One of my favorite parts of the weekly Shabbat service follows the Torah and haftarah readings where we bless the congregation. After reciting one prayer asking for “the blessings of heaven,” kindness, compassion, long life, ample sustenance, health and healthy children, we move on to what I fondly think of as “the donor prayer.” Siddur […]
The Munch 11 may finally get what’s due to them — 44 years after being murdered at the 1972 Olympics. Kidnapped by Palestinians terrorists, then killed during a botched rescue mission, the 11 Israelis to this day remain unmemorialized by the organization that oversees the very games in which they came to participate. But that […]
In 2009, JCC Rockland named its community service award after Rubin Josephs, who had recently died at age 82. Ruby, was noted in his obituary as being a “champion of charity.” More than this, he defined what it meant to be a community leader. He led the way on so many causes, founding both the […]
This is my latest piece. As head of the marketing and PR committee for the Jewish Community Campus capital campaign, Ensuring Our Future, I have worked with Jill Ofer and the JCC’s graphic designer, Karen Babat, to create this piece. Unfortunately, the way I can post it here on the website doesn’t begin to do […]
WEST NYACK, N.Y. (JTA) — The room was splashed in blood, the walls riddled with bullet holes. Ankie Spitzer stood amid the chaos and made a vow. “If this is the place where Andrei spent the last hours of his life, he and his friends, I am not going to shut up. I will tell […]
More than 48,000 people can’t be wrong. Can they? Apparently the International Olympic Committee (IOC) thinks so. Its president, Jacques Rogge, delivered that message in the form of a resounding “no” to Israel’s request for a minute of silence in memory of the Munich 11 at the London Olympics this summer. Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister […]
On a volunteer basis, I helped put together Maccabi Insider to promote the fundraising for the JCC Maccabi Games. Working with Steve Brettschneider, at the time one of JCC Rockland’s talented graphic designers, I did the copy for this publication, which came out several times between 2010 and 2012.
Rabbis, community react to new hours Beginning Friday, April 1, JCC Rockland will be open for the first time ever past sundown and the beginning of Shabbat. That change, along with the addition of Saturday hours, was passed overwhelmingly by the organization’s board of directors in early March. It marks a new chapter for the […]
by Marla Cohen It’s been through several names, and many homes, but after 22 years JCC Rockland has become a center and fixture in the Rockland Jewish community. And perhaps no other organization is as closely associated with the Jewish Federation of Rockland County, which founded it, as is the JCC. The Federation started 25 […]
This September, on the second day of Sukkot, JCC Rockland did something it had never done before. It opened for business. The way in which it did business was qualitatively different than a normal weekday. No money changed hands. The Fit Café was closed. The vending machines didn’t operate. There were no art programs, classes […]
