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Philanthropy

I looked up UJA in the telephone book and they had an office in Mt. Vernon. I called them an...

I looked up UJA in the telephone book and they had an office in Mt. Vernon. I called them and introduced myself. I said, "Nobody has called me for my UJA contribution and I'd like to give $125," which was a lot of money then. There was sort of a dead silence, and I said, "By the way, is there any work I can do?" About 15 minutes later, there were two professionals in my living room and I was the chairman of everything in sight -- not what I had planned. *Comments taken from Oral History, recorded on August 19, 1985

Elaine Winik, President of UJA of Greater New York, 1982-1984
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UJA-Federation

On 9/11 our lives were transformed, never to be the same again. Clearly, we were suffering f...

On 9/11 our lives were transformed, never to be the same again. Clearly, we were suffering from the depressive effects of what happened. Then the call came in from UJA-Federation, asking if my people could use some help. My immediate response was not only could they use help — I could use help as well. Teams of specialists came from different agencies supported by UJA to help us work through this experience. For the first time in my life, I was on the receiving end of UJA-Federation as opposed to the giving side. It was a truly different experience.

Larry Silverstein
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Volunteering and Good Deeds

What I love about Jewish New York is the plethora of Jewish resources available; cultural, r...

What I love about Jewish New York is the plethora of Jewish resources available; cultural, religious, social and community services are all here. One of my favorite Jewish New York memories was when several of our guest participants in Shabbat Or, a project of Town and Village Synagogue in conjunction with Project Or and the 14th Street Y, were moved to become adult B’nai Mitzvah. As a volunteer in this program for homeless clients of Project Or, I was so moved by their stories from the Bima that morning, there wasn’t a dry eye in the whole congregation.

Ferne Katleman
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Volunteering and Good Deeds

Holocaust Survivors & Synagogues- As a Financial Advisor on Long Island, I wanted to volunt...

Holocaust Survivors & Synagogues- As a Financial Advisor on Long Island, I wanted to volunteer, to do chesed. I did not know what to do so I "Googled" two words, mitzvah and Brooklyn because I knew my Dad's side of the family lived in Brookyn. I found www.themitzvhahman.org and visited more than 20 Holocaust Survivors through a program, Friendly Visiting for Holocaust Survivors, a project of the JCC of Greater Coney Island, www.connect2ny.org. While in different neighborhoods, I started a project of photographing Brooklyn Orthodox synagogues, which later spread to all 5 boroughs. The end result was a book, "Ten Times Chai: 180 Orthodox Synagogues of New York City," with history and 613 color photos of existing Orthodox synagogues in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. I am grateful to all who helped and I dedicated the book to the Holocaust Survivors I met. This hanukah, I know my Grandparents and Great Grandparents are looking down from Shamayim and smiling.

Michael J. Weinstein
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UJA-Federation

Last year, I became a Mikveh Guide through ImmerseNYC, a UJA beneficiary. Traditionally, fem...

Last year, I became a Mikveh Guide through ImmerseNYC, a UJA beneficiary. Traditionally, females immerse in a mikveh, ritual bath, to purify themselves when finished menstruating. I felt compelled to become involved with ImmerseNYC due to my own discomfort with the mikveh process - it felt very cold, rigid, and awkward. ImmerseNYC embraces people of all backgrounds and truly strives to provide everyone with meaningful, comfortable immersion experiences, to mark any kind of life transition, in addition to traditional immersions. I was able to see how important my work is upon guiding truly meaningful immersions for both happy and painful transitions that people wanted to mark, and how cleansing the experience was for everyone involved. I'm so privileged and honored to be a part of such a welcoming organization, which fills such a gap in our community. This is one of the things I love most about Jewish New York - you can find anything and anyone you need.

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Volunteering and Good Deeds

"Jewish Songs for All" - that's my startup project. I'm translating the top Jewish songs fro...

"Jewish Songs for All" - that's my startup project. I'm translating the top Jewish songs from Yiddish and Hebrew to English and Russian. www.jSongs.org

Walter Kin
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UJA-Federation

This summer I had the privilege to intern at the UJA through the Collegiate Leadership Inter...

This summer I had the privilege to intern at the UJA through the Collegiate Leadership Internship Program (CLIP) run through the Bronfman Center at NYU. When I was placed as an intern at UJA I was excited to reconnect with a community that had given me so much growing up. Throughout my middle/high school years I was involved with programming at my local NJ federation, sleep away camp-NJY camps, youth group, Israel programming, etc. I have always felt a strong connection to the Jewish community but I was unsure of how that could be transferable into my work experience. This summer I have explored what it means to be a Jewish professional and more specifically a young Jewish New Yorker.

Emily Schaerf
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Volunteering and Good Deeds

My dad was wounded in the Six Day War. After removing shrapnel from his head, the doctors de...

