5007 Providence Road
Charlotte, NC 28226
Change Sen^ice Requested
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
Charlotte. NC
Permit No. 1208
The Charlotte
JEWISH
Vol. 21 No. 5
lyar-Sivan 5759
May 1999
Shalom Park To Expand!
The Leon Levine Foundation and Anita & Herman
Blumenthal Lead $28 million Capital/Endowment Drive;
Harry Swimmer and Hal Levinson Will Chair Campaign
Shelton Gorelick, President of
the Foundation of Shalom Park,
announced the beginning of a cam
paign to expand and endow Shalom
Park. In all, the initial plans will
enlarge the existing facilities from
the present 75,000 sq. ft. to more
than 180,000 sq. ft.!
The community campaign
received an incredible boost from
early campaign commitments in
excess of $17 million. As a result of
the cornerstone commitment of
$5,000,000 from The Leon Levine
Foundation, the Jewish
Conmiunity Center will be known
as the Sandra and Leon Levine
Jewish Community Center, A
$5,000,000 founding gift from
Anita and Herman Blumenthal and
the Blumenthal Family, will create
the Blumenthal Jewish Education
Center.
The generosity of Lori and Eric
Sklut will provide $2,000,000 to
bring into being the Mindy E.
Levine Day .Camp at the Jewish
Community Center. Gorelick was
pleased to announce that a
$2,000,000 pledge from Howard
Levine will allow us to add a sec
ond gymnasium to the Jewish
Community Center.
Founding pledges of $1,000,000
each from the Shelton Gorelick
Family and the William Gorelick
Family, and $500,000 from the
Ostrow Family will help lead the
Campaign ro expand and endow
Shalom Park toward its $28 million
goal. A full list of campaign com
mitments appears on page 16.
The Building Committee,
chaired by Eric Sklut and Bill
Gorelick, has been working with
all of the Shalom Park institutions
and the architecture firm of Lee,
Nichols and Hepler for more than
two years to design facilities that
will address our community’s pro
jected needs. The project will
include both renovations to the
existing building and the construc
tion of new facilities. The project
will have significant impact on the
programs and services offered by
the Temple Israel Religious School,
Temple Beth El Religious School,
Jewish Community Center of
Charlotte, Jewish Federation of
Greater Charlotte, Jewish Day
School of Charlotte, Charlotte
Jewish Preschool, Carolina Agency
for Jewish Education, Jewish
Family Service, Consolidated
Hebrew High School and the
Speizman Jewish Library.
The $28 million campaign
includes approximately $19 mil
lion in ccMistructicn costs and $9
million as an endowment for oper
ations. Shelton Gorelick states that,
“Both capital and endowment
funds are necessary. The existing
Shalom Park construction was
completed without a mortgage. We
must have the funding for construc
tion so we do not compromise the
community’s future by saddling it
with tremendous debt. And, we
have to know, up front, that we will
have sufficient funds to operate the
facilities we build. While the
Shalom Park institutions will still
See pages 16 and 17
for the architectural
rendering of the new
Shalom Park.
be responsible for much of the
yearly operating and upkeep cosu,
the endowment will provide a Targe
measure of security. Anything less
than these actions would leave the
bulk of the financial burden to
future generations. Our job is to
create the fiscal foundation. Our
responsibility is to get it done,
now!”
Shelton Gorelick is confident
that the community will embrace a
plan to enable the Charlotte Jewish
community to build on the vision
ary dream that originally resulted
in the creation of Shalom Park. The
next stage of this evolutionary pro
ject will produce a new, creative
and dynamic reality fashioned to
address the challenges of keeping
Jewish life in Charlotte vibrant and
inspiring.
Campaign Committee Formed
With the agreement of veteran
community leaders Harry
Swimmer and Hal Levinson to
serve as co-chairmen of the
Campaign Committee, Gorelick is
sure the campaign will reach its
goals.
Swimmer, who has in some way
left his mark on almost every
aspect of Jewish life in Charlotte, is
one of our most revered and
respected community leaders. In an
almost single-hand^ fashion, he
was the primary force in the origi
nal campaign that raised the funds
for Shalom Park when it opened in
Harry Swimmer
*• f, i
i.
Connecting Families
Sustaining Tradtion
1999 Federation Campaign
Achieves Goal - Raises
$2 Million!
Hal Levinson
1986. Swimmer has been at the
forefront of Jewish community
development for over 40 years
Levinson, a native Charlottean
and former President of the Jewish
Community Center, continues to
serve as a valued voice in commu
nity planning and is widely
aclmowledged as someone deeply
committed to the diversity of the
Charlotte Jewish community.
