Mar 1, 2011
Your Dollars at Work: Building Jewish Identity
Each year, thousands of Jewish people in Miami and around the world receive assistance through the social-service, educational and humanitarian programs funded by the Annual Greater Miami Jewish Federation/UJA Campaign. And while contributors to the Campaign know that their generosity is making a difference, it is not every day that a donor has the opportunity to meet a recipient of Federation-supported assistance.
Brian L. Bilzin, Federation General Campaign Chair, had the chance to do that, as a participant on a special mission to Eastern Europe during the summer of 2010. Recently, Bilzin shared with the 1,200 people in attendance at Federation’s Main Event the story of a woman named Maya Simarossa.
“Growing up in Croatia, the idea of living Jewishly was unheard of,” Bilzin explained. “Maya didn’t even know she was Jewish until she was 14. She got her first taste of Jewish life as a teenager at an international Jewish summer camp in Szarvas, Hungary — a camp created and run by one of Federation’s overseas partners, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, or JDC.”
According to Bilzin, Simarossa loved the camp so much that she became a counselor there. When she turned 18, the JDC made it possible for her to study for two years in Israel.
“Two years later, she returned to Croatia with a mission: to build a new Jewish school for the just-budding Jewish community,” he said. “Not only did Maya build the school — she became its principal and a teacher — and loved teaching Hebrew and basic Judaism to her students.”
Also drawn to Israel, Simarossa decided to make aliyah, but when the school in Croatia floundered without her leadership, she had to return. “Talk about dedication!” Bilzin said, “Maya not only left her beloved Israel, she told her fiancée that marriage would have to wait until she stabilized her life’s project.
“If that’s not commitment to a cause, I don’t know what is!” he said.
Bilzin pointed out that Maya Simarossa’s story is a perfect example of the Federation system in action. “Because we work so closely with our partner agencies, we have helped to make it possible for many people like Maya to discover their Judaism. And together with our agencies, we have built the schools, the community centers, the camps – the entire infrastructure that is needed for them to live proudly as Jews.”
Said Bilzin, “In Croatia, Maya told me, ‘It’s lonely sometimes. But I know I’m not alone because of you and your support.’”
To make a gift to the Annual Greater Miami Jewish Federation/UJA Campaign, click here.
