An Affiliate of the Jewish Federation
of Greater Charlotte
Vol. 37, No. 11
Kislev-Tevet 5776
December 2015
“Do Good Everywhere” at Jewish Federation’s Main Event
Author and journalist Abigail
Pogrebin will the guest speaker
for the Jewish Federation’s Main
Event “Stars of David: Jewish
Identity in the 21st Century” on
Thursday, Deeember 17 at 7:30
PM at Temple Israel. “This is the
night when our eommunity will
eome together for an event that
will benefit our entire Jewish
eommunity,” said Larry Sehwartz,
2016 Main Event Chair.
Guest speaker Abigail Pogre
bin has beeome a rare voiee
among Ameriean Jews, as a jour
nalist and an explorer who shares
with refreshing wit and eandor her
path to finding a meaningful Jew
ish life. A former produeer for 60
Minutes and Charlie Rose, she is
the author of Stars of David:
Prominent Jews Talk About Being
Jewish, in whieh sixty-one of the
most aeeomplished Jews in Amer-
iea speak intimately-most for the
first time-about how they
feel about being Jewish,
the infiuenee of their her
itage, the weight and
pride of their history, the
burdens and pleasures of
observanee, the moments
they’ve felt most Jewish
(or not). In unusually ean-
did interviews with Abi
gail Pogrebin over the
eourse of 18 months,
eelebrities ranging from
Sarah Jessiea Parker to
Supreme Court Justiee
Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
from Larry King to Mike
Abigail Pogrebin
Niehols, reveal how being Jewish
fits into their publie and most pri
vate lives.
At The Main Event, Abigail
Pogrebin will share vivid, per
sonal portraits of the eelebrities
she interviewed and will
reveal how the experi-
enee of being Jewish is
amplified by fame. And
she will share how her
own evolving Jewish
identity ehanged by what
she heard. During the
evening, Ms. Pogrebin
will also moderate a eon-
versation about Jewish
identity among distin
guished members of the
Charlotte Jewish eom
munity.
Several members of
the 2016 Main Event
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Flost Committee were asked, “If
you had the opportunity to inter
view a eelebrity about his/her
Jewish identity, who would it be?”
“Jon Stewart,” said Julie Shef-
fer. “On his show, he often refer-
eneed (and poked fun at) his
Jewish baekground, so I would be
eurious to learn how his Jewish
values infiueneed his politieal
views.”
Leon Golynsky would inter
view Larry David. “It would be
interesting to learn how his Jewish
baekground eontributed to his
eomedie talent.”
Jennifer Golynsky would like
to interview Supreme Court Jus
tiee Ruth Bader Ginsberg. “ I’d
like to know what it’s like to have
sueh an effeet on national publie
poliey and how it is to work in a
male dominated environment.”
Jodi and Stuart Cohen would
pose the following question to any
Jewish celebrity: “Generally
being Jewish can be known to
have negative implications ... in
your case, have you had any pos
itive effects?”
“Michael Bloomberg,” said Jen
Schwartz, “so I could try to con
vince him to run for president.”
“Music is meaningful to me
and I like to associate artists with
the connections their life experi
ences have had on the music they
make,” said Debra Van Glish.
“So, I would love to interview
(Continued on page 3)
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Advocacy and Social Justice Now Have a
Place in Charlotte
The Story of The Stan Greenspon Center for Peace and
Social Justice at Queens University
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By Amy Krakovitz
There is a parable used by so
cial activists: A villager saw a
stranger thrashing in the current
of the nearby river. Without stop
ping to think, the villager jumped
into the river and pulled the
stranger to safety. Soon a schedule
of lifeguards was established and
every few days another villager
would save another stranger and
be hailed as a local hero. As more
and more resources were devoted
to rescues, finally someone
stood up and said, “Maybe
we should travel upstream
and see why so many people
are falling in the river.”
So it is with Jews volun
teering in the community.
We can line the proverbial
river with lifeguards, pulling
out strangers who fall into
the current of hard times.
But we can also travel up
stream, enlisting our syna
gogues to advocate for
changes that will prevent
these accidents.
And so it is in solving prob
lems through social justice. As
Rabbi Judy Schindler says,
“There’s a spectrum of problem
solving in social justice. From
using your voice to call attention
to something to ‘moving up
stream’ and dealing directly with
cause. ... We hope The Stan
Greenspon Center for Peace and
Social Justice at Queens Univer
sity will present opportunities to
the people and organizations to
solve these problems.”
The Stan Greenspon Center
will open in July 2016 and the
story of its creation is one of co
operation, understanding, profes
sionalism, and serendipity.
Without the collaboration of agen
cies and professionals on Shalom
Park, as well as a fortuitous align
ment of events, it might never
have come to be.
Passionate About the Holocaust
The spark of the Center itself
one might say began as long as 30
Maureen O ’Keefe and Stan Greenspon
years ago, when Stan Greenspon
first heard about the Flolocaust.
“Growing up in North Carolina,”
he explains, “I never knew any
thing about it. I didn’t study it in
school; I didn’t know anyone who
talked about it. ... When I finally
heard about it, the sheer numbers
shook me to the core. It was as
tonishing. I have been captivated
by it ever since.”
This “captivation” has mani
fested itself in Greenspon as a de
sire to do something about the
way people think that could allow
such things to happen.
Enter now, Talli Dippold, who,
at the time, was Director of the
Levine-Sklut Judaic Library and
Resource Center. The library had
been fielding an enormous num
ber of calls and requests from
scholars and educators for Flolo
caust resources, a demand that the
library at the time found difficult
to fulfill. Because of her back
ground as the granddaughter of
Flolocaust survivors, Dippold was
passionate about anything
Flolocaust related. She had
visited Eastern Europe and
witnessed the devastating
trail of death that included
concentration camps, mass
graves, and ghettoes. She
was a member of the North
Carolina State Council for
the Flolocaust, where she
chaired the committee that
created The Suitcase Proj
ect, a traveling exhibit that
contains resources, arti
facts, stories, pictures, and
more. But what the callers were
looking for seemed like more.
Sue Worrel, the Executive Di
rector of the Jewish Federation of
Greater Charlotte, says, “These
educators and students were seek
ing more about Flolocaust studies;
they needed resources to
strengthen and develop their own
education and curricula.”
Commissioning a Study
Worrel contacted Greenspon,
who she knew aspired to make a
meaningful impact against hate
(Continued on page 17)