Chanukah Candle Distribution / NACOEJ Limudiah Donation

Transcription

1 Submission: TA-008 Chanukah Candle Distribution / NACOEJ Limudiah Donation Men s Progress Club of the Fair Lawn Jewish Center Congregation B nai Israel 3/31/2011 Page 1 of 7

2 Chanukah Candle Fundraiser Part I. Identification Information Submission Identifier Code supplied in a response to your first TA-008 Full Title for Entry (80 characters maximum): Chanukah Candle Distribution / NACOEJ Limudiah Donation Entry Category: Israel / Masorti Contact Person to be listed on Torch Award CD: Stuart Alper address to be listed on Torch Award CD: stuart.alper@gmail.com Club Number & Club Name: Club #947 - Men's Progress Club of The Fair Lawn Jewish Center / Congregation B'nai Israel Number of club members: 109 Synagogue name, city and state: Fair Lawn Jewish Center / Congregation B'nai Israel, Fair Lawn, NJ Club President Name (at time of entry): Stuart Alper Club President Name (at time of convention): Ira Lieman Person preparing entry: Ira Lieman / Charles Cohen address of person preparing entry: mpc@fljc.com Date of entry submission: April 1 st, 2011 Part II. Summary Information (2 3 sentences): Explain what your program was and what he sought to achieve with the program. We'll be using this short description in the list of submissions and award winners published after the convention. A fundraiser was developed centering on the distribution of Chanukah Candles to our Congregation. We coupled this with the identification of the Limudiah program of the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ) as an organization near and dear to our Rabbi and Men s Progress Club board members, to direct a portion of our proceeds from this program. The objective of this Men's Club program was to: 1. Distribute Chanukah candles to all synagogue member families 2. Solicit Tzedakah donations from Congregants for a designated children's charity in Israel (NACOEJ) 3. Raise awareness about Ethiopian Jewry and the needy Ethiopian school children in Israel. Part III. Certification that the program was not submitted by your club for a prior Torch Award This program was new to our Club in the year and was not previously submitted for a Torch Award. Part IV. Entry Documentation Include your entry information in one document or provide one or more referenced documents. We can only guarantee that documents in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint or Adobe PDF will be read by the judges and distributed. In the spring of 2010, one of our Men s Club members spent quite a bit of time perfecting the science of creating distribution routes for delivering Yom Ha Shoah candles. The Executive Board of the club, at a subsequent meeting discussed what we could do to build upon that effort to drive incremental fundraising opportunities. Past President Charlie Cohen suggested that we could deliver candles for Page 2 of 7

3 Chanukah to our membership, and donate a portion of our fundraising to a worthy organization. This idea received unanimous approval to proceed by our Board. We sourced candles made in Israel from a Judaica Distributor in the NYC Metro area, at roughly $1.25 per box for 600 boxes. To identify a recipient for a portion of our fundraising, our Rabbi recommended a charity in Israel that he was personally familiar with that supports the plight of Ethiopian Jews as well as Israeli Ethiopians fortunate enough to have immigrated to Israel. North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ) has been involved in resettlement of Jews from Ethiopia to Israel since the early 1980s. Their Limudiah effort assists with the education of Ethiopian Jewish children in Israel by providing an after school program and hot meals. This effort reaches over 800 children in 21 schools in 8 Israeli cities. The club was impressed with this program and decided to earmark funds to the Limudiah project. Six weeks before Chanukah, we collated and bagged the candles (adding the Men s Club logo on candle box) and donation letter. All members of our shul were to receive a box of candles and a letter. The letter explained the mitzvah of lighting candles and solicited a donation for the NACOEJ program. Two dozen volunteers received routes to Congregants' homes in Fair Lawn and Glen Rock. Candles were delivered on these routes within the month of November, while out-of-town members received candles in the mail. Working with the Israel Action Committee Chairperson, we were fortunate to schedule a visit by NACOEJ Executive Director, Barbara Gordon, to our synagogue on the morning of January 30th, and began to advertise it with the catch phrase Hear first hand where your donations are going. Having the Israel Action Committee co-sponsor the speaker helped us drive the fundraising efforts to an even higher level. The club then worked with the Religious School Director to make the event a Family Education day. Students as well as parents were asked to attend as part of the Religious school learning curriculum. Adding these two additional groups helped to make the fundraiser feel like a shul-wide event. Ms. Gordon first spoke to our Congregation about the plight of Jews in Ethiopia and the struggles they have in Israel. The program also included a slide show for our Congregational members in attendance. Our Hebrew school children then arrived and Ms. Gordon lead an interactive Q and A about how Ethiopian Jews in their age group live in both Ethiopia and Israel. We all learned a lot about the great work of NACOEJ in both Israel and Ethiopia and this helped raised awareness within our congregation of their current plight as well as their miraculous rescue and flight to Israel. We also learned about the aspirations and achievements of Ethiopian children in Israel and how they still need our help in their adjustment to a new way of life in Israel. At the close of the event, Executive Vice President Ira Lieman presented Ms. Gordon with a check from the proceeds of our Chanukah candle donations. Our donation of $1,400 will cover the cost of one Ethiopian child's tuition and hot lunches for a year. What made this presentation even more personal and special is that Ira s aunt, Faye Lieman, was a Past President of NACOEJ. This was followed by a reception where cakes and pastries were served, and Ms. Gordon sold over twenty embroideries hand sewn by Ethiopian Jews living in camps. We will continue support of the NACOEJ in the future through our Chanukah candle program. We urge other Men s Clubs to co-opt the program for the benefit of NACOEJ or other charitable programs that make our global community better. CHANUKAH 25 Kislev 5771 Page 3 of 7