My dad was wounded in the Six Day War. After removing shrapnel from his head, the doctors decided to leave fragments in his jaw as the risk of removal far exceeded the benefit. In the early 70s he traveled to the US. When he reached NY one of his teeth began to ache. Even though he was broke he made an appointment with a Jewish dentist. The dentist questioned my father why his jaw was lined with black dots. My father shared his story of the Six Day War. The dentist, honored to help my father, refused to take money from an “Israeli Hero.” So my dad saved the money he didn’t have and learned a lesson about Jewish peoplehood and the meaning of "kol Israel Arevim zeh lazeh" -- all of the Israelites support each other.

Ariel Magal
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UJA-Federation

Working at UJA has given me the best Jewish NY experience!!!

Working at UJA has given me the best Jewish NY experience!!!

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Philanthropy

From both my JDC days and my Baltimore days, it had become clear to me that as goes the New ...

From both my JDC days and my Baltimore days, it had become clear to me that as goes the New York Jewish community, so goes the Jewish world; that this is the key to the whole international and continental approach to Jewry; and that an integrated, well-developed New York UJA-Federation was essential to realizing a number of the international and national objectives that I felt were essential for Jewry to come to grips with in the latter part of the twentieth century. *Comments taken from Oral History, recorded on June 13, 2001

Stephen Solender, Executive Vice President of UJA-Federation, 1986-1999
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UJA-Federation

I have the ability to motivate and to organize--using my own background to a very large degr...

I have the ability to motivate and to organize--using my own background to a very large degree: this is what happened to me. If not for UJA, I wouldn't be here today. *Comments taken from Oral History, recorded on March 18, 1986

Ernest Michel, Executive Vice President and Campaign Director of UJA of Greater New York, 1970-1986
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UJA-Federation

Federation was sort of half born in our house. Every Saturday at lunch, we ate with my parents, and the about-to-be-executive heads of Federation almost always ate lunch with us on Saturdays. They discussed the problems that would be arising ...

Federation was sort of half born in our house. Every Saturday at lunch, we ate with my parents, and the about-to-be-executive heads of Federation almost always ate lunch with us on Saturdays. They discussed the problems that would be arising as they tried to set up Federation. So I felt as if it were born in our house. *Comments taken from Oral History, recorded on February 18, 1982

Helen Buttenwieser, daughter, wife, and mother of a Federation president
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Volunteering and Good Deeds

I spend much of my time volunteering at the Mid-Island Y JCC in our NNORC program (Naturally...

I spend much of my time volunteering at the Mid-Island Y JCC in our NNORC program (Naturally Recurring Retirement Community). I am there on a regular basis coordinating volunteers and so much more to help seniors in our community with basic needs. The NNORC program provides services like: Transportation to medical appointments, assistance with food shopping, supportive counseling, minor home repairs and so much more. NNORC is a lifeline for many seniors who live in the Plainview-Old Bethpage and Syosset communities. The help they receive enable seniors to live independently for as long as they can in their own homes. My number one goal is to make a difference in the lives of as many people as possible. Before I started volunteering, my kids went to the nursery school and camp at the JCC. It has always been a part of our lives and we feel compelled to give back to such a wonderful agency so that we can make a difference in the lives of as many people as possible.

Harriet Blatt
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Philanthropy

We lost my dad, Herbert Henig, in April of last year. He was 93 and his body gave up on him...

We lost my dad, Herbert Henig, in April of last year. He was 93 and his body gave up on him before he gave up on it...He loved life and living, and a big reason he felt he lived so long was because of swimming, it was his life. And the MIYJCC was the center of that life for him, and for us, especially after he passed. Dad was a presence at Mid Island, everyone knew him, loved him, and took great care of him. The pool was his home. As a way to honor and remember him, and to turn his passing into something that would be positive, into an act of love and remembrance that he too would have treasured, the Y helped set up a fund in his honor that would support an existing swimming program for kids with disabilities. Dad would have adored this. It was a way for us to give back to the Y, for friends and family to help honor his fun and unique spirit, and it was a way to help another generation of swimmers in the pool, where he himself found love and a cherished home.

Pete Henig
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UJA-Federation

“You are truly a UJA success story,” is a phrase that I have heard my entire life. My parents met in the Inbal Hotel elevator on a UJA mission trip to Israel 30 years ago, and because of that, they ...

“You are truly a UJA success story,” is a phrase that I have heard my entire life. My parents met in the Inbal Hotel elevator on a UJA mission trip to Israel 30 years ago, and because of that, they will always be grateful for UJA’s work. Throughout my childhood, my parents have ingrained in my head the value of UJA’s mission and to “get involved.” Not exactly sure what that meant, as a young adult, I took matters into my own hands and tried to carry out these values. This past year I was a Shapiro Fellow and joined REX Next. And, in a professional context, the majority of my past internships and employment sites are at agencies which are funded by UJA. Looking back, it is clear that UJA’s work has impacted all aspects of my life: familial, personal and professional. The same way UJA has been there for me, UJA serves people in need, not just during times of crisis but in their everyday lives.

Lauren Newcorn