a" I Something Extra

At The Federation Helm

David Gad-Harf, executive director of the Jewish
Community Council of Metropolitan Detrit, who
announced last month he was leaving his job to
relocate to the New York City area, has been hired
as associate vice president and chief operating officer
of the UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey,
headquartered in River Edge, N.J., in Bergen
County. He will be responsible for overseeing the
day-to-day management of the Federation and pro-
vide advice and support to Horward Charish,
Federation CEO. He starts Sept. 15.
"The Jewish community is much different, made
up of 90 towns, each with its own identity and cul-
ture, and each had its own UJA campaign," Gad-

Harf said. "It's poised to become a more important
factor in northern New Jersey. I'm happy once again
to have the opportunity to work in a local commu-
nity and build relationships with leaders and mem-
bers of that community and work towards strength-
ening and unifying it. I have a lot of experience to
bring to bear on this challenge, but I'll learn a lot,
too — about fund-raising and get more experience
in community building."
He and his wife, Nancy, leave in mid-July. They
will live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She
will be the regional director for the New York
Metropolitan Region of the American Technion
Society.

— Keri Guten Cohen, story development editor

Rabbi At
The Net

For the first time, a student at an
American rabbinical seminary will
be competing as an athlete at the
Maccabiah Games in Israel.
New Jersey native Isabel de
Koninck, who just completed her
first year as a rabbinical student at
the Reconstructionist Rabbinical
College in Pennsylvania, will be
playing on the U.S. volleyball
team. The games in Israel open
July 11.
In addition to playing, de
Koninck expects to assist the U.S.
team rabbi with Torah readings

Isabel de Koninck

%TN

7/ 7

2005

14

and a bar/bat mitzvah
ceremony for athletes
who choose to partici-
pate.
De Koninck has
played volleyball for
nine years, including
four years at Brandeis
University. She graduat-
ed in 2004 with a bache-
lor's degree in Near
Eastern and Judaic stud-
ies.
A defensive specialist,
de Koninck was
Brandeis co-captain as a
senior when the team
tied the school record
for wins and placed as
an ECAC runner-up.
The College Sports
Information Directors
Association named her
an NCAA District 1
Academic All-American.

Nancy and David Gad-Harf

Storyteller Sima Honored

Judy Sima of Southfield recently earned the 2005 North Central Regional
Leadership & Service Award from the National
Storytelling Network.
The awards are presented to individuals or organ-
izations that have made a significant contribution
to their local or regional storytelling community
and/or have used storytelling to make a significant
contribution to the larger community in which
they live.
Sima, a retired media specialist, is a leader in the
Detroit Story League. She has been the Tellabration
chair and chairwoman of the annual DSL story-
telling weekend. For more than 26 years, she pro-
moted the love and enjoyment for storytelling to
children at Chatterton Middle School. Sima also
organized and trained parent teller groups as well.
Through her work, she has helped foster and cultivate the next generation
of storytellers.
She also co-authored Raising Voices: Youth Storytelling Groups and Troupes,
a valuable manual for those interested in working with youth tellers. The
book was awarded the Anne Izard Storyteller's Choice Award in 2005.
Sima serves as the state liaison to the National Storytelling Network.

Yiddish Limericks

My standards have slipped," admits Bea.
"My boyfrierid falls short, I agree
A trombenick,* yes,
A kargen' I guess ...
But he's alleh mylehs*" by me!"

—Martha Jo Fleischmann

* bum
** cheapskate
*** all virtues

tO4 PLUM 'cha Don't Know

De Koninck practices her jump serve.

There is a Mother's Day in Israel, but it doesn't correspond to the spring
holiday that falls on a Sunday each year in the United States. It's someone's
birthday. Whose?

—Goldfein
•iozs -elaapuaH ‘1sIuoIz Apva uE jo iCeptp_ilq
alp Jo LTESIQATIME alp uo paluiciapo s! pan' u! AEG sialpoTAT Liamsu-v