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Letter to the editor

Jewish group redefines legacy

Community leaders will be recognized by the center that welcomes everyone.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE, Times Staff Writer
Published August 22, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG 

What began in Baltimore as an organization to help 19th century Jewish immigrants assimilate into American life has evolved into a network of nonsectarian social and recreational centers that include New York City's popular 92nd Street Y and two in Pinellas County.

As others have done around the nation, the Jewish Community Center of Pinellas County has had to change in a bid to grab and keep the interests of 21st century members.

Shifting with the times meant making tough decisions. In 1998, dwindling membership forced the JCC board to close the center's large Madeira Beach facility.

In 2005, they reopened at a smaller facility in St. Petersburg, offering only a portion of programs at the site. Other programs are offered in different locations. The goal is to rebuild membership and boost funding for key programs.

As part of this rebuilding effort, Sunday the JCC of Pinellas County will honor four community leaders who have supported the organization with time and money.

The honorees - Harriett Lieberman, Walter and Edith Loebenberg and Thelma Rothman - will have funds set up in their names.

The organization had its beginnings in 1952, the year its summer program, Camp Kadima, was introduced. It wasn't incorporated, however, until 1976. It has had several homes, starting on Arlington Avenue N in St. Petersburg, moving to Elbow Lane near Park Street N and then to the landmark former Kapok Tree Restaurant property on Madeira Beach. It's now at 5023 Central Ave. in St. Petersburg.

Historically, said JCC president Jay Kaminsky, Jewish people joined JCCs to be able to socialize with others of similar faith. Now centers primarily offer secular, cultural and recreational programming. While the JCC of Pinellas County adheres to its roots by following Jewish dietary laws and closing for Jewish holidays, it is open to everyone, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or income, executive director Jennifer Burnett said.

Its new wave of programming includes those targeted to distinct groups - families, young professionals, empty nesters and seniors - she said.

According to the JCC Association, the umbrella organization for JCCs around the nation, when the movement began in 1854 with the opening of the first Young Men's Hebrew Association in Baltimore it was to teach English to new Jewish immigrants and help them fit into American life.

Change came in the 1950s and 1960s, with the growth of the suburbs. Large, modern JCC facilities offering recreation were built.

Now centers, like the well known 92nd Street Y in New York City, offer a wide range of programs from outings to adult education to summer camps. Sunday's event in St. Petersburg is a nod to the past and future, Kaminsky said.

"We've changed the way we're looking at the JCC," he said, "but not forgetting where we came from."

The honorees 

Harriett Lieberman

Harriett Lieberman moved to St. Petersburg from Miami in March 1950 with her late husband, Erwin, and 6-week-old daughter, Susan. Another daughter, Jackie, was born in St. Petersburg.

As the mother of two girls, she would later establish the area's first Jewish-sponsored Girl Scout troop. Lieberman, 78, and her husband owned Southland Distributing Co., a wholesale beer and wine distributor for Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties.

In the 1960s, she joined the JCC board. She also was chairwoman of the organization's youth activities. "I have a very warm spot in my heart for children and the JCC offered some wonderful programs. One of the programs was Camp Kadima," she said.

Over the years, Lieberman has been the JCC's volunteer director, its president three times, most recently from 2005 to 2006, and is credited with keeping the center running through difficult financial times.

The fund being set up in her name will assist families that can't afford to send their children to Camp Kadima.

Edith and Walter Loebenberg

Edith and Walter Loebenberg joined the JCC Board of Governors in the late 1980s. He was chairman when the JCC bought the former Kapok Tree Restaurant.

"The Kapok Tree was beautiful," said Walter Loebenberg, 83.

But times were changing, he said. Young families got their own pools and older people who used to drop by to play bridge stopped coming. As a result, such a large property was no longer needed.

Loebenberg, who escaped Nazi Germany in 1939 and served in the U.S. Army during World War II, founded the Florida Holocaust Museum, which got its start at the Kapok Tree property. He also acquired the museum's first artifact, a railroad boxcar used to take Jews to concentration camps.

A businessman and philanthropist, Loebenberg served as president of the New York-based Anne Frank Foundation. The JCC's Edith and Walter Loebenberg Community Education Fund will honor the couple for their support of Jewish education.

Thelma Rothman

Thelma Rothman, 84, found love at a JCC in her hometown of Asheville, N.C. It was during World War II, she was on spring break from college and he - Maurice Rothman - was a handsome soldier from New York. They met in March and were married in September, "much to my parents' chagrin," she said, laughing at the memory.

The couple moved to St. Petersburg and established their Kane's furniture store in 1947. In the years since, she and her family have supported organizations such as All Children's Hospital, Temple Beth-El, the Jewish Federation of Pinellas/Pasco Counties and the Florida Holocaust Museum. She spearheaded the campaign to purchase the Kapok Tree Restaurant for the JCC.

The goal now must be to encourage parents with children who attend the JCC's Camp Kadima and those whose parents participate in the organization's senior programs take an interest in the center themselves, she said. The Thelma Rothman Cultural Arts Fund has been established to honor her interest in the arts.

IF YOU GO

Pillars program

Jewish Community Center of Pinellas County's Pillars of the Community program, 6 p.m. Sunday, Temple Beth-El, 400 Pasadena Ave. S, St. Petersburg. Bring JCC and Camp Kadima memorabilia. Cocktail and hors d'oeuvres reception. Dietary laws will be observed. $36 at the door. Call 347-4522.

[Last modified August 22, 2007, 08:39:53]