The Charlotte Jewish News - January 2009 - Page 26
Discover Temple Emanuel
Since 1913, Temple Emanuel has served Gastonia, NC and the sur
rounding area as a house of worship and study. A small, friendly Reform
congregation, the Temple warmly welcomes Jews of all backgrounds,
interests and experiences. Also, we invite non-Jewish spouses and
friends to join in our services, programs and activities. Please call, visit
or drop in on our website for more information.
Become a part of our tradition.
www.TempleEmanuelgaston.org
320 South Street / Gastonia, NC 28052 / 704-865-1541
PO Box 550085 / Gastonia, NC 28055-0085
addition to the two Friday night
services a month that we hold
now.
On January
01am
event
O
O
Or Olam Brings Light to
the World
As the days get shorter we can
use all the light we can get. This is
the first winter since Havurat
Olam became Temple Or Olam.
We like to interpret our name as
“light to the world” and in a small
way, that’s what we’re
doing this winter The stu- v *
dents at our religious
school are raising money ^
by doing extra chores to ^
help local families keep
their power on during the
difficult economic times
this winter. They are chal
lenging themselves to see
how many families they can help
with eight days each of power, in
remembrance of the miracle of
Hanukkah.
Temple Or Olam also celebrat
ed the Festival of Lights with its
annual Hanukkah party, which
featured a talent show, singing,
dancing, dreidels, a play by the
students, and lots and lots of
latkes. At the party, our religious
school students also got their first
look at the completed “dreidels
out of clay” that they made at
Mudslingers Pottery in Concord.
In other December happenings,
we held our second Shabbat morn
ing sing-along. The congregation
is becoming more familiar with
the songs from the Shabbat morn
ing service and is looking forward
to eventually holding regular
Saturday mornings services in
Jewish Family
Services
Please join Jewish Family Services for our
2008 Annual Meeting and
Volunteer Appreciation
Sam Lerner Center for Cultural Arts
Thursday, January 15 - 7:30 PM
Dessert Reception
“True salvation can come only to a person who renders
service to the community.”
S - Yisrael Salanter, Rabbi and Founder mctj ^
of the Mussar Movement IhWISH^
FEDfRATION^
The Charlotte Torah Center’s Spectacular
New Location
Located minutes from
Shalom Park on
Providence Road, the
CTC’s spectacular new
center is situated on a
thirteen acre hilltop
amidst a forest of trees
with an expansive open
area that overlooks
breathtaking views. The
sky-lit sanctuary is lined
at the front by floor-to-
ceiling windows. Within
the facility is a library
that has a comfortable
reading area, kitchen
amenities, a large and
bright children’s playroom filled
with toys and books, and accom
modations for overnight guests. A
large parking lot is adjacent to the
facility. Ready in time to welcome
Rabbi Oppenheim who is leading
the CTC to new heights of growth,
this center inspires everyone who
sees it.
The magnificent new sanctuary at the Charlotte Torah
Center.
If you have not yet heard about
or been to the CTC, you should
know that it is an organization that
serves as a community resource
for traditional Jewish education at
all levels for people of all back
grounds. Through group classes,
one on one study, special seminars
and explanatory learning worship
services, students are
exposed to the wealth of
knowledge accumulated
over centuries. The
Center fosters life-long
study, appreciation for
Judaism and pride in
one’s heritage.
For more information
about the Charlotte Torah
Center, please visit us at
WWW. charlottetorahc en
ter com, send an email to
info@charlottetorah-
center.com, or call 704-
367-1225. We hope to
meet you soon at the new
center. ^
^HARLOTTf
31, Temple Or
IS holding a fundraising
called “Cha Cha
Chocolate.” As the name
implies there are two
important components to
this event: dancing and
dessert. A DJ will be teach
ing line dancing (requests
will be accepted!) and our
resident Israeli dance expert
will be teaching us some
new moves too. All that
dancing will give you a good
excuse to partake in the extensive
dessert bar All forms of chocolate
will be on hand, and a few non
chocolate desserts as well. Guys:
you’ll get your Super Bowl party
the next day. Take your lady out
for an evening of dancing and
sweets the night before.
Cha Cha Chocolate will be held
at McGill Baptist Church, 5300
Poplar Tent Road, Concord,
January 31, at 7 PM. Tickets are
$10 for adults, $5 for seniors, col
lege students, and kids under age
12. (Kids under five are free.)
Shabbat services are held on the
2nd and 4th Fridays of each
month, at McGill Baptist Church,
at 7 PM. For more information
please call 704-720-7577, email
info@or-olam.og, or visit our
website www.or-olam.org. ^
Jewish Family
Ser vices
From Seniors to J-Tots, Jewish Family
Services Touches Lives
Memories of Past Projects
Bea Gibbs, senior outreach spe
cialist at Jewish Family Services,
teamed up with Dr. Lynn Kirk’s
The tireless Bea Gibbs.
English Composition class at
Central Piedmont Community
College to create a Memories of
the Past book project. Throughout
the three month semester, nine stu
dents worked with fif
teen residents at Sunrise
Assisted Living, visiting
with the residents, work
ing on various projects
together and getting to
know each other.
Students conducted a
minimum of five inter
views with each partici
pant covering different
areas that person’s life -
significant moments,
turning points, memo
ries, family history and stories.
The result of all these conversa
tions was a book. Memories of the
Past written by the students. They
then published and presented a
copy to each of the participants at
a gala reception held at Sunrise.
Residents, students. Dr. Kirk, Bea
Gibbs, family and friends all
shared a special celebration of
these precious memories captured
in a timeless keepsake.
Mindful Parenting Workshop
Five UNC-C Interns under the
guidance of Stephanie Starr in col
laboration with the Levine-Sklut
Judaic Library and Resource
Center presented a short workshop
on Mindful Parenting discussing
how to handle the moment to
moment stress management par
ents are called upon to master
everyday while the children
enjoyed a story hour in a separate
area. Participation was lively and
plans are underway to bring more
such programming to parents. In
the coming months Libby Rains,
JFS child and adolescent clinician,
will be presenting other parenting
workshops including special
needs issues. The next workshop
will be held January 20. For more
information on this and other
upcoming workshops call Talli
at 704-944-6780 or tdippold@
shalomcharlotte. org.
During their stay, the group looks
at the history of the country, cur
rent events, its relationship to the
United States and Israel. They
explore the various religions prac
ticed in the country, its culture,
sights, art and music. One of the
favorite activities is sampling the
food of the country. Members are
also encouraged to bring items
they may have gotten when visit
ing the country and share some
stories of their travels there. “The
community has really gotten
involved and we’re having a lot of
fun with this series,” says Nicole
Vagnone.
The group meets the first three
Mondays of every month and
meetings are free. For more infor
mation, call Linda Bass at 704-
944-6735.
Nicole’s traveling Oasis group.
Travels with Nicole: Oasis Takes
an Arm Chair World Tour
Jewish Family Services
Clinician, Nicole Vagnone and
clinical UNC-C intern, Clark
Bridges are leading a series of
travel sessions with the JCC Oasis
group. So far the group has “visit
ed” Greece and Israel. Each par
ticipant is given a passport and an
itinerary of the activities planned
for their visit to that country.
Visiting JFS to do mitzvot.
Tzedakah Starts Early
The food pantry at Jewish
Family Services is a popular train
ing ground for our community’s
children to begin practicing
tzedakah. Like all pantries in this
unstable economy, the JFS pantry
is hard pressed to keep up with the
growing demand for food. From J-
Tots, to the Jewish Preschool,
Charlotte Jewish Day School and
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