4 LIGHT FIRST CANDLE WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 1, 2010 Fair Lawn Jewish Center/ Congregation B nai Israel 0 Norma Avenue Fair Lawn, New Jersey EXECUTIVE BOARD Stuart Alper... President Ira Lieman... Executive Vice President David Gotlib... VP Membership Neil Garfinkle... VP Programming Jeff Kroll... VP Finance Seth Seigel-Laddy... VP Religious Affairs Howard Kessel... VP Food Services Lyle Novick... Treasurer Raviv Ron... Recording Secretary Michael Gruber.. Corresponding Secretary Bob Sokol... Member At Large Scott Pass... Immediate Past President Charles Cohen... Past President Brian Frisch... Past President Evan Marcus... Past President BIG MACHERS Stuart Alper Michael Baer Charles Cohen Alan Dubin Brian Frisch David Ganz Lawrence Goodman Stuart Herrmann Howard Kessel Alan Kilman Floyd Levy Evan Marcus Leonard Margolis Steven Montag Scott Pass Ken Perlman Irving Pollack Joel Ringer ZahavyRottenstrich Stuart Rubinstein Peter Seiden Ronald Sherman Irving Sklaver Jack Susser Steven Weil Bert Wertheim Jeffrey Wisotsky MACHERS Jack Albalah Robert Lipson Robert Atlas Stanley Lurie Jeffrey Ayes Craig Mont Steven Baltin Abraham Peck Gary Borer Saul Rochman Michael Edelman David Salzman Richard Saul Shenberg Flanzman Lawrence David Gotlib Shepard Alan Hans Robert Sokol Harvey Jaffe Michael Jack Joffe Wallstein Marvin Klein Jerome Weiner Myron Sig Westerman Linderman As we light these candles, we celebrate the great victory of the Maccabees, the rededication of the Temple in 165 B.C.E. and the Miracle of the Oil, when one day's supply lasted eight days. The Men's Progress Club of the Fair Lawn Jewish Center / Congregation Bnai Israel is providing the enclosed candles to every member so that we can collectively perform the Mitzvah of lighting the candles for the eight days of Chanukah. We ask you to make a voluntary donation to the MPC Chanukah Candle Program to both celebrate the Festival of Lights and help brighten a child's life in the process. A portion of every donation will help provide educational assistance and a nutritious lunch to an Ethiopian-Israeli child through the Limudiah program (see nacoej.org for more information). This is the same charity that the congregation donated school supplies to during their trip to Israel this summer. From Stuart Alper, MPC President: "When the members of our congregation met with the NACOEJ representative, Shoshana Ben Dor, at our hotel in Jerusalem, she explained that 3 in 4 Ethiopian- Israeli children live below the poverty line, and their parents struggle to find jobs that match their skills. Through the Limudiah program, 80% of students get the proper education, and many are now moving on to college. We were all very touched by her words, but she explained that the program only reaches 5% of the Ethiopian-Israeli population. The Fair Lawn Jewish Center / Congregation Bnai Israel family can help!" THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT! Please make your donation payable to THE MEN S PROGRESS CLUB Fair Lawn Jewish Center / Congregation B nai Israel, Norma Ave, Fair Lawn, NJ $50 Underwriter $36 Benefactor $25 Sponsor $ 18 Chai Patron $10 Booster $ Donor (any Amount you wish) Name Address City, State, Zip QUALITY CLUB Page 4 of 7

5 Flyer that was produced for promoting the Event present January 30 th :00 AM Meet: Barbara Ribakove Gordon, Executive Director and Founder of the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry. After traveling to Ethiopia in 1981 and making contact with the isolated Jewish village there, Ms. Gordon founded the NACOEJ in She and two other NACOEJ volunteers processed over 14,000 Jews in the historic Operation Solomon airlift from Ethiopia in To this day NACOEJ continues its commitment to Ethiopian Jewry through educational programs in Israel and Ethiopia. Join us for an enlightening presentation and stay as we present the NACOEJ with our donation from the MPC s Chanukah Candle Program. We at FLJC/CBI have a mission this Chanukah: Brighten the lives of Ethiopian-Israeli Jews and let them know miracles don t just exist in books. Hear first hand where your donations are going!! Page 5 of 7

6 Below is the program developed for the Event Many Thanks to Rabbi Roth Judy Gutin Stuart Alper and the Men s Progress Club Executive Board Gary Baskind & the Israel Action Committee Charlie Cohen for conceiving and executing the Chanukah Candle program June Aranoff and the wonderful FLJC office staff All those who donated in support of Limudiah through the Chanukah Candle fundraiser With Special Guest Barbara Ribakove Gordon Executive Director and Founder North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry. Fair Lawn Jewish Center / Congregation B nai Israel January 30, 2011 ~ 10:00 a.m. After traveling to Ethiopia in 1981 and making contact with the isolated Jewish village there, Barbara Gordon founded the NACOEJ in She and two other NACOEJ volunteers processed over 14,000 Jews in the historic Operation Solomon airlift from Ethiopia in To this day NACOEJ continues its commitment to Ethiopian Jewry through educational programs in Israel and Ethiopia. Welcome and Introduction - Gary Baskind Opening Comments / Invocation - Rabbi Roth DVD Presentation Introduction of Barbara Gordon - Gary Baskind Presentation to Congregation Barbara Gordon Question-And-Answer Session Break / Religious School arrives Presentation on Youth and Education Barbara Gordon Presentation of Donation Ira Lieman Light refreshments will be served Barbara will be selling embroideries in support of the NACOEJ after the event. Page 6 of 7

7 IMAGES: Barbara Ribakove Gordon during the Q&A Religious School kids and Congregation during the Q&A Tapestries made by Ethiopian Jewish adults for sale to benefit NACOEJ were brought by Ms. Gordon to sell during the event. Page 7 of 7