Champions of local Jewish history

Marina Berkovich, JHSSWF President

You may have noticed that we have this relatively new, catchy tagline. Because we are very into our mission, which includes an ongoing celebration of contributions Jews made in Southwest Florida and the positive impact they made on the entire community, we like to garner as much support around it as we possibly can.

It is said, locally, that people give more charitable support to organizations helping children. Are there any children on the receiving end of our work? Let’s make that connection together by preserving local Jewish history for the younger generations, piece by piece, by creating a historical trail they will one day be proud to share with their own children. Thus, we will ensure the continuity of passage that generations prior to ours did not have.

In a recent interview, I was asked to comment on the very dark history of Southwest Florida as it relates to Jews, especially in Collier County and Naples. It is a fairly recent history, not even a half century old, and since JHSSWF was formed in 2010, we are on a mission to collect and maintain a positive record of Jewish accomplishments here. They are numerous and continue to accumulate faster than we can track them.

The best and most important achievement of them all, is a vibrant, thriving, friendly and growing Jewish community – a result of the work of individuals, organizations and federations, who spent the last three decades investing in this effort precisely because of that dark, very dark and very ugly past.

Our goal is never to erase the past – what happened, happened, and we have witnesses to testify to its veracity, anecdotally and substantively providing us with situations and dates of certain events. But we cannot, as a group of people, make ourselves victims of abuse, because that does not lead to a desired environment for adults and youth. We need to be proud of who we are at all times.

We are embraced by non-Jews when we proudly stand together, and with Israel, unapologetically practicing our faith and proudly teaching future generations the history of our local Jewish community, its interaction with the community at large, and its contributions of skill, knowledge, talent, resources and vision. This has helped our Jewish brethren in every corner of the earth.

Two Sunday brunch events

On Jan. 16, 2022, we will celebrate Florida Jewish History Month with our own steel magnolia, Mrs. Rosalee Bogo, whose determination and perseverance have brought Collier County/Greater Naples Jewish community into its current upward slope.

On Feb. 6, we partner with Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center to honor Mr. Jack Nortman and to raise matching funds for the FE and Jack Nortman Boxcar Education grant, so generously given by them.

Please save the dates for these two fabulous Sunday brunch events, buy tickets online or call us. There are many sponsorship and donor opportunities.

Become a member

Help us fulfill our mission of historical preservation and education. Family membership is $54, individual membership is $36 and student membership is $18.

Join us online by entering the appropriate amount or mail checks to The Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida, 8805 Tamiami Trail North, Suite #255, Naples, FL 34108 www.jhsswf.org; Virtual Museum of SWFL Jewish History http://jewish historysouthwestflorida.org/

The Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida is a section 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Contributions are deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.