5007 Providtnca Road
Chwlotlt. NC 28226
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CharlottA. NC
Permil No. 1208
The Charlotte
JEWISH
Vol. 19 No. 7
Hot?? Who said it was hot?
Adam Levinson has found the perfect way to stay cool during these hot dog days of summer. Most
afternoons, he and his Mom, Holly can be found at the JCC pool at Shalom Park where he says,
“Come on in. the water’s fine!"
By Susan Kramer
Penny Wagner-Schuster
As of 4:45 PM on July 14, it
appeared that Penny Wagner-
Schuster had surviv^ her first
full day as Director of the Jewish
Family Services. You might even
say she had thrived — she
seemed fresh and bubbly and
certainly still very excited to be
in Charlotte.
And the Charlotte Jewish
community is just as excited to
have her. After a year-long
search, while the JFS directorship
was so ably handled by Interim
Director Laurie Gordon Harris,
Penny was hired in May. She
comes to Charlotte from Miami
where she was Director of Older
Adults Services for the Jewish
Family Service of Miami, and
brings with her an air of
enthusiasm and excitement that is
downright contagious.
“I’m really looking forward to
the opportunity to build this
agency, to create programs that
will be helpful and meaningful to
the community,” Penny stated in
her (mostly unpacked) office on
Monday afternoon.
When asked what prompted a
move to Charlotte, this almost-
native Floridian (she moved there
when she was ten months old and
had lived there ever since) said
simply, “It’s really almost a
miracle — a real dream come
true.” You see, two years ago.
Penny’s mother and sister moved
to Raleigh, and Penny found the
separation difficult.
“Then almost a year ago, I saw
Tammuz-Av 5757
August, 1997
Temple Beth El welcomes new
associate Rabbi
New Director Takes Helm at
Jewish Family Services
the listing for the position as
Director of Jewish Family
Services. I got out my map and
tried to estimate how far it was
from Charlotte to Raleigh. I’m
not very good at that sort of thing
— I thought it would be a 10-
hour trip.” Remember, this is a
lady who grew up in a state with
over 700 miles between its
borders.
Then in January, someone
pointed out that it was more like
a 3-hour car trip, and Penny, who
holds an MSW from Barry
University of Miami, wasted no
time in sending off her resume
to the search committee.
“Everything just fell into place
after that,” says Penny — even
down to finding a place to live
where the architecture reminds
her and her husband of Florida.
And how about Mom — is she
glad that Penny is close by?
Well, let’s just say Rosh
Hashanah will be a very happy
holiday in the Wagner-Schuster
household this year! O
By Jo Minchew
Over his desk hang favorite
quotes; “You cannot depend
upon your eyes if your
imagination is out of focus;”
“One does not discover new
lands without consenting to lose
sight of the shore for a very long
time;” and “Know Before Whom
You Stand.”
Adam Michael Morris, 29, the
new associate rabbi of Temple
Beth El, has always been one to
wonder at life. “Even as a child,
I liked to question and ponder
over the Big Questions,” he said.
“Being a rabbi is getting paid to
consider these full time and the
older I get, the more I have to
learn.”
Bom and raised in Cleveland,
Ohio, Rabbi Morris is one of four
brothers. Although he grew up in
an observant. Conservative
family the rabbi found that
Reform thinking better suited
him.
“I am not afraid to either
embrace what tradition gives us
or to think outside of the box ...
What appealed and appeals to me
about Reform Judaism is that it is
the Judaism most open to going
outside the box.”
A 1989 graduate of Emory
University (B.A. in History and
Judaic Studies), Rabbi Morris
later received rabbinical training
at Hebrew Union College in both
Jerusalem and Cincinnati.
Following his ordination in
1994, he moved to Nashville,
Tennessee where he remained
until the offer arrived from
Charlotte.
Both the rabbi and his wife,
Renee, who works in advertising,
are “terribly excited” about the
move to North Carolina.
^
Rabbi Morris noted that he
looks forward to sharing and
growing with our conmiunity and
to reaching the next level of his
experience as a person and as a
rabbi.
“What impressed me, first,
about Temple Beth El is an
attitude,” he remembered. “It’s
the one I felt from speaking with
Jim [Rabbi Bennett] and
continued as I spoke to more staff
and members of the community.”
“People smiled when they
spoke about Temple Beth El,” he
concluded, “and, not only did I
see the smiles on their faces — I
felt them upon their hearts.” O
World-wide celebrations to mark
Israel’s 50th Anniversary
Locallyf VChaim Charlotte set
for May 17
As Jews in Israel and around
the world gather on December 23
to observe the first night of the
holiday of Chanukah, the State of
Israel will commence the
yearlong celebration of its SOth
Anniversary. "The celebrations
will begin as we light the very
first Chanukah candle," says Arie
Sommer, Israel's Commissioner
for Tourism, N.A., referring to
the Jews' traditional lighting of
candles, one per night, for eight
days, in niemory of the miracle
associated with the rededication
of the Temple in Jerusalem by the
Maccabees two thousand years
ago. "It is a very dramatic and
Inside this Issue...
Kcq»iiif perqpe^ve...
Dr. Kenneth Stem looks at Isrmts successes over the last iOByears
Bedk l» adM>el.
Some
*
Also inside ...
Speizman Library page 8
Jewish Family Services page 19
Temple Beth El page 14
Temple Israel page 15
Lubavitch of North Carolina ... page 16
Mazel Tov page 10
CAJE page 17
The Jewish TYaveJcr page 18
Dining Out page 22
meaningful symbol," Sommer
continued, "that we link the joy
and excitement of our country's
SOth birthday, with a memory of
another joyous moment in our
history, the Jews' redemption
from oppression two millennia
ago."
Israel's tourism officials are
preparing for a major tourism
year in 1998, as unprecedented
numbers of travelers are
expected to visit Israel during the
anniversary year. Indeed, group
bookings and airline
seatblocking for 1998 are
breaking all records, say tour
operators and airlines.
The celebration of Israel’s SOth
anniversary will be a 12-month
series of gala happenings,
parades, concerts and events in
Israel and throughout the world.
These events will be spread
throughout the twelve months
from December, 1997 to
December, 1998.
The opening event will be held
on Dec^ber 23, 1997, with the
Lighting of the Pifst Chanuk^
candle by the President of Israel,
(Cmiinmed om page 3)