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JCC MetroWest Early Childhood classes learn the special meaning of giving on Thanksgiving
The adventure began in Four-Year-Old classes at the Cooperman Family JCC in West Orange and the Lautenberg Family JCC in Whippany. Using tzedakah money collected on Shabbat, the children sorted their funds and planned a Thanksgiving dinner budget. Their goal was to provide a Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings for a needy local family. This “soup to nuts” holiday feast would include all the traditional favorites: turkey, cranberry sauce, gravy, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie, plus vegetables, beverages, fruit, and bread.
“The children prepared a list of healthy Thanksgiving foods and compared the foods we eat today with those grown and eaten by the Pilgrims. We discussed how the Native Americans and the Pilgrims helped each other and how we would be helping our neighbors by providing a meal for them,” said teacher Roni Weiner.
When all the in-class planning was done, the children, teachers, and parent volunteers took trips to Kings in Livingston, Pathmark in Livingston, and Pathmark in Whippany. Six classes were involved: four from West Orange and two from Whippany. Each class shopped their own Thanksgiving meal, dividing into groups and splitting up the shopping list.
Weiner pointed out the many educational themes woven into the Thanksgiving shopping trip: math (sorting and counting), history (Native Americans and Pilgrims), Judaism (tie-in with harvest festival of Sukkot), science (nutrition), and ethics (helping the community). “The four-year-olds develop a strong sense of Thanksgiving as a community-driven experience,” she said.
The Ethical Start® curriculum is designed to engage very young children in Jewish values based on the classical text Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of our Fathers. Linking the old with the new, Ethical Start® introduces Peer K Explorer, a loveable fictional character who gets his name from Pirkei Avot and serves as a children’s guide into a world of Jewish learning with practical advice for daily living. Creative materials, including original books and music, bring Ethical Start® alive in the classroom. The curriculum was developed by the New York-based JCC Association with the help of a generous grant from Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation.
“The Thanksgiving meal is one way we translate the values of Pirkei Avot into direct practical advice for daily living. The Thanksgiving meals were donated through Jewish Family Service to needy families,” said Dolores Greenfield, director, JCC MetroWest Center for Children and Families.
According to teacher Susan Crump, text from Pirkei Avot 1:14 sums up the Thanksgiving shopping project. She has it hanging proudly in her classroom as a reminder to the children: If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what I am? And if not now, when?
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Donor Spotlight: Mindy Kirschner
Although Randolph resident Mindy Kirschner gave regularly to the United Jewish Appeal of MetroWest NJ, she didn’t know much about our organization until she was invited to an outreach event 14 years ago. It was while participating in that Young Women’s outreach event that she found herself sitting between Ellen Goldner and Wendie Ploscowe. The next day Ellen had called her and asked her to be the Young Women’s Campaign chair for Morris County. In many ways the rest would have been history but for a powerful turning point in Mindy’s life. It was her experience with her son Brandon that cemented her deep commitment to the MetroWest Jewish community.
Soon after becoming involved in UJC, Mindy’s son, Brandon, was diagnosed with a severe language disorder, which at the time, left him unable to understand and respond to a spoken word, not even his own name. Along the journey to habilitate Brandon, one of the more painful realities was that Brandon would not be able to attend a Jewish nursery school and have that warmth, nurturing and exposure outside of his home to his Jewish heritage. He would need a public school special education program to fit his needs.
Soon after Brandon’s diagnosis, Mindy and her husband, Gene, were very fortunate to learn about a camp program at the Cooperman Family JCC, West Orange – a program for preschool children with developmental delays. Through this program Brandon was taught about Shabbat through specially designed visual cues.
Even now, Mindy's voice breaks as she recalls looking through the one-way glass and seeing him try to sing along to “Bim Bom” and other Sabbath songs.
“Tears were rolling down my face as I saw him learn about his heritage. It was miraculous," said Kirschner. "At a time when I was praying that my son would learn to respond to his own name, I felt as though I was watching a miracle unfold as he not only learned to respond to his name but that he was also a Jewish little boy. Brandon and our family were championed, nurtured, and protected by the JCC staff. I have and will always keep this memory for the rest of my life. It has cemented my commitment and dedication to this community. When I tell people that the agencies of UJC save and change lives everyday, I am speaking from experience. My own.”
After several years of intensive therapy, Brandon learned to speak normally and was able to enter a mainstream kindergarten class. Today he and his sister, Malli, 16, are students at Randolph High School.
After assisting Brandon with his speech therapy, Mindy, a graduate of Douglas College, New Brunswick, went on to graduate work and received a master’s in speech pathology from Kean University, Union. Currently, she has a private practice, Speak Your Mind.
Intensely involved with UJC MetroWest over the years, Mindy has held various positions with Women’s Department, the Young Leadership Division, and the UJA Campaign. In 1997, she received the Julius and Bessie Cohn Young Leadership Award. She now serves on the Women’s Department board of trustees and its campaign cabinet, as well as the UJC MetroWest board of trustees and its Campaign Cabinet. She is a Super Sunday chair for the 2006 UJA campaign and served in the same position for the 2005 UJA Campaign. She is also a member of the Jewish Education Association of MetroWest NJ board of trustees.
