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^•miM No. 1208
The Charlotte
Vol. 19 No. 4
Demographic Study Completed
Adar ll-Nisan 5757
April 1997
If you were in the JCC in mid-
March, you couldn't have missed
the roomful of folks hunched over
telephones and paperwork in the
front lounge. People were busily
completing the demographic
study commissioned by the
Jewish Federation of Greater
Charlotte. The director was Dr.
Ira Sheskin, a geographer whose
work with statistics has led him to
conduct demographic surveys for
15 Jewish communities nation
wide.
By Cynthia Chapman
receive the call and answer the
questions get a chance to assess
their own relationship with the
Jewish community and its organi
zations because of the range of
questions asked. Likewise, the
person recording the answers gets
a chance to reflect on issues for
the community at large.
Sheskin said that he expects to
wrap up the survey with around
700 surveys completed. He
explained that larger projections
about the Jewish community at
When I talked with Sheskin
near the end of the random tele
phoning one evening, he
explained the random dialing
process, and while doing so, kept
his eyes on everyone working in
the room. He kept his ears open as
well, making sure that any ques
tions the surveyors had were
promptly answered, quick to sug
gest to an interviewer another
strategy to use with an unrespon
sive caller. Dr. Sheskin has no
doubt that the demographic study
will help the Jewish community
as it plans for the future.
Even the workers have "learned
a lot," he said. People's responses
and attitudes reveal a great deal
about the community at large, and
there is no doubt that workers get
an interesting exposure to human
nature as well, from talking to
people who volunteer all sorts of
details about their lives, to those
who obviously don't listen to the
questions, to those who simply
hang up. Through it all, the iden
tity of both the caller and the
respondent are kept hidden.
An interesting aspect of the sur
vey, he said, is that people who
large and assessment of its needs
are based on percentages. For
example, if the random sampling
identifies 2% of all those called as
Jewish, comparing that percent
age to the figures provided by
local government for Charlotte's
entire population will lead to an
accurate figure for the total num
ber of Jews in the Charlotte area.
The demographic survey was
tailored to the Charlotte Jewish
community, with questions target
ing organizations and needs here.
One question, for example, asked
if people read The Charlotte
Jewish News. Other questions
offer a way to assess the support
for a new day school and the
needs of the elderly. According to
Sheskin, when the data is com
piled and analyzed in every possi
ble way, the report that will be
released to the Federation will
offer a detailed evaluation of how
community agencies are doing —
.does the community know about
it, is it viewed as successful in
meeting community needs, and so
forth. It provides, he said, "a way
to assess the effectiveness of what
is already being done."
The CJN Gets
New Editor Next Month
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the next edttor of The Charlotte
Jewish Nmws. Susan is ac^ve in
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Sheskin noted with pride that
demographic surveys completed
in other cities have made definite
impacts on decisions made within
the community. When Del Ray
Beach, Florida was surveyed, it
came as no surprise that 92% of
the residents were 65 years old or
older. When they discovered that
75% of these people were Jewish,
the Federation pursued and got a
$5 million grant to help meet their
needs. The study in Dade County
made the Federation there realize
just how many of the Jewish resi
dents would be affected by
changes made in welfare laws.
Does the current high growth
rate of the Charlotte Jewish com
munity mean that the results will
not be valid for long? Sheskin
stated that demographic surveys,
like the U.S. Census, should be
repeated no longer than ten years
apart. He also noted there are
ways to determine how well a sur
vey still reflects the community at
intervals within the decade after
its completion. The demographic
survey will therefore remain a
useful tool which the Federation
and community leaders can use to
make plans for the future.
The results of the demographic
survey will be released in the fall.
Dr. Sheskin is confident that the
survey will confirm some of what
is already known — the areas of
Jewish concentration, for exam
ple — but he is just as sure that
the data will hold some surprises.
Then, as Federation hopes with its
commissioning of the study, we
will be able to make Charlotte an
even more successful Jewish
community. We can all become
clearer about our needs, our goals,
and start planning more effective
ly how to reach them together. O
The tiu; 1997
UJA/FedersUon Campaign c(»i>
ttnses as the fuiidratshig total
climbs tawaxd the goal of $L6
million. In one day. Super
Sunday boosted the total by
$100,000. Now, that's really a
super Sunday!
"We are thrilled with the pace
of the campaign at this point,"
said Bill Gorelick, '97
Campaign Chair, "The Major
Givers set the bench mark back
in December and we are fortu
nate to have been able to use the
momentum that they established
to push forward to the goal."
