5007 Providence Road
Charlotte, NC 28226
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Charlotte, NC
Permit No. 1208
The Charlotte
JEWISH
Shana Tova from the Jewish
Federation of Greater Charlotte
Vol. 20 No. 8
Elul-Tishrei, 5758-59
September 1998
Temple growth generates new ideas for New Year
By Amy Krakovitz Montoni
Suppose you’re planning a din
ner party for 10, but you set up 12
seats just in case. But — uh, oh —
17 people show up at your home
for dinner! What do you do?
Well, that’s a little like what has
happened at Temple Beth El over
the last five years.
Temple Beth El, which has seen
nearly a 70% growth since 1993,
has been wrestling with this issue
for some time. Project Joseph,
formed in May 1997, and headed
by Alan Blumenthal and Geri
Zhiss is a Long Range Planning
Group that has come up with inno
vative ways to face the challenge
of fast and furious growth. Among
the committee’s solutions are;
increased staff, split sessions for
Sunday religious school and
weekday Hebrew school, off-site
events, smaller and more intimate
groups, committees, classes and
chavurahs.
Returning to our “guests for
dinner” analogy...now suppose
you’re expecting 12 guests, but
you have the foresight to set up for
16. Then supFK>se, you receive
word that 14 people want to come
for dinner, but two of them need
you to bring dinner to them!
Temple Israel has seen a sce
nario mwe like this one. In spite
of its impressive increase in mem
bership of 40% since 1993,
Temple Israel feels that the chal
lenges ahead lie more in reaching
Conservative Jews outside the
immediate Shalom Park area. To
cope with this, they have institut
ed satellite programs in the Lake
Norman area: services on Friday
night once a month, and Hebrew
school once a week on Wednesday
afternoon for young elementary
age students, grades K-2.
“We need to diversify,” says
Rabbi Murray Ezring. “People are
looking for a more spiritual and
traditional version of Judaism.”
And he intends to bring that ver
sion to the people of Lake
Norman, as well as to continue
increasing spirituality in the ser
vices and programs available at
Temple Israel in Shalom Park.
Back at Temple Beth El, Rabbi
James Bennett says that growth
isn’t anything to be afraid of. He
sees it as a challenge that has to be
dealt with. And the recommenda
tions made by Project Joseph have
already l>egun to be implemented.
They have increased their pro
fessional staff from one (Rabbi
Bennett) in 1993 to four; Cantor
Linda Shepherd arrived in 1995,
followed by Rabbi Adam Morris
in 1997. This year Rabbi Judy
Schindler will be joining the staff.
In addition to the split sessions
on Sunday and weekdays, the
school has started to offer Hebrew
instruction at the third grade level
— an option that 85% of the third
grade class has elected. There will
also be a weekday Hebrew school
class in the Lake Norman area as
well. And Rabbi Morris’ new
innovative Sheva! program for 7th
graders will meet on Saturday
mornings to study Torah and to
attend Saturday morning services.
The biggest impact on the mem
bership growth has been the phys
ical limitations of the sanctuary.
This year, even opening up the
Silverman Social Hall to addition
al seating doesn’t seem to be ade
quate for the expected crowd at
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
services. That is why morning
worship for these two holidays has
been moved to Central Church of
God at the comer of Sardis and
Randolph Roads. “As a congrega
tion, we are happy to be able to
worship all together on these
important and meaningful holi
day,” says Rabbi Bennett..
The membership at Temple
Israel has not yet outgrown its
sanctuary. “We had 575 member
“People are seeking more traditional and spiritual wa\s
of worshipping," says Rabbi Murray Ezring of Temple
Israel.
families when we built this build
ing and anticipated growth to 800
member families.” says Robert
Gleiberman, adtninstrator of
Temple Israel. “With our current
member families at 750, we still
have some room to grow.” And
Rabbi Murray Ezring fcnresees that
the growth will continue to be
explosive fw the next few years.
Temple Israel also made a
change in staffing when they hired
a full-time rabbi as educational
(Continued on page 5)
The Charlotte JCC and Jewish Community Embraces
the 1998 JCC Maccabi Games
Fun, Athletics, Tzedakah, and Friendship Highlight Week of Competition
By Diana Ades
More than 700 Jewish athletes
from around the country, Israel
and Great Britain converged on
Charlotte from August 9-14 for
the 16th Annual JCC Maccabi
Games. Produced and coordinated
by the Jewish Community Center
of Charlotte, the Games marked a
“coming of age” for both the
Center and the Charlotte Jewish
community as the eyes of the
world focused on Charlotte,
watching Jewish athletes gain a
greater appreciation for Jewish
traditions, Jewish culture, and
Jewish existence.
