Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
Today is the first day of Chanukah, which was never canonized in Jewish texts. The main reason for this is because the Rabbis viewed the violence and the bloodshed of the Maccabees’ victory over the Greco-Syrians as incompatible with the Jewish values they were promoting. Instead, over the millennia, Jewish thinkers and teachers chose to focus on the lovely idea of our “Festival of Lights.” As we gather with family and friends to continue the tradition of lighting our chanukiot, spinning the dreidels, eating latkes and sufganiyot, and enjoying the spirit of the season, I feel the comfort of rallying behind the idea of light in darker times.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
One week after the flash rebel victory over the 50-year Assad regime in Syria, the stakes continue to grow higher for Israel, for Turkey, the US, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and the entire region. It will be fascinating watching how things unfold in the coming days, weeks and months. As the President & CEO of the Adolph & Rose Levis JCC my lens is very much focused on Israel’s security, how the Jewish community here in South Palm Beach county is feeling, and how we are being perceived by our non-Jewish neighbors.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
Though the Chanukah holiday is still about two weeks away, I find the events in Syria this past week force my hand in making this early connection. As many of you know, Chanukah is the celebration of the Jewish Maccabees, a small army, who defeat none other than the Syrians, whose King Antiochus Epiphanes outlaws Jewish practices and desecrates the alter in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem with a sacrifice of pigs to the Greek God Zeus Olympios. Almost 2,200 years later, this week the world witnessed the dramatic and speedy fall of the 50 year rule of the Assad dictatorship in Syria. We do not know what will come next in terms of leadership in Syria, but I feel comfortable saying that very few tears are being shed about the fall of a brutal dictator and the weakening of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance.” I may light an extra candle this year to recognize this modern Chanukah miracle.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
As I write this Shabbat message to you I am keenly aware that we are now in the first week of December. Thanksgiving has passed although the added pounds have stuck around. And we have Chanukah squarely in our sights. The end of the year is quickly approaching as we come close to celebrating the first 25 years of the 21st century! That’s a pretty big deal.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
With Thanksgiving one week from today, I am reminded that Chanukah and the end of the year are right around the corner. At this incredibly busy time of year, it is nice to have a moment to slow down and celebrate our uniquely American holiday of gratitude with family and friends. After the turkey, it’s going to be a mad dash to the end of the year!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
It has been a hectic few weeks full of exciting and wonderful events both personally and professionally. Between Jewish Holidays, weddings and family events, and a full roster of Levis JCC programs, I can hardly believe that it is almost Thanksgiving. After we celebrate that, we all know the end of the year comes up fast. As we approach our beautiful winter season, there is so much to look forward to, including our champion Florida Panthers season defending South Florida’s first Stanley Cup!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
This week’s message comes to you on the heels of an historic Presidential election. Celebrating our niece’s wedding with our family and friends this weekend will be a welcome break from politics. A family simcha is always a wonderful way to come together, especially one that marks the start of what I hope will be a long and very happy marriage.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
This weekend my wife, Lori, and I will be in St. Louis visiting our daughter Danielle, son-in-law Colin, and granddaughter Emi Lou, who is now 2 and half years old. We are excited join them for “trick-or-treating;” Emi Lou will be decked out in her caterpillar costume and Lori found cool grandparent caterpillar shirts so we match. Like many families, we are scattered across the country, so it is always so special when we can all be together, and we are particularly excited for the opportunity to celebrate this childhood tradition!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
It is nice to be back in South Palm Beach County after celebrating my son and daughter-in-law’s wedding in Phoenix, Arizona last week. It was extra special to share that experience with our two new granddaughters as well, Gabriela and Olivia. As I look back at the weekend, certain moments really stand out to me, such as when we were eating breakfast at a community table and a woman overheard us speaking about the wedding. She quietly paid for breakfast for the six of us and left us a beautiful note. It is so heartwarming, at a time when we see so much ugliness in the world, that every now and again people surprise us with their graciousness, generosity and even love. I also took the time to explain to my granddaughters why I take pride in giving tzedakah when someone in need comes asking me for help.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
After enjoying warm and meaningful holiday celebrations in our community, Lori and I are so happy to be in Phoenix, Arizona this week, where we are celebrating the remainder of these fall chagim (Jewish holidays) with our son Noah, his fiancée Patricia, and their lovely daughters Gabriela and Olivia. This is a truly joyful time for our family, highlighted by Noah and Patricia’s wedding, which will take place this weekend. We are so happy to celebrate this beautiful moment together--l'chaim!
