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Amplify Israel: Teen Music Playlist 2022

Our project is to show each other what songs we like as well as songs that will represent our countries and their cultures. We decided to make a playlist: 5 songs from each country. Click here to listen to our PLAYLIST now!

Han Ben Hari – Wikipedia

This song is talk about how people are bullying some race, and this song is telling to stop it.

חנן בן ארי הודף את הביקורת נגדו | ערוץ 7

Abba – Dancing Queen :

The song was released in September 1975 as one of the 7 singles from the band’s third studio album titled ABBA. It is known in a famous American musical Mamma Mia, which has both been on Broadway as well as made into a movie!

Mamma Mia! The ABBA Club Night | The List

Moshe Peretz – Flight 5325

This song talks about how exciting it is to fly for the first time on a plane with someone you love.

Stream משה פרץ - טיסה 5325 by MANDILO | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

Eagles – Hotel California

The song tells the story of a weary traveler who stumbles upon a night hotel, which for the first time seems inviting and tempting. The song became known as an allegory of hedonism and self-destruction in the Southern California music industry in the late 1970s. While it is definitely a “dad” song, it is a classic to Americans

Eagles - Hotel California - YouTube

Omer Adam – I thank:

The song talks about thanking God and how He gives us every day opportunities to live a better life and in general gives us the opportunity to live

עומר אדם - מודה אני - YouTube

Marvin Gaye – Ain’t no Mountain High Enough:

The song was written by Ashford and Simpson before joining Motown. British soul singer Dusty Springfield. It speaks of a tale of a man experiencing New York for the first time, and not letting anything stand in the way of his dream, which represents the idea of the “American Dream”.

שלוש שנים אחרי שמרווין גיי הוציא את השיר, דיאנה רוס הפכה אותו ללהיט ענק  באמת - חדר ניתוח - הארץ

Ethnics – A desert bird:

Included in the band’s debut album (bearing her name), released in 1990

אתניקס - ציפור מדבר - YouTube

Neil Diamond – Sweet Caroline:

Sweet Caroline “is a song written and performed by American singer Neil Diamond and released in May 1969 as a single titled” Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good), popular at events, football games, and just hangin out with friends, it is another classic!

Neil Diamond – Sweet Caroline (1978, Vinyl) - Discogs

Mishina – Night train to Cairo:

The song was inspired by the song “Night Boat to Cairo” (Night Boat to Cairo) by the British ska-pop band Madness, which served as a major source of inspiration for Mishina in its infancy, from its debut album (1979). The song Night Train drew its melody and style from the song Night Boat to Cairo, but the lyrics are very different.

משינה - רכבת לילה לקהיר - YouTube

Empire State Of Mind:

The song is a song of praise for New York, the hometown of the two artists. For many, it is used as a workout song, specifically a PR song, as it has a good rhythm and overall just gives good vibes. 

Empire State of Mind - Wikipedia

 

Camp is for Families!

Family Weekend: Passover Edition April 1-3

Jewish camp isn’t just for kids anymore, it is for entire families! Federation wants you to experience the fun, freedom, and Jewish community that a camp retreat can create at Family Weekend: Passover Edition, April 1-3 at Ramah Darom.

Family Weekend is an early Spring retreat tailored for families with children ages 0-5, with a focus on fun activities to help families get ready for Passover. Activities will be specifically geared for little ones, with plenty of opportunities to be outdoors and connect with nature. You’ll spend time crafting, cooking, creating, and learning more about the traditions of Passover. There will also be enriching adult experiences, all in a beautiful camp atmosphere that is relaxed and casual.

With help from Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, the cost for the entire weekend is just $400 – an incredible price that makes it possible for whole families to attend. We are proud to partner with these organizations to bring you this weekend: 18Doors, Be’Chol Lashon, Ma’alot Atlanta, PJ Library Atlanta, and the Israeli American Council.

Making an Impact in a Crisis

By Matt Bronfman, Federation Board Chair
Part of the premise of the Federation is to have an organization that is ready to step in when emergencies arise. Federation has the infrastructure, the relationships, and the know-how to make a difference quickly. That is what the Federation did during Covid when we raised over $4 million in a few weeks and distributed it right away to those in need. That is what we are doing right now with the Ukraine Emergency Fund which has already raised more than $1.1 million in humanitarian aid for the Jews of Ukraine.

