TRENDING IN OUR JEWISH COMMUNITY

August 25, 2023

Shalom CT!

My favorite, and most memorable childhood book, was The Dragon Who Liked to Spit Fire, written by Judy Varga in 1963.

I'm not quite sure if it was the story itself or the purple and orange illustrations that struck me more, but I can certainly see parts of myself in this beautiful dragon.

All day long he slept.

And all night long he spat fire--

pink, blue and many-colored fire.

And sometime he spat a purple fire with orange sparks.

Spitting fire was what he liked to do best.

I still own the book. (it's selling now on Ebay for $149!). I keep it on my bookshelf and take it out once in a while to reread it.

I still love purple and orange. and fireworks. And I still like to do what I do best!

That's what makes this year's Gala so wonderful.

Through our Book Buddies program, our volunteers have been reading books to students for years.

Now, it is time to do more. These kids deserve a proper library and with your support, we will help build it for them

I can't help but think a lot of these students will spit their own beautiful fires.

See you on September 7th at Longshore to honor Anita Chargar and Lauren-- two extraordinary Book Buddies volunteers at Blackham Elementary School. You can purchase tickets and journal ads below.

I wish you a safe and lovely shabbos.

Carin Savel

CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Fairfield County

carin@shalomct.org

Empowering Minds, One Book at a Time

Join us at the Annual Gala on Sept 7 to make a difference in the lives of students in Bridgeport and in Israel!

Five years ago, Anita Chargar and Lauren Zirn stepped up to be the founding co-chairs of Book Buddies, a Federation project designed to eradicate the disparity in literacy rates right here our own backyard.

Launched in the fall of 2017 at Blackham Elementary School in Bridgeport, Book Buddies pairs volunteer adult readers with the same students for a half hour each week, to strengthen reading skills as well as encourage self-confidence and a love of reading.

Armed with word games, work sheets and specially selected books, Lauren and Anita lead a cadre of volunteers who not only read with the students, but do educational puzzles and word play games. What’s more, they bond during their weekly meetings, creating role modeling and a window on new worlds that transcend the half-hour time slot.

“As they bond with their buddies, students learn to engage in meaningful conversations about the text they are reading; this enhances the experience,” Anita said. “Reading is a powerful tool and Book Buddies is an approach that aims to engage and motivate children in their literacy learning.”

“Together they read and laugh and one-to-one they forge a bond,” observed co-chair Lauren. “When reading a book, they don’t just sound out the words, they talk about who-what -where-when-and-why. They make connections with other stories and real life. Just recently, I heard a volunteer talk to her buddy about Picasso and Monet while the two were working on a word search about artists.”

Help us honor these two amazing volunteers and help build a library at Blackham!

Gala Registration

Gala Journal Ads

*Last day to purchase ads is August 25*

Click Here to Get Updates on Merkaz 2023-2024

On Wednesday, many people from our community attended a special screening of the movie, Golda, starring Helen Mirren, and sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Fairfield County. We were also treated to the talk-back following the film.

Golda tells the story of her leadership during the Yom Kippur War.

It was disturbing and satisfying and enlightening. And it underscored the common assumption that most conversations about Israel are complicated. I hope you enjoy this video with film's star.

This week, the Times of Israel posted a letter from:

MATTI FRIEDMAN, YOSSI KLEIN HALEVI and DANIEL GORDIS

Diaspora Jews: Time to take a stand

To our sisters and brothers in the Diaspora:

We are writing to you from Jerusalem in the weeks before the High Holidays, during this time of introspection and self-reckoning, to urge you to join the extraordinary Israeli protest movement that is fighting to save the vision that created this country 75 years ago....

If you are interested in attending learning more, the the writers, the Times of Israel’s Amanda Borschel-Dan, and leaders of the Jerusalem protest are inviting you to a live Zoom webinar on September 4 at 11:00 a.m. ET – a discussion of where events in Israel are going, what they mean for the Jewish world, and what each of us can do. This webinar is co-sponsored by The Times of Israel and SOS – Save Our Shared Home.

If you have a question that you’d like answered on the webinar, Leave your question here, and they'll make every effort to address it.