JCC Vice President and 1998
JCC Maccabi Games General
Chairman, Lane Ostrow, had noth
ing but praise for the more than
300 families who housed visiting
athletes for five nights and for the
hundreds of volunteers who
assured that the Games in
Charlotte were the “best anyone
had ever seen! .. . I am humbled
by the work done by so many peo
ple to help us accomplish what we
have,” Ostrow said. Volunteers did
everything from loading buses and
serving food to manning carnival
booths and directing traffic.
Smallest Community Ever
“It’s most impressive that we
are the smallest Jewish
Community Center ever to host
the Games,” said JCC President,
Scott Menaker. “We have exceed
ed all expectations with the 1998
JCC Maccabi Cannes. The nation
al recognition our Center receives
when it successfully implements a
program like the JCC Maccabi
Games is a fitting tribute to our
dedicated volunteers and profes
sional staff. It also serves as a
source of great pride for our lead
ership and Charlotte’s Jewish
community-at-large. This was
truly a team effort. There’s no
question, the 1998 JCC Maccabi
Games have put Charlotte on the
Jewish map.”
The JCC Maccabi Games began
in Memphis, Tennessee in 1982 as
a way to provide Olympic-style
athletic events to Jewish youth
ages 13-16, while providing an
enriching experience in Jewish
values and practices. Basketball,
baseball, tennis, soccer, track &
field, swimming, bowling and
dance were among the featured
competitions that were held.
Over 4,000 Charlotteans raised
the roof at the Opening
Ceremonies, Sunday, August 9 at
the Hornets Training Center in Ft.
Mill, SC. Everyone knew they
were in for a treat when the 15-
plus shofar blowers signaled the
commencement of the parade of
athletes. Hosted by WFNZ’s radio
personality Sandy Penner, the
crowd stood and cheered when the
29 delegations marched into the
arena. While every group was
heartily greeted, the crowd
reserved thunderous applause for
the Israel delegation and a deafen
ing roar for the 137-strong home
town Team Charlotte. A children’s
choir — made up of members of
Temple Israel, Temple Beth El and
Lubavitch of North Carolina -
sang the national anthems of
America, Canada and Israel.
A very special moment of the
Opening Ceremonies was a tribute
to the eleven Israeli athletes mur
dered in the Munich Olympics and
to the four Australian athletes who
perished in an accident at last
year’s 15th Maccabiah in Israel.
Narrated by the Jewish
Community Center’s immediate
past president, Eric Sklut, the cer
emony captured the hearts of
everyone in the audience as a
cadre of former North Carolina
Maccabiah participants draped
medals on a large Star of David as
part of the testimonial.
One of the former Maccabiah
participants, Larry Horowitz, was
also there to show support for his
daughter Jenny, 15 and son Jeff,
13, athletes for Team Charlotte.
“This is an unbelievable feeling of
unity,” Horowitz exclaimed.
Donna Sender, an Israeli athlete,
said “We are having fun and they
(Charlotte) have been awesome.”
Another highlight of Opening
Ceremonies was an “Israel at 50”
audio-video tribute. The crowd
was both moved and exhilarated
by the fast paced retrospective that
underscore 50 years of history of
the modem State of Israel.
During the entire week, Jewish
athletes competed in various
sports at a variety of locations —
UNCC, Charlotte Country Day
School, Charlotte Latin ^hool,
Mecklenburg Aquatic Club,
Charlotte Christian School, the
Church of CThrist and the Jewish
Community Center were all
venues for the Games.
(Continued on page 27)
>«»»»»*«»««»■ *■*■*«»* ^
.fn^elS
.page 26
Maccabi gfeiues a jrmt sacctm —
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Also inside...
Point of View
. . . page
2
Jewi.sh Firnily Services
. .. page
7
Temple Beth El
. . page
8
Temple Israel
. .. page
9
Lubavitch of North Carolina .
. . page
10
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Turn to
page 26 & 27
for competition
results and
photos from
Maccabi ’98.