Anniversary
Celebration Dinner
Lag B’Omer
Thursday, May 7, 2015
18 Iyar 5775
Temple Shalom
8401 Grubb Rd.
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
Dear Friends
Dear Friends,
What is a 25th Anniversary? It’s a way for all of who have
benefited from Am Kolel over the years to mark time and
celebrate. It’s also a window into the future after many
years of growth and maturity.
Am Kolel is at a crossroads. We’ve accomplished so much
these 25 years, creating new ways for celebrating Jewish
life, learning and responding thoughtfully to social and
environmental issues. As a membership body you have
contributed much to the revitalization of Jewish life in the
Greater Washington, D.C., area and beyond.
We are now a community that is seeking to revitalize itself.
What needs can we better meet for ourselves and others?
Our retreat center is exploring new opportunities for
growth and service to the community, too. We hope you
will continue to take an active interest in our future.
Many, many thanks to the 25 Anniversary Committee, to
Temple Shalom and to all who have made this day possible.
Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheynu Ruach HaOlam,
Shehecheyanu, V’Keyemanu, V’higi-anu Lazman HaZeh.
Gratefully,
Reb David
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Program
Program
7:00 PM
Hors d’oeuvres
7:50 PM
Welcoming
Fran McMahon and Reb David
Motzi and Kiddush
Anniversary Committee
8:05 PM
A song/chant and blessing
Janeane Marks
8:10 PM
Buffet
Fabrangen Fiddlers
8:35 PM
About Ira and Marcia Wagner,
our Honorees
8:40 PM
Other Acknowledgements
Am Kolel Presidents
9:00 PM
Dessert and Freilach dancing
Fabrangen Fiddlers
9:30 PM
Closing Song, Shalom and
Mazel Tov to all
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Blessing
Brich Rachamana - Blessing After Meal
Brich Rachamana, Malka D’Alma, Marei d’Hai Pita,
Brich Rachamana, Malka D’Alma, Marei d’Hai Pita.
You are the Source of Life and All that is,
and Your blessings flow through me,
You are the Source of Life and All that is,
and Your blessings flow through me.
Oh prepare me, to be a sanctuary,
pure and holy, tried and true,
And in thanksgiving,
I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.
‫יתּא‬
ָ ‫ְבּ ִריך ַרחֲ ָמנָא ַמ ְלכָּא ְדעַ ְל ָמא ָמ ֵריהּ ְד ַהאי ִפּ‬
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Honorees
About our Honorees,
Ira and Marcia Wagner
Ira and Marcia, members of Kehila
Chadasha for many years, have also
been supporters of Am Kolel for
almost as long, close to 25 years!
Ira was born in Baltimore. His
parents, Stanley and Evelyn, of
blessed memory, were also devoted to
community service. After dropping
out of the University of New Mexico
after two years, Ira learned how to be a car mechanic in Maine and
ended up moving to Vermont where he started a business distributing
auto parts for imported cars.
Marcia, a child of a State Department diplomatic family, was born in
Germany and traveled the world. After graduating from Beloit College,
Marcia and some college friends started an alternative newspaper called
the Green Mountain Dispatch in Vermont.
Divinely ordained, they lived next door to each other, and so they met!
After the newspaper folded Marcia became a bookkeeper and one of
her clients was Ira’s business. After they were married in 1980, Ira went
back to college at night at Southern Vermont College and graduated in
1983. During that time their first daughter, Leah, was born in 1981,
and they moved to Chapel Hill in 1983 where Ira received his MBA
from UNC in 1985.
They lived in California for one year where second daughter Sara
was born and then they relocated to Bethesda in 1986, where third
daughter Ariel was born in 1987. By then their neighbors introduced
them to Kehila Chadasha in time for Reb David to officiate at Ariel’s
naming ceremony.
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Honorees
Ira joined the firm American Capital, an investment banking firm
specializing in working with trade unions on employee buyouts, where
he worked for two years and then he joined a different investment
banking firm for 5 years, after which his interest in Israel took him to
a job in New York working for Israeli companies. After one year and
the family deciding not to move to New York, Ira came home and was
a stay at home Dad for a few years while Marcia went back to work at
a local construction company.
In 1997 he rejoined American Capital when it had 11 employees. He
became their Chief Operating Officer in 2001, and he helped increase
the size of the company to almost 700 employees with 13 offices in the
US and Europe by 2008.
Marcia has served on the boards of Kehila Chadasha and Am Kolel,
serving as Kehila’s president and Am Kolel’s financial officer (pro-bono)
before the office moved to Sanctuary in 2006. Over the years Am Kolel
and Sanctuary have benefited from both their generosity and their
guidance. Marcia, an avid bridge player, is currently on the boards of
the Brookmont Civic Association, Heartbeat, the Jewish and Palestinian
teen rock music ensemble, based in Israel, and the Broken Box Mime
Theater, founded by her daughter, Leah, and based in New York City.
