May 11, 2023

Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),

I’m writing this on the heels of our Adolph & Rose Levis JCC’s Annual Meeting, a wonderful reminder of just how much has happened in the last year. On a personal level, it’s been a journey of home renovations, wonderful family events, and forging new friendships in our community. On a professional level, it’s been an incredible time of growth and building relationships with many leaders, including our incredible Past Board Chair Emily Grabelsky, who just passed the gavel to the equally incredible new Board Chair, Steven Clarfield. It’s been a full season.

Tuesday evening highlighted the richness of our Jewish community to more than 160 attendees who joined us for the Annual Meeting. With the theme “Sailing into Success,” it was an honor and pleasure to share so much to be proud of this past year, and to outline how our Levis JCC is charting a course for the next chapter in our four decade story of connecting our community to the finest programs and services, and to each other. We proudly installed our Board of Directors, acknowledged with gratitude those who stepped down from our Board, and heard Emily’s reflections on her three years of service as Board Chair. Steve Clarfield shared his vision about the future of our Levis JCC, and then Maia Stein was honored with the Avraham Halevi Youth Leadership Award, Elizabeth Green received the George W. Feld Volunteer of the Year Award, and our dedicated Levis JCC staff celebrating anniversaries were acknowledged for their service. It’s sunny skies and smooth sailing ahead for our J!

This week’s double Torah portion is Behar-Bechukotai (On Mount-In My statutes) in the book of Leviticus, the third in the Five books of Moses. It discusses ancestral estates and the rules governing who owns what and for how long. As we enter our 41st year as the Levis JCC, we are poised to build on our strong foundation and history, grow our programs and services to best meet the needs of our rapidly expanding area, and renew our commitment to being the widest and most welcoming doorway for our Jewish community. We look forward to having each of you be a part of our Levis JCC family as we “sail into success!”

Light Shabbat candles Friday evening at 7:40 pm.
Shabbat ends on Saturday night at 8:36 pm.

Shabbat Shalom!

Marty