5007 Providence Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28226
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Permit No. 1208
The Charlotte "UEWISH ^^NEWS
Vol. 15 No. 7
Charlotte, North Carolina
August 1993
Temple Beth El Has New Rabbi
By Cindy Crane
On August 10, Rabbi James
M. (Jim) Bennett becomes the
new spiritual leader of Temple
Beth El. Chosen from over 40
candidates recommended by the
UAHC, becomes to Beth El with
the unanimous support of the
Rabbi Search Committee, the
Board of Directors and the
congregation.
Michael Gold, president of
Temple Beth El, says of him, “He
is exactly what we were looking
for in a rabbi. He’s bright, he’s
warm, he’s committed to our
congregation, and he can sing.
The search committee did their
work meticulously and they
found the right person for us.”
Rabbi Bennett graduated
“with distinction,” Phi Beta
Kappa, from Indiana University
in 1979 with a major in econom
ics. In 1984 he received his
ordination from Hebrew Union
College in Cincinnati, where he
was also awarded the Gittelsohn
Prize in Education and Human
Relations. Among other honors,
in 1991 he won the Council of
Jewish Federations Rabbinical
Award. He comes to Temple
Beth El from Congregation
Shaare Emeth in St. Louis,
Missouri where he has been
serving since 1984, first as As
sistant and then as Associate
Rabbi. His work at Shaare
Emeth, a congregation of nearly
1900 families, offered him the
opportunity to experience all
aspects of the rabbinate, includ
ing a six-month tenure as Acting
Senior Rabbi.
He is active in civic and Jewish
organizations, both at the local
and national level. However,
education and counseling are his
special gifts. At Congregation
Shaare Emeth his youth group
became the largest in the nine
state region, and attendance at
the regional UAHC camp sky
rocketed. Although he enjoys a
special rapport wih children and
teens, he is committed to Jewish
(L to R) Abigail, Rabbi Bennett, Ethan and Amy.
education as a lifelong endeavor,
and to Jewish outreach as a key
to reaching unaffiliated Jews
and improving relations with the
community at large.
In his personal life. Rabbi
Bennett is the busy father of two
young children, Abigail, 3, and
Ethan, 1. His wife, Amy, busy
at home with the children, also
freelances as a graphic artist.
Bom in St. Louis, she graduated
from the University of Kansas
with a B.F.A. in graphic design.
They have been married for four
and a half years.
Earlier this year, my husband,
David Crane, and Mattye Silver
man, both of the search commit
tee, went to St. Louis to meet
with his current congregants.
People of all ages spoke of Rabbi
Bennett’s exceptional intelli
gence and warmth. He has been
a beloved rabbi there for many
years, and they will miss him.
While it will be difficult for
him to leave St. Louis where he
and Amy have so many friend
ships and connections, he says
he is looking forward to being
the sole rabbi at Temple Beth
El, where it is still possible to
know all the congregants and
where the entire rabbinical re
sponsibility will be in his own
hands.
Please join Temple Beth El in
welcoming Rabbi and Amy
Bennett to Charlotte.
Teen Editor Joins The CJN
By Cynthia Chapman
New with this issue of The
Charlotte Jewish News is the
addition of Alan Shulimson as
the Teen Editor. The Executive
Board of The CJN wanted to
bring a young adult on board
as a link to the younger members
of our Charlotte Jewish commu
nity. Alan will be contributing
articles about youth news and
organizations, as well as mate
rial of interest for youth. Alan
comes to the position with high
recommendations regarding his
involvement with other Jewish
teens and his interest in writing.
Alan is a
rising senior
at East Mec-
klenburg
High School.
His father is
Michael
S h u 1 i m -
son. Alan
plays soccer
and tennis.
He enjoys
being involved with BBYO and
he hopes to get into USY next
year.