As the situation in Ukraine deteriorates, the 200,000+ Jews across Ukraine are truly in peril.  Our campaign directs %100 of funds to our on-the-ground partners, JDC, World ORT, and the Jewish Agency for Israel. It’s gratifying to see Federation play such a crucial role in marshalling significant resources. As we said when we launched the 2022 Community Campaign, Federation is built for this!

Real Estate Professionals Drive Mentorship & Generosity

Federation’s Jewish Commercial Real Estate Network (J-CREN) only launched this fall but it has taken off in a huge way, connecting a fresh new generation of real estate professionals to Jewish life. Steven Cadranel, a member of the J-CREN Steering Committee who has organized a series of mentoring lunches said, “Atlanta is a great market to make real estate your career. J-CREN capitalizes on the collaborative nature of our business, and it offers many opportunities to engage with the Jewish community.”

Case in point — several J-CREN members have already stepped up by pooling funds to create a $180K match for donations to the Ukraine Emergency Fund. “There’s no limit to how much we all enjoy sharing our professional experiences, but at the same time these J-CREN participants are also looking to launch more meaningful Jewish journeys. Their passion and commitment is impressive,” Cadranel said.

Mendy Ruder, who is new to Atlanta said,” J-CREN has helped me familiarize myself with the different organizations within the community. Not only has joining provided actionable insights into getting involved, I actually have a sizeable deal under contract with someone I met through J-CREN 2 months ago!”

Scott Pergament was also enthusiastic. “The J-CREN lunches have been a great way to immerse myself within the Jewish community while networking and gaining mentorship from individuals within the real estate industry. They’ve been a springboard for me to connect and learn about the Jewish organizations within the Atlanta area.”

Joey Galanti agreed, “I’ve always enjoyed networking with people, learning from experts, and playing Jewish geography, so these mentoring lunches have been exceptionally rewarding for me. Listening to Steven Cadranel share his experiences has provided me with valuable insight that I will undoubtedly use throughout my career. Interacting with other Jewish professionals becomes even more delightful when we make connections. For instance, Mendy’s girlfriend’s grandfather and my fiancé’s grandfather started a business together decades ago. Small world!”

J-CREN’s Spring networking event is coming up on Wednesday, March 30, 5-6:30 pm. Learn the story of the newly completed Star Metals – a pioneering mixed-use district in Atlanta’s thriving West Midtown neighborhood. Meet your colleagues and experience one of Atlanta’s newer commercial real estate projects. There is no fee to attend, though space is limited to 200. Register here.

Federation Professionals are Lifelong Learners

Three Federation professionals have been chosen to participate in selective cohorts with three national Jewish organizations. Congratulations to Danniell Nadiv, Senior Director of Jewish Journeys, Places and Welcoming; Rabbi Elana Perry, Director of Jewish Education Collaborative; and Rabba Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez, Director of Family Education and Engagement.

Danniell Nadiv is one of 14 national participants chosen for a year-long cohort focused on Jewish communal change through UpStart Change Accelerator.

Danniell says, “As the Atlanta Jewish community grows, the opportunity for the work the Federation does and the organizations we connect with, expands as well. I am particularly interested in how to raise the profile of smaller organizations in the Jewish ecosystem and provide them the same opportunity for funding as legacy organizations. Throughout the cohort, I want to create space to rethink the previous allocations process and provide additional opportunities for engagement and communal growth. The cohort will provide an opportunity to gain a stronger growth mindset and lean into the practical application of creating systemic change.”

Rabba Melissa Scholten-Guttierez is earning a Certificate in Jewish Leadership for Educators through a collaborative program between Northwestern University and Spertus Institute. She is one of ten educators participating in the fourth cohort of the program. “We meet online every week for three hours in the evening and will eventually spend four days in person at the Spertus campus in March. (Fun fact: Nancy Gorod, Director of Congregational Learning at Congregation Shearith Israel is also in her cohort)

Melissa says, “I am passionate about infusing Jewish education into Jewish communal spaces and helping all Jews find their space in the broader Jewish ecosystem. This is what drew me into the rabbinate and towards my current role at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. I am dedicated to bringing people together: building bridges between groups and building larger tables for when we can bring them all together. As an educator, I know that the best way to facilitate that is with beautiful text and meaningful conversation. What I don’t always know is how to combine that with all the other components of being a Jewish communal leader, and that is where this program comes in – a program where we get to explore leadership models both from our tradition and contemporarily, communication styles, managing through change, collaboration and power sharing, and resiliency.”

