Join hundreds of women from the MetroWest Jewish community for a program that tackles current events and celebrates the work of the UJA Annual Campaign on Thursday, April 23, 2009, at 9:15 a.m. at the Alex Aidekman Family Jewish Community Campus in Whippany.

“Women’s Awareness Day is a powerful event where we gain knowledge about critical issues, which enables us all to be more responsible and compassionate Jews in our own communities,” said co-chair Pam Fishman.

Educating attendees this year is keynote speaker, Dr. William Recant, Assistant Executive Vice-President of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. As the senior staff person for all of JDC’s disaster relief programs, Dr. Recant serves as the intermediary between volunteer organizations and the governments of more than 30 countries. He has helped provide disaster assistance to the tsunami affected countries, Kosovo, and Africa.

At Women’s Awareness Day, Dr. Recant will discuss how recent events such as the terror attacks in Mumbai, synagogue vandalism in Venezuela, and reaction to the war in Gaza may be signs that another wave of anti-Semitism is on the rise. He will also examine how the Wall Street meltdown and Madoff scandal have disproportionately affected the Jewish community.

Co-chair Judy Sandman said this year’s topic is especially potent because the global economic crisis makes terrorism that much more threatening. “We cannot be so focused on the economic situation at home that we fail to grasp the broader implications for Jewish communities around the world and understand the connection between economics and terrorism. The wider our lens, the better our grasp; the bigger our reach, the better we can combat and hopefully prevent a new wave of anti-Semitism.”

Women’s Awareness Day is especially important this year as several UJC events have adapted in these difficult times to make the best use of dollars raised, explained Women’s Campaign Chair Leslie Dannin Rosenthal. “We want to allow our entire community to participate in creating the safety net that holds us all up. We are asking participants to contribute a minimum of $118 to the 2009 UJA Campaign.” The $36 registration fee for this wonderful day of education will be waived for first-time donors.

Women’s Awareness Day is an annual forum sponsored by Women’s Philanthropy with generous underwriting from the Maxine Fischer Memorial Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest NJ. This intergenerational and educational event includes breakfast before the forum and a private breakfast for Lion of Judah women.

For more information, please contact Shay Rodney at (973) 929-3174 or To register online, please visit www.ujcnj.org/events.   >>back to top

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United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ
901 Route 10 • Whippany, NJ 07981
Phone: (973) 929-3000 • Fax: (973) 884-7361
www.ujcnj.org •