The Charlotte Jewish News - September 2007 - Page 3
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Teens Visit from Hadera, Israel
The Jewish Federation of
Greater Charlotte was thrilled
to welcome our sixth summer
delegation of teens from
Hadera. Amit Yaakoby, Eliran
Marshe, Galit Schmidt, and
Hadar Alfasi, as well as their
chaperone Shahak Segal
arrived on Sunday, July 8 and
joined us for two weeks, mak
ing connections with Charlotte
campers, teens, and families.
On behalf of the Levine Jewish
Community Center, Roni and
Glenn Fishkin opened their
home to the teens and the com-
Wilds Emerald Water Park in
Greensboro, rock climbing at
the U.S. National White Water
Center, paintball, camping,
cooking the Israeli treat shak-
shuka, and more. Our Charlotte
teens loved being able to share
these experiences with our
friends from Hadera, and the
Hadera teens enjoyed being
able to bring their Israeli cul
ture and enthusiasm to their
new American friends.
The teens had a wonderful
time getting to know their host
families and the city of
Amit Yaakoby, Shahak Segal, Galit Schmidt, Eliran Marshe, and
Hadar Alfasi
munity for a wonderful wel
come to Charlotte barbecue on
Monday evening. Their days
were spent participating in the
LJCC’s Ne’arim Teen
Adventure Camp. Some of the
highlights included white water
rafting in Tennessee, Wet ‘n
Charlotte. The Federation
thanks our host families —
Karen and Ira Busman, Roni
and Glenn Fishkin, Hannah
and'Franklin Kaunitz, Lorrie
and Barry Klemons, Nicki and
Joel Ostrow and Lisa and Fred
Shporer, who opened their
homes to the teens. Gabe
Kaunitz, son of Hannah and
Franklin Kaunitz, explains, “I
ended up hanging out with
Eliran nearly every day during
the two weeks of his visit, and
I forged a solid friendship with
him and the other Israelis as
well. It was certainly my pleas
ure to host Eliran.” Eliran
eagerly wrote to ask if he could
come on another delegation.
He wrote, “Our trip to your city
was so fun ... that was the best
trip ever. I will never forget
you, my new American
friends.”
Additionally, the teens expe
rienced the excitement of
Verizon Amphitheater, where
they saw Matisyahu, the popu
lar Hasidic reggae/rock artist,
open for 311 in concert. They
spoke to the Charlotte Jewish
community about life in Israel
and their impressions of
Charlotte. They had a great
time at American Hebrew
Academy in Greensboro with
BBYO teens. Susan and
Donald Jacobs brought every
one up to Lake Norman for a
wonderful lunch and a relaxing
swim. Nicki and Joel Ostrow
welcomed the teens and the
Charlotte community to their
home for an ice cream and pool
party. The two weeks flew by
as everyone shared wonderful
Hannah Kaunitz, Gabe Kaunitz, Eliran Marshe. and Franklin Kaunitz
experiences and lots of laughs.
Galit exclaims, “The experi
ence we went through in
Charlotte was unbelievable.
Those were the two best weeks
in my life. The people in
Charlotte are so loving, caring,
and soooo amazing .... I will
definitely come visit North
Carolina again before New
York or any other state in the
USA.”
Our Charlotte Jewish com
munity is thrilled to welcome
our friends from Hadera
because it is through these
experiences that we create
important and meaningful rela
tionships between Charlotte
and Hadera teens. Their pres
ence here helps both communi
ties to understand and appreci
ate the similarities and differ
ences in Jewish culture and
being a teenager.
Since the Hadera teens went
back to Israel, they have been
communicating with our
Charlotte teens through e-mail
and by phone. Charlotte teens
are already making plans for a
trip to Hadera. The connections
and friendships that were creat
ed between sister cities was
fantastic and Charlotte cannot
wait to host another delegation
of Hadera teens next summer.
