By Amy Wolff Sorter

I find spring to be interesting from a Jewish perspective; we move from Pesach, the festival of freedom during the early part, through Holocaust Remembrance and the mourning of those who suffered, to celebration and solidarity through Yom HaAtzmaut; the commemoration of the founding of the state of Israel.
In this issue, the Jewish Foodie column has some delicious-looking recipes that can be created in honor of the Jewish Homeland’s birth. And from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, April 29, the Jewish Federation of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, with help from the Dan Danciger/Hebrew Day School Supporting Foundation, will host a special celebration to honor Israel’s Independence Day. It will take place at Congregation Ahavath Shalom at 4050 S. Hulen St. in Fort Worth.
Incidentally, prior to the celebration, a commemoration ceremony will take place at 12:30 p.m. at Beth El Congregation, 4900 Briarhaven Road, to honor the Israeli soldiers who give their lives defending the Jewish homeland (as well as those who lost their lives and the civilians who were victims of terror). Now, more than ever, we need to remember these brave men and women — without them, Israel would be in a world of hurt indeed.

From the Alton Silver B’nai B’rith Girls

Thank you to Leah Vann for keeping us up-to-date on what’s been going on with Fort Worth’s chapter of BBG. It’s been a busy year, and it started in September 2011, when the group volunteered at the annual Isadore Garsek B’nai B’rith Lodge movie night (proceeds from refreshment sales went to the chapter, to fund activities). Other activities included:

• Attendance at the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk in Fort Worth in October, 2011.

• Attendance at the BBG regional convention in December 2011 at the Hyatt Regency at DFW to foster communication between other youth chapters within the North Texas/Oklahoma region and to elect new regional board members.

• Hosting the MIT (member in training) overnight event on April 14. This takes place to encourage membership growth for the chapter and offers a great many sisterhood activities to teach participants what BBYO is about.

Some of the members are also keeping busy — in March, Leah represented the chapter at the Leadership Training Institute in Plano, where she met the BBYO ambassador in Bulgaria. Last summer, vice president Dorie Kaye attended Chapter Leadership Training Conference (CLTC) in Wisconsin and historian Emily Englander visited Washington, D.C. to help out with the Jewish community.
Leah was also nice enough to send some photos of other events in which BBG participated. I really wish I had more room in this column to write about them. The good news, though, is there is a website (http://www.asbbg.webs.com/) that I highly encourage everyone to visit.

Speaking of B’nai B’rith

If your child is headed off to college, the Isadore Garsek B’nai B’rith Lodge wants to help finance it through two $1,000 scholarships. The deadline for applications is May 24. Questions? Contact Dr. Barry Schneider at dr_barrys@yahoo.com or get in touch with your synagogue’s youth advisor or rabbi.

Farewell to Batya and Jakub Brand

Long-time Tarrant County Jewish community members Batya and Jakub Brand will be bidding adieu and moving to New Jersey to be closer to their grandchildren. They will be missed; Batya has been active in educating Jewish children and adults, while Jakub has been involved with the Jewish War Veterans and as a volunteer at DFW Airport. If you want to say goodbye to the Brands and wish them well, their friends are sponsoring a Kiddush lunch for them following services on Saturday, May 12 at Congregation Ahavath Sholom. If you’re able to attend, please contact Beverly Ross at 817-346-3416 or bross@txem.com by May 2. Also, the Brand’s friends are putting together a book/album for them; anyone who wants to say something special in a note to the Brands, or wants to submit a picture, can send this information to Beverly no later than May 1.

If it’s April, it must be JLI

Well, not really — the month has nothing to do with the fact that the Jewish Learning Institute’s next offering is “The Art of Marriage.” This six-session course (which begins the week of April 29) is geared toward helping participants strengthen their marriages. The topics covered in range from the need for marriage in the first place; to trying to “change” one’s spouse; to Jewish bedroom secrets; to how far to go to make a marriage work (in other words, Jewish insights on divorce) and seem to offer ideal information for anyone wanting to make his or her marriage work. Disclaimer here: I’m taking this through Chabad of Fort Worth and I’m excited because my wonderful soul mate of close to 25 years will be taking it as well. We’re celebrating a quarter of a century of marriage on June 13 of this year, and from a personal perspective, I can’t think of a better anniversary gift.
The courses will be offered at Chabad of Arlington, 2136 Linblad Court beginning Monday, April 30 and Chabad of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, 5659 Woodway Drive beginning Wednesday, May 6. You can register by logging on to the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute website at http://www.myjli.com/index.html.

Live from the 92nd Street Y …

… it’s Madeleine K. Albright, chair of Albright Stonebridge Group and Albright Capital Management LLC. But most of us remember Ms. Albright as the 64th Secretary of State of the United States, the first female to be named so under the Clinton Administration. At any rate, she’ll be the guest in a live satellite broadcast, which you can hear at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 3 at Beth-El Congregation, 4900 Briarhaven Rd. in Fort Worth. Donations are $3.

Jewish Community Blood Drive

A couple of days after listening to Ms. Albright, consider doing a mitzvah and donate some blood. The annual Fort Worth Jewish Community Blood Drive takes place Sunday, May 6, between 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Beth-El Congregation, 4900 Briarhaven Rd. This is taking place in conjunction with Carter BloodCare, and while walk-ins are welcome, it’s better to make a reservation. You can do so by calling Dan Halpern at 817-426-3239.