She went on the original “Just Do It” mission to Israel in 1996 and the 2000 Mega-Mission. “They were wonderful experiences,” she said. “I had an opportunity to experience Israel with some very special people. I know that the connections I made will last a lifetime. We should all be proud of the incredible support and services that our MetroWest community provides to our fellow Jews in Israel.”
Gene also participates in UJC MetroWest events and the UJA Campaign. In 2004, he took part in the Epstein Leadership Development Program. Mindy credits Gene for being extremely supportive of her involvement in the community.
Commenting on her involvement with UJC MetroWest, Mindy said, “I have experienced one of the most inspirational rides of my life. Along this wonderful journey, I have heard and met many individuals and families whose lives have been changed and saved by UJC. In addition, the mentorship and self-development that I have realized through my involvement with UJC has made me more capable and fulfilled in all aspects of my life. All the way around, it continues to be a wonderful cycle of inspiration. That I have had the opportunity to work with the committed, kind, and intelligent men and women that make UJC the strong pillar of the community has always been a most wonderful honor.”
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JDC brings light to darkness of Arctic Circle
He and his family are among the Jews of Murmansk, Russia, who will be celebrating the festival of lights amid the continuous darkness of the Arctic Circle. Alex’s father, once a naval officer, is now unemployed. The struggling family takes part in the JDC-supported Mazal Tov program, which runs activities for young families to reconnect them with the Jewish community while providing material support for those in greatest need. Alex’s family receives food packages, winter clothes, and boots.
“I cried many nights, but thankfully Hesed [the JDC welfare center] has been able to help us,” said Alex's mother, Natalie. “Hesed is putting back some of the happiness in our lives.”
A gifted artist, Natalie volunteers at the Hesed, teaching children to make toys and handicrafts in its studio. Recently, she has shown children how to make menorahs so they can bring the light of Hanukkah into their homes.
Today there are about 3,000 Jews among the 376,000 inhabitants of Murmansk, the largest city in the Arctic Circle. Continuous darkness in the winter, constant light in summer, a year-round chill, and sudden electrical storms make the region’s harsh life even more difficult.
As Hanukkah approaches, the city’s Jewish community is excited about preparing for the holiday.
“Holidays are a wonderful opportunity to bring the community together,” explains the Hesed director. “Many Jews in Murmansk are lonely and isolated. It is very important for them to get out and meet with each other. Especially elderly, children, and people with disabilities.”
Jews first came to this distant city to earn money in mines, shipyards, and navy. Some gravitated to this area after surviving Stalin’s camps, while others fled anti-Semitic attacks in Moscow, Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), and other locations.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the economy of Murmansk failed and its Jewish population dwindled. With a high rate of assimilation, and without a synagogue or sense of community, those who remained lost nearly all links to Judaism.
However, the JDC began to help Murmansk’s Jews reconnect to Jewish traditions and heritage with the initiation of the Shalom Jewish Cultural Society in 1992. In 1997, the Hesed center was created to support the community’s needy.
The young Jews of Murmansk will enjoy a pre-holiday retreat with activities and games. During Hanukkah, the children will stage a puppet show. Young and old will enjoy performances by the Jewish community’s choir and brass orchestra. Hanukkah candles will be lit and traditional fried doughnuts eaten. The community has even made special arrangements so that those confined to their homes can share in the celebration. A small bus will pick up elderly and disabled members of the community.
For hundreds of Jews in Murmansk, JDC is transforming wintertime darkness into the joyful glow of community.
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Families invited to Jan. 8 Israel Festival
The MetroWest NJ Grassroots Coalition for Israel, which includes the Legow Family Israel Program Center of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, area synagogues, and organizations, sponsors the Israel Family Festival.
Attractions of the day include Israeli food, an Israeli marketplace, and entertainment, as well as briefings on current issues.
Deputy Consul General Benjamin Krasna will discuss current Israeli politics and the path to peace. Krasna joined the Foreign Ministry in 1995 and was posted in the Jordan Division during the initial implementation of the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty. He was a deputy consul general in Istanbul, Turkey, where he coordinated Israeli search and rescue efforts and humanitarian assistance following the tragic earthquakes of 1999. Later, he served as spokesman of the Embassy of Israel in The Hague, Netherlands, and was then posted to the Western European Division of the Ministry in Jerusalem.
AIPAC will present a seminar on “How to respond to anti-Israeli propaganda” for teens and all those who are young at heart. A prime aim of the seminar will be to give current and future college students an informed understanding of Middle East issues.
A crash course in Krav Maga, the official self-defense system of the Israeli Army, will be offered. Krav Maga is a simple, effective discipline that emphasizes instinctive movements, practical techniques, and realistic training scenarios.
A representative of the Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel, will reveal some of the latest technological advances in Israel. The Institute is one of the top-ranking multi-disciplinary research institutions in the world.
Grade-school children will be able to engage in arts and crafts while their parents participate in other programs.
Entertainment for all will include song and dance troupes, Israeli dancing lessons, clowns, and other Israeli-style fun.
For more information, contact Jay Weiner (973) 929-3180 or .
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