The Charlotte Jewish News - March 2014 - Page 14
Our Jewish Community’s Newest
Legacy Donors
The following individuals/
families have recently informed
our community, through Foun
dation for the Charlotte Jewish
Community (FCJC) or one of
the ten Create Your Jewish
Legacy community partners,
that they have created a
legacy gift to support the future
of Charlotte’s Jewish commu
nity. These individuals have
established eight new legacy
gifts. Some are creating legacy
gifts for the first time while oth
ers have added new organiza
tions to their previously
created legacy plans. There
are now 204 individuals/fami
lies throughout our Jewish
community who have included
a local Jewish organization in
their legacy plans creating 399
unique legacies. We thank our
newest legacy donors and wel
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come them into our commu
nity’s Book of Life Society.
Yvonne Amato
Wilma and Gerson Asrael
Robert Berman
Jeff and Bari Gorelick
Barbara and Alan Katz
Marcie Solomon
Sheldon and Randy
Sperling
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Insurance for Home, Auto, Business and Life.
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Photos [L to R]: Harry Swimmer, founder of Swimmer Insurance and Mitey Riders | Swimmer Insurance Today
"My father. Harry, founded Swimmer Insurance Agency over 60 years ago offering
security to the community and helping families through times of trouble. Today, we con
tinue that tradition of service with everything we do. We will be there for every mile
stone, every hardship and every transition your family or business experiences,”
- DAVID SWIMMER
Swimmer
Insurance
Agency
725 Providence Rd
Charlotte. NC 28207
704.333.6694
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Together We Can: A
History of Shalom Park
“A meeting was held at the of-
fiee of Family Dollar Stores, Ine.,
on Monday, June 11, 1979, at the
invitation of Leon Levine to mem
bers of the eommunity interested
in the purehase of a 17-aere traet
of land on Providenee Road.” So
wrote Mark Bernstein, seeretary
for the day. It was the beginning
of a journey to ereate the world’s
first Jewish eampus, Shalom Park.
Earlier that year, Sam Lemer
and Abe Luski diseovered the 17-
aere traet fortuitously loeated ad-
jaeent to a 24-aere traek owned by
Temple Beth El. Yet Temple Beth
El’s eongregation eould not afford
to build on their land at that time.
The seeond traet was only avail
able beeause of a divoree settle
ment.
Twenty-two men formed a lim
ited partnership, purehased the 17-
aeres for $310,000 and signed a
Letter of Intent to purehase the
property with the understanding
that, if there existed an opportu
nity to ereate a Jewish eampus, the
land would be donated to that ef
fort.
The idea of a Charlotte Jewish
eampus had been batted around
among eommunity leaders and
ehampioned by Morris Speizman
and Mark Bernstein sinee the
1960s. “The Charlotte Jewish
eommunity in those days was very
fragmented. Children of one tem
ple never even knew ehildren of
the other temple,” explains Leon
Levine, founder of Family Dollar
Stores, Ine. “We all felt we had to
do something ... for the ehildren.”
Another major faetor was the
state of faeilities amongst all the
major Charlotte Jewish institu
tions. They all had needs, but to
build at the same time would have
drained Charlotte’s Jewish eom
munity of ineredible finaneial re-
sourees. Harry Lemer, former
president of the Jewish Federa
tion, reealls, “We needed time to
explore the viability of a eampus,
but we had to ask the institutions
to hold their plans, sometimes on
blind faith. One day in late 1979,
I literally went from an Amity
Club board meeting about eon-
stmeting a new gym to a Temple
Israel board meeting in Dilworth
about their planned $250,000
basement renovation.”
Furthermore, Temple Beth El’s
board was on the fenee about
whether to sell their 24-aeres.
Their eongregation was approxi
mately half the size of Temple Is
rael’s. Instead of selling to outside
developers. Temple Beth El sold
its property to the new Foundation
of Shalom Park for the original
purehase priee, $150,000. The
other institutions agreed to put
their plans on hold and to redireet
finaneial resourees.
But Shalom Park would not
have happened without the sup
port of Herman Blumenthal and
Leon Levine. Eaeh would even
tually donate one million dollars
to the seven million dollar projeet.
Mr. Bernstein reealls Herman
Blumenthal fondly. “Harry
Lemer and I showed him the
17-aere property to engage his
support. Blaekberry brambles
eovered the pareel. We stood by
the road, while Herman traipsed
around, and when he finally eame
out, he had a big tear in his pant
leg,” laughs Mr. Bernstein.
A1 Levine, also a signifieant
donor to Shalom Park, said a few
years after the groundbreaking,
“These eommunities are going to
be here long after we are gone. If
you want to perpetuate Jewish
life, you have to have a strong in-
frastmeture ...”
Even with this generous sup
port, the Connell of Presidents, a
group of Charlotte Jewish lay
leaders, would meet regularly for
the next three years to develop the
Joint Venture Agreement, signed
on January 6, 1984. Issues the
Connell diseussed ineluded shared
spaee, Jewish holidays, and the
Kashrut poliey. The Couneil
named Mark Bernstein, a lawyer
at Parker Poe, to eonvene and me
diate these diseussions, a task for
whieh he was superbly suited,
both in terms of edueation and
temperament.
The major donors did not die-
tate how the Park would look or
funetion, but rather, they stepped
baek to let the Couneil deeide.
Communieation and perseveranee
among the institutions’ eommu
nity leaders were the keys to sue-
eess. Former Foundation of
Shalom Park direetor, Marvin Bi-
enstoek, says, “The people who
eame together had an ability to
share, to listen and to understand.
Together they developed a eom-
mitment to ereating something
very speeial for the Jewish eom
munity.”
Mr. Bienstoek wrote a book
ealled Together We Can: A His
tory of Shalom Park, whieh, along
with personal interviews, provides
mueh of our historieal reeord for
these CJN artieles about Shalom
Park. The book was edited by the
reeently departed, Louise Bern
stein. For more information about
ereating a legaey gift for the Foun
dation of Shalom Park, please
eontaet Kevin Levine at hk-
levine@shalomeharlotte.org or
704-944-6840.4^
Foundation Of
Shalom Park
CONNECTING FAMILIES • SUSTAINING TRADITION
Create
Uour Jewish
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