The Charlotte Jewish News - October 2014 - Page 21
Temple Kol Ami Still Enrolling for Sunday School
Temple Kol Ami of Fort Mill,
SC is gearing up for another great
vear at our Religious Sehool, and
it is not too late to enroll your
ehild. Our sehool is open to both
TKA members and non-members.
For more information, please go
to our website www.templeko-
lamise.org or eontaet Religious
Sehool Direetor Miehelle Silva at
tka.religioussehool@gmail.eom.
We have been overwhelmed by
our sehool’s sueeess. In the
past few years, we have sueeess-
fully held several fundraisers, ae-
quired and managed a library to
be proud of, seen the bar mitzvah
of three young men and the bat
mitzvah of four young women -
many of whom are still vital, ae-
tive members of our eommunity,
serving as lay leaders, Hebrew tu
tors, mitzvah organizers, and even
shofar blowers. We have organ
ized and held several programs,
both eommunity and sehool
driven - Tu B’Shevat and Pesaeh
Seders, Purim Sehpiel and Cele
bration, and Thanksgivingukkah,
just to name a few.
Our students, some of whom
had never set foot in a shul before,
now have a mastery of Jewish life
eyeles and rituals, a firm under
standing of Torah and b’raehot,
and a beginning grasp of Hebrew.
What’s more, the students of Tem
ple Kol Ami no longer feel iso
lated and alone. Our students are
now a part of a bigger eommunity.
They are gaining the tools they
need to sueeessfully identify as
“Jews” in our modern Southern
world.
These impressive aeeomplish-
ments have not only benefitted
our students, but our eommunity,
as well. We have realized great
feedbaek and an even greater de
mand for our sehool this year. Our
teaehers are, at this moment, plan
ning their year with two great ini
tiatives in mind - Diseover
Judaism and Jewish Identity. We
Senator Visits Charlotte
(Continued from page 19)
ter anything Jewish, and
their name is Goreliek.
Bill, Todd, and Rael were
all for the meeting but
wanted to run it by AIPAC
before proeeeding. That
turned out to be a prudent
move beeause it gave us
the opportunity to be
briefed on Senator Paul’s
voting reeord on Israel as
well as his position on
Ameriea’s role in the inter
national arena. There were
some obvious issues to be
raised but after talking with
Greg Riekman, AIPAC’s
Deputy Direetor of Poliey
and Government Affairs, it be-
eame apparent how mueh more
there was to know.
The meeting went well. There
were Republieans, Demoerats,
and I’m not sure there were any
Libertarians, the ideology Senator
Paul identifies with, but that was
of no eoneern beeause the main
point was to have the opportunity
to meet and diseuss topies relating
to the Jewish eommunity with
someone who, aeeording to Time
magazine, is one of the 100 most
influential people in the world.
The eoneems on Israel ineluded
the present erisis in Gaza and it
repereussions. There has been talk
of taking Israel to task for war
erimes against humanity and eon-
eem was expressed for how
strongly Ameriea would deny
those eharges. Also, sometime
later this year there will be a vote
in the House and Senate for more
funding for the Iron Dome; this
aid is erueial for Israel and it’s im
portant for us to give that message
to as many representatives as we
ean. Of eourse, topies veered far
from Israel also. With Mark Vit-
ner in the room, it was inevitable
that the Federal Reserve and other
areas of the eeonomy would eome
up. People asked about Iran, the
2016 eleetions, and somehow the
topie even got to something Sen
ator Rand felt was an issue that
needs reform—the unfair way in
whieh Afriean Ameriean males
are senteneed in our eriminal sys
tem.
are not your traditional Sunday
sehool. And we thrive on the faet
that we have never attempted to
put a square peg into a round hole.
Today’s Jewish religious sehool
students need more. Modem stu
dents need modem environment
and progressive learning. This
year, we will provide just that.
Sinee the ineeption of our TKA
Religious Sehool, we have been
surrounded by maeh - spirit - from
our eommitted families and stu
dents and out of our amazing
eommunity. We are often inered-
ulous about what we have
aehieved in sueh a short time. It is
beeause of a passion for Jewish
edueation that a new generation of
Jewish students, and therefore
Jewish adults, will thrive and pay
that same passion forward for
years to eome. We hope you will
make a wonderful investment in
your ehild’s future and join us for
the 2014-2015 sehool year. ^
Thank You Legacy Donors
Andy Dinkin, Andrew Lidner, Eric Wisotsky,
Jeremy Davids, Susan Salvin, Sen. Rand
Paul, Bob Salvin, Rick Abrams, Rabbi
Chanoch Oppenheim, Mark Vitner, Todd
Goreliek, Sara Oppenheim.
The meeting started and ended
promptly and his aides whisked
him out of the offiee and out of
Charlotte. The main purpose of
the meeting was aeeomplished;
the more he hears from Jewish
eommunities throughout the
eountry, the more he stands the
ehanee to take these issues seri
ously. Right after the meeting, I
reealled an ineident a number of
years ago when I was visiting a
Jewish ageney based in New York
that deals with the loeal and the
federal government on Jewish af
fairs. I was introdueed to one of
the politieal aetivists; when he
found out where I was from, he
said — jokingly — “one Jew
from North Carolina is worth 500
from Brooklyn.” He explained
that when they speak to eleeted
offieials, one of the ehallenges is
to make known to them is that it’s
not just Jews from large metropol
itan areas that are eoneemed with
a given issue, but it’s Jews from
all over the eountry.
When I thanked Todd Goreliek
after the meeting for use of their
offiee, and mentioned that I tried
to keep it safe politieally, he
stopped me and said, “It’s all
about engagement.” Yes, that was
our goal, and our hope that in the
future more eleeted offieials from
both sides of the fenee are brought
to Charlotte to engage and get to
know the Jewish population of the
Queen City. ^
The following individuals/families are
in the Book of Life Society and have
granted us permission to share with
you that Charlotte Jewish Preschool
has been included as a beneficiary of
their legacy gift.
W ^ Charlotte
Jewish FVeschod
It A.IH - ulC>W - COiiHtCT
telsh COMMUNITY
QLe^ac^ PARTNER
Anonymous*
Benjamin and Susan Aizenman
Brian and Glenda Bernhardt
Elka and Andrew Bernstein
Jennifer and Jonathan Collman
Andrea and Jeremy Davids
Staci and Darren Mond
Jill and Michael Dinerman
Julie and Scott Rizzo
Renee and Philip Schreibman
Jonathan and Stephanie Simon
Stephanie and Steven Starr
Joseph and Renee Steiner
Amy and Mark Vitner
Janice and Ronald Weiner
Eric and Joanna Wisotsky
* Donors who wish to remain anonymous
FCjfc
FOUNDATlON/ortk
CHARLOTTE JEWISH
COMMUNITY
704.973.4544
charlottejewishfoundation.org
A supporting organization of Foundation For The Carolinas
%
LIFE&
LEGACy.
Assuring JEWISH TOMORROWS
Preplonmngp Cy a/r^ifttcryour loved/ one^.
Contact us today.
• • •
Sandra Goldman, Director
704.576.1859
hebrewcemetery.org
5007 Providence Road • Suite 105
Charlotte NC 28226
Hebrew Cemetery
of Greater Charlotte
fTo-^vo-v^ • • 'ETwb-ir-a.oe-
lEWISH^
DEMTION^