Dear Friends,

As many of you know, I’ve been away all week in France where I joined my younger son Emil on the Paris leg of his post-graduating-college (and I should add, proudly: entirely self-financed and self-directed) tour of the world, and also was able to spend two days with my daughter Lucy and her boyfriend as he makes his way to Rome for a semester abroad and Lucy goes on to Israel to spend the spring semester at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. It’s a confusing time—my three children alone have seven different cell phone numbers they’re using over the next few weeks—but also a very happy one. Whatever mistakes in parenting we made, Joan and I seem to have succeeded in producing children who love to travel and who find the whole adventure of being abroad in a foreign place far more exciting than unnerving. I feel that way myself!

Anyway, since when you read this I’ll only have been back for a few hours, I’d like to take this opportunity to bring a few things to your attention that might otherwise slip away.

First of all, the UJA is running a Job Fair at the Sid Jacobson JCC on Wednesday, January 20. The idea is that there will be recruitment professionals from a wide range of different companies present and there should be, I hope, some real chance of people seeking employment actually finding a job by attending. All are welcome so if you are looking for work, or if you know someone else who is looking for work, attending this event would be a very good idea. You can register on-line at www.sjjcc.org/conect-to-care or by sending an e-mail to connect-to-care@sjjcc.org. Or you can phone them at 516-484-1545, ext. 212.  This is a good example of our UJA dollars being spent to help people in our midst in real need, but it will only work if those people hear about the event. So if you can think of someone who might benefit from knowing about this, please pass on the information. The address of the JCC is 300 Forest Drive, East Hills, NY  11548.

Next, some information from the Solomon Schechter School of Nassau County. Mrs. Adele Spickler, the recruitment officer for the school, phoned me to say that there are generous scholarship funds available for young people who might be interested in coming to Solomon Schechter for one or more years of their high school education. Most people suppose that it wouldn’t be practical to start day school in ninth or tenth grade, that the student would be so far behind in Hebrew skills that transferring in would not be feasible from a realistic point of view. This is apparently not the case! The Solomon Schechter High School of Nassau County has undertaken not only to allow older students to transfer in, but to make such pupils’ transitions smooth and satisfying. The idea of spending a few years in a day school setting should be something the parents of every Jewish teenager should at least consider especially since Mrs. Spickler phoned specifically to tell me that funds are available to help such students cover their tuition. If anyone is interested, the best thing would be to phone Mrs. Adele Spickler at (516) 656-6000, ext. 1228, and discuss the matter with her directly, or to write to her at aspickler@ssdsnassau.org. Or you can certainly talk to me if you’d like.  We’ve also had at least one Shelter Rocker who made the transition from public school to Schechter in tenth grade and the experience was a very positive one, so I can also put you in touch with him or his family. And also worth mentioning is a letter I just received from Rabbi Lev Herrnson, the head of the school, in which he detailed the list of colleges into which graduating seniors have been accepted already (and it’s only January). It’s an astounding list of some of the finest and best-known American universities. So there’s also that to consider: a Schechter education is not only worthwhile for its own sake, but it can serve as a gateway to acceptance at the finest universities to which anyone could aspire to be admitted.

I’d also like to bring to your attention an essay contest with some very impressive prize money attached. The Morris J. and Betty Kaplun Foundation, a charitable fund based in Great Neck, has announced its nineteenth annual essay contest. The contest is open to students in two groupings: seventh, eighth, and ninth graders, and tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders. And the prizes are very generous: $1800 to the first prize winners in both groupings and $750 to the five runners-up in each category.  The first fifty people to enter in each category will get “entrance prizes” of $18 too! The topics are interesting too. For the younger contestants in seventh through ninth grades, the topic is “My favorite hero or heroine, Biblical, historical or contemporary, and his or her influence on Jewish history and/or Jewish values.”  For the older group, the topic question is as follows: “Of all the aspects, tenets, and traditions of Judaism, which single one do you view as the most important for you to pass on to your children?”  Two interesting topics! Essays should be typed, double-spaced, and not shorter than 250 words. The upper limit is different for the two groups, however: 1000 words for the younger contestants and 1500 words for older ones. Contestants should put their names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, school names, grades, and dates of birth in the top right-hand corner of each page, then put their names only on each subsequent page. Entries must be mailed by March 19 to The Morris J. and Betty Kaplun Foundation, Inc., Essay Contest Committee, P.O. Box 234428, Great Neck, NY  11023. For more information, write to the foundation directly at info@kaplunfoundation.org. If any would-be contestants would like to discuss their writing plans with me, I’d be very pleased to hear from you. (But you still have to write your own essay!)

And, finally, I am pleased to announce that I expect soon to receive a gift of $1500 from UJA-Federation which is specifically earmarked for use in helping individuals or families negatively impacted by the recent economic downturn.   I will deposit the check in my discretionary fund, then disburse the funds to people who come forward and ask for help. It’s not a fortune of money, but it’s not a wholly inconsequential sum either—and for someone worrying about making a mortgage payment or covering a looming rent bill, it is more than enough to make a substantial difference.  I am always very grateful to individuals who make donations to my fund and I always scruple to use the money in a way both that honors the donors’ generosity and speaks directly to the needs of people in our midst who find themselves in financial trouble and who need help.  That the UJA itself is turning some of our charity dollars back to us for us within our own community is very gratifying to me…and I know you all join me in that thought. If you need help, let me know and I’ll help you as best I can. If you know someone who needs help, encourage them to phone. If you know someone who is in real need but whom you think unlikely to call me for some reason, let me know the person’s name and I’ll approach him or her myself and volunteer to be of some assistance. We have a very caring community here at Shelter Rock, but there are always people who hesitate to ask for help even when they are in real need. Whether such reticence is a positive or negative trait is a discussion for another time, but the bottom line is that I’m here to help and I’m pleased to help. If you know someone who you think it would be appropriate for me to contact, just let me know. At least, we can discuss how best to assist the individual in question and then move on from there!

I’m looking forward incredibly to my trip to Paris. (Who wouldn’t?) I’ll tell you all about it when I get back, but there were all these things piling up that I wanted to bring to the attention of the community and I wasn’t sure I’d have the time to write a formal letter the morning after I land…so this seemed like the right moment to bring all this to you.  But I promise I’ll tell you about Paris too!

Sincerely,