Upcoming Events
Wednesday, May 26
7 p.m.
JFS Board of Directors Meeting ~
Contact alan@jfsoc.org
for information.
Sunday, June 6
12 noon
Ezra Center Gala ~
Honoring Terri Moses of JFS
and Sylvia Oster.
Entire community and
especially all past and
current JFS volunteers
encouraged to attend!
Contact ezra2005@juno.com
for information.
Volunteers Needed
- A Photoshop Wizard
for digitally enhancing old photographs
of Holocaust survivors.
To help, contact
Terri at:
terrimoses@verizon.com
- Volunteer Drivers for JFS Silver Streak
Transportation
Program
to drive seniors throughout O.C.
To help, contact Marcia at:
marcia@jfsoc.org
-
Assist Holocaust survivors with reparations paperwork
Contact cally@jfsoc.org or marcia@jfsoc.org
to help.
Mensch of
the Month
Marianne Dazzo
At age seven, Marianne Dazzo was put into hiding during what would later be known as the darkest era in history, the Holocaust. By age 10, when the war was over, her family was reunited. She was so grateful to learn that her mom and only sibling, who also hid separately, were still alive. Her father, who was in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, thankfully survived as well. Yet she says 80 percent (104,000) of the other Jews in Holland weren’t so blessed. As a result, she dedicates many volunteer hours, since retirement, to JFS to help survivors and the families of Holocaust victims.
She serves on the JFS Advisory Committee that reviews requests by Holocaust survivors for Emergency Funds from the Claims Conference. She also has helped many survivors complete forms requesting restitution assistance from various funds. As part of the process, survivors need to recount their story, in writing. Marianne tenderly helps each survivor through this difficult process. She is usually set up at the JFS satellite office at Temple Judea and sees people by appointment.
A researcher by nature, she is committed to searching every funding source possible to help as many survivors as possible. Prior to the creation of the Advisory Committee, some two decades ago, Marianne volunteered when JFS’s primary service was helping refugees. She has also organized and leads a child survivor group that meets monthly. This year she is especially busy telling her story to students and children at Chapman University and many other organizations.
CLICK HERE to read remainder of story.
The Chai-Light-er Side
“Look at Jewish history. Unrelieved lamenting would be intolerable. So, for every ten Jews beating their breasts, God designated one to be crazy and amuse the breast beaters. By the time I was five I knew I was that one.” - Mel Brooks
Needed: Sponsors
for E-News Editions
If you'd like to sponsor
a JFS E-news, contact alan@jfsoc.org.
Thank You!
Next Focus:
COMMUNITY CONNECTION
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JFS E-News Focus:
Holocaust Survivors
What's New!
JFS has begun a new bereavement support group for those struggling with a recent loss. The group meets at Laguna Woods Village and is available to the Reform Congregation membership. Contact cally@jfsoc.org for more information.
JFS has begun a new “Moving On” support group for the Meadows mobile home park residents in Irvine. The group will focus on the changes that come with aging. Contact cally@jfsoc.org for more information.
At our April 22nd Volunteer Driver Training, the JFS Silver Streak staff welcomed 11 new volunteer drivers into the program and featured several current volunteer drivers who shared touching testimonials about their experiences. Many new drivers were from Temple Beth El which is ready to launch a Silver Streak Mobility Club at its temple so that senior members can attend services and stay connected to the community.
JFS Silver Streak Transportation Program for older
adults trains a wonderful group of volunteer drivers.
Did you know?
- It is estimated that there are between 150,000 and 600,000 Holocaust survivors worldwide
- Of those, we estimate almost 400 live in Orange County
- Although the number of survivors decreases each year, their health care and social
service needs are dramatically INCREASING because of the effects of aging
- Holocaust survivors are at particularly high risk for dementia, dental problems, and
hypertension because of deprivation they suffered during the Holocaust
- One study found that the rate of attempted suicide among survivors is about three times
the rate for similarly aged adults with no World War II experience
JFS is the first responder for Holocaust Survivors and their families.
