The Charlotte Jewish News - December 2009 - Page 26 Chanukah Kits Are you looking for a way to teach Chanukah to your kids? Their secular friends? Your child’s class at school? The Levine-Sklut Judaic Library and Resource Center will have take home Chanukah kits that are a wonderful aid in assist ing you with sharing the Chanukah story. Each kit contains dreidels, a story, Chanukah gelt, a menorah, candles, and more. The kits can be checked out for a three- day period starting on December 1. Certain items in the kits (choco late, dreidels) do not need to be returned with the kits. Please call the library or stop by with any questions, 704-944-6780. ^ A Window to Israel though Film: Free Screening and Discussion The Chanukah Kits will contain items similar to these. Films give us the opportunity to travel the world without leaving Charlotte. For the next few months, the Charlotte Jewish Film Society will be taking you to the land of Israel. The Charlotte Jewish Film Festival and the Levine Sklut Judaic Library are very proud to collaborate and bring you a series of Jewish films accompanied by discussion. Our first film will be Yedidiah s Collection, a sweet, yet poignant look at the withdrawal of Jewish settlers from Gaza (2005) as seen through the eyes of a young Orthodox boy named Yedidiah. This young boy’s beloved collec tion of spent mortar shells is fur ther evidence of the complicated reality of the life that Yedidiah and his family are dealing with. Yedidiah s Collection will be shown on Thursday, December 10 at 7 PM in the Levine Sklut Judaic Library at Shalom Park (Blumenthal Building). The screening of this film will be fol lowed by a discussion lead by Asaf Shenhav, the Charlotte com munity’s emissary from Israel. This series will be free and open to all. Next in the series will be the fascinating film Children of the Sun by Ran Tal, which documents the experience of growing up on kibbutzim in the 1920s and 30s. This film will screen on January 24. For more information call Tair Giudice at 704-944-6763. ^ ( Mazel Tov & Congratulations Amalia Warshenbrot Honored by the Association of Jewish Libraries I M I L TT Xi.LlXlLIlliiJT Yours Truly Needlepoint and Knitting Handpainted Needlepoint Canvases All New Canvases ■— Free lessons ■— Unique Gift ideas — New and Old Customers Very Welcome Best Selection in Charlotte All Proceeds Go to Local Charities 3802 Columbine Circle 704-366-6765 Open Thursdays 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Amalia Warshenbrot, for mer director of the Levine- Sklut Judaic Library & Resource Center (LSJL) was recently honored by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) for her lead ership in the Association, for her two decades of library service to the community of Charlotte, and for her com mitment to the field of Judaica librarianship. The Association of Jewish Libraries promotes Jewish literacy through enhancement of libraries and library resources and through leadership for the profes sion and practitioners of Judaica librarianship. Amalia served as the first chair person of AJL Bibliography Bank. In 1991, before bibliographies became electronic and web-based her own experience in the The road to recovery has been greatly helped by the concerns and caring of you, my dear family and friends. We extend our warmest thanks and thoughts for your contributions honoring the life and memory of Donna It has been a tremendous help to us, as well as a testament to what Donna meant, and the legacy she leaves with us all. Norman, Frank, Ross and family Rabbi Judy Schindler from Temple Beth presents Amalia Warshenbrot a certificate from the Association of Jewish Libraries. Speizman Jewish Library made her aware of a need for lists to help new librarians and library volunteers develop a collection suitable for specific subjects such as Holocaust, Israel, holidays and many more. She compiled and collected bibliographies that were created by librarians and devel oped a system to make them avail able to AJL members. After the Speizman Library received an accreditation AJL leaders asked her to serve on the national accreditation committee. Her application was so impressive that it became a model for other applicants. She did not hesitate to accept the invitation. She spent countless hours guiding librarians through the long process to achieving the accreditation by using the professional objec tives and standards that AJL’s librarians from school libraries, synagogue libraries and JCCs set for library accreditation. In spite of time that she devoted to the LSJL she felt that joining yet one more committee the mentor ing committee will lead to more accredited libraries. Several library volunteers in North and South Carolina owe her the success of their libraries. Amalia currently serves as an AJL chapter representative. The AJL has enlisted her skills to build a Carolina chapter for librarians to share ideas for programs, fundraising technology and accreditation. Rabbi Judy Schindler from Temple Beth El presented the AJL certificate honoring Amalia on October 17, when Amalia received a special aliyah. Rabbi Schindler thanked her on behalf of the Charlotte Jewish community for her many contributions to the Charlotte Jewish and non-Jewish community. For more information on the Association of Jewish Libraries please visit their website www.jewishlibraries.org. ^ Waite J. Klein Receives Highest Masonic Honor Walter J. Klein, was bestowed the 33rd Degree, an Honorary Inspector General rank, along with eight others at the Scottish Rite’s Biennial meeting in Columbia, SC, on November 7. This award is for outstanding accomplishments in the Masonic Craft, as well as achievements and dedication to causes in public life. Though Freemasonry has nothing to do with religion, Walter Klein is only the sixth Jewish person from Charlotte to receive this rare and highest honor in Freemasonry as well as being the first Freemason from Temple Beth El. Klein, 86, a retired motion pic- Walter J. Klein ture producer, is presently an accomplished author of eight books to date, including three related directly to Freemasonry. One tells the heroic story of Zeb Vance who befriended one of Charlotte’s earliest Jewish congregants. He is a member of Excelsior Lodge No. 261, as well as the Charlotte Scottish Rite, Oasis Temple of the Shrine and the Royal Order of Jesters. Walter Klein is married to Elizabeth Goodman Klein. He is the son of a Freemason, have four children (two of whom are Freemasons as well), eight grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. His latest book. The Bridge Table, is a histo ry of Temple Beth-El. ^