’94 Campaign
Pages 14-15
5007 Providence Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28226
Address Correction
Requested
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage PAID
Charlotte, NC
Permit No. 1208
The Charlotte ‘TEWISH ^^NEWS
Vol. 16 No. 2
Charlotte, North Carolina
February 1994
Judge Miriam Waltzer is Guest Speaker for Women’s Division
The Women’s Division of the
Jewish Federation of- Greater
Charlotte is sponsoring the 1994
$365 Event on Monday, Feb. 21.
Melissa Raphael is chair of this
event which will honor our
keynote speaker, Judge Miriam
Waltzer. The program will be
held at Temple Beth El at 8 p.m.
for women who contribute a
minimum 1994 Federation gift
of a dollar a day.
A special dinner will be held
at Adele Bedrick’s home for
Pacesetters (minimum 1994 Fed
eration gift of $1,250) and Lions
of Judah (minimum 1994 Fed
eration gift of $5,000) at 6 p.m.
During the dinner, Women’s
Division leadership will have the
unique opportunity to informal
ly meet and discuss various
issues with Judge Waltzer.
Judge Miriam Waltzer was
born in Frankfurt, Germany.
She is a graduate of Louisiana
State U. of New Orleans and
Loyola University School of
Law. She has received honors
from these schools and is listed
in “Who’s Who Among Students
in American Universities.”
Judge Waltzer’s professional
background includes positions
such as law clerk and assistant
district attorney (first woman to
prosecute in court). She also was
in private practice and a teacher.
In addition, Waltzer has exten
sive experience in civil and
criminal trials and was elected
as judge to the Criminal District
Court, Secton A, New Orleans,
in Feb. 1982, Currently, she is
a judge for the 4th Circuit of the
Court of Appeal, Section B, for
the State of Louisiana.
Waltzer has delivered invigo-
JCC Gala is Tremendous Financial and Social Success
When is a gym not a gym? ^ GofcBck Hall ' S
When it’s been transformed into
an elegant ballroom of an Italian
villa for the Jewish Community
Center’s annual Gala Auction/
Dinner Dance.
This exciting event, “An Eve
ning in Venice,” was held on
Dec. 11 and was the most suc
cessful Gala to date. More than
350 people bid on everything
from fine art to glamorous
vacation packages. When the
cocktails and bidding were over,
everyone headed into the Alvin
E. Levine Gymnasium for dinner
and dancing “under the stars” to
the music of Easy Street.
The evening, which raised
more than $25,000, would not
have happened without the
Leaving the auction and off to dinner.
hundreds of hours of hard work
by the Gala/ Auction committee.
We had the help and support
from so many volunteers there
is not enough space to mention
See GALA page 17
Sis Kaplan to be Honored by NCCJ
Dr. Billy O. Wireman, pres
ident of Queens College and
chair of the 1994 National Con
ference of Christians and Jews
(NCCJ), has announced that Sis
Kaplan will be honored with the
NCCJ Silver Medallion Award
at the 23rd Annual Awards
Banquet to be held Tuesday,
Apr. 19. Also receiving the
award will be Bill Lee, chairman
and president of Duke Power
Co.
Sis has served the Charlotte
community in an exemplary way
since she and husband Stan
Kaplan arrived here from Bos
ton in 1964. In seeking to pro
mote education, the arts and an
equitable justice system for all,
she has demonstrated distin
guished leadership and respon
sibility. Sis currently chairs the
Sis Kaplan
Charlottc-Mecklenburg Crimi
nal Justice Commission and the
Governor’s Crime Commission.
She served on the committee
responsible for recent revitaliza
tion of the Charlotte Symphony
and has been a long standing and
In the News-
CAJE
6
Calendar
8
Classifieds
26
Community News .
... 8-11
Dining Out
.. 22-24
Ed-Op
.... 2-3
Eng./Marriage
.. 26-27
Family Service
5
Federation
.. 13-15
JCC
.. 16-18
Lubavitch
.. 20-21
Resettlement
7
Teen Page
19
This ’n That
26
World Beat
4
Features
Chavurat Tikvah .
Jews by Choice ..
Shticklech &
Brecklech
Travel: Curacao
11
12
12
25
active member of the Charlotte
Community Relations Commit
tee, having chaired it from 1977-
1981. Sis has been an active
member of Temple Beth El and
until recently was a member of
The Charlotte Jewish News
Executive Board.
Bill Lee developed Duke Pow
er Co. into a leader among
electric power companies in this
country. He has demonstrated
his concern and commitment to
this community, both personally
and professionally, by establish
ing Duke Power Co. as a leader
in corporate citizenship through
its ongoing support of human
endeavors such as United Way,
Johnson C. Smith University,
the arts, child care, and educa
tion.