Ira, who recently retired from American Capital, serves on the boards
of trustees of several institutions, including Southern Vermont
College, Central Scholarship in Baltimore, American Friends of
Ben Gurion University, American Friends of the Daniel Center for
Pluralistic Judaism in Israel and, most recently, the Yiddish Book
Center in Amherst, Mass.. Both he and Marcia take a special interest
in supporting students from low income families here and in Israel to
go to college.
They are the proud grandparents of Kieran, son of Leah and Aidan
Leonard, and recently celebrated the marriage of their daughter Sara
to Sheperd Gray.
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Staff
Staff
R. David Shneyer
Director
Deborah Schuman Wohl
Business Manager
Gilah Rosner
Retreat Manager
Andrea Cohen-Kiener
Facilities Manager
Cyndi Leitner
Administrative Assistant
Bernard & Rae Alice Cohen Library
Ann Bradbury
Susan Freiband
Webmaster
Judy Stone
Heartbeat Liaison
Aaron Shneyer
Jewish Folk Arts Festival
Esther Siegel
Coordinator
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Committee
25th Anniversary Celebration Committee
Fran McMahon, Chair
Judy Beltz
Betsy Combs
Sandy Hoffman
Beverly Mushinsky
Stacy Sklaver
Gilah Rosner
R. David Shneyer
Appreciation to
Viviana Rouco
Celebrating Am Kolel's 25 years of accomplishments!
Am Kolel Judaic Resource Center
Sanctuary Retreat Center
Hanukah Human Rights Concert
Jewish Folk Arts Festival
Martin Buber Youth Leadership Kibbutz
Jews United for Justice
Gene Lipman Acre Plus
Stanley and Evelyn Wagner Summer Initiatives
Senior Activities Center of Poolesville Area
Heartbeat
Olney Kehila
Maalot Seminary in Jewish Music, Liturgy & Ceremonial Arts
Jewish Renewal Weekends & Adult Education
Country Cheder
BeShT Festivals
Celebration Harmony
Yedid DC
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Montgomery
Executive
Leggett
MontgomeryCounty
County Executive
IkeIke
Leggett
By Authority: Lawerence N. Rosenblum,
By Authority: Lawerence N. Rosenblum,
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Am Kolel Presents:
Life of Dialogue:
A Symposium
Commemorating the
50th Yahrzeit of Martin
Buber. 1878-1965
Sunday, May 31
1:30pm - 5:30pm
Temple Emanuel
10101 Connecticut Ave.
Kensington, MD 20895
Several prominent scholars from United States and Israel will help
commemorate the 50th Yahrzeit of Martin Buber, one of the most beloved
philosophers of the 20th century.
Buber, born in Austria, was a believing humanist, a spiritual Zionist, a
proponent of Arab-Jewish co-existence and a founder of the movement for
the renewal of Judaism. He is credited with bringing the beauty of Hassidism
and the tales of the Hassidic masters to the West. His most famous work, I
and Thou, is a philosophy of life that continues to have a profound impact
on many disciplines today.
Our presenters are Professor Paul Mendes-Flohr of the Hebrew University and
the University of Chicago; Rabbi Max Ticktin of the Fabrangen and George
Washington University; Sarah Scott, Professor Philosophy at Manhattan
College; Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center; and Rabbi Harold White
of Georgetown University.
A $25 donation is suggested. Pre registration requested. You may register
and pay on-line by visiting www.am-kolel.org and follow link. A fuller
description of the program is also available on our website.
Am Kolel, directed by Rabbi David Shneyer, is the sponsor of the Symposium
in partnership with the Jewish Study Center, the Foundation for Jewish
Studies, Congregation Beth El Montgomery County, Fabrangen Havurah and
Kehila Chadasha.
For more complete information visit www.am-kolel.org
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Sponsors
Am Kolel wishes to thank our generous sponsors who have
helped make this evening a wonderful occasion of celebration.
Your ongoing support is vital to our ability to fulfill our mission.
ANGELS
Beverly & Allen Mushinsky
LOVERS
Kate & Irv Losman
Fran McMahon
MENSCH
Miriam Daniel & Laurence Wolff
CHAVER(A)
Jorge Orencel & Rosana Azar
David & Sally Sternbach
in honor of the birth of their grandson Jacob William Sternbach
In Honor of
Ira & Marcia Wagner
from Bob & Ellen Leibenluft
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Members
With Gratitude, Am Kolel thanks those who dedicated their
time, skills and resources to building the Am Kolel community
through their service on our Board of Trustees.