The Jewish Federation of
Greater Charlotte proudly
sponsors Partnership 2000 and
the Summer Teen Program.
Our teen exchange is just one
way to get involved in our
Charlotte-Hadera partnership.
For more information, please
call Sarah Kaplan, Community
Relations and Israel Affairs
Coordinator, at 704-944-
6751. O
JEWISH^
FEDERATIONS
OF GREATER CHARLOTTE
Localy Global, Eternal
Forming a Web of Leadership
“When spider webs unite,
they can tie up a lion. ”
This Ethiopian proverb res
onated throughout the weekend
of July 27-29 as the Bernstein
Leadership Group met for a
retreat at the American Hebrew
Academy (AHA) in Greensboro.
Through spending Shabbat
together and hosting the
Greensboro Young Leadership
Group for dinner and a bonfire,
Charlotte’s emerging Jewish
leaders learned about their
interconnectedness and how
their impact as leaders within
and beyond our community
can increase when they work
together.
Eric Rowles, President of
The Bernstein leaders create a spider web of
their own during closing reflections at their
weekend retreat. Photo by Eric Rowles.
Leading to Change, facilitated
group development exercises at
the retreat. He called the sixth
Bernstein class, “An
amazing group, with
great energy and chem
istry with each other.”
Community Shlicha
and BLG participant
Tair Zaeh led the group
in a Saturday morning
text study. In a follow
up survey the Bernstein
Leaders heralded
Zaeh’s session, which
gave them the chance
to examine leaders in
the Torah, as one of
their favorite work
shops.
Upcoming BLG sessions will
feature a rabbis panel, a discus
sion on the philosophies of lead
ership, and a panel,of Jewish
agency representatives.
The Bernstein Leadership
Group (BLG) is the Jewish
Federation of Greater
Charlotte’s 18-month leadership
program seeking to prepare the
next generation of leaders (45
and under) to address the needs
of our rapidly changing Jewish
community. For more informa
tion, please contact Outreach
Director Jodi Greenwald at
jodi.greenwald@jewishchar-
lotte or 704-944-6759. O
JEWISH^
FED^^TION^
Local, Global, Eternal
Save the Date
Jewish Federation Main Event »
rtsro
msti
ANN LANGMAN
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February 10, 2008
The Main Event of the 2008
Annual Campaign will be held
on Sunday, February 10,2008 at
7:30 PM at Temple Israel. Event
CO- chairs, Stacey Schefflin
Slomka and Ira Slomka are
pleased to announce that this
year’s guest speaker is
American-Israeli scholar and
historian Michael Oren.
Michael Oren is a senior fel
low at the Shalem Center’s
Adelson Institute for Strategic
Studies. He is the author of the
award-winning Six Days of War:
June 1967 and the Making of the
Modern Middle East, the criti
cally acclaimed Power, Faith,
and Fantasy: America in the
Middle East from 1776 to the
Present, as well as dozens of
scholarly and popular articles on
the history and politics of the
Middle East. His writing has
appeared in publications such as
the New York Times, the
Washington Post, the New
Republic, Commentary, and the
Wall Street Journal
After immigrating to Israel in
1979, Oren served as a para
trooper in the Israel Defense
Forces (IDF) eventually reach
ing the rank of major. He is a
veteran of both Lebanon wars
and was an Israeli liaison officer
during the Gulf war. He also
served as a representative of the
Prime Minister’s Office to the
Jewish underground in the
Soviet Union and as an advisor
to the late Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin.
Oren is a graduate of
Princeton and Columbia univer
sities, has been a visiting
professor at Harvard and Yale
universities, and has received
fellowships from the U.S.
departments of State and
Defense, and from the British
and Canadian governments. A
sought-after media analyst on
security and Middle East affairs,
Oren lectures around the world.
If you would like to read
more about our guest speaker,
please visit his website at
www.michaeloren.com.
For more information about
the 2008 Main Event please call
the Federation office at 704-
944-6757.
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