The Charlotte Jewish News - October 2012 - Page 25
Reach Out, Reach In
CJL Inaugural Dinner: A Huge Success
By Sandra Goldman
When Jews settle in a
eommunity, what is the
first thing they build?
Not a synagogue and not
a sehool. Not even a
mikveh. A devout group
of men, members of the
Hebrew Benevolent
Soeiety, answered this
question 145 years ago
by purehasing eleven
aeres on Statesville Avenue. Today
the Hebrew Cemetery is a vital
and historieal important part of the
Greater Charlotte area. Every time
someone visits these holy
grounds, he or she leaves with a
sense of belonging.
Going baek in time, in Eastern
Europe, the eemetery in Jewish
eulture was a site for numerous
funetions. People eame to the
eemetery not only to attend funer
als but also to pray, or to seek the
intervention (if a relative was ill,
for example) or the blessing (the
bride and groom before their wed
ding, for example) of the dead. On
sueh oeeasions the visitors some
times reeited prayers expressing a
elose, personal eonneetion to the
departed. Cemeteries also some
times funetioned as indieators of
identity, espeeially in the 19th and
20th eenturies among seeular
Jews.
Nowadays, the eommunity
remembers onee a year the loved
ones who have passed away with
the Annual Memorial Serviee
between Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur. Onee a man approaehed
me after the serviee to tell me how
grateful he was that we were giv
ing him the opportunity and a
plaee to be on this speeial day.
This brief eneounter displays the
unique ability our eemetery has to
help eommunity members to heal
and embraee ehange.
This expression of gratitude
explains how eommunity outreaeh
has long beeome an integral part
of the eemetery’s foeus. It
involves ereating opportunities to
eelebrate eultures within our eom
munity. It allows us to reaeh out to
the eommunity at large while pro
viding an opportunity for eommu
nity to “reaeh in.”
Eneounters like the above men
tioned are also reason why the
Hebrew Cemetery has joined
forees with the Foundation for the
Charlotte Jewish Community for
Create Your Jewish Legaey (CJL).
In order to eelebrate lasting eom
munity relationships, we all ean
help establish a vision and ereate a
path leading to a prosperous, sus
tainable future. Bequests or other
planned gifts are an ideal means of
ereating signifieant endowment
funds for the Hebrew Cemetery.
They will keep our Jewish her
itage strong for generations.
Foundation exeeutive direetor.
Phil Warshauer,
explains: “As a eom
munity we have done
an exeellent job of
building and renovating
faeilities that serve
Jewish Charlotte. It is
now time to foeus our
attention on building
endowments to help
sustain all that we have
ereated. The CJL
Initiative will teaeh us that
deferred gifts sueh as bequests,
life insuranee, and retirement
plans (IRA’s and 401(k)s) ean be
ineorporated into our eurrent
lifestyles. Through deferred giv
ing, we ean eontinue to give annu
ally while establishing a lasting
legaey to help sustain and perpet
uate organizations like the
Hebrew Cemetery.”
Community outreaeh is eduea-
tional and philanthropie. It has the
ability to make a signifieant posi
tive impaet on everybody. The
Hebrew Cemetery is ready to
enter the next stage of its transfor
mation and enhanee serviees to
respond - rather than reaet to - an
ever-ehanging world. The vision
and the forward thinking of the
board have led to the ground
breaking of the new Memorial
Building. The building will house
the former ark of Temple Beth El,
a family room to gather before or
after serviees or unveilings, bath
rooms, an offiee, and a mainte-
nanee room.
Soon eommeneement of parlor
meetings will introduee the publie
to this magnifieent and useful
strueture being eonstrueted on the
grounds of the eemetery. Building
eo-ehairs Mare Silverman and Bill
Goreliek will answer any ques
tions whieh arise and show ways
how eaeh of us ean beeome pillars
for this signifieant Memorial
Building. Mare Silverman stress
es: “There is a time for every gen
eration to improve their eommuni
ty, and to ereate a legaey. Now we
are ealling upon the eommunity to
fulfill everyone’s responsibility.
This will be a one time eommit-
ment in order to build the neees-
sary amenities at the Hebrew
Cemetery.”
As Mr. Goreliek states: “We
want a wonderful eemetery that
will be the ehoiee for all Jews.”
To learn more about the new
memorial building, pre-planning,
or to arrange a personal tour of
the eemetery, please eontaet
Sandra Goldman by phone at 704-
576-1859 or by email at diree-
tor@hebreweemetery.org. ^
f Hebrew Cemetery
t Ii! Greaier Churiotffr
The Race is On!
