Opinion

In My Own Words: Scams and conspiracies by Rabbi Rachel Esserman

“This is the Social Security Administration. We’re sorry to inform you that your Social Security number has been suspended....” Click to delete: that was my response to several messages left on my answering machine this week. I’m sure by the time this appears in the paper, I’ll hav…

Stolpersteine Project

Have you heard of the Stolpersteine Project?  Stolpersteine translates to stumbling stone.  It is a project that was first conceived by artist Gunter Demnig in Cologne, Germany, in 1992.  The goal of this project is to remember the victims of the Holocaust by installing small brass ston…

Community Gathering

On Thursday night, January 16 our community came together for a gathering of peace, pride and love.  It was heart-warming to see the more than 80 people that came out on this cold January night.  The community gathering was a response to recent attacks on Jewish people in New York City, …

Hanukkah 2019

It has been a busy few months for everyone here at the Federation.  We are doing lots of planning for the New Year, including work on the film fest, a new user-friendly website, a L’ag B’Omer celebration and much more.  We also continue to attend to the details of the annual campa…

Campaign for 2020

I have never spearheaded a large fundraising campaign before.  Fundraising is a critical skill for the director of the Jewish Federation and, I must confess, my lack of experience did worry me before the 2020 campaign began at the end of October.  After hours of preparing and organizing, t…