500 Women Celebrate Tzedakah at Choices

Nearly 500 women came together to celebrate the power of tzedakah on Sunday, November 1, 2015 at Choices, our annual Women’s Philanthropy event. Event co-chairs Debbie Jeroff,  Wendi Klein and Yael Rubanenko Horwitz, along with the Choices committee, and Women’s Philanthropy chair, Lisa Pullan, created an inspirational evening filled with powerful messages, all wrapped up in a gorgeous Bohemian chic décor theme. View photos on our Facebook page.

Keynote speaker, Yael Luttwak, spoke about her experience making the documentary A Slim Peace, which brought together Israeli, Palestinian and Bedouin women for a series of weight loss classes. Through their weekly encounters, the women got to know each other and find common ground where once they saw only differences.

One of the highlights of the evening was community speaker, Ricki Thal, who shared her very personal experience on March of the Living. Unbeknownst to Ricki for most of her life, her maternal grandparents survived the Holocaust by working in Oskar Schindler’s factory. Their remarkable stories of survival went untold for many years. Now, after participating on March of the Living, Ricki is sharing their stories – and her own experience uncovering them and seeing them from a new perspective on this important program. You can read her story here.

March of the Living is a two-week journey to Poland and Israel brings our local teens, and separately adults and young adults, together with thousands of their peers to visit concentration camps, as well as cities and towns that were once vibrant centers of Jewish life. Together, they walk the three kilometres from Auschwitz to Birkenau in silent tribute to the victims of the Holocaust. In Israel they connect with their Jewish roots and stand in solidarity with the entire country to observe Yom Hazikaron and celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut. Jewish Federation is proud to support March of the Living and many other impactful Israel and Overseas experiences through the Federation Annual Campaign.

If you have not yet made your campaign gift, please give today and support important programs like March of the Living.