Compiled by Sharon Wisch-Ray
sharon@tjpnews.com
Dallas Kosher BBQ Championship wins national award
The Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs has honored Congregation Beth Torah for conceiving and presenting the Dallas Kosher Barbecue Championship.
At its July convention in Philadelphia, the FJMC presented the Beth Torah Men’s Club with the Gold Torch Award for community outreach. The award recognizes outstanding men’s club programming with the goal of encouraging similar efforts by clubs around the country. The judges added to the honor by presenting Beth Torah their Chair’s Choice Award as the best of all the winners.
“We started the championship in 2015 because we love barbecue and we wanted an event to bring the entire Jewish community together,” said David Duchin, the Beth Torah Men’s Club president who accepted the award in Philadelphia. “We weren’t looking for awards, but we’re certainly thrilled to be recognized for a lot of hard work.”
Duchin and Past President Rusty Dworkin also collected the FJMC Quality Chapter Award, the 10th consecutive year that Beth Torah has been honored as one of the best men’s clubs among Conservative synagogues in North America. The Third Annual Dallas Kosher BBQ Championship is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 29, and teams can still register to compete. For more information, visit dallaskosherbbq.com.
— Submitted by Michael Precker
PJ Library to celebrate 6th birthday bash
PJ Library will hold its sixth annual Birthday Bash on Sept. 10. The event is scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (rain or shine) at the Aaron Family Jewish Community Center and will feature train rides, a petting zoo, bounce houses, carnival games and more. The “science-themed” event will also provide kid-friendly science experiments for all to enjoy. PJ Library will distribute a free gift to the first 350 children who attend. The event is free to attend but an RSVP is requested to plan accordingly. All attendees are encouraged to participate in the PJ Library mitzvah project by bringing tzedakah coins to help fill the super-duper science beaker.
“We are thrilled to be celebrating PJ Library’s sixth birthday,” said Mark Kreditor, board chair, Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas. “We are even more excited about providing more than 2,000 Jewish children across the greater Dallas area with Jewish-themed books and music CDs. PJ Library provides the opportunity for parents to enrich their children’s lives with Judaism starting from a young age and is an amazing way to connect the next generation to their Judaism. This program would not be possible without the support and generosity of the Mankoff family.” he added.
The PJ Library is a program that provides free Jewish-themed books and CDs once a month to children (age 6 months through 8 years) in the Dallas area who are being raised in the Jewish tradition whether affiliated, unaffiliated, intermarried or nontraditional. In 2015 PJ Library expanded its reach to children age 9 through 11 with PJ Library’s newest program, PJ Our Way. PJ Our Way puts kids in the driver’s seat by giving them the opportunity to choose a free book each month.
These programs are made possible by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, and are a gift from the Center of Jewish Education of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas through a generous grant from the Mankoff Family Foundation.
“PJ Library is turning 6 this year. It’s hard to believe that we have been able to make such an impact on our local Dallas Jewish children in such a short period of time,” said Jennifer Charney, PJ Library ambassador. “Now that we have been receiving PJ library books for more than five years we have a library of books to refer to not only for the Jewish holidays, but to teach important lessons. We have books for the first day of camp, thinking about others, recycling, to helping reduce clutter. Just the other day, we read Just Enough and Not Too Much, which sparked conversation on whether we had too much or just enough toys. This discussion led to a child-initiated decluttering of toys and a family discussion of where they could donate their unused items. That’s impact,” she added.
To RSVP for the Birthday Bash, please email PJLibrary@jewishdallas.org. To register your child for the PJ Library program, visit www.PJLibrary.org.