Community treated to intergenerational concert
The evening before Milwaukee Jewish Federation volunteers make fundraising calls on Super Sunday, the federation will give a musical gift to the community.
The federation is kicking off Super Sunday and Super Week with an intergenerational concert featuring popular Israeli singer, songwriter and pianist Yoni Rechter.
The concert will take place Saturday, Dec. 2, 7 p.m. at Congregation Sinai. Admission is free, with gifts to the 2007 Annual Campaign and the Israel Emergency Campaign.
Super Sunday is Dec. 3; Super Week continues through Dec. 6.
With this concert, “we want to expose more people to Israeli music and culture,” said community shlichah Rakefet Ginsberg, who is largely responsible for bringing Rechter to Milwaukee. “Israel is not just about fighting. People live there,” she said.
“Sometimes, the way to fight terror is to go back to your normal life,” said Ginsberg, who is director of the federation’s Israel Center. “This is the way to bring [that message] here.
We’re talking about war, we’re launching the Israel Emergency Campaign, but let’s bring the music here.”
Marlene Lauwasser, chair of the 2007 Annual Campaign, is pleased to kick off the week with Rechter’s concert. “Anytime we bring people together is a way to feel a sense of unity and community,” she said.
She added that the event may help to remind people that there is still time to give and room to volunteer. Campaign information will be available on Saturday evening, she said.
Two-line campaign
The federation’s 2007 campaign continues to be a two-line campaign: the Annual Campaign, which supports programs and services meeting the needs of Jews in Milwaukee and worldwide; and the Israel Emergency Campaign, which provides assistance to Israelis as they rebuild in the wake of last summer’s war with Hezbollah.
According to Lauwasser, people are “really stepping up to the plate.”
The needs, particularly since last summer’s violence in Israel, are great, said Super Sunday co-chair Zohar Harari. “There are still so many things that need to be done in Israel. Our support there is needed now more than ever.”
Harari added that running a two-line campaign puts two important missions into one phone call. He wanted to chair Super Sunday/Super Week because he views federation-supported agencies as “doing mitzvahs in the community, in a way, on my behalf.”
Dr. Judy Coran co-chairs the week with Harari. She has previously co-chaired the federation’s Maimonides Society and its Healing Arts Division and is looking forward to Super Sunday/Super Week.
“The energy of Super Sunday is apparent,” Coran said. “It’s a social event that celebrates our willingness to do a mitzvah and the generosity of our community — and that benefits all of us. It feels good for everyone there.”
Coran wants to remind potential volunteers that those who feel skittish about asking for money can help in other ways. “This is also a thank-a-thon,” she said, and volunteers can make calls thanking those who have already pledged their commitment to the campaign. “We would love for you to volunteer. We could use your help in so many ways,” she said.
The campaign’s tag urges people to ‘Live Generously,’ and Harari thinks, “it is one of the strongest slogans I’ve heard.”
Lauwasser said that the slogan is perfectly appropriate. “We are so blessed to live in this community,” she said. “Milwaukee does live generously.”
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