Rabbi Elana Perry was accepted to the Mandel Teacher Educator Institute (MTEI) which selects educational leaders from around the country to share an immersive experience that intertwines best practices in teacher education and professional development with Jewish texts and “big ideas.” It is a two-year program consisting of six face-to-face seminars as well as assignments and on-line discussions in between meetings. The program challenges participants to think more deeply about teaching and learning and inspires participants to develop a more sophisticated understanding of Jewish content, interactive and engaging learning processes. Cohorts critically examine the core assumptions, practices, and ideas that shape our approaches to teaching and professional development and are encouraged to design new initiatives in their own settings.

Elana says, “I am excited to grow as a learner, a teacher, and a teacher of teachers! This program will enhance my own professional skills as a Jewish educator, giving me access to some of the best experts in pedagogy and design, and it will also enhance my ability to design meaningful training experiences for other Jewish educators in Atlanta. I am also excited to become part of the MTEI network of professionals, including colleagues around the globe who can share insight and best practices as we learn together. This is the kind of program that will enable me to effectively bring expertise back to a wide audience of educators in Atlanta, strengthening our entire community.”

Lupercalia Celebration

midtown alliance - jewish atlanta

At my school, I’m taking Latin as a language and I’m in the club for it called JCL. (Junior classical League(Otherwise known as Latin Club). Recently we had an event called Lupercalia, basically Rome’s Valentine’s day. At the event, I got to do a Gladiator battle with one of my friends and perform with another one of my friends. 

I got to put together a costume for the gladiator battle so I had to first find some inspiration. Finding inspiration was hard because there were very few female gladiators. Luckily I was able to get an idea of how I wanted the costume to look. The next step was finding the pieces. The first thing I did was go to Goodwill to see if they had anything that could work as gladiator costumes or any props. In the end, I found a shirt and a skirt. I later found out the skirt had built-in shorts and pockets. Score! The next step was to create a helmet and wrist cuffs, so I headed off to the interwebs to look for a how-to video. I found one relatively quickly and got to work. After a lot of cutting cardboard and duck taping, I had a pretty snazzy-looking helmet and wrist cuffs. After that, I used some silver spray paint that I had leftover from my Halloween costume to make the pieces look like metal. Then I used some watered-down acrylic paint to make the pieces look withered and used. Finally, I added a shawl that I used to wrap the costume together. 

Finally, the day arrived, Monday, February 14, 2022, and after putting my costume on I started on my makeup. For the makeup, I did a scar down one side of my face and another one on my lip. After a little help from one of my friends, the scar looked pretty realistic. Sadly I didn’t get very many photos of the costume or the makeup. 

The first gladiator battle was the one I was in and it started with me and my friend. He used a trident and I used two swords. (our teacher was worried that we would end up hitting each other with the sword so hard that either we would get hurt or break the sword, but in the end, everything was ok) The gladiator battle ends with me laying on the ground after my leg has been chopped off. Then my friend pretended to cut off my arm and step over me and revel in his triumph. As he was reveling in his triumph, I stood up, only using one leg and one arm, And stabbed him in the back. I then proceeded to say “consumsit stercum” which is a not-so-nice way to say eat poop in Latin. 

After the gladiator battles, there were performances where one of my other friends and I proceeded to do a musical song. After that, we later lead a sing-along with the songs everyone in Latin uses to help them memorize the endings of things like verbs and nouns. In between our acts, this band played some covers of songs and dang were they good! Later there was a fake roman wedding followed by a group dance called Zorba. It was basically like the hora, but there were no chairs and the pace kept speeding up. It got so fast that people started falling over left and right. Overall it was a pretty fun experience and I hope I get to do it again next year! 

A Day in My Life

Hello, my name is Eyal Amzaleg and I’ll be telling you about a day in my life, so lets get started.

The first thing I do is wake up at 6:45 to take a cold shower to start the day. Riight after I brush my teeth and get ready to school, my school usually starts at 7:45 am. Most of the time, first period is Computer Class, where I learn the programming language called c#.