Sign up now to participate
or voiunteer for the
5k/1 Miie Friends Run
on November 11.
www.Friends-Run.com
By Nancy Kipnis, Create Your
Jewish Legacy Coordinator
The Create Your Jewish Legaey
initiative (CJL) of Charlotte has
offieially begun. The inaugural
event on Wednesday night, August
29, ineluded more than 60 people
from the Charlotte Jewish eom
munity and Foundation For The
Carolinas. The keynote speakers
were Diane Azorsky, Assoeiate
Exeeutive Direetor of the Jewish
Community Foundation of
Greater Kansas City and Don
Create ^
Liouijewish
C/Ae^aqy
the Foundation for the Charlotte
Jewish Community at 704-973-
4554 or Nkipnis@charlottejew-
ishfoundation.org. ^
Diane Azorsky of Kansas City shared her
experience and success with Create Your
Jewish Legacy.
Goldman, Exeeutive Direetor and
CEO of Jewish Family Serviees of
Greater Kansas City. They shared
their experienees and the sueeess-
es of their program whieh sinee its
ineeption in 2007 has seeured
more than $33 million in deferred
gifts to help support the Jewish
eauses in their area. More
astounding was the faet that 69%
of all legaey gifts eame from peo
ple who gave less than $500 per
year to an organization.
CJL is an initiative of the
Foundation for the Charlotte
Jewish Community (FCJC), in
partnership with 10 partieipating
eommunity partner organizations
to build a strong, vibrant eommu
nity with bequests for permanent
endowments. Our CJL program is
modeled after sueeessful pro
grams already established in more
than 30 eities ineluding Kansas
City, Hartford, St. Louis, San
Diego, and Riehmond.
Our Wednesday event was fol
lowed by a eomprehensive day as
our CJL partner organizations met
individually for 45 minutes with
our guests from Kansas City. This
allowed eaeh organization to
engage in eonversations more spe-
eifie to the interests, needs, and
eoneems of their CJL team. Some
of the reeurring themes from these
eonversations were:
* All of us, regardless of age,
wealth, or affiliation, have the
ability to make a differenee for
future Jewish generations.
* Legaey gifts eome from our
aeeumulated assets and not dis
posable ineome.
* Effeetive legaey giving pro
grams have a positive effeet on
total giving.
* One third of bequest donors
inelude more than one eharity in
their estate plans.
* They do not eompete with but
aetually eomplement our annual
eampaigns.
Jewish tradition teaehes that
one of our key duties is to make
the world a better plaee for future
generations. The simple truth is
without bequests and legaey giv
ing we will not be prepared for the
future needs of our eommunity. It
is essential that we plan ahead to
keep our Jewish eommunity
strong for the future. Chanees are
you already donate generously to
the Jewish eharitable organiza
tions of your ehoiee. But have you
eonsidered ineluding those organ
izations in your will, or as a bene-
fieiary of your IRA so you
ean eontinue to make a dif
ferenee for generations to
eome? The Create Your
Jewish Legaey initiative
will give us the tools to start
these important eonversa
tions in our eommunity. I
know we will be as sueeess
ful as other eommunities
who have ventured down
this path already.
For more information on
how you ean Create Your
Jewish Legaey please eon
taet one of our Charlotte Jewish
organizations or Naney Kipnis at
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The Foundation for the Charlotte Jewish
Community thanks Jewish Federations of
North America, our ten community
partner organizations, and the following
29 local donors for their generous financial
support of Create Your Jewish Legacy.
Judy and Stan August
Jeff and Lee Bierer
Adam Bernstein and Tamar Seigel
David and Janice Cantor
David and Aleen Epstein
Foundation For The Carolinas
Meg Goldstein and Matthew Luftglass
Bill and Patty Goreliek Family Foundation
Shelton and Carol Goreliek
Stan Greenspon
Florence Jaffa
Barry and Lorrie Klemons
Alan Kronovet and Cary Bernstein
Alison and Mark Lerner
Harry and Gloria Lerner
Jerry and Barbara Levin
The Leon Levine Foundation
Marshall and Faylinda Lindner
David and Judy Miller
Risa and David Miller
Gale Osborne
Richard J. Osborne
Allan and Marcelle Oxman
Mark and Harriett Perlin
Lee and Diggie Pesakoff
Marc and Mattye Silverman
Louis Sinkoe and Kevin Levine
The Blumenthal Foundation
Mark and Amy Vitner