Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
I am writing this week’s message to you on Purim, and what a Purim I’ve had! My day began at the Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center’s Betty & Marvin Zale Early Childhood Learning Center enjoying the Zale preschoolers’ annual Purim parade, celebrating with hamantashen and happy, dancing, costumed preschoolers. I then met up with our incoming Levis JCC Board Chair, Steve Clarfield, and a possible partner for “Travel with the J,” a concept we are developing. I joined our Phyllis & Harvey Sandler Center staff and partners at B’nai Torah Congregation to hear legendary comedian Rita Rudner present her book, “My Life In Dog Years: A Memoir.” Each week is jam-packed with opportunities to enjoy and showcase our wide variety of outstanding Levis JCC programs.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
With Purim next week, and Passover on the horizon, it’s a time of celebration! Some of my family from the west coast of Florida are coming into town to spend a few days with us, adding to the steady flow of visitors Lori and I have been blessed to welcome over the past month.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
Our community has seen an influx of visitors from colder climates, and this month my home has been filled with guests including my mother-in-law, Geri; brother-in-law, Rob; and niece Rachel. We are looking forward to welcoming more visitors to our home in early March.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
Sunday’s exciting Super Bowl game also kicked off a great opportunity for some quality time for my family. My wife, Lori, returned to Phoenix for the first time in almost a year. She’s traveling for work, but has the good fortune to be staying with our son, Noah, and his fiancé Patricia. I look forward to enjoying a family visit when Lori and I return to Phoenix for Pesach in April.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
Between several community events this past week, my wife’s birthday today, and the Super Bowl coming up this Sunday, this Shabbat message comes at a very eventful time! I wish Lori a very happy birthday, and to those of you who will be watching the big game, may your team win!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
This past week I returned from my first Jewish Community Center Association (JCCA) “Mifgash” (encounter) with fellow CEOs and other professional leaders representing many of the 170 JCCs in North America, Israel, and globally. When I have amazing opportunities such as this one, I always try to bring home 3 ideas to build on.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
I’m writing this message from Atlanta, where I am gathered with CEOs and senior professional leadership representing many of the 170 JCCs that are part of the Jewish Community Center Association (JCCA) at our annual “Mifgash,” which is the Hebrew word for “encounter.” It has been a very interesting and inspiring series of encounters for me.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
After a weeklong birthday celebration, I can honestly say that Lori and I are becoming well acquainted with some of the dining opportunities that South Palm Beach has to offer. We hit Abe & Louie’s with lifelong friends and were treated to dinner at Trattoria Romano by my father in law, Ken Weinstein, now a snow bird here. The big question is: how I will fit into my tuxedo this weekend for a big event?!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
This has been a week of celebrations, coincidences, and connections. I celebrated my 59th birthday this week and also reunited with Albert & Marcia Schmier, who are longtime family friends. The Schmiers are friends with longtime Levis JCC supporters Helene & Roy Schwedelson, who kindly invited us to join them for dinner. That’s when I found out that it was also Marcia’s birthday this week. I thank the Schwedelsons and Schmiers for generously hosting us, and again wish Marcia a very happy birthday!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
Here we are in 2023 – the start of a new and hopefully exciting, prosperous, happy and healthy year ahead for all of us. With all of the holiday travel challenges, Lori and I were so happy that we were able to visit with our daughter Danielle, son in law Colin and granddaughter Emi Lou in St. Louis. What a difference from the 2 month old baby we met for the first time this past July. Now 8 months old, Emi Lou is so animated, playful and fun. Each time she smiled and waved to me as I entered the room, my heart melted! We took her to the St. Louis Aquarium and her fascination and amazement at all she was taking in was so delightful! We can’t wait for the next visit and to see all the growth and development.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
This is the last Shabbat message of our secular year – I can’t believe it! For me, 2022 seemed to come and go in the blink of an eye. It was a remarkable year for my wife Lori and me, as well as for our children. Our daughter, Danielle, and her husband Colin welcomed our first grandchild earlier this year, and Lori and I are so happy to be traveling to St. Louis to be with them this coming weekend. Our son, Noah, recently became engaged and we are very excited to welcome lovely Patricia and her two daughters to our family. This past year has brought us so many special personal moments! Professionally, I began interviewing to become CEO of your Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center in January, was hired in February, and began work here in early April. These past few months have brought me endless opportunities to meet wonderful leaders, staff, community members, partners, program participants, and prospective members.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
