5007 Providence Road
Chartotte, NC 28226
Address Correction Requested
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
Chartotte, NC
Pemiit No. 1208
The Charlotte
JEWISH
Vol. 17N0.9 Tishrei5756 October 1995
Who Will Be Giving
Community Volunteers Unite to
Build Shalom Park Playground
By Beth Davis
Nearly lOOcoinmunity volun
teers from all walks of life con
verged on the JCC on Sunday,
September 10th, to build the new
playground at Shalom Park. Parents
shoveled gravel, poured cement,
leveled walkways, twisted bolts,
and tightened screws throughout the
day. Debby Block, playground
of their contributions today. And we
would like to say a special thanks
to Paul Jacobs and the maintenance
staff for all of their efforts in pre
paring the playground area to make
it ready for our installation day.”
Linda Hindel, playground
committee member, made sure that
all volunteers were well fed in or
der to insure their top notch perfor
mance. A breakfast of bagels and
nounce that plans include a drink
ing fountain for the playground,
something parents and thirsty chil
dren have been asking for. “We are
thankful for this anonymous dona
tion,” said Debby Block, “and
thrilled that so many families want
to get involved in the playground
improvement project. We can truly
say it is our playground.”
The new playstructure was ini
tiated by an extremely generous
grant from an anonymous donor.
This grant was matched by the Jew
ish Federation of Greater Charlotte
management committee, and addi-
An army of workers turned out.
committee chairperson said, “We
want to say a special thanks to all
the volunteers who oame and
worked so hard today. Everyone’s
time and effort are appreciated in
making this beautiful playground a
reality.”
Paul Ruschmeyer, Supervisor
and Playground Specialist from
Playground Environments, was
highly complementary of the over
400 hours of labor provided by the
volunteers. “Everyone here can take
credit for making this happen,” he
said. Herm Zeigler, volunteer co
ordinator, agreed, “the volunteers
were here early and ready to work.
Their dedication showed how im
portant they feel this playground
is.”
Alan Feldman, JCC Executive
Director, noted that many groups
within Charlotte’s Jewish Commu
nity were represented including
JCC members, members of both
Temples, Charlotte Jewish Pre
school teachers and parents. Boy
Scouts, and many others. “We
couldn’t have done it without each
cream cheese was donated by Mike
Sinsheimer and Essex Street Bagel
Exchange. The volunteers also en
joyed pizza out by the playground
personally prepar^ by Ril^i Segal
at Riccio’s Restaurant.
All of the participating parents
look forward to many happy hours
spent at the new playground. “It’s
just beautiful, with all of the fun new
things to do and the interesting
places to play, like the storefront
under the tallest tower. The kids will
love it!” said Anita Biederman,
playground committee member.
The playstructure will include 3
slides, a clatterbridge, tire-swing, a
variety of climbers, and talk phones.
It is designed to be handicapped ac
cessible and fun for children with
special needs by including handi
capped accessible stairs, a transfer
station and a wheel chair ramp. The
volunteers spent many hours
spreading “Wood carpet,” a ground
cover which is also wheel chair ac
cessible.
The playground committee
was particularly pleased to an
Herm Ziegler and Peter
Hindel keep the
playground Installation
on the level.
tional funds were donated by the
Charlotte Jewish Preschool PTC (a
joint venture of Temple Beth El and
Temple Israel), the “Special
Children’s Fund” of the Jewish
Federation of Greater Charlotte, the
Jewish Community Center, and
other individual donors.
The. project, launched more
than 9 months ago, has been spear
headed by a committee of dedicated
volunteers. Their work included
personal interviews with six lead
ing playground construction com
panies (both local and national),
extensive checking of vendor ref
erences (including playing on many
different playgrounds) and, fmally,
choosing the appropriate play
ground contractor for Shalom Park.
And to those hardy souls who
stuck it out all day - we salute you.
to What?
American Jewish
Life in 50 Years
By Yosef L Abramowitz
"The European notion of a
uniform, all-controiling kehillah
(community) cannot strike root in
American soil because it is not in
consonance with the free and vol
untary character of American reli
gious, social, educational and
philanthropic enterprises. The only
power that the kehillah can exer
cise is moral and spiritual in its
nature." Rabbi Judah Magnes,
1918
“The organized Jewish com
munity is in the process of self-de
structing,” says Dr. Sidney
Schwarz, president of the Washing
ton Institute for Jewish Leadership
and Values. “Although I bemoan
this, centralized fund raising will be
a thing of the past in SO years, prob
ably sooner.”
Not everyone is as pessimistic
as Schwarz, but it is diffictik to find
anyone who thinks the UJA/Federa-
tion annual campaign is going to
increase with time. ‘To raise over
$725 million dollars is nothing to
be ashamed of, “says Marvin
Lender," who admits that factors
such as intermarriage have affected
the lack of growth in the annual
campaign. But Lender, the former
UJA chairman and president, hopes
that this “has bottomed out and that
we will find new ways to reach out
to the younger generation. We are
the wealthiest Jewish community in
the history of the world, and we still
have close to 900,000 contribu
tors.” These contributors, however,
are generally older. And half the
time that they go to their children’s
weddings, they are welcoming a
non-Jew into the family.
According to most predictions,
the majority of American Jewish
households will be interfaith fami
lies in 50 years. If their giving trends
will mirror those of today’s
intermarrieds, then little money will
be raised for Jewish institutions and
causes. According to Dr. Gary
Tobin, director of the Cohen Cen
ter for Modem Jewish Studies at
Brandeis University, “Intermarried
households are far less likely to con
tribute to Jewish philanthropies than
are in-married households.” Ac
cording to the 1990 CJF National
Jewish Population Survey, only
27%’ of mixed households contrib
ute to Jewish causes and only 13%
percent donate to UJ A/Federation
as opposed Jewish couples of
whom 74% give to Jewish chari
ties and 59% to UJ A/Federation.
“The future of fund raising de
pends partly on the Jewish
community’s ability to build the
broadest base possible, including
intermarried couples,” says Tobin.
Failure to do so, he warns, means
declining revenues for the 250 na
tional Jewish organizations and this
can seriously compromise human
services and erode the community
as we know it today.
Emptier communal coffers will
come at a time when two issues will
See Charity - page3
Team Charlotte
Successful in Maccabi
Youth Games
A
in The News
JFS
page 4
Library page 6
7
FederatkMi...
P^IO
JCC
P*ga12
J
Next Month In The C JN
rt on/nterfaith Coaples
and
lotte Tei
By Resa
Twenty nine young athletes from the Charlotte community par
ticipated in the Regional JCC ‘Maccabi Youth Games in Orlando Florida.
These athletes took part in four days of athletic competition and social
activities designed to maintain and enrich their Jewish identity.
Tfcam Charlotte’s athletes had a very successful trip. The boys 15 &
16 basketball team brought home the silver medal. Team ntembers where
Joe Fuerstman, Derek Hoffman, Jason Kaplan, Austin Karp. Ben Levine,
Brad Nathanson, and Matt Shapiro.
Tennis player David Sheffer took a silver medal in the 12 - 14 Boys
Division and a gold medal in the 15 & 16 Boys Doubles. Corey Goldfait)
also received a silver medal in the 15 & 16 Boys Bowling.
See Maccabi > page 9