I asked Alan several questions
about himself as a way of intro-
See TEEN page 23
Shulimson
— Inside —
Calendar 11
Classifieds 27
Community News 9-11
Dining Out 20-21
Ed-Op 2-3
Eng/Marriages 27
Family Services 6
Federation 8
JCC 16-19
Lubavitch 12-13
Teen Page 23
This ’n That 26
WoridBeat 4
— Special Features —
Back to School: Focus on Jewish Education
pages 14-15
Charlotte Mission to Israel
page 24-25
U.S. Holocaust Museum
page 22
Scrolls from the Dead Sea
page 7
Federation Welcomes
New Staff Associate
By Rita Mond
It is with mixed emotions that
the Federation is saying good
bye to Pam Appelbaum who has
been a staff associate for over
three years. She was a tremen
dous asset to the JFGC and we
will miss her. Pam will be living
in Charleston, SC where she is
getting married on Labor Day
weekend to Dr. Lee Krapin. Lee
is a neurologist at the Naval
Hospital in Charleston. We wish
her much happiness and success.
The new staff associate who
began working in that capacity
last month is Audrey Krakovitz.
Audrey comes to Charlotte from
Gainesville, Florida where she
was the program director at the
University of Florida Hillel, a
position which she held since
1990.
Audrey has been married to
Michel Avshalom for the past
six and a half years and they
have one son Ra’anan, 10-
months-old. She is a midwest-
erner, having been born in
Indianapolis, Indiana. From
1986 to 1988 she worked in an
Indianapolis Jewish Nursing
Home. Audrey received a BA in
Psychology/Jewish Studies
from Indiana University and an
MA in Jewish Communal Ser-
Audrey Kraiiovitz
vice from Brandeis University.
When asked about some of
her “favorite things” she con
fessed to being a “chocolate
freak” and that she loves trav
eling and being in Israel. She
also enjoys nature walks (her
walks to the office will be short,
as the family is living in the
house on Jefferson which was
formerly occupied by the offices
of Temple Beth El while they
were building their new temple).
She enjoys reading and said that
the last book she read was The
Joy Luck Club. Her all-time
favorite movie is The Sound of
Music.
If you are passing by the
Federation office, why not stop
by and say hello to Aud
rey...youll enjoy meeting her.
Interfaith Outreach Committee
Develops Survey
The Interfaith Outreach Committee of the
Jewish Federation of Greater CharicHte (JFGC)
if distributing a survey to the entire Jewish
community this month to deti^mine attitudes
about interfaith relationships, as well as
interests and needs of interfjuth couples suid
their Nullifies.
When the results are tabulated, arrangements
will be niikle for the most popular clanes suod l«a CMHttg
wtf kshopt to be tiered either by the tenples,
the Jewish Community Center, Jewish Family Services, the
Carolina Agency for Jewish Education, or other appropriate
organiratiow.
Ruth Goldberg and Resa Goldberg were atked to cochair the
Interfaith Outreach Comnuttee by the Community Services
Board of the JFGC.
The miwion of the newly-developed committee is to help
interfaith couples and their families fed comfortable in the Jewish
community.
Other members of the committee sre: Betty and Joel Cohen,
Cindy and David Crane, Mandy and L4mry Horowitz, Melissa
and Scott Cooper, Jonathan Goldberg and Adrienne Roseaberg.
— RaaaGaUbtff
Jews by Choice Column Debuts in CJN
A new feature column comes
to the readers of our newspaper
this month. Each month we will
be sharing with you a column
by Mary Hofmann. Mrs. Hof
mann and her husband are both
Jews by Choice who are raising
their children as Jews. Her
column appears regularly in The
Jewish Post and Opinion.
Through the efforts of CJN
Executive Board cochairperson
Rosalind Taranto, Mrs. Hof
mann has given us permission to
run some of her previous co
lumns. We hope these will bring
a new perspective to our readers.
Your comments are welcome.
Mrs. Hofmann’s address is in
cluded at her request; she likes
to he^ from her readers. The
column appears on page 7.