The Impact & How JFS Responds
The most deserving of our neighbors, survivors of the Shoah and their families, still number in the hundreds here in Orange County and we think about them daily. Most are now between 80 and 90 years of age, and are facing enormous challenges related to aging. Many health problems related to aging are compounded in Holocaust survivors because of prolonged malnutrition, suffering, loss and deprivation during the Holocaust.
JFS wants to make sure that no Holocaust survivor in Orange County has to face these challenges alone.
Thanks to the generous support of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, more familiarly known as “the Claims Conference”, JFS is able to identify Holocaust survivors in need of assistance and provide them with the support they need so they can live safely and independently at home. For some, this includes the provision of home care, for others it includes housekeeping or help navigating the healthcare system.
Many survivors have severe financial limitations, and are literally having to make the choice between buying their medicine or food, or paying the rent. Fortunately, we at JFS are able to connect them to emergency financial aid for basic needs such as food and shelter, as well as help them apply for restitution assistance that will pay for many basic needs.
In every case, our staff and our skilled volunteers are in constant contact with the survivor ensuring that support is available when it is needed. We view this work as both a privilege and a moral obligation, one that we share with the entire Jewish community, particularly during these extraordinarily challenging times.
JFS RELATED SERVICES:
Café Europa / A Labor of Love: Because one of the key components to good mental health is a strong network of social connections, JFS sponsors a monthly social program called Café Europa. At each Café Europa OC gathering, between 80 and 160 survivors and their family members gather to relax with friends, listen to Jewish music, enjoy refreshments, hear lectures on Jewish topics, sing and even dance.
Café Europa has truly been a community labor of love. Congregation Shir Ha-Ma’alot was the first temple to sponsor Café Europa events and has hosted two Café Europa Luncheons per year at its temple in Irvine for many years. Temple Judea in Laguna Woods has graciously offered its social hall for six Café Europa gatherings per year and Temple Beth Tikvah has offered its space for North County gatherings. We thank each temple for its generosity, hospitality, and good will.
Getting Out and About: Because of our senior transportation program, we are able to bring Holocaust survivors on excursions that increase their contacts and connections to the Jewish Community. So far this year, we brought 28 survivors to the Holocaust Remembrance at Chapman University and 25 to the lively Israel Expo celebration.
In the past year, JFS has touched the lives of more than 200 survivors through these programs. We are committed to continuing our work to improve their lives.
“The tears of joy I experience at the JFS Café Europa help me deal with the tears of sadness I shed during and since the Holocaust.”
~ Holocaust Survivor
Chai Five Ways
TO REMEMBER
THE HOLOCAUST
- If you know someone who is a Holocaust survivor, take time to write them a note to share what an inspiration they are to you. Or tell them verbally.
- If your family has relatives who perished in the Holocaust, ask their living ancestors to share their loving stories about them...and then emulate their wonderful qualities in your own life as you keep their spirit alive.
- Read the Diary of Anne Frank
- Next time you realize you are taking life for granted, pause to think about those who perished in the Holocaust. Embrace life...every moment of it.
- Remember to never forget...the Holocaust. And, celebrate the survival of the Jewish people.
Thoughts from JFS's CEO...
The fabulous Israel Expo organized and hosted by the Jewish Federation recently was truly a cause for Jewish celebration here in Orange County. The joyous expressions on the faces of the thousands of attendees were evidence of the pride of this community and its growing awareness of itself and its many, many precious individuals, organizations, and institutions. It was also evidence that those behind the Holocaust did not succeed in their ultimate goal, despite many precious lives lost, as there is a thriving Jewish community in Orange County and throughout the world.
As mentioned, Orange County is home to several hundred survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. Although the numbers of survivors in our County decrease each year, the needs have increased tremendously as survivors experience health and mental health issues related to aging. For this reason, you’ll be comforted to know that JFS has dramatically increased its emphasis on giving survivors the support they need to “age in place” successfully. Holocaust survivors have truly endured the unimaginable and deserve our special attention and caring. We at JFS are proud to be able to serve them.
~ Alan Zamosky, CEO
Social services for Nazi Victims have been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
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