Boulder Jewish News » volunteer

Seders for Seniors: Volunteers Needed

Alaina Green — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 04:00:43 +0000

iswords@jewishfamilyservice.org if you’d like to help in any way!

Thank you!

JFS Looking for Friendly Visitors

Ingrid Swords — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 03:00:27 +0000

Have an hour to spare one day a week? Make a huge difference in the life of a senior by becoming a JFS Friendly Visitor.

You are individually matched with someone and the time could be spent talking, going for coffee, taking a walk-whatever the two of you choose. Both people enjoy a new friendship, and the volunteer knows he/she has made a difference in someone’s life.

Interested? Contact Ingrid Swords, Volunteer Coordinator, at Jewish Family Service at 303-415-1025 or email iswords@jewishfamilyservice.org

Singing for Peace in Yaffo

Matan Har — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 00:00:49 +0000

As a volunteer in The Arab-Jewish Community Center in Yaffo I have come to appreciate the place as a home to an amazing group of diverse young people who have come together to create a groundbreaking choir known as the Voices of Peace. The members of this choir hail from Arab, Christian and Jewish families and have united with one goal: to sing in the name of peace. And boy can they sing.

It is difficult to listen to the Voices of Peace choir and not come away inspired. They are unburdened by the political chaos that surrounds them and use their voices to pass on a message of peace and hope. “We all want peace between Israel and the Arab countries,” said Lana, a young Arab girl whose solo performances take your breath away. “Singing is how we make our contribution.”

My volunteer work includes writing about and promoting their efforts and I am very inspired by what I see and hear. Voices of Peace is comprised of a small group of male and female vocalists ranging from twelve to nineteen years of age. They sing in Arabic, English and Hebrew. Their primary instructor and resident musician is Idan Tolednao, and their voice instructor is Dorit Lubrani. Dorit expertly coaches the choir on the technical aspects of the performance while Idan helps by offering his own bits of advice and inspiration.

Voices of Peace has performed at numerous events including the memorial ceremony for Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the Duet in Jaffo festival, various television programs, the Feast of Feasts Carnival, the Peres Center for Peace Ten Year Gala Event, functions in France, Belgium and England, as well as Foreign Ministry offices. They even performed in front of the pope and worked on an original song called “Don’t Laugh at Me” with Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. “At first, we had no idea who he was” said Pilar, a fifteen year old Christian Arab girl about Mr. Yarrow. “But our parents did and we do now. “Don’t Laugh at Me” is now my favorite song.” When asked what her favorite performance thus far was, Pilar’s friend Lana responded with a grin “all of them, I just like being on stage.”

The choir meets a few days a week at the AJCC where they socialize and practice for their next performance. On the day I visited them, their rehearsal started with excited chit-chat as the kids shared stories about their day at school, laughing about the Justin Bieber concert they attended and the new episode of Glee. Many of the Muslim and Christian students attend English speaking schools in Jaffo so along with Arabic, and a little Hebrew, fluent English can be heard amongst the chatter.

Once they settled down from the excitement of seeing one another they began with a few voice warm-ups led by Dorit. Their immense talent shines through even during basic warm-up drills. A simple octave slide to begin the day sounds like the opening notes of a professional performance. They even did a number of Qi-Gong exercises under Dorit’s tutelage to get their energy flowing.

Once they finished their warm-ups, they began to practice for their performance. The songs they perform all share the same themes of peace, love and understanding. They are drawn from various styles, regions and artists but all carry the same unifying message.

On this day, they started with a song called “Shalom/Salaam.” It began with a number of pitch-perfect solos and harmonies before building up to a rousing chorus where all members of the choir belt out their lyrics and clap along. Their voices sound wonderful together, each person hitting their pitch expertly, but it is not until you think about who these youth are, where they are from and what they are singing about, that you are aware of how special this choir is. If any of this sounds like hyperbole, I assure you that seeing this group perform in person would give even the biggest pessimist reason to hope. If these young people can come together and put all their religious, political and social differences aside in the name of music then how difficult can peace really be? Of course we know that the reality is more complicated than that, but while listening to the Choir of Peace it truly does not feel that way.

