May 9, 2024

Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),

On Tuesday evening, I was privileged to participate in my third Annual Meeting for our Adolph & Rose Levis JCC in Zinman Hall on the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County Campus. It was a packed room, beautifully decorated, and most importantly there was so much warmth, happiness and an overwhelming feeling of pride for our Levis JCC.

Chaired by George W. Feld and Larry Wachtel, our Annual Meeting highlighted the richness of our Jewish community to more than 160 attendees who joined us. With the theme “Lighting the Way,” it was an honor and pleasure to share so much that we have accomplished in such a short time; growing our budget, raising significant funds for our Capital Campaign and introducing great new successful programs such as JBiz, Community Pride Shabbat, Mitzvah Mingle and so many more. We proudly installed our Board of Directors, acknowledged with gratitude those who stepped down from our Board and Board Chair Steve Clarfield shared how he is actively working with new and existing committees to plan for the future of our Levis JCC. Hannah Klein was honored with the Avraham Halevi Youth Leadership Award, Irene Greene and Sheryl Rosenthal received the George W. Feld Volunteer of the Year Award, and our dedicated Levis JCC staff celebrating anniversaries were acknowledged for their service. The future certainly looks bright here at our J and I can’t wait for you all to see what is to come. I hope you will join us every chance you get!

As the weather heats up, there will be plenty happening here at the Levis JCC. In just one month, our Levis JCC Marleen Forkas Camps kick off the summer of 2024 and we can’t wait to see the hundreds of smiling active children buzzing around campus. Plus, our Judy Levis Krug Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival will be screening films all summer on Wednesdays at 1:00 pm. View the full schedule and access trailers here.

This week’s Torah portion is Kedoshim (Holy Ones) in the book of Leviticus, the 3rd in the 5 books of Moses. In it, G-d declares “You shall be holy for I, the Lord your G-d am holy”. I don’t know about you, but recent world events don’t feel very holy to me. Sometimes we need a reminder to raise or even set a bar. It’s good to know that you always have a safe and welcoming place at the Levis JCC where together we can all aim a little higher and continue to light the way for our community.

Light Shabbat candles on Friday evening at 7:40 pm
Shabbat ends Saturday night at 8:40 pm

Shabbat Shalom
Am Yisrael Chai!

If you would like to support the Levis JCC and its programs and services, click below.

Marty