News from the Greater Miami Jewish Federation

Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Federation Gardens, a Greater Miami Jewish Federation-sponsored, federally subsidized senior-housing facility, recently celebrated its 30th anniversary with a big party for the 180 residents who call it home.

On December 25, the Jewish community of Miami will once again come together to help the vulnerable and to enhance the area on the 4^th Annual Jewish Community Volunteer Day, presented by the Jewish Volunteer Center of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.

Like the early pioneers of Israel, who built a nation blossoming with beauty and opportunity, the young adults who participate in the Ayalim Association are helping to create a new future for Israel.

Three Miami-Dade County middle- and high-school students took the three top honors in a nationwide “Rosh Hashanah Student Photography Contest.” Aptly themed, “New Beginnings,” the contest, sponsored by The Jewish Lens, an international educational program that integrates photography with Jewish curricula.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dr. Charles Krauthammer will be the keynote speaker at the Greater Miami Jewish Federation Pacesetter Event, taking place Thursday, December 15 at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. Hundreds of people will gather for the event to support vital social services in Miami, in Israel and around the world.

A downtown Miami high-rise apartment is the new base for Moishe House Miami, where a range of Jewish programming is being hosted by and for post-college adults. Weeks after moving into their new home, the three residents, ages 23 to 25, have held Shabbat dinners, holiday celebrations, community service projects, group learning sessions and social gatherings.

On Thursday, November 10 at 6:00 p.m, Miami’s Jewish community will come together for the annual Kristallnacht Commemorative Ceremony. The event will take at the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, 1933-45 Meridian Avenue, Miami Beach, and is open to the entire community free of charge.

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.