Leadership Development Institute (LDI)

Pearlstone Retreat Center Reisterstown, Baltimore, MD 

An organization is only as good as its leadership. The FJMC values the hard work and dedication that it takes to run our clubs, regions, and international organization. 

Over 25 years ago, Norm Kurtz and Dr. Burton Fischman, z’l, developed the FJMC Foundation for Jewish Life Rabbi Joel S. Geffen Leadership Development Institute (LDI).  

Once each year, we bring together regional leaders and a handful of emerging leaders from each of our regions for a long weekend of fun, educational and leadership development sessions, to strengthen the skills of the participants, to share great ideas, and to build friendships.

A Philadelphia high school librarian was ordered to remove a poster with an Elie Wiesel quote

(JTA) — A quote by the Nobel Prize-winning author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel was briefly removed from the walls of a Philadelphia-area high school, reportedly because it violated the school’s policy on “neutrality.”

On Wednesday a principal of a high school in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, ordered the school librarian to take down four posters with the Wiesel quote. The quote came from Wiesel’s 1986 Nobel acceptance speech and reads: “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

Read the article in its entirety.

Denominational switching among U.S. Jews: Reform Judaism has gained, Conservative Judaism has lost

The American Jewish population, like other religious groups, is in constant flux. Some people who were raised as Jews have left the religion, while some who were raised outside the faith now identify with it. Many others have switched denominations within Judaism – a trend that has seen the Reform movement grow modestly and Conservative Judaism experience a net loss, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

Read the article in its entirety.

‘Book of Names’ listing all known Holocaust victims put on display at United Nations

Yad Vashem installation marking Holocaust remembrance day contains personal information of 4.8 million people killed by Nazis, blank pages symbolizing another 1.2 million

UNITED NATIONS — The Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum has set up a display commemorating each known victim of the genocide at the United Nations in New York, reaffirming the world body’s commitment to remembering the Holocaust on the annual day of remembrance as antisemitism climbs in the US and abroad. The display, called “The Book of Names,” contains 4.8 million names of the 6 million dead that Yad Vashem researchers have identified, and blank pages symbolizing the victims’ names that have not yet been recovered.

Read the article in its entirety.

Hereditary cancers aren’t just a women’s problem. Jewish men need to take precautions too.

Ashkenazi men can carry harmful mutations of the BRCA gene, putting them at elevated risk not only of breast cancer, but also of melanoma and prostate, ovarian and pancreatic cancer. Yet there are precautions they can take to minimize their risks.

Sharsheret, the national Jewish nonprofit that educates the community about cancer risks, is calling attention to a lesser-known risk of the BRCA mutation.

Read the article in its entirety.

From Mel Brooks to Elaine May to Ethan Coen: Producer Julian Schlossberg writes memoir about working with Jewish stars over 6 decades

(JTA) — On a couple of occasions in Julian Schlossberg’s early life, he found himself in parts of the United States where some people he talked to had never met a Jewish person. The first was a stint in the Army, the second was while selling movies to rural television stations.

But over the next six decades — once Schlossberg embarked on a long and successful career that included stops as a Hollywood studio executive with Paramount Pictures and later as a prolific distributor of movies and producer of off-Broadway and Broadway shows — he was rarely the only Jew in the room ever again.

Schlossberg tells those stories and many more in his new memoir “Try Not to Hold It Against Me: A Producer’s Life” (Beaufort Books). He writes about how he went from a child in the Bronx to an influential show business figure who mingled and worked with countless movie stars, having enjoyed a long career that shows no signs of being over at age 81. 

Read the article in its entirety.

YIVO digitizes writer Chaim Grade’s archive, a Yiddish treasure with a soap opera backstory

By Andrew Silow-Carroll

(JTA) — Years ago, when I worked at the Forward, I had a cameo in a real-life Yiddish drama.

A cub reporter named Max Gross sat just outside my office, where he answered the phones. A frequent caller was Inna Grade, the widow of the Yiddish writer Chaim Grade and a fierce guardian of his literary legacy. Mrs. Grade would badger poor Max in dozens of phone calls, especially when a Forward story referred kindly to the Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer. Grade’s widow described Singer as a “blasphemous buffoon” whose fame and reputation, she was convinced, came at the expense of her husband’s.

As Max explains in his 2008 memoir, “From Schlub to Stud,” Mrs. Grade “became a bit of a joke around the paper.” And yet in Yiddish literary circles, her protectiveness of one of the 20th century’s most important Yiddish writers was serious business: Because Inna Grade kept such a tight hold on her late husband’s papers — Chaim Grade (pronounced “Grah-deh”) died in 1982 — a generation of scholars was thwarted in taking his true measure. 

Read the article in its entirety.

A chain of fruit and nuts stores brings an Israeli-style market concept to NYC

(New York Jewish Week) — On my frequent trips to Israel, I always throw a handful of gallon-sized, zip-top plastic bags into my suitcase. Once there, I fill them with spices, kosher candies and nuts during my pilgrimages to my personal holy sites: Tel Aviv’s Levinsky Market and its open-air market, Shuk HaCarmel.

But thanks to Din Allall, the 29-year-old, Israeli-born CEO of the rapidly expanding Nuts Factory chain, for my next trip to Tel Aviv, I plan to leave those bags behind. That’s because Allal has brought the Israeli market concept to New York.

“The idea is that these stores should feel like the shuk,” Allal told the New York Jewish Week, “but cleaner and neater.”

Read the article in its entirety.

Pride & Prejudice Quarterly Inclusion Initiative Dialogue

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

at 8:00 PM ET

Registration here!

Support, practical suggestions, resources and discussion centered on inclusion of marginalized community members. Inclusion Initiative info.

The goal of the initiative is that Men’s Clubs, Women’s League Affiliates and synagogues will create an environment that makes all underserved communities feel welcomed and embraced in the Jewish Community. Core targets are the Men’s Clubs, Women’s League Affiliates, clergy and synagogue leaders who we want to support, applaud for their work and encourage to improve their adoption of inclusion practices and policies.

For more information contact Jerry Brodsky (jerrybrodsky2@gmail.com).

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If you have an article of interest, a special event happening at your Men's Club or other news for the New York Metro Region newsletter, please forward them to Lisa Pollack at assistant@fjmc.org

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