Page 30 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN <strong>January</strong>-<strong>February</strong> <strong>2012</strong>
<strong>January</strong>-<strong>February</strong> <strong>2012</strong> THE JEWISH GEORGIAN Page 31 Blue Boxes From page 29 each of its offices that will receive and tally aggregated, miscellaneous U.S. coins at no charge. At the end of each sort, the customer is supplied with a printed receipt showing the total dollar value, which the individual can either deposit to his or her checking account or redeem for paper money and the few coins that will equal the count on the receipt. It is this service that Fidelity Bank has now modified for JNF supporters. Now, a JNF supporter can come into the bank with Survivor From page 29 for many, but the <strong>Jewish</strong> community continues to recall and honor the six million Jews lost in the Holocaust. One special day, Yom HaShoah, has been set aside to honor the dead, the survivors, the martyrs, and heroes. In Atlanta, the annual event, sponsored by Eternal-Life Hemshech, the <strong>Jewish</strong> Federation of Greater Atlanta and the William Breman <strong>Jewish</strong> Heritage and Holocaust Museum, is centered around the Memorial to the Six Million at Greenwood Cemetery in southwest Atlanta. <strong>The</strong> permanent monument was first envisioned shortly after the war by Atlanta’s small community of Holocaust survivors. Now the memorial, a euphonic blend of chiseled stone and soaring torches, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. At first blush, Stern seems an unlikely candidate to be speaking of the Holocaust. His accent – a gentle, southern drawl – links him to his hometown of Nashville, TN, not to the cobblestone streets and old-world charm of Brussels. But his early life was filled with strong connections to Judaism – religious traditions and ancient rituals, Zionist youth clubs, and <strong>Jewish</strong> camps in the summer. <strong>The</strong> activities continued to inform his world as an adult, his work with Camp Judea landing him in Atlanta in the early 1960s. Even after establishing a law practice – he’s the founding partner of Stern & Edlin – Stern remained active in the local <strong>Jewish</strong> community. His work with Young Judea connected him with Hadassah and the Zionist Organization of America. He became deeply involved with the Atlanta <strong>Jewish</strong> Community Center (now the Marcus <strong>Jewish</strong> Community Center of Atlanta), eventually becoming president. He helped establish Temple Sinai, a reform synagogue in Sandy Springs and is a high-profile member and leader at the Breman Holocaust Museum. “George is one of our most active and beloved volunteers,” says Liliane Baxter, director of the Lillian & A.J. a Blue Box, dump its contents into the machine for counting purposes, take the receipt and show the Blue Box to a teller, and that teller will credit the money to JNF’s account. <strong>The</strong> donor will then be furnished a bank deposit receipt that is to be sent to JNF’s office with the name and address of the donor, and JNF will acknowledge the donation for the person’s tax records. <strong>The</strong> donor will retain possession of the box, and no information concerning JNF’s bank account, including the account number and the balance, will be made known by the bank to the donor. Save the date If you’d like to remember the victims of the Holocaust, honor the survivors, pray for the martyrs and salute the heroes, then plan on attending Atlanta’s annual Yom HaShoah observance on Sunday, April 22, <strong>2012</strong> at Greenwood Cemetery. For additional information, contact Dr. Lili Baxter at 404-870-1872 or LBaxter@thebreman.org Weinberg Center for Holocaust Education at <strong>The</strong> Breman. “Not only is he one of our most popular Holocaust survivor speakers, but he also sits on our board and has served as co-chair of our Survivor Legacy Committee.” Stern says most everyone – friends and family – knows of his links to the Holocaust. “All my friends knew that I was in Brussels at the start of World War II and that I had been in a detention camp,” he says. But it wasn’t until he heard someone discussing the camp, Gurs, and he shared his story with a Breman staffer that he began to think of himself as a “survivor”. Now he’s an active member of the museum’s Speakers Bureau, sharing his story with visitors to <strong>The</strong> Breman and students from across the region. “Students love his directness and humor,” Baxter says, “and are moved by his ability to relate to their own lives and experiences.” Why does this matter? “I think it’s important that as Jews we remember our past … particularly the remembrance of the Holocaust,” Stern says. “I have a goal, a wish that the entire <strong>Jewish</strong> community unites in our ongoing efforts to remember the Holocaust … to never forget.” Ron Feinberg is a veteran journalist who has worked for daily newspapers across the southeastern United States. He now specializes on topics of <strong>Jewish</strong> interest and can be reached at ronfeinberg@bellsouth.net Director From page 29 tion looking for the best. Naturally, this did not all just happen. As with most developments, ultimate credit lies with a historically forward-looking, active, and thoughtful lay leadership, which was able to conceive the vision and hire the professional staff to create the environment and model that delivered the results. As of December 1, the leadership, after a nearly 18-month search, has selected a new executive director and chief executive officer to be at the helm. If the script for the announcement had been written for a presentation at the MJCCA’s Morris and Ray Frank <strong>The</strong>atre, it would read: “Enter stage right Gail Luxenberg, new executive director and CEO.” <strong>The</strong> Center is one of the major <strong>Jewish</strong> communal organization in Atlanta, and it requires a person who understands and can lead the organization in its totality: programming; staffing; facilities; fund raising, spokesperson for the organization; developing a harmonious relationship with sister institutions, both within the <strong>Jewish</strong> community and the larger population; a respect for the services being provided; and a warmth that is projected to the membership. Having had a chance to visit with Luxenburg, it was clear to see why the search committee decided that she fulfilled the requirements that qualified her for the job. From an educational standpoint, she holds a bachelor of arts in Middle Eastern studies from the University of Chicago and an MBA in marketing and organizational behavior from the same institution. After beginning her working career with the American Medical Association, she moved into the <strong>Jewish</strong> communal world as head of the Midwest Division of the American Friends of Hebrew University, and from there she went as executive director of the <strong>Jewish</strong> Vocational Service in Chicago, Illinois. That is the paper vita. What cannot be shown in this is the smile that projects her feeling of the “warmth that she felt in the <strong>Jewish</strong> world,” which to her encompassed the religious and communal aspects. While she is a native of New York, her coming to Atlanta puts her in the same city as her parents and one of her sisters, who moved to Atlanta after she left New York to go to college. With her move to Atlanta, she now has her biological family and her communal family all in one place. Luxenberg said that she was excited about the opportunity to continue creating “a great <strong>Jewish</strong> communal experience” with meaningful programming. She continued with the fact that the MJCCA is “considered one of the best JCCs with a full range of activities and an outstanding staff,” and that the finances are now operating in the black is an enviable scenario. She said that “people come to the Center for pleasure,” and this is the atmosphere that she is committed to continuing. She hopes to continue the growth without necessarily growing facilities. As the Center moves into a new leadership mode, we need to remember how fortunate the community is to have the dedicated, qualified, and quality leadership that enabled the organization to spend the necessary time and effort to put in place a new executive director and CEO. Howie Hyman, who stepped up and temporarily took over the management, and the entire governance board are due a great big thanks from all of us. This was a daunting task, and they not only did not shirk the challenge but fulfilled the undertaking with laudable accomplishment.