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
I write this Shabbat message to you as communities across our state brace for Hurricane Milton, a powerful and dangerous storm. My thoughts are with everyone on the west coast of Florida, and especially with family, friends and colleagues in Sarasota, a community I was proud to call home for 13 years. Here in Boca Raton, preparing for the effects of this storm coincides with the somber, heartbreaking one year anniversary of the October 7th attack in Israel. Our Jewish community has presented several programs to commemorate the brutal start of what has become an ongoing war. As we remember and reflect on this past year and the challenges and sorrow it brought for our global Jewish family, we also look to the new year ahead. This weekend, Yom Kippur completes the period of the year known as the Days of Awe, and it is my deepest hope and wish that this new year brings with it peace in Israel and for Jews everywhere.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
This week I'm writing to you from Charlotte, North Carolina, where I am attending the JCCA Southeast Regional Conference along with a few of my Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center colleagues. The conference brings together more than 130 participants -- staff from JCCs across the southeastern United States to meet, learn and engage with our peers and counterparts across the region. It has been an eye-opening and inspirational experience for all of us. We have learned a lot, including that the JCC system overall employs more 50,000 people a year in North America and generated $1.6 billion dollars! I am so proud to be a part of this incredible network of wonderful JCCs positively impacting so many communities across the country and Canada.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
Our Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center leadership and staff had very heavy hearts this week. Many of us paid our respects to beloved Levis JCC community leader and philanthropist Nina Rosenzweig, who passed away last Thursday. It has been comforting to know that even as many of us came together in sadness, over the past few days, there has been so much happening at our Adolph & Rose Levis JCC that lifts us up, connects us, and helps strengthen our community.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
This week it is my privilege to be visiting the “Second City,” Chicago, along with Levis JCC Board Chair Steve Clarfield, Board and Executive Committee member Mark Gotlieb and Board member and National JCC Association (JCCA) Board member Shirley Solomon. We have been attending the JCCA J Summit 2024, a national biennial gathering of 170 Jewish Community Centers in North America. We are among the approximately 350 participants (including both lay and professional leadership) coming together to learn, network, share, and acquire tools and ideas to guide JCC communities to new heights. It has been a wonderful few days of connecting, learning, and planning for our Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center’s bright future.
Shalom Chaverim (Dear Friends),
If you are a regular reader of my weekly Shabbat message, then you know I never miss a week. It is a wonderful opportunity for me to connect with you, and to share some aspect of my life, our community, local and/or world events, and what’s happening at our Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center, as well as our weekly Torah portion. This week I write to you 6 days into a spectacular 9-day Travel with the J trip to Colombia. It has been an amazing adventure. Few, if any, of us in the group realized the impact the Jews of the Spanish Inquisition made in the development of Medellín and Jericó. We see Jewish history and heritage in so many unexpected places – we have visited homes that still have original mikvehs. We have learned that some people still refer to bread as Parve. Best of all, there is still a vibrant congregation of 150 fellow Jews (we enjoyed a meaningful Shabbat service and dinner with them) and another congregation of 300 people who have converted back to Judaism after being forced into Christianity generations ago, including the Rabbi, who had been a pastor! While the sights are beautiful and there are so many wonderful cultural things to experience, connecting with Colombian Jewish communities and learning their history is the highlight of this journey. We may be scattered all over the globe, but we really are just one big Jewish family.
This week Lori and I are joining 21 other travelers on what promises to be a wonderful and meaningful experience as we journey to Jewish Medellin, Colombia with the Levis JCC’s Travel with the J program. I cannot leave without expressing my devastation and deep sadness at the brutal murders of the six hostages executed by Hamas this past weekend -- with little heard from the worldwide community. Our Jewish world is a small one with just a few degrees of separation between most of us. Many in our community have personal connections to the hostages. Collectively, our thoughts are with all of the families of those who were murdered, as well as with the families still waiting and praying for the safe return of their loved ones. We hold each of them in our hearts!
As we come into the last few days of August, I am so looking forward to a busy and fulfilling September. Lori and I are headed to New York City this weekend for a wedding at the Pierre Hotel. I used to staff events at the Pierre when I started my career at the UJA-Federation of New York in the late 80s. It will be great fun to celebrate this simcha at such an elegant old haunt. Lori and I will then briefly return home before joining 21 fellow travelers to depart for the Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center’s latest “Travel With the J” trip. Beloved longtime Levis JCC staff member Susana Flaum, a native Colombian, will lead us on a spectacular tour of Jewish Cultural Colombia, home to more than 5,000 Jewish people. This will be a very special adventure as Susana shares “her” Medellin with us!
The dog days of August are quickly coming to an end. It’s certainly not too soon for me as this is about the time of year when the Florida summers of 90-100 degree temperatures with near 70% humidity become tedious, and yet we know that we still have 2 more months of brutally hot and humid weather to go. After 15 years in Florida in total, one would think I’d be used to the furnace like summer weather here. As August winds down and I look forward to the possibility of cooler days ahead, it also means the beginning of another exciting season at the Levis JCC.
This week my dad, Otto Haberer, z”L, would have turned 95. He passed 26 years ago and yet I am always keenly aware that my family exists in this world because of that man and my mom of course. His impact is so far-reaching. Thinking of him makes me think of my favorite movie of all time, the 1946 classic It’s A Wonderful Life, which highlights the impact each and every one of us has in the way the world is shaped and what goes on in it.
As we come to the end of the exciting summer Olympic Games held in Paris, this week JCC Maccabi Games and Access welcomed 1,200 Jewish teens to Houston, Texas to participate in the world’s largest Jewish youth sports event. I am very proud that our Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center’s Levis Krug Team Boca athletes have the opportunity to be a part of this incredible program. Unfortunately, my family and I had to cancel our eagerly anticipated vacation to Siesta Key Beach, but it really was the right call in postponing that trip. The Sarasota/Bradenton area received 17 inches of rain and some of the worst storm damage in its history due to Hurricane Debby. Lori and I are now eager to reschedule some precious time with our daughter Danielle, son-in-law Colin, and their daughter, Emi Lou, our precious granddaughter.
