JFS anniversary

Happy anniversary! As readers of New Jersey Jewish News and members of the MetroWest community, you are part of the family in Jewish Family Service of MetroWest and so we welcome you to a year of celebration and commemoration of our 150 years of being a caring community for people in need.

Founded in 1861 in Newark by members of Temple B’nai Jeshurun, Temple B’nai Abraham, and Oheb Shalom Congregation as the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum, JFS has helped individuals and families since the Civil War. For 150 years, our predecessors have supported our immigrant ancestors, orphaned children, homebound seniors, veterans, Holocaust survivors, and adults, teens, children, and families requiring counseling, case management, and much more. Our anniversary celebration will bring our illustrious history to life, while also helping to lay the roadmap for at least another 150 years of service to our community.

We have a multitude of events planned during the next year and we hope you will participate in many of them. Visit our special 150th Anniversary website at: www.jfsmetrowest.org/150 to learn more and to check the schedule of events.

Our program began Sept. 15 with the grand opening of an exhibit highlighting milestones in JFS’s history at the Aidekman Campus in Whippany. Entitled “Past-Forward,” the exhibit was created jointly by JFS and the Jewish Historical Society of MetroWest, and includes documents, photos of hundreds of community volunteers, and artifacts, which together tell the JFS story. It is a compelling, enlightening and heartwarming exhibit, which we know you will enjoy.

Other upcoming events include the Joseph Goldberg Learning Disabilities Seminar, an open community program on Nov. 11 at Millburn Middle School; an event honoring the past agency presidents; and “Living Better: The Jewish Family Faces the Future,” a community forum on May 4, 2011, featuring keynote speaker Judith Viorst. The celebration will culminate with the 150th Anniversary Gala on June 2.

Even with all these wonderful programs, as members of the JFS family you know the most important component of our anniversary is not our past; it is the beginning of our next century and a half of providing support to anyone who needs us. Our history has taught us that, at some point in everyone’s life, there is pain or struggle. Jewish Family Service of MetroWest has been there — and will continue to be there — for the people of MetroWest.

Looking forward to celebrating with you,

Marian Z. Stern,
JFS President

Reuben D. Rotman,
Executive Director

Carol P. Marcus
Sandi Z. Rosenbaum
Cochairs, JFS 150th Anniversary Committee