Jewish Family Services
JFS Board Update
Page 5-THE NEWS-February 1992
Thoughts from Adrienne
By Adrienne Rosenberg, JFS Director
By Lynne Sheffer
JFS Chairperson
The JFS board thanks the
following who have recently
completed their term of office:
Dorothy Ashendorf, Steve Ho
rowitz and Penni Wallas. Their
time, commitment and talents
have been of great benefit to the
agency.
Thanks Go to
Charlotte
Federation
The beginning of the Feder
ation campaign each year has
always been an important time,
with our hopes that enough
dollars will be raised to support
the agencies that are so impor
tant to our community.
As chairperson of Jewish
Family Services, the significance
of the annual campaign seems
more intensified to me as JFS
is one of Federation’s largest
recipients. Without Federation’s
financial help the agency could
not exist. Campaign dollars
allow the agency to provide
quality social work and counsel
ing services to individuals and
families wishing to be seen
within a Jewish framework.
Thank you to this year’s
allocation committee for their
tremendous support and to the
campaign workers and commu
nity members for their contribu
tions. We hope that this year’s
campaign will be the most suc
cessful to date. Demands for
services and financial assistance
for families in need is continually
growing.
— Lynne Sheffer
The richness of Judaism ra
diates throughout the Blumenth-
al Jewish Home all during the
year. In December, its brightness
was enhanced by the glow of
candlelight and the spark of
giving. The lights of Chanukah
menorahs added their bright
glow to the short days of De
cember. Volunteers from Win-
ston-Salem and Greensboro
brought their warmth to the
observance as they arrived each
night of Chanukah to light the
menorahs in the four dining
rooms of the Home. Outdoors,
the glow from the 20-foot-high
menorah in the courtyard illum
inated the surrounding sky as
well as the hearts of residents
and visitors.
December in the Blumenthal
Jewish Home shines brightly not
only with the monthly schedule
of concerts, entertainers, birth
day parties, volunteer activities,
and events and outings but with
the spirit of Jewish celebration
that is also present. Weekly
“Rabbi’s Hour” programs were
conducted by Rabbi Thomas
Liebschutz of Winston-Salem
and Rabbis Richard Harkavy
and Eliezer Havivi of Greensbo
ro, with Rabbi H. Scott White
of Charlotte who began in Jan
uary; a morning Shabbat was
celebrated with the Temple
Emanuel Pre-School of Win
ston-Salem; a Chanukah party
was enjoyed with a Brownie
troop; volunteers Barry and
We are fortunate to have three
new individuals on our board:
Ellen Goldberg, Teresa Brenner
and Marilyn Shapiro. Their
professional skills, respectively,
as an accountant, attorney and
bookkeeper, as well as their
community involvements, will
be an asset to the board and
agency.
Farewell and
Good Luck to
The Madisons
Iris Madison, part-time clin
ical social worker, has left the
staff of Jewish Family Services
as of the end of January. Iris
began working at the agency in
January 1988. During the four
years at the agency, Iris worked
with clients in a clinical capacity,
led Jewish Family Life Educa
tion workshops, and helped
create the policies for the Char
lotte Jewish Preschool Scholar
ship Fund. Iris contributed
much to the growth of the
agency and was interested in
helping many people in our
Jewish community.
Iris, her husband Alan and
daughter Stephanie, age 5, will
be moving to Gaithersburg,
Maryland, where Alan has ac
cepted a position with the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commis
sion.
Leah Strulson conducted the
Havdalah service; and Shabbat
services were attended Friday
evenings and Saturday mornings
in the Home’s synagogue.
Blumenthal Jewish Home
invites individuals and groups to
add their spark to the rich
heritage preserved at the Home.
For information about the vol
unteer program and individual
or group tours, call Sue Clein,
Director of Marketing/ Public
Relations/Volunteer Services.
For admissions information, call
Melinda Hartley, Director of
Admissions. For charitable gifts,
call Bruce Schlosberg, Director
of Development, The number is
919/766-6401.
Our first Soviet Jewish family
resettled by the Charlotte Jewish
community arrived the first
week of May, 1991. Since then
we have helped to resettle 27
families for a total of 100 people.
Only 10 of these people have left
the Charlotte area; the remain
der are all here. Those of you
who have not made the oppor
tunity to meet our emigres, I
really feel it is your loss. For here
is a group of motivated people
who have left their homeland to
avoid anti-Semitism and poor
economic conditions. They have
left almost everything they
owned and knew behind to come
to a country with a different
language, a different money
system and way of handling
systems, and where past job
skills may not be seen as viable.
Some come to join family mem
bers already living in Charlotte,
but many know no one when
they come.
Our families have come from
such places as Moscow, Tash
kent, Riga, Minsk, Leningrad,
Belrussia, the Ukraine, among
others. They usually come with
at least one grandparent (be
cause Russian families are still
more traditional in makeup than
are most current American fam
ilies), They have ranged in age
from one year old to those in
their 80s, For most of them,
being Jewish means they have
been identified as a nationality;
they have had no formal Jewish
training.
Our community, largely
through the coordinated efforts
of Jewish Family Services, is
responsible financially for up to
four months until they get es
tablished with jobs. What this
means is we pay for apartments
and utilities, driving lessons,
English lessons, and health
screenings and help with finding
jobs. The Jewish Community
Center and the two Temples
donate memberships for one full
year. The Jewish educators,
Jewish Family Services and the
Jewish Community Center are
involved in programs for accul-
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But I would like to invite all
of you to know what it means
on the “one basis.” Can you
imagine leaving the United
States, taking only what you can
carry in 8-10 pieces of luggage,
and going to a country with a
different language and where
things you had come to think as
“normal” are no more? True,
you may have a nice apartment,
language classes, but the pres
sure will be on you to become
self-sufficient in no more than
a four-month period. Your ref
erences may not be seen as viable
because you have no references
in this country. It might be scary
except for the fact of wonderful
efforts on the part of individual
people who outreach to you.
And here is where everyone in
our community has an oppor
tunity to help and participate.
From coming to the airport to
greet new families, to helping to
set up apartments, to taking
people to lessons and appoint
ments, to visiting and answering
questions, to finding jobs, to
tutoring, to taking people
around and showing them what
Charlotte has to offer. I promise
that you, too, will be aware as
I have become, how lucky we are
to live in America, how warm
and appreciative are our Russian
brethren, how they give back
and want to become friends, and
how motivated they are to be
come self-sufficient. Sally
Schrader, resettlement coordi
nator, and Penny Eisenberg,
volunteer, handle a great deal of
the tasks needed to be done for
resettlement. But they cannot do
it all. Nor should they, for this
is a total Jewish community
project.
I am promising you the payoff
will be in good feelings only.
Please won’t you call me at 364-
6594 and tell me how you want
to get involved. Even one hour
a week would make a difference
in the life of people so wanting
to be productive citizens and
members of the Charlotte Jewish
community.
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