|
The South Florida Shomrim
Society
In 1984, the South Florida Shomrim Society was
formed to satisfy the needs of the Jewish Law Enforcement Officers and
support personnel in Miami-Dade County. With only a handful of
members, the originators slowly made progress in recruiting new members.
The dream of an expanded membership was realized in the early 1990's
when there were over 100 members. From 1985 to late 1999, the
Chapter's President was Robert Singer. He, along with Chairman of
the Board of Directors Irving "Red" Heller, forged ahead with
establishing the legitimacy of the Chapter. Bob worked tirelessly
with only a few others and limited technology to get the word out and
keep the organization directed toward helping Jewish causes. Under
his leadership, the first Dinner Dance was held, scholarships handed
out, and many Jewish charities were supported with both donations and
physical labor. In November 2002, because of his
unselfishness for all those years, he was named the South Florida
Shomrim Society's Person of the Year by the Chapter's Executive Board.
Late in 1999, Bob Singer handed
off the leadership of the Chapter to Steve Leibowitz. Building on
the foundation that was handed to him and using technology not available
in the Chapter's beginning, membership is now at 200 with many living in
Broward County, Palm Beach County, Monroe County, Collier County and a
couple in Lee County. There are also members who live in Israel,
New York and California.
The Chapter gives to more than
25 charities each year. With the expanded membership and other
fund raising projects, the donations to the Chapter have dramatically
increased and with it, so has the amount given away. The South
Florida Shomrim Society Scholarship Award is up to five awards, from the
one just five years ago.
The Annual Dinner Dance and
Awards ceremony is held each year on the day before the Veteran's Day
celebration . For many years
this event went unscheduled. Now it draws between 300 and 400
people. The free, Kosher Picnic (fondly referred to as "Machn A
Piknik" is held each April and it, too, draws between 300 and 400
attendees.
South Florida Shomrim has
played host to the National Conference of Shomrim Societies Convention
from 1999 through 2004. They added an educational seminar series that has been
sponsored by the Miami-Dade Police Department and certified as an
approved training course by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Starting in 2006 they began to host the International Association of Jewish
Public Service Employees Conference. Speakers from all over the country
address the law enforcement officers and Shomrim members gathered for
this educational and fraternal experience.
The continuous revitalization of this Chapter is
ongoing. Barry Mankes re-wrote the Constitution and By-laws to
reflect the more modern make up of the Chapter. In October 2004,
the first "forced election" was held (term limits were installed
in the new Constitution). The new President, Gregg Glasel, vowed to continue the direction of growth and charity that he inherited.
His Executive Vice President, Barry Mankes, continued to review the
rules by which the Chapter operated. The mix of officers
represented of the diverse membership. The 1st Vice President, Mike
Bentolila, worked for a municipal police Department (Aventura PD); the
2nd Vice President, Lou Bornstein, was a retiree from Massachusetts; and
the 3rd Vice President, Michelle Sabag, was a firefighter with the
Miami-Dade County Fire Department. The Officers
revamped their Board of Directors and it was comprised of people that
have put an effort into the growing reputation of the Chapter. The
election of 2006 saw the advancement of some to higher positions and the
continual diversification of the officers and members of the Board for
Directors. Barry Mankes took over the reins as Chapter President;
Mike Betolila moved up to Executive Vice-President; Mindy Sue Gross
(Dade County School Board Police) was elected to the 1st Vice-President
spot; Lou Bornstein stayed as 2nd Vice-President; and Jorge Ghitis
(Mimai-Dade Policed Department) was elected as 3rd Vice-President.
The Board of Directors is made up of both law enforcement personnel and
business leaders in both the local community and organizations for
Jewish causes.
The South Florida Shomrim Society was born from
the need to have a place for Jewish law enforcement officers to turn.
It represents the dreams of those that forged it and now sets standards
that future fraternal Jewish law enforcement chapters will strive to
match.
THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF JEWISH PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES
Born out of the need to unite all Jewish Public
Service Employees in a fraternal organization, this project began to
take shape in 2004. There were organizations that encompassed
members of police departments only; fire departments only; or other
specialized groups; but none were all inclusive. As Jews, we
fought for many years for inclusion and equality. The fight for
equality in the public service sector continues and the voice of the
IAJPSE will represent the needs of its members. The charter
members of this parent organization have members in foreign countries,
as well, thus the international inclusion.
Shalom:
As the founding Board
of Directors of the International Association of Jewish Public Service
Employees (IAJPSE) welcome to our Web Page outlining our Goals and
Objectives. We intend to be an organization whose charter is dependent
upon the membership for guidance, therefore, responsive to the
membership.
In order to be an
“Organization of Inclusion” we believe it is imperative to establish and
maintain open lines of communication. There is no longer a need to have
an office with walls. The 21st century has provided us with
the means of communication that make a permanent home office site
unnecessary. Historically, permanent home office sites have mandated
staffing, hard-wired telephone lines, files of paperwork, and much
more. The main problem of the permanent home office is that it lacked
portability, so control of the space was geographically accessible to a
limited number of people or groups. This limited access creates a
situation where members experience a feeling of being ostracized and a
lack of empowerment by not being near the office and their lack of
ability to be active in the operation of the organization. The IAJPSE
will have a virtual office accessible to all its members; thereby
eliminating theses counter productive negative forces.
We perceive the needs
of Jewish Public Service Employees divided into several categories:
Education, Representation, and Support. The IAJPSE intends to address
each of these three concerns through a networking system involving the
leadership of its member organizations.
