June 16, 2022

Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),

This weekend my brother and I will be in New York, visiting our mom to celebrate her upcoming 80th birthday. It’s a pretty major milestone for all of us. It is also my first trip out of South Palm Beach County since Lori and I moved to town 8 weeks ago. I am looking forward to a few days in Queens, and of course, enjoying some New York soul food -- Jewish and other ethnic delicacies as well. Pizza will definitely be involved!

This week, our Adolph & Rose Levis JCC Marleen Forkas Camps kicked off summer 2022 with more than 500 happy campers enjoying a wide variety of fun activities, spending time with friends, having adventures, and making wonderful memories. As I mentioned at staff orientation on Sunday, I am the product of a JCC summer camp; I started at the YM-YWHA of Washington Heights & Inwood when I was 6 years old. One of my early camp counselors, Martin Englisher, is now the President and CEO of that Y, and now here I am, 52 years later, as the CEO of a JCC myself. That really does kind of blow my mind.

This week’s Torah portion is Behaalotecha (When You Step Up) in the book of Numbers, the 4th in the 5 books of Moses. In it, Moses appoints 70 elders to whom he imparts his spirit, to assist him with governing the people. As someone who used to run a camp, I know firsthand, that it “takes a village” to pull off a successful camping experience. Just as Moses imparted his spirit into 70 elders, it takes all sorts of staff to make a camp function well on all cylinders. This week, as I celebrate a milestone birthday with my mother, I remember fondly, my New York roots and my JCC roots, and how my summers there in Jewish day camp molded the person I am today. More importantly, who will emerge from our current crop of campers as our Jewish leaders of tomorrow?

Light Shabbat Candles on Friday night at 7:57 pm

Shabbat ends Saturday night at 8:55 pm

Shabbat Shalom,

Marty