Local Briefs: Expanded Eruv Up in Sandy Springs
Expanded Eruv Is Up
The Sandy Springs eruv was restored to operation in time for the second Shabbat in June.
Unrelated construction work had left parts of the eruv’s virtual walls in disrepair for almost three months.
The restored eruv has expanded northward past Glenridge Drive to the south side of Interstate 285. The western and eastern borders are little changed — basically Lake Forrest Drive on the west and Ga. 400 on the east — but eruv doesn’t extend as far south. The eruv had reached Interlochen Drive in Buckhead but now ends at West Wieuca.
An eruv is a virtual enclosure that makes a public space private, allowing items ranging from a prayer book to a tallit to a house key to be carried and baby carriages to be pushed without violating Shabbat observance. Congregation Beth Tefillah and The Kehilla are within in the eruv.
MACoM Hires Director
The community mikvah under construction beside Congregation B’nai Torah now has a director.
Abby Horowitz is the first executive director of the Metro Atlanta Community Mikvah, MACoM announced Monday, June 22. The Dartmouth College graduate has nonprofit experience with Cornell University Hillel, the Fine Arts Work Center and Emory University Campus Life.
She has a master’s in Jewish studies from Emory and a master’s in creative writing from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers. She grew up in Albany, N.Y., and lives in Decatur with husband Eli and children Gavi and Meir.
Full-Time Director for Women’s Fund
The Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta has announced that Rachel Wasserman will become the fund’s first full-time executive director July 1. The 34-year-old has served as the part-time director since 2012.
The decision to make Wasserman’s role full time reflects the three-year growth of the fund, which now has 86 female trustees and recently announced $100,000 in grants to eight Israeli and seven Atlanta organizations.
“Rachel is the consummate professional. She is strong, smart, positive and inspiring,” said the fund’s outgoing chairwoman, Ilene Engel. “JWFA is blessed to have Rachel guiding us. Our community is lucky to have Rachel as one of its shining stars.”
Wasserman, one of the Atlanta Jewish Times’ 40 Under 40 in 2014, is a Brown University graduate with master’s degrees from Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary.
“I am so appreciative to the trustees for giving me this chance to work with them on our collective mission, which fills my heart every day with so much pleasure and inspiration,” she said.
“Federation is excited to nurture this endeavor. We are pleased to see JWFA grow and instill philanthropic passion in addressing the needs of, and expanding opportunities for, Jewish women and girls in Atlanta and Israel, including at-risk populations and the leaders of tomorrow,” said Howard Feinsand, the chairman of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.
Or Hadash Director Resigns
Congregation Or Hadash Executive Director Bruce Warschoff has resigned, effective when the Sandy Springs synagogue hires a replacement, President Fred Wachter announced to the congregation June 10.
Warschoff has worked for Or Hadash for more than five years.
“Bruce’s passion, dedication and commitment to the Or Hadash community is reflective of his personality and has been a tremendous blessing for all of us who have had the opportunity to know and work with him,” Wachter wrote.
A search will be conducted for a new executive director.
Kaplan Honored for Disability Work
Atlantan Shelley Kaplan, a national advocate for inclusion of people with disabilities within the Jewish community, served as the honorary chair at the National ADA Symposium, which celebrated 25 years of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Kaplan, who has worked in the disability support field for 35 years, received the 2015 National Humanitarian Award at the event.
The symposium took place in Atlanta from May 10 to 13 and drew more than 900 people.
Last year Kaplan received the Guardian of Zion Award from the Jewish Educators Association of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
OVS Rededicates Chapel
Congregation Or VeShalom rededicated its renovated Rachel and David Maslia Chapel on Saturday, June 13.
The renovation occurred, synagogue President Scott Galanti said, because of “memorial donations received from the families of Rachel and David Maslia and many other OVS families, friends and acquaintances of Albert D. Maslia,” who died in April 2014 and was one of the sons of Rachel and David Maslia.
“Albert was the initial spark behind the chapel’s renovation, a plan that ultimately grew into a beautiful project,” Galanti said. “This renovation is a wonderful way to remember not only his parents, but Albert as well.”
Rabbi Hayyim Kassorla expressed gratitude to everyone involved in the project to create a beautiful and inspiring chapel.
“This is a tribute to my grandparents and other founding men and women who poured their hearts and souls into building our congregation,” said Elise Meyer, Albert Maslia’s daughter. “This is a beautiful space that our OVS community may enjoy for many years to come.”
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