EDUCATION:
Since our objective
is not one of religious education (that is left to the individual person
or their families), rather we are concentrating on the goal of providing
educational seminars on current topics of interest to our members. The
entire Board of Directors will be able to select appropriate topics of
discussion; attain qualified presenters; monitor attendance; provide
comfortable venues; and create an atmosphere conducive to the sharing of
information on relevant subjects. As trends change, so must the
direction of the educational services we provide.
REPRESENTATION:
Individuals have
difficulty in being heard in large organizations. Although our
concentration is on fairness to all persons regardless of race,
religion, ethnicity, or any other trait that would differentiate them
from the rest of the organization, our emphasis will be on assisting
those members that require an outside influence to help them be heard.
The adage “There is strength in numbers” is only applicable if there is
a person or group will to take the time to let others know that they
represent a large number of people and have a pertinent message to
deliver. The objective is equality, not superiority.
SUPPORT:
At times there are
Public Service agencies that do not conduct themselves in a
non-religious manner, thus polarizing a particular group or making them
uncomfortable. These agencies perform out of habit or indifference to
individuals. Bringing to the surface the inappropriateness of mixing
publicly funded meetings with specific religious overtones or acceptance
of inappropriate behavior is a goal we have set for ourselves. The goal
is to unify, not separate. Support shall be given to those that merit
assistance. We shall all strive to support and defend the Constitution
of the United States and traditional Jewish ethics and traditions.
The Board of
Directors of the IAJPSE is set up as and intends to act as a group of
managing partners – managing the direction and future endeavors of a
conglomerate of groups and individuals with similar goals and
objectives. We will seek to become better as a whole, not as
individuals.
JEWISH PUBLIC SERVICE
HISTORY
The first Jewish police officer in North America was Asser Levy.
He was a Portuguese Jew who lived in Recife, then the capital of Dutch
Brazil. Many Portuguese Jews fled the Inquisition of Spain and
Portugal by moving to the then Portuguese colony of Brazil. Others
fled to Protestant Holland where Jews were allowed to openly practice
their faith. When the Dutch conquered several areas of Brazil in
1620, they were warmly welcomed by the Jews who had been forced to live
as Conversos by the Catholic Church. Thirty-four years later, when
the Portuguese re-conquered Brazil, and re-introduced the Inquisition,
the Jews were severely persecuted and large numbers were killed for the
assistance they rendered to Holland during the wars. The Jewish
community of Recife, 5000 strong, fell apart and scattered. Some
returned to Holland, others lived as best they could as Conversos and
many abandoned all and fled to nearby Caribbean islands. A small
number took a ship to the Dutch colony in North America, New Amsterdam.
Twenty-three of them arrived there, penniless, in September of 1654.
One was Asser Levy.
He and his co-religionists were denied Dutch citizenship in the colony.
Levy was also denied the privilege to serve in the Burgher Guard, a
volunteer type of community militia (and was therefore taxed to pay for
his protection). Jews had been living in Holland since 1492 and
had prospered. Despite some restrictions, the Jews received far
more liberal treatment from the Dutch that found in other European
countries. By 1654 many Dutch Jews, originally from Portugal, were
investors in the Dutch West India Company (sponsors of the investment
colony of New Amsterdam) and influential members of the community of
Amsterdam. Peter Stuyvesant, governor of the colony, met their
resistance when he tried to deny admittance to the twenty-three
Portuguese Jews fleeing from Recife, among them Asser Levy. In
Stuyvesant’s letter to the Company he prayed that the deceitful race,
such hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ, be not
allowed to further infect and trouble this new colony. The
Dutch West India Company overruled their governor and allowed the Jews
to remain provided the poor among them shall not become a burden to
the Company or to the community, but be supported by their own nation.
Once Levy and the others were allowed to remain, Levy fought all
restrictions placed upon him. In 1655 he petitioned the town
council to join the Burgher Guard and be permitted to keep guard with
the other burghers. His petition was denied and Levy was told he
was free to depart whenever and wither it pleases him. But
Levy also appealed this ruling to the Company’s directors in Amsterdam,
who again sided with the wishes of Holland’s powerful Jewish community
who supported the Jewish colonists. Thus Asser Levy, became the
first Jewish watchman in New Amsterdam, winning the privilege of manning
the stockades along Wall Street against Indian attacks. (In later
years, the only attacks on Wall Street his descendants would fear, were
from bulls, bears and the SEC!) Finally in 1657, Asser Levy
petitioned for another right. According to the official court
record:
Asser Levy, a Jew, appears in Court; requests to be admitted a Burgher
(citizen); claims that such ought not be refused him as he keeps watch
and ward like Burghers and showing Burgher certificates from the city of
Amsterdam that Jews are Burghers there.
On April 21, 1657, New Amsterdam’s first Jewish watchman (and our first
Shomer) became its first Jewish citizen. Twenty years later
Citizen Levy was given a license to operate a kosher butcher shop.
Before his death in 1681, in what was then New York, Asser Levy, who
began his new life as a laborer and part time Shomer, became a tavern
keeper, a real estate investor, trader and civic leader. It wasn’t
until 1728 that the British permitted the first synagogue to be built in
New York. Prior thereto, the houses of public worship allowed were
for those that profess the faith of Christ. That first synagogue
was built on South William Street (later known as Jews’ Alley) and for
the first time the Jews of New York could publicly worship their faith.
|
IAJPSE