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www.jvalley.org • JCN • May 2010
inside federation Steve Ellenberg to become Federation President
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“There was really a real sense of Jewish community in college and law school that I didn’t have in San Jose,” said Ellenberg. “I was a member of a fraternity that was largely Jewish at Berkeley and at Columbia Law School, I thought I was in schul there were so many kippot in the room. When Susan and I moved back to San Jose, we wanted to get that community experience we both had had in law school.”
ong-time Federation board member and Jewish community volunteer Steve Ellenberg will take the helm as president of the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley beginning July 1. He will succeed Dr. Steve Green who has served for the past two years.
Out of this desire for Jewish community, and a strong belief in the importance of giving back, Ellenberg and his wife Susan began volunteering in the Jewish community, with Federation, JCRC and AIPAC. Susan was previously the president of Yavneh Day School.
“Steve (Ellenberg) is an obvious choice and ideal person to take on this position. His family has Susan and Steve Ellenberg been extremely involved with Federation for generations, and Steve is a clear leader in the Jewish community,” said Federation CEO Jyl Jurman. Ellenberg’s family settled in San Jose in 1965 and immediately became involved in building Jewish community. Ellenberg’s parents, Maureen and Sandy Ellenberg, were early leaders in Federation. Sandy, who has passed away, served many years on the board and Maureen was the first president of Women’s Philanthropy. Ellenberg’s uncle, Al Sporer, served as president of the Federation and the family’s next-door neighbor and close family friend Al Frank, was also a Federation past president. “Amongst those three, my parents, my aunt and uncle and the Franks, I got a very strong grounding in the importance of community and the importance of political activism on behalf of Israel,” said Ellenberg. “There were always a lot of conversations about Israel and Jewish community, and particularly at Shabbat dinners. I always listened and participated in conversations.” Steve Ellenberg’s own volunteerism as an adult began in college. He participated in phone-a-thon fundraising for Federation while in undergraduate school at U.C. Berkeley and was involved in many Jewish programs both at Berkeley and
Updates on Women's Philanthropy By Arielle Hendel In March, Women’s Philanthropy (WP) held Connections under the chair, Marcia Klein. The audience was enthralled by speaker and comic strip author, Hilary Price. Price pens syndicated cartoon, Rhymes with Orange. Along with her candid life story, Hilary led the audience in an exercise leaving all attendees with a hand-drawn cartoon. Please look for some of these cartoons (page 38) and enter your own caption on line at www.jvalley.org. Her visit to our community also inspired Price in her cartoons. You can see the influence of community members on April 1st and 2nd in the comic strip. In June, the Women’s Philanthropy will be holding its installation for the 2010-11 Board. In preparation, the Nominations Committee, headed by past WP President, Linda Fox Mighdoll has been recruiting new board members and bidding adieu to board members whose term limits have expired. The vote is still outstanding, but we know that Susie Brenner will be stepping down as WP President. Her leadership this year was inspiring. Susie’s enthusiasm for every woman and each program was evident. We thank you Susie for your warmth, gusto and energy.
later in law school at Columbia.
Ellenberg has served a total of 12 years as a Federation board member, and is now in line to accept the largest volunteer leadership position of president. Ellenberg admits the role of president will require tremendous time and energy, amidst his other life commitments as a lawyer, husband and father of three children, Zachary, Molly and Naava. Nonetheless, Ellenberg thinks he drew the long straw. “I feel very fortunate to be in a position to serve the community,” Ellenberg said. “My parents always emphasized the importance of both giving and doing Tzedekah.” Adds Ellenberg: “I am grateful to have the opportunity to do my part to sustain Jewish community life in San Jose and throughout the world. That is very satisfying.” As president, Ellenberg will help shape Federation’s focus and direction going forward. He describes his three major goals as raising the profile of the Jewish community within the general community, encouraging more “Jewish giving” and becoming more innovative on who the Federation reaches and supports through allocations. Other community members will take on new leadership roles beginning in July, too. Jeff Kanel will take over as Campaign Chair, a position previously filled by incoming president Steve Ellenberg. Ginny Baird will take over as Women’s Philanthropy president, previously occupied by Susie Brenner.
A word from the CEO By Jyl Jurman On Sunday, May 9th, our community celebrated Israel’s 62nd birthday. It was great to see our community come together to observe this milestone. While we are thousands of miles away, it is important that we maintain our strong ties to our Jewish homeland. In recent years, it has become apparent to me that our relationship with Israel has changed dramatically. As Israel’s economy strengthens and technology closes the physical distance between our countries, we need to see Israel in a slightly different light. In the past, we were Israel’s benefactors. We, American Jews, chose public works projects and social services programs to support based on our overarching sense of good and justice. We followed excellent, long standing traditions of charity by providing much needed funding to a growing nascent country. We acted as parents nurturing a small child. In its 62 years, Israel has matured through many military and political trials. Her leaders are no longer the chalutzniks (pioneers) looking to just build a country’s infrastructure and managing the assimilation of immigrants. While turning the dessert into a home, Israelis have become worldwide leaders in agriculture, health care and technology. These successes do not negate the country’s need of our support. Israelis have become our partners in this endeavor. We need a strong, vibrant Israel so that we can live in the Diaspora and Israel needs a strong Diaspora community to support it. Our partnership in this endeavor is key to our Jewish survival. Here at the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley, we work with our Israeli counterparts to ascertain, discuss and direct funding to social services projects. For example, we work with our sister city Kiryat Malachi through a Jewish Agency program called Partnership 2000 (P2K) to ascertain the needs of the community and direct funding. It is incumbent upon us to listen to our counterparts in Israel with whom we have relationships to assist where funds are most needed. If you would like to join our efforts in keeping Israelis educated, safe, healthy, fed and clothed, please consider a donation to the Federation’s Annual Campaign. Your gift makes a difference because of our relationship and the transparency of our transactions.