Together, Swimmer and
Levinson represent Uiist and effec
tiveness spanning two generations
of Charlotte Jewish communal
leadership. They have successfully
completed the first task of their
current assignment by assembling a
skilled and energetic Campaign
Committee that includes: Gail and
John Baron, Lee and Jeff Bierer,
Alan and Lee Blumenthal, Tracy
and Larry Brown, Michael Cohen,
Larry Farber, Roni and Glenn
Fishkin, Mickey Gold, Meg
Goldstein, Bill Gorelick, Shelton
Gorelick, Stacy and Todd Gorelick,
Nancy and Bob Kipnis, Karen
Knoble and Barry Bobrow, Alan
Kronovet, Allie and Eric Lemer,
Norm Levin, Daniel Levine, Miles
(Continued on page 27)
In an unprecedented show of
support, the Jewish community
has pledged over $2 million for
the Jewish Federation’s 1999
Annual Campaign. Achieving the
$2 million mark is a historic
accomplishment for Charlotte and
establishes a strong foundation as
the community moves into next
millennium.
Meg Goldstein, 1999 Annual
Campaign Chair, is thrilled with
the accomplishment and attributes
the campaign’s success to a vari
ety of factors.
“Our Major Givers initially
established the momentum for the
campaign at the Major Gifts event
by responding positively when
asked to raise their gifts by 25%.
We built upon this momentum
with the Leonard Nimoy event
which was hugely successful.
With close to 500 in attendance we
were able to effectively tell the
Federation story and 80% of those
who were present raised their
gifts. Additionally, the gala
allowed us to broaden the base of
Federation donors by garnering 97
new gifts. The ‘99 Campaign
Cabinet also deserves consider
able credit for working hard to
reach out to those who were
unable to attend the gala.”
Of Greater CHARLorre
Federation President, Bill
Gorelick agrees with Ms.
Goldstein that education is the key
to the success of the Annual
Campaign and that bringing in a
major speaker for a Federation
community wide event was the
winning ticket.
“We have heard overwhelming
ly positive feedback about the gala
and we were so pleased that the
community responded positively
to our first effort. It was gratifying
to see that when asked the com
munity stopped forward to meet
the challenge to provide the dol
lars that are needed. We should be
very proud that we have achieved
this historic total ”
$2 million represents an 18%
increase over last year’s campaign
and will make an additional
$300,000 available to be allcx;ated
lo the Federation’s beneficiary
agcncies.
Special thanks to the following
(Continued on page 20)
Yugoslav Jews Send
E-mails to Describe the
Crisis They Face
SHALOM
PARK
By Ruth E. Gruber
ROME (JTA) - A former leader
of the Yugoslav Jewish communi
ty plays tennis with a group of
friends two times a week in
Belgrade.
When they play now, the men
wear bull’s-eye targets pinned to
their backs — a symbol worn by
Yugoslav citizens protesting
NATO bombs.
Last week they had to cut short
a game because of an air raid
siren, but despite the bombing the
games “will probably go on,” he
quipped by e-mail, “as long as the
tennis courts are intact - or as long
as we are intact.”
This man, like most people con
tacted for this story, asked that his
name not be used. He added; “I
still feel that Uiis is surreal. I still
cannot believe all this is happen
ing. OK, I do, but not yet 100%. I
suppose people in Beirut,
Sarajevo and perhaps Vietnam, for
that matter felt the same way.”
NATO’s ongoing air war against
Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic’s campaign against eth
nic Albanians in Kosovo has
placed Yugoslavia’s 3,000 Jews,
The Federation has
established the
Kosovo Relief Fund to
purchase food,
clothing, medicine and
other humanitarian
needs. Checks can be
mailed to the Kosovar
Relief Fund c/o the
Jewish Federation of
Greater Charlotte.
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Also inside ...
Federation News
....page
4
Jewish Family Services
... page
7
Temple Beth El
page
8
Temple Israel
. page
9
Lubavitch of North Carolina ...
. page
10
Women’s Page . .
• •• page
12
CAJE
... page
13
Speizman Jewish Library ....
. page
14
The Jewish Travckx
••• page
15
Dinsng Out
... page
24 26
Jewi-ih Coir;n.anUy C€=-:.r .. .
most of whom live in Belgrade, in
much the same crisis as that faced
by their fellow countrymen.
Yugoslavia’s Jews are well inte
grated into mainstream society,
and they share the sante concerns,
frustrations and fears - as well is
the same black humor • experi
enced by their feliow citizens as
they try to carry on their daily
lives.
“Our worries are the same, and
our troubles- too,” i^id on?
BelgraHc Jewish coim rixni-