You are receiving this week’s message as Jews all over the world collectively celebrate Chanukah. Lori and I have been enjoying a wonderful “Festival of Lights,” celebrating in person with recently arrived family, and virtually via FaceTime with our son, his fiancée Patricia, and her sweet young daughters who are delighting in learning about Chanukah for the first time. It is indeed a holiday of light and joy for us.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
The weather here in South Florida has finally turned! My wife Lori and I are enjoying our newly updated outdoor “Zen room” and we really can’t wait for the completion of our swimming pool renovation. It’s been a pleasure for us to spend time with relatives and friends visiting this past week. It is such a busy time for all of us as the calendar year winds down.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
I am writing this week’s message to you from my mom’s apartment in Forest Hills, Queens. I came in to assist her after she underwent her second cataract surgery. My brother Stefan, who was here to help her after the first one, our mother, and I are all so thankful everything went well with both procedures. Hopefully she will be seeing and reading much better. This experience makes me think about how fortunate we are to be living in a time where many matters of aging can be addressed, improving our quality of life.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear friends),
You are receiving this week’s message on December 1st. I feel that this November flew by faster than any I can ever recall in the past, and it really was a great month with so much to be grateful for! On a personal note, when our son Noah was in town for a holiday visit with my wife Lori and me, we had the truly special experience of going together to select a beautiful engagement ring that he then took home and presented to his lovely fiancée, Patricia. We are so happy for them both! Lori and I are also really looking forward to the trip we will be making to visit our daughter Danielle and her husband Colin in St. Louis during New Year’s week. We just can’t wait to see our sweet granddaughter, Emi Lou!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
I’m excited to be writing this Shabbat message to you 3 days before Thanksgiving, which is when you will receive it. Noah, our 26 year old son, came in on Sunday and it’s been wonderful to once again fill our “empty nest” with the young man that we love so much. Along with Noah, we have been spending time with lifelong friends and we really are beginning to feel at home. Speaking of home, our renovations continue to progress with the pool deck now completed - next up the pool!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
As I write this Shabbat message to you, Lori and I are counting the days until our son comes to visit for the Thanksgiving holiday. We haven’t seen our youngest since July, and we really can’t wait to spend some time with him. Our sweet granddaughter Emi Lou is now 7 months old, hitting milestones including cutting her first 2 teeth! We continue to work on home improvements, and Lori and I both feel settled and very much a part of our warm community. This is a wonderful time to reflect with gratitude on all of the blessings we have in our lives.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
I am writing this week’s Shabbat Message to you on Election Day. Without getting particularly political, most of us are aware that our country has been split in half for quite a while now. The last several elections have been razor thin and the balance of power is as deadlocked as in any time I can recall in my 58 twirls around the sun. The outcome will be most interesting and will determine the direction our country is headed in at least for the next 2 years until the next presidential elections.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
Today is the first Thursday in November. That means that our seasonal chevre (friends) are returning to their second home. Welcome back! We missed you and are so glad you are back here. I just returned from New York, where I attended the very lovely and unique wedding of one of my cousins. Officiated by an Orthodox Rabbi, the ceremony was traditional and beautiful. As we gathered at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, Long Island amid spectacular fall foliage, we all looked on with joy and pride as two amazing young men stood under a gorgeous huppah (wedding canopy) and cemented their commitment to one another and to their Jewish heritage. It was a wonderful celebration of life and love, and I am honored to have been a part of it.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
You are receiving this message the night before the World Series. For baseball fans, the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies should be a fun match up. It will surely be a bright spot in a week of disturbing headlines that include brazen antisemitism, bellicose rhetoric from the Kremlin, and a significant leadership shuffle in the United Kingdom. Here in the United States, we’re heading into mid-term elections, with early voting underway in our area. Election Day is coming up on Tuesday, November 8th. To paraphrase the well-known Chinese proverb, we certainly do live in interesting times…
