Jewish Community Heros Award Prediction

Rabbi Yonah is perhaps the most amazing force in the “young” Jewish Community. He is brilliant. He is enormously talented. He has a global following. He is the undisputed leader in the Jewish Community Heros Award voting contest. He will win the popular vote by a margin of something like 2:1.

I will be stunned (and thrilled) if he wins the $25,000 award.

So who will the “committee” pick?  The “Jewlicious Festival” Rabbi running amazing religious and social programming in the sprawling, laid-back, and diverse Southern CA and world-wide via the web?  Or the independent JCorps”social entrepreneur” who is bringing together young Jewish adults, and in the process strengthening the Jewish communities they serve?

What about the other three candidates?  Despite having a deep appreciation for the work of Rabbi Engel (I don’t know Rabbi Mendel or Devora Benjamin) I just cannot see a committee of the UJC trying to decide among Chabad programs, despite the broad impact they have in their communities.

While I would not count Rabbi Yonah out of the money, my gut is leaning towards Ari Teman.  He is the only independent volunteer in the top five on the leaderboard.  I have a feeling that the UJC and Jewish Community Heros judges will find that an easier selection than any of the other top five candidates.

The Jewish Community here in Long Beach does not have the resources of NY,LA or any other major city with a sizable Jewish Community.  We have very few donors capable of writing a check for $25k.  The impact of Rabbi Yonah winning and bringing a donation that large to our relatively small Jewish community will be substantial.  I hope that the committee accounts for this when they decide where the money will go.

BTW–Interesting that two of the (currently) top 5 on the leaderboard are Rabbis who have made their reputations for their work here in Long Beach CA.  In fact, both have spent time as the campus Rabbi for CSULB, one of the largest universities in the state.  Could Long Beach be the next epicenter for Jewish Life in the US?  Eh…probably not. But we’re doing a great job with what we have!

A Grand Hyatt Opportunity

The ground breaking of a large research and development complex called Advanced Technologies Park is about to begin right on or near Ben-Gurion University (BGU). The  development will cover 41 acres and more than four million square feet of “technology space.” The first of twenty three buildings is set to start construction in the very near future.

BGU and Advanced Technologh Park

BGU has a reputation as one of the leading institutions in a country that is clearly turning out graduates capable of creating and building industry. It is also located in the middle of what was basically flipping nowhere.  It is now, however, connected to other parts of Israel via the high speed rail.  In the long list of places to fight over, the Negev isn’t usually high up on the list.  I’m sure that will change one day as Israel makes the desert bloom…

Combine the high tech and modern university with a politically mild atmosphere, and it would seem like an ideal opportunity for business. I imagine that as Israel expands and invests in the Negev,  more and more opportunities will arise, which means more people, which means more industry, which means more opportunity. It also means that the hotel that is planned for this development is going to be in a relatively great location.  Did I mention the huge IDF telecommunications and R+D center also being built adjacent to the University?

Seems like a great opportunity for a hotel company to set up shop.  Can anyone think of a hotel company owned (historically and primarily) by a Jewish family that has no current presence in Israel?  There is that little company called Hyatt that comes to mind.

I’ll grant you that building a hotel in Be’er Sheva isn’t as sexy as building one on the beach in Eliat or Tel Aviv. But here’s hoping that Hyatt might look to the future, as Israel has done, and build their next hotel along side BGU.  That one of the world’s leading developers is overseeing the building of this massive project is no guarantee of success, but it’s a pretty good indicator.

It seems odd that Hyatt would be absent from Israel but has built and operates hotel properties in places such as Saudi Arabia, Dubai, the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Jordan…..  So Hyatt, don’t pass up a Grand opportunity.  This may just be a Hyatt Place kind of place.

My Part Revisited

So I tuned out for a while.  Not that I’m not interested in all things jewlicious.  I am.  But life came knocking and I needed time to respond.  Last post I must have been knee deep in hunting for a new Rabbi for Temple Beth Shalom here in Long Beach. 

I think my greatest fear during the search was that we would find a rabbi who would be like most other rabbis and status quo would be the word of the next half decade.  But I won.  Victory dance was great and rewarding.  The rabbi coming to town understands what it means to build community.   For the last couple of years he has spent his time bringing Shabbat to the people.  Sounds so jargonistic, but that’s what he did.  Realizing that Chabad’s model works, but that Chabad ain’t gonna cut it for everyone, Rabbi Dov took the next logical step.  Instead of bringing people to the rabbi (and by extension, the shul) Rabbi Dov took Shabbat to people’s homes.  There was a catch.  If Rabbi Dov was going to spend Shabbat in your home, you better make sure he had a good crowd.  The deal was, you bring in unaffiliated people and he’ll teach you how to make Shabbat.  It worked in Seattle, and now he’s bringing his outreach and 20 years of pulpit work to Long Beach.  I think we’re the better for it.  Check out www.panimhadashot to read about Rabbi Dov.