News from the Greater Miami Jewish Federation

The Greater Miami Jewish Federation, our Jewish Community Relations Council, the Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami and our entire community join the people of Israel in welcoming home Israeli Staff Sergeant Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists when he was only 19 years old on June 25, 2006.

Join Women’s Philanthropy of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and women from across Miami’s Jewish community for a very special luncheon and gathering filled with opportunities for inspiration, empowerment, reflection and fun. The Women’s Event will take place at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, November 16 at the Hilton Miami Downtown.

The Greater Miami Jewish Federation is organizing a special Taglit-Birthright Israel trip especially for Miami-area adults ages 22 to 26 this December, and registration is now open. Taglit-Birthright Israel offers first-time, peer-group, educational, 10-day trips to Israel at no charge to participants.

The Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) of The Foundation of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation will host its 2011 Fall Seminar on Tuesday, October 25 at Temple Israel, Miami. “The Impact of the Eichmann Trial: 50 Years Later” will be discussed by keynote speaker and noted professor and author Dr. Deborah E. Lipstadt.

The Attorneys’ Division of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation is now accepting nominations for honorees at the 28th Annual Judicial Reception. The event will feature the presentation of three prestigious awards that recognize accomplished jurists.

On December 3, 2009, Alan Gross, a 61-year-old American Jew working under contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development to help the Cuban Jewish community improve its access to the internet, was arrested in Havana, Cuba. He was found guilty of “actions against the independence of the territorial integrity of the State” and sentenced to a 15-year prison sentence.

For the third consecutive year, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation is joining with The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and Jewish communities from across the United States and Canada to recognize people in the community who make tikkun olam (repairing the world) a guiding value of their everyday lives.

As the end of summer draws near and children return home from overnight camps across the nation, parents, educators and supporters of organizations — like the Greater Miami Jewish Federation — that provide funding assistance to campers often wonder what effects the experience has had on participants.

In the true spirit of the Miami-Yerucham “people-to-people” partnership, several groups of Jewish young adults and teens from South Florida recently had the opportunity to meet and interact with residents of the Negev Desert city when they traveled to Israel on educational and leadership programs organized by Federation-funded programs and agencies.

The 2011 General Assembly of The Jewish Federations of North America (GA) is the place for current and emerging Jewish leaders to join Federations from all over the continent and address important issues and showcase the best of federation’s work. The GA takes place November 6-8 in Denver, Colorado and registration is now open.

Couples and singles, working professionals and full-time volunteers, rabbis and other community leaders, congregants, friends, neighbors, maybe even a reporter or two... These are just some of the people who have already made plans to join Miami Mega Mission 2012, the largest community-wide journey to Israel since 1995.

Rabbi Dr. Barry M. Kinzbrunner, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Vita Innovative Hospice Care, will analyze the “Jewish Perspectives on Hospice and Palliative Care” during a free public program presented by Mount Sinai Medical Center and the Jewish Chaplaincy Program of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.

Over the summer, Jewish educators from Miami schools attended the Second Annual Holocaust Memorial Teacher Institute at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Through a partnership between the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies, the teachers learned new approaches for teaching the lessons of the Shoah to their students.

A completely renovated dance studio in Greater Miami Jewish Federation’s partner city of Pardes Channa-Karkur, Israel was recently dedicated. The dance studio hosts a unique Ethiopian dance program for Ethiopian-Israeli youth.

This summer, two North Miami-Dade families − the Bejars and Bentatas − traveled together to Israel where they held Bar Mitzvahs for their sons. But before the mission, the families planned a week of hands-on mitzvah projects that all would benefit from.

The Greater Miami Jewish Federation was recently selected to host a roundtable discussion where a variety of Jewish leaders in the Miami community had the opportunity to meet with a White House representative to discuss important issues of concern.

Several years ago, in recognition of Miami Beach’s diverse and thriving Jewish population, a plan was envisioned to build a modern, full-service Jewish community center. Construction of a 35,000-square-foot facility at the JCC’s existing Pine Tree Drive location began on July 14, 2011. Along with the new facility comes a new name: Galbut Family Miami Beach JCC.

The Jewish Volunteer Center (JVC) offers a mitzvah program for South Dade eighth-grade students called JSTAR (Jewish Students Taking an Active Role). Teens have the opportunity to complete fun and unique mitzvah projects that they can participate in as a group activity as well as earn up to 30 community service hours.