May 4, 2023

Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),

It is the first week in May which means I have sent out weekly Shabbat messages for more than one year. Each week it is an honor to connect with this wonderful community and share my observations about life, family, and of course, about the many ways our Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center touches the lives of so many. I enjoy hearing the thoughts some of you have shared with me, and I encourage each of you to let me know if these are meaningful for you and particularly when something resonates with you. On a personal note, I am really enjoying the National Hockey League playoffs this year, during which the underdogs have knocked out the favorites to win in so many matches in the series. Our very own Florida Panthers eliminated the mighty Boston Bruins who had the best regular season record in the history of the sport! Go Cats!

At your Levis JCC, there’s so much to be proud of! Our Marleen Forkas Summer Camps are filling up very quickly – soon our campus will be full of children and teens enjoying amazing summertime adventures. Our Betty & Marvin Zale Early Childhood Learning Center’s registration is at capacity for our highly respected preschool. Levis JCC events have been attended in record or near record numbers, our Travel with the J trip to Argentina in November is already sold out, and we just had the most successful Judy Levis Krug Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival in its seven year history. Our Betty & Marvin Zale Early Childhood Learning Center’s registration is at capacity for our highly respected preschool. Levis JCC events have been attended in record or near record numbers, our Travel with the J trip to Argentina in November is already sold out, and we just had the most successful Judy Levis Krug Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival in its seven year history.

This week, Judy Levis Krug, our Grand Benefactor, arranged to install a 30 year-old tapestry that her parents contributed to our Campus many years ago. Titled B’reishit (In the beginning), it lists the 5 Books of Moses and all of the portions in the book of Genesis. We are so glad this tapestry has found its way home to our beautiful Levis JCC.

This week’s Torah portion is Emor (Speak) in the book of Leviticus, the third in the Five Books of Moses. Listed in it are the festivals of the Jewish calendar that have become such an important part of life for us and our families year after year. As we approach the summer months, it will be such a joy to see our Jewish summer day camp in full swing. I have often stated that I am a product of Jewish JCC summer camp, and strongly believe that having the privilege of serving as Levis JCC President & CEO is a direct effect of a Jewish summer camping experience. I’m looking forward to seeing all the happy faces return to our campus once again in a few short weeks!

Light Shabbat Candles Friday evening at 7:36 pm
Shabbat ends on Saturday night at 8:32 pm.

Shabbat Shalom!

Marty