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The Charlotte Jewish News -December 2010 - Page 26 The Jewish Traveler By Maxine Silverstein Buenos Aires I’ve always wants to go to Argentina. It was definitely one of the top destinations on my “travel wish list.” This past April, we had the opportunity to travel to Buenos Aires. We were honored by American Express for being one of their top agencies in the country. Buenos Aires is the glamorous capital of Argentina. This beauti ful city is often called the Paris of South America, although the city is a relative bargain. What fun to stroll through the wonderful Congregacion Republica Israelita neighborhoods of Recoleta or Palermo, full of buildings with marble neo-classical facades on broad tree-lined boulevards or tour the historic Agenda de Mayo, which was designed to rival Paris’s Champs Elysees. European immigrants to Buenos Aires, mostly from Spain and Italy, brought with them the warm ways of Mediterranean culture, where friends, family, and conversation were the most important things in life. This city is also home to fabulous restaurants, incredible Argentina wine, wonderful bou tiques for beautiful leather goods, tango bars, and an incomparable amount of theaters and all available at reasonable prices. Buenos Aires’s vast array of museums is as exqui site as the treasures these museums hold inside. Argentina is the second largest nation in Latin America and boasts the largest Jewish commu nity in the region. From an open door policy of immigration to the harboring of Nazi war criminals, Argentina’s Jews have faced peri ods of peaceful coexistence and periods of intense anti-Semitism. Jews first settled in Argentina in 1492. In 1860, the first Jewish wedding was recorded in Buenos Aires. A couple of years later, a minyan met for High Holiday services and eventually formed the Congregacion Israelita de la Republica. We were able to visit this syna gogue and it is amazing to see. The Byzantine-style building is one of the stars of Plaza Libertad. The synagogue is also known as rtfcron&h ll McDonald's KOSHER iLli. Maxine and Gary at the Kosher McDonald’s in Buenos Aires. “Libertad” because of its location. The Libertad synagogue was ded icated in 1932. The small building housing the temple’s administra tive office also contains the Jewish History Museum, known also as Schools Gary and Maxine get a tango lesson. the Museo Kibrick after its founder. You’ll find material relat ed to the Jewish community in Buenos Aires, with both Sephardic and Ashkenazi items from their homelands. Menorahs, altar cloths, spice holders, and various pieces of religious art make up the bulk of the collection. Argentina’s Jewish community numbers more than 250,000; of that, 200,000 live in Buenos Aires. Most of Buenos Aires’s synagogues are traditional. There are 50 Orthodox syna gogues, 21 Conservative syna gogues and a few Reform syna gogues. Most of the synagogues built before World War II are still in use today. Certainly we didn’t come all the way to Argentina to eat at a McDonald’s, but the one in Buenos Aires is certainly unique. In keeping with Buenos Aires’s reputation as one of the world’s greatest Jewish centers, this is the only kosher McDonald’s in the world outside of Israel. Located in the Abasto Shopping Center food court, there is no dairy at all. Rabbinic supervision makes sure that kosher rules are strictly fol lowed here. Do take time to have a tango lesson. We were lucky to experience a ses sion at the Cafe Tortoni. This is the oldest coffee shop in the country built in 1658 and has a rich history of visits from intellectuals, politi cians and artists. You can’t come to Buenos Aires and not visit this important institution. This the per fect place for a tango lesson and what fun we had - great exercise, too. This is an incredible city to visit. We were fortunate to stay at the Alvear Palace Hotel, one of the most elegant hotels that we have ever visited. The food, service and ambiance were five-star deluxe. The hotel’s location in the Recoleta district is perfect for din ing, shopping and sightseeing. When a city is as wonderful to visit as Buenos Aires, it seems no matter how long you spend there, it’s never enough. Buenos Ares is definitely a place that never sleeps. I can’t wait to go back and visit again. ^ Charlotte Delegation Attends 2010 PEJE Assembly in Baltimore Over 1100 participants from North America, Canada, Australia and Panama -heads of school, board chairs and members, devel opment professionals, and leaders from federations, central agencies for Jewish education, and founda tions - had the opportunity to engage in a national conversation about institutional sustainability and affordability, the shifting con text of leadership, and the rela tionship of day schools with the communities they serve. Over the course of the three-day confer ence, more than 100 sessions, labs, keynote presentations, and events focused on core elements of day school sustainability including the role of professional and volunteer leadership; the power of case-based learning for No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy and kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true educator should be to unlock that treasure - to stimulate the child’s impulses and call forth the best and noblest tendencies. - Emma Goldman Saturday, January 8 Gates open at 7:30 pm Santjl^migCl^rA^ithsr CstoeaMlrts ^ $36/person $30/person - by December 15 Admission includes: DrinKr T rack Snacks, & "Gambling" Money For reservations, contact 704.366>4558 or gosborne@cjdschool.org 1"H CJDS ^ f* ll I Chnriodc Jewish Diiy Si'lxttk professional development, institu tional change and community building, and promoting the value proposition of Jewish day school education. Mariashi Groner, Richard Osborne, Julia Greenfield, Gale Osborne and Alison Lemer attend ed the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE) con ference representing Charlotte Jewish Day School (CJDS). “It was very exciting to meet so many professionals and volunteers who work at a variety of Jewish Day Schools from across the US and Canada. Speaking with them exposed us to many different ways of addressing challenges. The commitment to advancing Jewish education is consistent, but the approaches vary. It was a great learning experience,” Richard commented. The assembly was a source of inspiration to Mariashi because one of the most confirming and validating outcomes of this con ference was finding that the pur chase decisions that were made as a school after winning the $500,000 Kohl’s Cares award were in line with best practices in education, encouraging recruit ment and building enrollment. One of the goals that CJDS has set forth is to enroll in the global classroom program that the National Association for Independent School (NAIS) spon sors. The NAIS program provides an opportunity for schools to part ner with classrooms in another country to solve a specific global problem. It was very exciting to hear NAIS president, Patrick Bassett, speak at the plenary ses sion and to hear him point specifi cally to the global classroom as one of the indicators of 21 st centu ry education. Another workshop that was attended by the group from CJDS was run by one of the schools in the Solomon Schechter network of schools, where they shared how they attracted students to their schools from local respected pri vate schools. A school bus, science lab, and upgraded technology were all on their strategic plan, all of which proved to be wise choic es. Once these improvements were put into place, their enrollment grew steadily. Wouldn’t you know that these improvements are also on the CJDS Kohl’s Care for Education contest spending plan? Julia Greenfield left the confer ence with a renewed understand ing of the importance of a strong relationship between Jewish day schools and the communities they serve. She said, “As most of us know, there is strength in num bers, there is strength in support ing one another and there is power in having strong relationships. This message was present at some level throughout the course of the lectures/conversations in which I was a participant, whether the focus of the session was on the relationship between day schools and their communities, building a committed donor and alumni base or fundraising and the financial health of the school. Strong day school/community relationships are vital in supporting the message of a Jewish day school, vital in all fundraising efforts and vital to a day school’s enrollment.” “The most important thing that came out of this conference for me was seeing the passion people had and the importance, and value that people from around the country placed on Jewish Education. It’s not a luxury or even an option, it’s an imperative. We’ve got to figure out ways to attract more prospec tive families, and to financially support those who want the educa tion but cannot afford it,” Alison Lemer remarked. Of special interest to Assembly attendees and stakeholders within the Jewish day school field was a surprise announcement during the opening plenary. PEJE’s Executive Director Rabbi Joshua Elkin stated that PEJE has com mitted an initial one million dol lars in cash to fuel the financial sustainability and affordability efforts of Jewish day schools in 2010-2011. “PEJE is excited to launch this focused capacity-building initia tive to strengthen development efforts across the Jewish day school field,” Elkin said. “The investment is intended to stimulate and ignite aggressive affordability programs and support collabora tive community work, with the goal of helping schools maintain academically excellent, financial ly sustainable institutions.” “The PEJE Assembly always feels to me like a giant celebration - 1100 people from across the continent deeply committed to day school education coming together to gain inspiration, ideas and new friends,” Prager said. Once again, the PEJE confer ence transformed and encouraged all who attended! Fresh ideas cou pled with optimistic outlooks will foster far-reaching progress for the Charlotte Jewish Day School. ^
The Charlotte Jewish News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Dec. 1, 2010, edition 1
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