The beginning of the second song sounded like a slow, moody klezmer tune but was sung in Arabic by a Muslim boy. This created a sort of amalgamation of emotion and style and his sad Arabic words coupled with the melancholy klezmer jazz seemed to carry the pain of two people’s history entwined. The next song they practiced, “Makom Ba Lev” (A Place in the Heart) may have been the most beautiful of all. The verses, performed as solos, were in Hebrew and Arabic, and their voices united for the Hebrew refrain: “a place in your heart.” At one point during the third verse a girl had been singing her solo wonderfully before her voice slipped into a pitchy squeak as she tried to hit a difficult high note. Everyone in the room giggled and she giggled along, and then Idan, after waiting for the giggles to subside, picked up the piano music from the moment before her mistake. She picked it up effortlessly, this time hitting the note spot on.

The fourth song, “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan, was sung in all three languages. Towards the end of the third verse the choir broke into A Capella and snapped along while repeating the last line in a Hebrew-Arabic harmony: “the answer my friend, is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind.”

After watching them practice and seeing some videos of their performances it is clear that Voices of Peace can perform masterfully. It is also clear that these kids believe in the power of what they are doing. They are as typical as teenagers can be, flirting with each other, laughing about whether or not Justin Bieber is cute, but, unlike most people their age, have chosen to engage in a project to improve their community. A project whose goal is to help create peace and understanding in a region of the world that is woefully lacking in those areas.

It is a shame that Voices for Peace does not have more recognition. They do not yet have a CD recorded because they cannot afford the basic production costs. The public is hardly aware of them in Israel, not to mention the rest of the world. This could all change with some well placed PR and an humble amount of financial aid for travel and organization costs.

Their performance is fun, energetic and captivating. But most of all it is inspirational. Not only because of what it stands for but because of the individual members of the choir themselves, because of the innocence and optimism and love that is clear in their voices. A Voices of Peace performance gives us the chance to see a group of wonderful, talented youth perform, but more importantly, it gives us a chance to hope.

For more information about the Voices of Peace choir please visit their homepage and their many videos on YouTube. Here’s a sample:

See You Sunday!

Cheryl Fellows — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:00:54 +0000

Where else can you find. . .

Amazing Music including Jeff Kagan and Paige Doughty, Rabbi Joe Black, Jus Goodie, Hal Aqua and The Lost Tribe, Or Zimrah, and . . . THE MACCABEATS!

Incredible Food including corned beef, blintzes, falafel, hummus, pitas, knishes, smoothies, ice cream and kosher hot dogs and soda – all in one place!

Beautiful Art and Judaica including jewelry, textiles, painting, photography anime and even eco-art.

A Minyan or more of Rabbis (does that work?!) – all in one place, having recovered from Shavuot and now ready to greet you!

The traveling Gaga Pit (what? the Lady Gaga Pit? The Baby Gaga Pit?!) and the Avid 4 Adventure Climbing Wall. . .

well? all that and more on Pearl Street this Sunday!

Boulder Jewish Festival is produced each year by a dedicated core team of volunteers who love what we do, have a great time together, and consistently deliver the best independent single-day event on the Pearl Street Mall.

This team is supported by our many sponsors, local non-profit organizations, food vendors, artists and day-of-event volunteers, all of whom share our belief that this is the way we want our community to be seen: thriving, lively, welcoming and open to all.

“Many hands make light work” is how we approach the festival. We want to extend a huge THANK YOU to all who volunteer and those who support the volunteers, lug their stuff, work around monthly meetings, understand some late night emails, and give their all. If you see a member of the team at the event, serving blintzes, selling t-shirts, greeting people, resetting chairs, helping with recycling, keeping the stage schedule on track. . .please join me in saying Thank You! See you on Sunday!

Want to get involved next year? Drop us a line!

