily Chatham,
Lynn Edelstein, Ann Ferrante,
Resa Goldberg, Debra Goldstein,
Trish Golembe, Adrienne Gossett,
Gail Green, Susan Jacobs,
Florence Jaffa, Helen Josephs,
Barbara Katz, Sharon Katz, Sheila
Kritzer, Jennifer Lahn, Allie
Lerner, Phil Levine, Sandra
Levine, Lyn Lippman, Brenda
Manes, Elise Menaker, Mamie
Moskowitz, Paula Musler, Jill
Newman, Bernice Roberts, Sandy
Rosenberg, Helga Rosenberger,
Marsha Scheer, Susan Sherman,
Susie Weinberg, Sandy Fischer,
Vivian Mallins
Jewish Family
Services Thanks
the Community
for the Following
DR. JEFFREY I. MUSLER & ASSOCIATES, P.A.
South Park Mall
4400 Sharon Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28211
(704) 364-7982
Carolina Place Mall
11025 Ciirolina Place Pkwy.
Pineville, NC 28134
(704)541-8232
Independent Doctors of Optometry Adjacent to Lens Crafters
Home is still the
best place to be.
Companionship
Light Housework
Meal Preparation
Incidental
Transportation
Errands & Shopping
(704) 344-0801
ifHome
^lnstc3.d
Donations in
May and June
IN MEMORY OF:
Arthur Wolf (Brother of
Eleanor Turk and Uncle of Jeff
Turk) from Jan and Ron Katz,
Sally and Manny Rosenfcld,
Audrey Madans, Bea Gibbs, Staff
and Board of JFS, Linda Ziefert,
Sandy Fischer, Evelyn and
Leonard Berger, Florence and Ben
Jaffa, Diane and Arnold
Rosenberg, Fay and Gerald
Sinkoe, Selena and Abe Banner,
Arlene and Ed Karp, Pat and
David Somerstcin, Marilyn and
Milt Rosenbaum, Frances and
Ronald Liss, Marilyn Shapiro,
Ruth and Alan Goldberg
Mother of Bill Schwartz from
Harriet and Mark Perlin
Shirley Silverstein from
Florence and Ben Jaffa, Audrey
Madans, Margo and Werner
Moritz, Shirley and Eddie
Goodman
Andy Ades from Margo and
Wemer Moritz
Mort Silverstein from Margo
and Werner Moritz, Shirley and
-Eddie Goodman, Florence and
Ben Jaffa
Nathan Becker from Lillian and
Irving Bienstock
Ross and Judith Becker from
Audrey Madans, Ruth and Julius
Silverman
Janis Dresner Hayes (Sister of
Francis Liss ) from Eleanor and
Morty Turk
Bernard Duhan (Father of
Laura Duhan) from Karen and
Leonard Fox
Elisa Joy Enison-Barman from
Fay and Gerald Sinkoe
Minnie Birbaum from Fay and
Gerald Sinkoe
Mother of Diane Lass from
Diane and Arnold Lass
SPEEDY AND COMPLETE
RECOVERY
Ben Jaffa from Audrey
Madans, Dorothy and Craig
Madans, Maxine and Barry
Klenicki, Fay and Gerald Sinkoe,
Arlene and Ed Karp, Eleanor and
Morty Turk, Marilyn Shapiro,
Shirley and Ed Goodman, Ruth
and Helmut Brandt, Ruth and Alan
Goldberg, Staff and Board of JFS,
Shirley and Milton Fytelson,
Evelyn and Leonard Berger,
Lillian and Irving Bienstock,
Jacobs Family, Mickey Bayer,
Ruth and Julius Silverman
Syd Gerber from Audrey
Madans, Evelyn and Leonard
Berger
Edna Bernanke from Marilyn
Shapiro, Audrey Madans, Ruth
and Alan Goldberg
Bill Ashendorf from Shirley
and Eddie Goodman
Roz Greenspon from Audrey
Madans
Arlene Karp from Ruth and
Alan Goldberg, Audrey Madans,
Florence and Ben Jaffa
Esther Frank from Margo and
Werner Moritz
Jim Lindcrman from Diane and
Arnold Rosenberg
Sam Strause from Ben and
Florence Jaffa
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Irving Bienstock from Bea
Gibbs
Leonard Berger from Bea
Gibbs, Linda Ziefert
Sylvia Kronovet from Carolyn
and Stuart Hennes
Barry Klemmons from
Florence and Ben Jaffa
GRADUATION
Maxine Klenicki from Florence
and Ben Jaffa
Bea Gibbs from Evelyn and
Leonard Berger, Audrey Madans,
Mollie Form
Benjamin Kweskin from
Mollie Form
Michal Richardson (Grand
daughter of Ruth and Shai) from
Evelyn and Irving Hockstat
Eric Mish from Susan and
Michael Littauer
Jessica Sachs from Lillian and
Irving Bienstock
Elise Moore from Audrey
Madans
Daniel Moore from Audrey
Madans
MISCELLANEOUS
Alan Platock (Honor of Bar
Mitzvah) from Denise and Alan
Sussman
Jerry F'isher (Great Party ) from
Evelyn and Leonard Berger
Blanche and Henry
Hirschmann (50th Wedding
Anniversary) from Florence and
Ben Jaffa
Henry Hirschman (Thank You
For the Presentation) from Andrea
and Ian Mesoznik
Alice and Dan Wallace (50th
Wedding Anniversary) from
Sheryl and Don Effren
Jeffrey Lyons (In honor of your
Achievements) from Pearl and
David Fink
Raena and Sam Siegel (In
Celebration Of Friendship) from
Micki and Bennett Lyons
Birth of Aidan Yale Greenfeld
(Grandson of Berta and Sam
Kaplan) from Rita and Irving
Mond
Orthodox
Woman Mentor
(Continued from page 15)
betzins, or rabbis’ wives, many of
whom traditionally have offered
classes and counseling for women
congregants.
Today, however, more and
more rebbetzins have their own
careers.
“I’m not married to a rabbi, so
docs that mean I should never get
to do all these things?” she asked.
Her husband. Josh, is an
accountant, and is a regular fixture
at the shul, along with the couple’s
toddler son, Dov.
At the installation ceremony,
Deborah Cooperman, a member of
the shul’s learning service,
described Halickman as “academ
ically rigorous, intellectually hon
est and open and so supportive of
students.”
“With Sharona, there are no
unaskable questions and that gives
her students untold confidence,”
Cooperman said.
At a recent class in the syna
gogue’s library, Halickman was
poised but informal, encouraging
the mostly older women students
to participate and patiently
answering their questions.
At the end of the one-hour ses
sion, retiree Selma Briclc said she
had taken several classes with
Halickman because the young
woman “knows her stuff.”
“It’s a first,” Brick said of
Halickman’s new role. “It’s what
she’s been doing, but now she’s
got a title. She’s not going to be a
lady rabbi, but she’s a very learned
person.