Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on June 2, 2022

South Jersey Jewish Cultural Alliance members (from left) are Elaine Somerson, Natalie Sykes, Annette Decker, and Naomi Scher.

In 2005, after years of attending the Jewish Childrens Folkshul in Philadelphia (a secular, humanist Jewish community) with her two children, Naomi Scher founded a similar organization back in her hometown of Cherry Hill: The South Jersey Jewish Cultural Alliance (formerly known as the South Jersey Secular Jews). The group consists of 25 members, most of whom are retired and have been there since the beginning. Members dont necessarily identify with a synagogue but still wish to remain connected to Judaisms rich culture.

It showed me that there was such thing as a cultural Jew, Scher explained about her experience at the Folkshul. Almost like another piece of the Jewish spectrum that people rarely, if ever, mention.

They meet every second Sunday of the month to discuss Jewish literature, ethics, social justice, anti-Semitism, and the Middle East conflict, among other topics. Programs consist of guest speakers rabbis, professors, and journalists. Lev Golinkin, for example, a Jewish Ukrainian author and journalist, recently visited the group to discuss his memoir, A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka, which traces his experience as a child refugee coming to America from Kharkiv. Local Rabbi Richard Address also visited the group a few times to discuss his philosophy on sacred aging.

For their next guest speaker, Scher said they plan to host Anne Toback, CEO of the Workers Circle, a Jewish nonprofit that promotes social justice and Yiddish language learning. One group member, now in his 80s, was formerly head of the Workers Circle organization in Philadelphia so he will give us some history while Anne gives us the present and the future, Scher explained.

Most members have joined the group for the discourse and sense of community. Eileen Gaglia has been a member for over 10 years because there were a lot of single women in the group, so I felt comfortable, she said. The Cherry Hill resident and retired substitute teacher is also a member of their book group, which meets bi-monthly. They recently read: Why Be Jewish? by philanthropist and early funder of Birthright, Edgar Bronfman. Its a good group, Gaglia said. Everyones intelligent and cares about Judaism.

Alfred Glogower, a Holocaust survivor liberated from the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in the Czech Republic when he was four years old, has been a member of the group with his wife Miriam for five years. He still remembers being in a basement and hearing artillery right before the Russians freed them. Glogower doesnt usually advertise that he survived the Holocaust because every survivor has their own story and my story is not more important than others, he said.

For almost 50 years, the couple has belonged to Adath Emanu-El in Mount Laurel, but they like attending this group too because it keeps them abreast of Jewish current affairs. We talk about everything from education to racism, Glogower said. Jewish ethics are very important to them.

A career psychologist, Scher still runs a private practice for a few clients. Shes also an accomplished musician, playing second flute for the South Jersey philharmonic orchestra for 20 years.

Because of Covid, she couldnt host a Passover seder for the group like she normally does, but they are planning an event for June 12. She hopes some younger, tech-savvy blood will consider joining the group, to help make it multigenerational.

Ultimately, Scher just wants more Jews in South Jersey to benefit from having a source of community. Its been shocking to me that so many Jews are not affiliated with any synagogue, and yet people dont know about them.

The South Jersey Jewish Culture Alliance will meet at 4 pm on Sunday, June 12 over Zoom. Guest speaker will be Melissa Klapper, PhD, professor of Womens and Gender Studies at Rowan University, and author of several books, articles, and essays discussing the history of Jewish women in the United States. The subject of the presentation is The History of American Jewish Women Activists.

For more information, please contact Naomi at (609) 238-4968.

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South Jersey Jewish Cultural Alliance serves 'another piece of the Jewish spectrum' - Jewish Community Voice

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