Members of the Board 1990 - 2015
Leslie Albert
Heidi Block
Donna Boxer
Cherie Brown
Judith Dack
Marlene Eden
Maggie Effros
Amy Favin
Lew Franke
President, 2003 - 2005
Arnie Hecker
Sandy Hoffman
Greg Kaufman
UPaige Jacobson
President, 2012-2014
Annette Jolles
Larry Keefer
UIra Levine
President 2014-Present
Sue Levine
UIrv Losman
Deborah Shauer Maletz
Eric Marks
Janeane Marks
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Members
g Ten or more
years of service
U Five or more
years of service
UGeorge Mazza
President 2001-2002
Fran McMahon
President, 2007 - 2009
Sharon Murphy
President, 2000 - 2001
Bev Mushinsky
Carol Perone
Hank Putnam
Stephanie Putnam
U Bob Saks
g David Shneyer
President, 1990 - 2000
Steve Shofar
Joyce Siegel
Jeff Sklaver
President, 2009 - 2012
Joyce Sperling
David Sternbach
Sally Sternbach
Shelley Sturman
g Ralph Tryon
President, 2005 - 2007
Deborah Vagins
Florence Winnik
Marcia Wagner
Ed Waldman
U Hanna Weissberger
Eric Wish
Diane Yochelson
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Pictures
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Defining, Updating, Building and Maintaining
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web design
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brochure / catalog / newsletter
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Pictures
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Preserving Jewish history in our nation’s capital… One building move at a time.
2014
1969
Projected 2020
Visit D.C.’s oldest synagogue, tour our historic neighborhoods, or book a program speaker!
Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington
Lillian & Albert Small Jewish Museum
(202) 789-0900 • www.jhsgw.org • Facebook.com/jhsgw • @jhsgw
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Pictures
Lunch & Learn
Purim
Worship
Missions to Cuba
Jewish Folk Arts Festival
Jewish Community Town Hall Meeting
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Congratulations Am Kolel on
Celebrating 25 Years!
Christopher E.A. Scholtes, CPA
Office: 410.323.0010
Fax:
410.323.0019
www.ScholtesCPA.com
[email protected]
Accounting and Auditing Services
Specializing in servicing nonprofit
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Serving tax-exempt organizations is
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auditing, and tax services to over 700
non-profit organizations nationwide.
Contact Glenn Miller at 703-519-0990
or [email protected].
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Paige and “Jake” Jacobson
Celebrate Am Kolel’s
25th Anniversary!
MAZEL TOV TO IRA AND MARCIA WAGNER!
FROM THE MEMBERS OF KEHILA CHADASHA
www.e-kehila.org
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Poems
Hide & Seek
God hides in
Each of us
He calls us
We do not hear
We are in despair
Of all of us
It may be said
We play hide and seek
He hides, we seek
He seeks, we hide
We run, we stop
We call each other
Sometimes we hear
Sounds in the Cosmos
Searching, finding
Sounds in the Cosmos
We hear each other
Our soul joins Him
We rejoice
Trudy Morse (1992)
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Am - Kolel
Congratulations
on 25 Years!
Serving the Area Since 1972
Nurit
10001 Lewis Dr., Unit E
Damascus, MD 20872
301-253-5283
Coombe
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Who You Work with Matters!
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Poems
Idol Worship
Two past Jubilee
The golden light
Dawns:
Idol worship is not
About idols.
Of course I’d gone beyond
The obvious
Moving from statues
To golden calf,
From golden calf
To golden coins
To greed and arrogance,
Glory given to outward fashion.
But still my knack for spelling
Kept me in the dark,
For idle worship
Is the deeper curse:
Lazy, not for lack of speed,
But rushing through a bypass of awareness,
Learning all the words
Correctly spelled.
Meant missing
The truth of trop
Slowly sung
Missing the space
For Devekut
For turning
Despair to hope.
Betsy Combs 9/97
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Poems
My Love is like a Tree
My love is like a tree
That is part of my garden,
Changing with the seasons,
Changing with the years;
So much a part of me,
That I look beyond it to other things,
That I almost take it for granted,
Until its fragrance of blossoms enchants me,
The shade of its leaves gives a blessing,
Its beauty lifts up my heart.
Then I see it with new eyes,
Once over again,
And I look all about me,
And all the world is renewed.
Ruth Allen Siskind
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Congratulations Am Kolel on your
25th anniversary celebration!
T
he Garden of Remembrance celebrates Am Kolel’s landmark 25th
year as a diverse and growing Jewish Renewal community that
continues to sustain a commitment to discovering our Jewish heritage,
with compassion and support towards others and each other, a deep
concern for social issues, and care of our environment.
The Garden of Remembrance Memorial Park has become an integral
part of the fabric – and a true landmark – for the entire metropolitan
Washington Jewish community. Twenty-four area Jewish congregations
have reserved their sections in our Garden. We welcome Am Kolel
congregants and all other members of the Jewish faith, whether affiliated
or unaffiliated with a congregation.
15 Years of Caring Service and Dedicated
Support to the JewishCommunity of Greater Washington
www.gardenofremembrance.org