Weekly Blast

Flint Jewish Federation--The Smart, Meaningful Way to Give!
In This Issue
Save the Date--Scrambled
 
Scrambled by Beth Kander
 
January 10, 2013, 7:00 pm,
Temple Beth El
5150 Calkins Road, Flint
 
Join us for a dramatic reading of the play Scrambled featuring a cast drawn from our own Sisterhood members.  It is the story of Sara and Neshama.  Sara is wisecracking, single, broke and secular.  Neshama is serious, married, infertile and Orthodox.  Brought together by Sara's Episcopalian roomate each must question what really matters.  Sara must consider donating her eggs and Neshama ponders accepting them.
 
Coffee and dessert will be served following the play.  No charge to attend but donations gratefully accepted.  Information?  Call Char Bruce at (810) 513-5021.
 
Presented by the TBE and CBI Sisterhoods with generous support by the Ravitz Fund and through special arrangement with Steele Spring Theatrical Licensing.
  

JFNA FACT OF THE WEEK

 

Jewish Federations Support Extracurricular Learning in Israel

 

Jewish Federation-funded programs enable supplemental study for teenagers in Israel. World ORT, which is supported by Jewish Federations, has launched "YOUniversity" centers to encourage the exploration of science and technology. Sponsored by its Kadima Mada branch and Israel's Negev and Galilee Development Ministry, World ORT's five new centers provide students with a wide range of extracurricular science and technology courses, including astronomy, physics, medicine, genetics and applied art.

 

To donate now call 810 767-5922 or mail your donation to 619 Wallenberg St., Flint Michigan, 48502

Inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King's Birthday is January 15 and will be celebrated nationally on January 21.  The Flint Federation office is closed that day in his honor.

 

"Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase."

 

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

 

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."  

Martin Luther King Jr.

 

TWO FAITHS COME TOGETHER IN JAPAN  

JDC in Japan                    

As part of its rebuilding efforts in Japan following the March 2011 triple-headed disaster, JDC has facilitated the development of a cross-cultural, interfaith relationship between the Jewish Community of Japan (based in Tokyo) and the Komyogi (Buddhist) Temple in Oshu, Northern Japan.

 

A Jewish Community project to help repair the Temple evolved into a joint program to provide a respite for the beleaguered children of Rikuzentakata, a city devastated by the tsunami.

 

By fostering children's activities, cross-cultural events, and exchanges among families, the idea was to provide a social outlet for children whose lives were upended, while giving members of the Jewish community an opportunity to connect in a tangible way with their fellow citizens in this hard-hit area.

 

The development of this relationship is reflected in a recent exchange of visits between community representatives. Two members of the Tokyo Jewish community visited Komyogi this fall to attend a gathering of some 400 people from the local area-an event at which both JDC and the Jewish community were honored for their post-disaster help.  

 

And in December, Sato san, the head priest of Komyogi Temple, journeyed to Tokyo with four other Temple members to celebrate the Festival of Lights with some 140 local Jewish community members, lighting the menorah at the community's annual Chanukah party.

 

Despite transportation and school scheduling difficulties, leaders of both communities are determined to bring their children together for joint activities over the coming months. They recognize that fostering education and mutual understanding among members of the younger generation is the best way to expand this interfaith relationship and ensure its sustainability over the longer term.  

 

SAVE THE DATES

 

Sunday April 14th--Annual Holocaust Remembrance

featuring Jeannie Opdyke Smith, daughter of Righteous Gentile Irene Opdyke

 

April 11 and May 5--9 The 2013 Karen Schneider Jewish Film Festival, 7 pm nightly at the Flint Institute of Arts