Don’t forget:

Free parking in city lots on Sunday
The Festival includes 3 blocks of Pearl Street – stretching from Peppercorn on 1200 to Starbucks on the 1400 block, plus everything in between and the Courthouse Lawn!
Entertainment schedule and lists of participating groups and vendors can be found at boulderjewishfestival.org.
Pick up a Festival program with coupons and a Memory Lane Souvenir, and please support our sponsors!
T-shirts go fast, be sure to get yours early!
did you hear? The Maccabeats are coming!
and you don’t have to be Jewish! See you Sunday!

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9Health Fair A Great Success

Jonathan Lev — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 02:00:23 +0000

Ever wonder what it would be like to visit or volunteer at the Boulder JCC’s 9Health Fair? Ever wanted to participate?

Over 580 people attended the 9Health Fair at the Boulder JCC on April 13, 2011. Thank you to our 120 volunteers and 9Health Fair! Hear from a few volunteers and guests in this new video.

9Health Fair at the Boulder JCC in April

Molly Goldsmith — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:00:47 +0000

The Boulder JCC partners with the 9Health Fair to put on a yearly event every April. This is open to the general public and attracts hundreds of individuals. Each year, between 500 and 600 people come through the JCC doors!

This year, the fair will be held on Wednesday, April 13. Doors are open from 7 am – Noon.

One visit can change your life! That’s what many experience when they attend a 9Health Fair. The 9Health Fair served over 100,000 people last year and the Boulder JCC site served approximately 600.

Basic screenings at the 9Health Fair includes a 29-component Blood Chemistry for $30 and Blood Count Screenings for $15. Other free or low cost basic screenings include blood pressure, vision and “Talk with a Health Professional.” Optional screenings may include skin, hearing, oral and bone density screenings.

The Boulder JCC Health Fair wouldn’t be possible without the help of many volunteers! We need both medical and non-medical volunteers. Volunteers have a great time, and enjoy good coffee and lunch!

Please note that screenings are limited and will close at noon. Please contact Shari for more information at shari@boulderjcc.org.

Boulder Sending 29 Athletes to the Maccabi Games

Molly Goldsmith — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 04:00:57 +0000

Twenty-Nine Boulder-area Jewish teens are participating in the Denver JCC Maccabi Games August 1 – 5 – don’t miss the opportunity to volunteer or be a spectator and cheer for our kids!

Mazal tov and good luck to: Joshua Brown, Ethan Fellows, Emma Freedman, Samuel Garelick, Sammy Greenwald, Daniel Hayoun, David Kocina, Megan Kocina, Ataliah Landsman, Yarrow Linden, Grant Lurie, Sadie Matthews, Andrew Pollack, Eliana Rusk, Haley Schusterman, Lauren Schusterman, Ariel Shlosberg, Alec Snyder, Nathan Stein, Matthew Stern, Aaron Wildman, Rikki Wolpowitz, Rebecca Leaf, Graham Gansar, Isaac Bates-Vinueza, Stephanie Flint, Maya Ellis, Isabelle Nathanson, and Jake Sigmond!

Volunteers are still needed to serve as time keepers and score keepers for shifts during the day. Register to volunteer here or call the Denver JCC Maccabi Games office at 303-316-6318. If you want to attend the Games as a spectator, you MUST register in advance for security reasons. You can sign up here! For more information, contact Boulder JCC Maccabi Games Coordinator, Sara Goldberg, at 303-921-6952 or sara@boulderjcc.org.

Restoring the Soul at the BJCC

Kathryn Bernheimer — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:30:17 +0000

The Boulder JCC’s Maimonides Wellness Center presents Restoring the Soul: Service, Spirituality and Faith, on Tuesday, June 22, at 7:00 pm, at the Boulder JCC. There is no charge for admission.

Come learn how Restoring the Soul works with congregations and non-profit agencies to enhance volunteer engagement in Boulder. Julie Bir will discuss how the organization works to strengthen the connection between faith and service, and seeks to engage the community in social issues through its monthly forums. Two speakers will present information about the FOCUS Offender Reentry Mentoring Program, which currently has more than 20 mentors in the field.