Strategic Planning Project
By now, you’ve surely heard of the Strategic Planning Program — haven’t you?
With the consulting expertise of the Jewish Federations of North America, the Jewish Federation of Fort Worth and Tarrant County has begun a Strategic Planning process. The goal of the eight-month project is to determine a limited number of key strategic imperatives for the Federation and our community to pursue over the next five years. Consultants will utilize a variety of methods for obtaining input on strategic priorities, including an online community survey, focus groups, one-on-one interviews, and discussions with the board of directors and other community leaders.
According to Federation President Barry Schneider, “Our community, like many smaller Jewish communities, has seen a lot of change in the past few years, both demographic and psychographic. In order to get out front of inevitably more changes and better manage them, we need to fully understand the role for Federation in the next five years. Our credo is ‘Making a Difference in Your Life’ and we want to ensure that we are correctly positioned to continue to meet that promise to the community.”
You are encouraged to make your voice heard. For 10 days, beginning on or about Feb. 12, you can access a link to the online survey by going to the Federation Web site at www.tarrantfederation.org. Your responses are confidential; no one but the independent consultant will have access to them. The Federation needs as many people as possible to complete this critical information-gathering tool. It will help determine how to best “steer the ship” in the future and continue to properly serve our Tarrant County Jewish community. Also, anyone interested in participating in the small group discussions to be held in late March should contact Mort House at 817-569-0892. The Federation welcomes anyone who will volunteer a couple of hours to participate in this important aspect of the project.
Chevra Kadisha dinner at CAS
A dedicated group of men and women will be honored at the annual Chevra Kadisha dinner this Sunday night at Congregation Ahavath Sholom. They are the volunteers who have the sad task of preparing bodies for the burial service and interment.
Glenn Garoon and Debbye Rice lead this group of dedicated Chevra Kadisha members.
Among them are Elsie Blum, Ed Bond, Ceil Cantor, Scott Cobert, Jetti Cole, Hedy Collins, Tom Collins, Alvin Daiches, Earl Givant, Edrie Goldstein, Sonia Hecht, Morton Herman, Karen Kaplan, Marcia Kurtz, Cynthia Labovitz, Miriam Labovitz, Carmen Lederman, Melissa Morgan, Elizabeth Gordon, Jack Rubin, Chaim Saadon, Phil Sawyer, Ken Sherwin, Sonja Stenzler, Dan Sturman and Sandra Williams.
Members of the Youth Group will assist in serving the 6:15 p.m. dinner.
Reservations are $20 per person and can still be made by calling the synagogue, 817-731-4721.
‘Daytimers’ make reservations for Texas Boys’ Choir
The Texas Boys’ Choir appearance at Daytimers this coming Wednesday, noon, at Beth-El will be a special treat. Here is the latest list of those who have made early reservations for the program: Ellen Adrian, Bettye Baccus, Mike Blanc, Bob Clemmer, Martin Cobert, Bootsie and Joe Coggan, Abe and Lee Cohen, Edythe Cohen, Bernice Friedman, Sara Betty Gilbert, Yetta Gresky, Rita Hoffman, Tobi Kestenberg, Mimi and Hal Klotz, Harry Knudsen, Hugh Lamensdorf, Joe, Lenamon, Sheryl Levy, Rosanne and Bill Margolis, Milton Mintz, Evelyne Neimand, A.J. and Kathy Olivier, Irv and Rhona Raffel, Irv and Jacque Robinson, Barbara Rosenthal, Roz Rosenthal, Barbara Rubin, Frances Saperstein, Arnold and Ethel Schectman, Tina Schreier, Barbara Schuster, Rosalie Schwartz, Ina and Mike Singer, Fanette Sonkin, Steve and Shelly Sternblitz, Jerry Weiner, and Al and Sylvia Wexler.
Lunch will be catered by Ol’ South Pancake House, and guests have a choice of kosher salami on rye, turkey on whole wheat, or tuna salad on rye. Lunch is $9, or guests may attend the program only for $4.
For reservations, call Beth-El Synagogue, 817-332-7141, or Sylvia Wexler, 817-294-1129, or checks can be mailed to Daytimers, Beth-El Congregation, 4900 Briarhaven Road, Fort Worth, TX 76109.
The Sylvia Wolens “Daytimers” is a program of Beth-El Congregation with financial support from the Jewish Federation.
CAS teens seek chads for Holocaust project
Dorie Kaye and Jerry Berger wrote on behalf of the 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 confirmation classes of Congregation Ahavath Sholom:
“Remembrance Is in Our Hands
“Most people look at WWII as the rise of the Nazis and the fall of the Jews. But in all honesty the Jews never fell and never stopped fighting. We are proof of this. This year our confirmation class at Ahavath Sholom has decided to take a personal interest in the Holocaust. Our class has decided to focus solely on the 1.5 million [Jewish] children killed during the Holocaust. The title of our project is Remembrance Is in Our Hands.
“Our goal is to raise awareness and to educate people that what happened in the past is permanent but together we can make a better future. We want to collect about 1.5 million white, black, and gray chads, each representing one child lost in the Holocaust. Chads are the circle-shaped scrap pieces of paper left over after hole punching. As we are collecting these chads, simultaneously we will create a 15-panel display of 30 children’s pictures who were killed in the Holocaust; in that way, their memories will last forever. We are giving a voice to the children who were silenced. When our final product is completed it will be accessible for viewing by the public.
“Here is how you can help:
“If you have pictures of child relatives that are deceased, we would be honored to use these pictures as our project display. Please keep in mind that many people in the community will be sending in pictures and we will only need to use 30 pictures, so please do not feel offended if your picture is not used; we will be picking them at random. This is a two-year project that will require a lot of dedication and hard work. With your support and well wishes our goal can and will become a reality!
“We are the voice for the voiceless … and we can’t wait for their voices to finally be heard!”
Beth-El Film Festival continues
The Beth-El Film Festival continues Saturday, Feb. 13, with dinner and movies.
Dinner, at 6:30 p.m., will be Pak-a-Pocket: grilled marinated chicken breast, basmati rice or red potatoes, cold green beans with either tomatoes, onion and garlic or green beans with almonds, Greek salad, hummus, pita bread and baklava. Please call the Temple for dinner reservations; cost is $12 per person.
There is no charge for the movies, and you may choose to come only for the films. Showtime is 7:30 p.m.
“Noodle” is the main feature film, for adults and kids ages 10 and up. Children in fifth grade and up can see “The Frisco Kid”; pre-K through fourth-graders, “It Could Be Worse.”