The contributions of Sis Ka
plan and Bill Lee toward creat
ing a climate that values all
people goes far beyond the usual
call of citizenship and exempli
fies NCCJ’s ideals Df concern
and respect for their fellow man.
The Awards Banquet provides
an opportunity to honor these
individuals for their services and
commitment to the citizens of
this community.
The banquet on Apr. 19 will
be preceded by a reception at 6
p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $75; for reservations
and further information call
NCCJ, 332-4420.
rating presentations to Jewish
women’s groups in various com
munities. She appeared in Char
lotte three years ago as guest
speaker at the Business and
Professional Women’s group of
Women’s Division of Federa
tion.
Among the multitude of civic
involvements, she is a member
of Business and Professional
Women, Hadassah, National
Organization for Women
(NOW), National Council of
Jewish Women, League of
Women Voters, B’nai B’rith
Women and International
Women’s Forum.
The Women’s Division Cam
paign Cabinet includes; Sara
Schreibman, president, Phyllis
Schiffman and Diane Schwartz,
Women’s Division Campaign
cochairs, Ruth Goldberg and Jill
Newman, Face to Face cochairs,
Stacy Miller Gorelick and Amy
Marx, Telepledge cochairs.
As women, we can assure the
continuity of Jewish life by
setting the example of Tzedakah
for our families by what we do
as individuals.
This event is an exciting
component of the campaign.
Judge Miriam Waltzer’s re
marks will be educational, in
sightful and motivational. For
further information, please call
Audrey Krakovitz, staff associ
ate, 366-5007, ext. 209.
Interfaith Outreach Committee
Reveals Results of Survey
By Ruth Goldberg and Resa Goldberg
In August 1993, the Inter-
faith Outreach Committee
(IOC) of the Jewish Federa
tion of Greater Charlotte
distributed surveys to 2,500
Jewish families (using the
Federation mailing list). The
purpose was to determine
attitudes about interfaith
relationships and needs ex
pressed by respondents.
There were 404 family units
that returned completed sur
veys, which represents 16
percent of the known Jewish
population in greater Char
lotte. Since the survey al
lowed space for two respond
ents from each household,
there was a total of 658
individual responses. All sta
tistical percentages that will
be presented in future articles
are based on 658 responses.
“From information ga
thered in the survey and based
on the large statistical sample
we have, we extrapolate that
the Jewish population of
Charlotte in 1993 is between
6500 and 7000 adults and
children,” reported Ruth
Goldberg and’ Resa Gold
berg, cochairs of IOC.
Other key findings about
the respondents of this survey
are as follows:
• 80 percent were born
Jewish; 9 percent are Jews-
by-Choicc (converts); and 11
percent are not Jewish.
• 69 pcrcent were or are
members of a Jewish mar
riage (including widowed,
divorced and Jews-by-Cho-
ice); 26 percent are members
of an interfaith marriage (Jew
married to a non-Jew); and
5 percent are singles who have
never married.
• 22 perccnt are between
the ages of 21 and 35; 53
percent are between the ages
of 36 and 55; and 25 percent
are 56 years old and over.
•31 percent have lived in
the Charlotte area for up to
five years; 32 percent, be
tween 6 and 15 years; and 37
percent, 16 or more years.
•52 percent are members
of the Jewish Community
Center; 33 percent are
members of Temple Israel; 33
percent are members of Tem
ple Beth El; and five percent
marked “Other,” which in
cludes Lubavitch, Chavurat
and other area temples. Four
teen percent of the respond
ents are not affiliated with
any Jewish organization.
A large number of people
expressed interest in ideas for
new programs listed on the
survey, such as Comparative
Religion, classes for creating
a Jewish home environment,
and a group for members of
interfaith marriages.
The Interfaith Outreach
Committee is working with
the JCC, both temples, CAJE
and Jewish Family Servcies
to develop popular program
ming for the coming year.
Thanks so much to the IOC
members for all of their time
and effort over the past year
that they have been working
on this project: Betty and Joel
Cohen, Melissa and Scott
Cooper, Cindy and David
Crane, Jonathan Goldberg,
Mandy and Larry Horowitz,
Audrey Krakovitz, Adrienne
Rosenberg, Chris Schuller
and Rosalind Taranto.
Thanks, also, to Dr. Ri
chard Pepcr, consulting psy
chologist and statistician, for
his valuable advice about
analyzing the survey data.
The committee looks for
ward to seeing the fruits of
its labor in the form of new
and diverse programming
and services for the growing
Jewish community in Char
lotte.