 Usually I finish school at 3:35 pm, and most of the time I go hang out with my friends for a while before I go home. When I go home I play my electric guitar for a while and record some stuff for my band, (Beyond Doom if you want to check it out). After that, I listen to some music from my disc collection I inherited from my dad, he likes the same music genre as me:) which is quite nice if I might say.

After I listen to some music for a few hours, I’ll go play some video games on my computer with my friends. After that, I usually go hang out with my girlfriend for a few hours. We usually either go out to eat at some restaurant or we just stay home and watch some movies together.

After I hang out with my girlfriend. I’ll go home and watch some television. After I watch television, I usually read some books before going to bed, this is my favorite part of the day.

After that I go to sleep around 1-2 am.

Thank you for reading my blog about a day in my life

From a Bomb Shelter in Kyiv

Below is a message received from Vitaliy Novikov, the director of elderly welfare programs at JDC’s Halom Jewish Community Center in Kyiv, written from in a bomb shelter.

“The most difficult thing is to explain to my 3-year-old daughter that war has begun, so I made up a fairytale. I told Polina that the shelling she hears is the sound of thunder, that sometimes the sky gets angry, and we must hide from it.”

“We’re not stopping our work. We are checking in on our clients and continuing our activities as much as possible at this most dangerous time. We’re explaining to them what to do in case something bad happens — how not to panic, how to save lives. I’m not panicking, but yes, I’m scared.”

“I’m very grateful to all the Jewish organizations in Ukraine and around the world for their support. I hope that sirens will never sound in your house, and I pray for peace for all people.”

Our JDC contact reports, “In the days following the invasion of Ukraine, I remain humbled and inspired by our brave colleagues on the ground — people like Vitaliy, who continue to work tirelessly to support the most vulnerable Jews, even as they face the impact of war themselves.

“I’ve received countless stories of incredible heroism and inspiration — homecare workers so devoted to their work that they are hunkering down with their clients through the curfews and the shelling, rather than with their own families; dozens of elderly joining a Zoom Shabbat service from their homes in besieged cities all across the country; one colleague — a single mother with a preteen daughter — making time to call the elderly Jews we serve from the underground parking garage where she’s been living for more than three days.”

“We’re not sure what the future holds, but we know we will continue to be there — no matter what. At this critical time, we’re committed to the uninterrupted provision of food, medicine, and other emergency support: a lifeline to tens of thousands of Jews in over 1,000 locations across Ukraine.”

Ryan Kaplan: On the Ground with Refugees in Poland

Ryan Kaplan is a former Federation professional who led Birthright Israel and other initiatives before taking a position at the JCC in Krakow, Poland. Right now, Ryan is in Krakow dealing with the huge wave of refugees fleeing from Ukraine. He reports:

“The support we’ve seen over the past few days has been so inspiring and will greatly, greatly, greatly assist us in supporting our Ukrainian neighbors who are new to Krakow and the surrounding region.”

“JCC Krakow is working around the clock alongside our local and international partners to provide accommodations, distribute in-kind support such as food, clothing, and sanitary products, and connect refugees with psychological counseling and legal aid if necessary. We’ve also launched a Ukrainian language hotline, allowing refugees to contact us directly for assistance of any kind. If we are unable to provide it ourselves, we are in touch with organizations that can.”

“The demand for this kind of aid is expected to grow as more refugees enter Poland. So far, Poland has let in approximately 280,000 people, but between 1 and 5 million are expected to cross the border in the coming weeks and months. 1.5 million Ukrainians were already living in Poland before the conflict started, and it’s probably safe to say that many of those arriving now will stay no matter what the outcome is.”

Marcia Miller a member of our Atlanta Jewish Community visited the JCC in Krakow a few years ago while in Poland.  She was  amazed by the passion and dedication of the professionals and volunteers.  Yesterday, we reached out to Marcia for comments. “We are devastated by the events in the Ukraine, and so grateful the JCC in Krakow is able to help Ukrainian refugees.  This Jewish Community Center is a beacon of light, so close to Auschwitz, one of the darkest places on earth. It is a hopeful place serving survivors to preschoolers enrolled in the first Jewish preschool in Poland since the Holocaust.”

 

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