$1.6 million would be the
highest campaign total achieved
in Charlotte to date. "We realize
that we will have to work hard
to finish," said Jill Newman,
Campaign Co-Chair, "but every
penny is important to reach that
goal and we all know how vital
the Campaign is to our local,
national and international insti
tutions."
"Many, many thanks to all
who have made their contribu
tions and supported this effort"
As of March 15, Women's
Division met their goal of
$350,000, also a record amount.
"We put together a sensational
team of soliqitors vtlio get^tiie
job done,** said Ruth Goldberg,
Women’s Division Campaign
Chair. "Each year we bwome
more effective at telling the
story and spreading the word on
the importance of women's giv
ing."
The Women's Campaign was
boosted by increased giving
acrtn» the board, but bi panicii>
lar ii inany of the high^ divi
sions. TThis year we had six
new LioDNS of Judah, which in
itself is a fccoid for Charlotte,"
said Bobbi Bernstein, who
chairs the Lions Division with
Lee Blumenthal. "Our numbers
went from 13 Lions to 23 in one
year — this is an unbelievable
phenomenon. We can only hope
that this will be the trend for
many years to come."
The Men’s Campaign cabinet
has also been working hard to
complete their assignments.
"Men's Division provides the
backbone for the overall cam
paign," said Mr. Gorelick. "We
try to reach out to make person
al contact with the givers to
make sure that they have an
opportunity to talk to us about
what is important to them."
Bob Speizman, chiured the
Major Gitfts effort Uiis year. Dr.
Ed Newman oversaw the $5000
- $9999 division; Todd GoreKck
and David Swimmer worked
together again this year on the
$3600 - $4999 group; Lany
Brown and Ken Rivkin join^
forces to supervise the $1,800 -
$3,599 division; Steve
Gaifrnkel and Craig Katzman
w^ked the $600 - $1199 cards
and Andy Dinkia and Scott
Hirsch were in chaige of the up
to $600 group.
The Cait^>aign will close dur
ing the next few weeks. If you
have not already made your ’97
gift, please contact Cary
Bem^dni, Development Directw
at 366-5007, ext. 209. «
JCC Director Participates in Israel
Leadership Seminar
The JCC Israel Leadership
Seminar was more than another
fabulous Israel trip. It was a dis
tinctly Jewish vocabulary lesson.
For ten intensive days in January,
140 seminar participants (North
American Jewish Community
Center lay leaders and executive
directors and JCC Association
board members) probed the
meaning of key concepts that
often arise in connection with
Israel, challenging their own defi
nitions of the terms of Jewish life,
and expanding the lexicon of the
JCC movement.
Charlotte's participant, Jewish
Community Center Executive
Director Alan Feldman, called it
"a thought-provoking, engaging
Jewish experience that illuminat
ed Israel as the vital stage for the
day-to-day evolution of a pluralis
tic Jewish society and as a center
for the creative unfolding of
Jewish culture." The group quick
ly learned that ahfaough Israeli
pluralism may differ from plural
ism in the American Jewish com
munity, it flourishes nonetheless
and can enrich our understanding
of and approaches to the issues
we face in diaspora Jewish com
munities.
The group was privileged to
hear from a variety of preeminent
speakers including: Professor
Aviezer Ravitsky, chair of the
Department of Jewish Thought at
the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem; David Landau, feature
editor for Ha'aretz newspaper and
Israeli Bureau Chief of the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency; Yossi
Olmert, former advisor to Prime
Minister Yitzhak Shamir; Uri
Savir, Coordinator of Peace
Negotiations for the Oslo accords;
A.B. Yehoshua. one of Israel's
leading authors and activists and
Jerusalem mayor Ehud OfmerL
The Israd Leadership Seminar
con^tutnl a milestone ia KC
Assodaskm histary as the 6rst
time a leadership study group this
large traveled to Israel under the
JCC banner. It brought into focus
the JCC's commitment to Israel,
not only as a learning opportunity
for JCC leaders, staff and mem
bers, but as a crucial component
of ihe Jewish mission of the
Jewish Community Center.
JCC Association Executive
Vice-President Allan Finkelstein,
summarized the experience as "a
trip where we have found a com
mon language with Israel and
among ourselves. We have come
to recognize that the agenda for
the Jewish people is the agenda
for the JCC Movement. Centers
— with a combined membership
of over 1,000,000 adults and chil
dren — must be bolder about set
ting forth their agenda. There are
issues that we can affect, but we
have to take the struggles in hand.
We caaaoC simply wait and
respond, we most act!”
(CmiimmHi m page 27)