Two Mayors, Three Honorees & A Celebration
2 MAYORS, 3 HONOREES & A 30-YEAR CELEBRATION
Appearances by the mayors of Rosh Ha'ayin and Birmingham, along with tributes to three outstanding Jewish community honorees, will highlight this year's Birmingham Jewish community event Monday night, Dec. 12.
The Birmingham Jewish Federation, The Birmingham Jewish Foundation and Israel Bonds are co-hosting the event which will be at Temple Beth-El . There will be a light reception at 5 pm and the program will begin at 6:15 pm.
That evening, we will celebrate Birmingham's 30-year partnership with Rosh Ha'ayin, and also present the Federation's Joanie Plous Bayer Young Leadership Award to Hilary Gewant, the Federation's Susan J. Goldberg Distinguished Volunteer Award to Lisa Engel, and the Foundation's N.E. Miles Lifetime Achievement Award to Pat Weil.
During The Birmingham Jewish Federation's involvement with Rosh Ha'ayin, the Israeli city has tripled in size, developed a diversified economic base and attracted Israelis to live and work there from throughout the country. It has been a remarkable saga and success story.
The BJF's involvement began through a program called Project Renewal. The catalyst was a week-long planning visit to Rosh Ha'ayin by a delegation of volunteers, including the late Fred Berman (BJF President at the time), Hal Abroms, Bert Bloomston, Judy Rotenstreich, Lisa Engel and Richard Friedman (now BJF Executive Director, a volunteer at the time.)
They worked with officials and volunteers in Rosh Ha'ayin to lay the groundwork for what would become one of the American Jewish community's most successful and innovative Project Renewal programs.
DEEP, PERSONAL FRIENDSHIPS
Since that time, an abundance of activities have evolved, including visits over the years to Birmingham by the Rosh Ha'ayin Mandolin Orchestra and other talented groups, and an estimated 500 people from Birmingham visiting Rosh Ha'ayin. There are many deep, personal friendships between people in Birmingham and in Rosh Ha'ayin and those friendships continue.
As an outgrowth of The BJF's work with Rosh Ha'ayin, the City of Birmingham adopted Rosh Ha'ayin as an official Sister City. Speakers the evening of Dec. 12 will be Rosh Ha'ayin's mayor, Moshe Sinai (pictured here), and Birmingham's mayor, William Bell.
The evening will be chaired by Jewish community volunteer leaders Sheryl and Jon Kimerling. The Kimerling Center in Rosh Ha'ayin, which was started with a donation from Jon's grandparents, Tillie and Max Kimerling, has remained one of Rosh Ha'ayin's flagship institutions as the community has grown. The Kimerling family's involvement in Rosh Ha'ayin was a catalyst for The BJF becoming involved.
The Dec. 12 event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Lauren Pyle Klinner at The BJF at 205-803-1517 or laurenp@bjf.org. The event is being underwritten by The Birmingham Jewish Federation and The Birmingham Jewish Foundation.
'A HAND-UP, NOT A HAND-OUT'
There was an uplifting column in the Birmingham News Viewpoints section Sunday by Robert Aland, this year's campaign chair for United Way of Central Alabama.
Robert, a member of our Jewish community and a generous donor to The Birmingham Jewish Federation Annual Campaign, is continuing the longstanding tradition of Jewish community members playing leadership roles at United Way.
"United Way raises money throughout our community and allocates those funds to partner agencies based on pressing community needs," wrote Robert (pictured here). "We work to give a hand-up, not a hand-out."
Our Levite Jewish Community Center and Collat Jewish Family Services are among the agencies that receive funding from the United Way campaign.
