Florida-born Ron Dermer has become Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's most influential aide. Ron, an Update reader, is profiled in Tablet magazine. It's an interesting story about his role and influence with Netanyahu. (See below link.)

Earlier this year, The Birmingham Jewish Federation received a great email from Jerry Silverman, President & CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America, our national agency.

"I was in Israel recently and met with Ron Dermer, the Senior Advisor to Prime Minister Netanyahu," wrote Jerry. "In our conversation, Ron shared his praise for the daily emails that come out from The Birmingham Jewish Federation. Ron thinks your articles are terrific and shares them with the Prime Minister. Ron specifically asked that I share this with you. All of you should take pride that your work is recognized at the highest levels."

This year for the Jewish High Holy Days, Public Radio stations 90.3 WBHM-Birmingham and 91.5 WSGN-Gadsden are hosting a two-part special titled "Birthday of the World: Music and Traditions of The High Holy Days" tied to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Part 1 will air Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. and Part 2 will air Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. The program will feature music performed by The Western Wind, an acclaimed vocal ensemble, and will be narrated by Leonard Nimoy. The music is inspired by the Jewish liturgical tradition, including chants and folk melodies, and the program will focus on both redemption and divine forgiveness.

Four guest cantors and several noted singers will join The Western Wind. Since its beginning in 1969, The Western Wind ensemble has performed across the United States, Europe and Asia. The program also may be heard online at WBHM.org. Rosh Hashanah, which marks the start of the new Jewish year, begins Wednesday night, Sept. 28.

There was a nice story in the Birmingham News on Richard Pizitz Sr. speaking about his family's long history in the retail business. He spoke at the annual Retail Day event sponsored by the University of Alabama at Birmingham's business school and the Alabama Retail Association.

During the event, select retailers were honored with retailer of the year awards. Among those recognized were Stuart Shevin of Standard Furniture Co., and Rodney and Mark Barstein, of Simply Fashion Stores Ltd. The Pizitz, Shevin and Barstein families have been generous supporters of The Birmingham Jewish Federation for decades.

Update had a great piece Saturday night by Amanda Weil headlined "Learning & Talking, Living & Thriving." Amanda, a 26-year-old Birmingham Jewish Federation board member, who is co-chairing our Jewish Community Relations Coalition, wrote about a recent BJF leadership retreat she attended in Atlanta.

"What a beautiful report! What our community wouldn't do to have just one such young volunteer!" wrote a reader from another southern Jewish community.

"Fantastically written and well said. Birmingham has an incredibly bright future with electric volunteer leaders such as Amanda Weil!" added a member of our own Jewish community.

And Rabbi Brian Glusman, former rabbi at Birmingham's Temple Beth-El, who met with the group in Atlanta, where he now lives, wrote, "Great article. It was a pleasure spending time with Amanda and the rest of the Birmingham delegation. What an impressive group of leaders!"

Amanda, who works professionally in a development role for Children's Aid Society, is among a small group of young leaders who will participate in a new BJF project this fall on leadership writing. The purpose is to give this group the opportunity to further discover their leadership skills and potential through writing. It's one more way that The BJF is connecting with our young adults as we continue to build for the future.

Photo is of Amanda Weil, left, and her JCRC Co-Chair, Lisa Engel, meeting with The BJF's Joyce Spielberger (back to camera). Amanda and Lisa are sharing the JCRC chair's position through The BJF's new Inter-Generational Leadership model.