Welcome to the Jewish Community of Louisville
This is our new, comprehensive web resource for information about Louisville’s Jewish community!
We hope you’ll take a few moments to take a look around. We’re still in the first stages of site development, but there’s plenty to see—with more added nearly every week.
- Listings for most of Louisville’s Jewish agencies, organizations, synagogues and temples, along with links to their websites.
- The latest news and information about upcoming events, activities and classes throughout the Jewish community, in town and around the country.
- A local community calendar, where each of Louisville’s Jewish groups can post up-to-date information about their activities—with a simple search feature to make finding what you’re looking for much easier.
You may not find everything you need just yet, but check back often as we grow. We at the Jewish Community of Louisville are committed to making this site a valuable and practical resource for everyone in our area. Please feel free to contact us if you have questions, comments, or if there’s something you’d like to see on our site. Thanks for visiting!
Friends Forever Thanks to the Gift of Life
[by Shiela Steinman Wallace]
David Klein is a familiar face around Louisville. A secular Jew in his fifties, who has good relationships with all the rabbis in town, he is a community leader, serving on the Board of Jewish Community of Louisville, co-chairing its Planning and Allocations Committee, taking an active role with Gilda’s Club and more.
Elchonon Reizes is a Chasidic Jew from New York City. Now in his early twenties, he is a rabbinic student at Yeshiva University and plays some keyboard at events like Chanukah and Purim parties and bar mitzvahs. He is single and the oldest of nine children.
It seems unlikely that their paths would ever cross, but indeed they have. In fact, their lives have become intertwined and they have forged a very strong connection that will last throughout their lifetimes.
In 2001, David began his struggle with refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) – a battle that has spanned most of this decade and nearly cost him his life. In 2006, Elchonon became David’s angel, the bone marrow donor who restored David to health.
Elchonon did not set out to be anyone’s angel and knew very little about being a marrow donor. In early 2002, a little girl in his community needed a bone marrow transplant, and Elchonon, who was a 19-year-old student at Yeshiva University in Brooklyn at the time, learned of the search for a donor.
Passover Community Update
Passover is just around the corner. Be sure to check your March 12 copy of Community for special offers and coupons from merchants that carry Passover supplies. At the Jewish Family & Career Service Family Mitzvah event on Sunday, March 14, help create Passover food baskets for those in need and more. The Temple is offering a Passover Workshop on March 28.
Most synagogues are planning second night Seders. Keneseth Israel and Temple Shalom are having a joint Seder on March 30. Adath Jeshurun is offering a choice of two different Seders that night. Sign up by March 19. The Temple is offering a “Hope for Haiti” Seder on March 30. Sign up by March 25.
Music is an important part of Passover. The JCL is pleased to offer for your enjoyment a few free children's songs for the holiday.
The JCL is continuing to move forward. Kate Latts has been named chair of the Strategic Directions Committee, which will synthesize the research and groundwork done in the last two years into action recommendations for the Board. The Planning and Allocations Committee is in formation now. Information will soon be available about how the committee will work this year. Of course next year’s allocations depend upon the success of the Annual Campaign. If you have not yet made your commitment to the 2010 JCL Annual Campaign, please give from your heart when a volunteer calls – or donate online today.
Check out these upcoming community events:
• CenterStage’s Wizard of Oz, now through March 28
• Summer Camp Open House at the JCC, March 14
• YAD social event, March 20
• The PJ Library Seder Storytelling, March 21
• Shalom Baby Mom’s Night Out, March 24
• The Temple’s Senior University, March 25
