When you first meet Jack Stromfeld, he seems like every other nice, Jewish South Florida retiree. But once he starts to talk about his passion, the uniqueness of his commitment to a distant Israeli organization shines through.
At almost 91, this affable gentleman is the US director for the Pardess Hanna-based children's village, Neveh Michael. Despite working a full-time schedule, both night and day, that would tire out a much younger man, he has never wavered in his commitment to help sustain his beloved cause. He can usually be found in his retirement community, in the home he shares with Charlotte, his wife of almost 60 years, working almost round the clock, answering phone calls and at his "mail station" which is only for e-mails. He does not have a regular computer or know how to use the Internet.
Established to provide a safe haven for at-risk children who cannot live in their own homes, Neveh Michael provides several hundred children with education, food, shelter, clothing and loving attention. Some of them have been removed from their homes by social workers due to harsh home environments or abuse. Many arrive as young as five and some remain until they are 18. Neveh Michael is under the umbrella of Emunah, a religious women's organization.
In 1991, Stromfeld came here during the first Gulf War to lead a group of Volunteers for Israel. He had occasion to wander south from his Haifa assignment to Pardess Hanna, where a Florida neighbor had asked him to deliver a package for a child she was sponsoring at Neveh Michael.
Little did Stromfeld know that a favor for a friend would lead to an intense, 17-year volunteer commitment and an attachment to an organization with which he had no previous association.
Most people would have walked away. But when public relations director Esther Rubenstein showed him around and invited him to lunch with the 200 resident children and staff, he fell in love. When Rubenstein asked if he could try something that had not been previously done in America and go home to recruit sponsors and donations for the village, he was hooked.
"To tell the truth, it was very simple; like everything I've ever done," Stromfeld says. "While I was in Israel, I was very impressed with the many Israelis whom I met and the visit to Neveh Michael Children's Village capped it all off. Meeting such an exuberant person like Mrs. Esther Rubenstein inspired me, so I knew I had to try to help in some small way. My wife, Charlotte, agreed and I was off on another long project which started at age 74."
With a previous career in the dress business behind him, fund-raising was not a familiar activity and it was not going to be easy to raise significant money for Neveh Michael. But after having connections to Israeli charities for 40 years, his instincts directed him to first look to family and friends. After convincing family members to take individual sponsorships of $250 per child, he expanded to his doctors, accountants and other friends.
When dead ends began to appear, Stromfeld was not deterred. He literally took to the streets, establishing new relationships with local synagogues, organizations and schools and recruiting others to help him spread the word about Neveh Michael and sign up sponsors. He was tireless in his efforts.
Along the way, other angels offered up their help, inspired by Stromfeld's selflessness. Out of nowhere, a gentleman in South Carolina heard about Stromfeld's efforts and called to offer his assistance.
"This wonderful Jewish teacher, Mike Epstein, from a small town in South Carolina, population 2,000, called and asked why I didn't develop a Web site," says Stromfeld. "Since I was 'computer ignorant,' I asked, 'What's a Web site?' So he said he would develop something and put it on the Internet for free."
Even with the relatively crude, homemade site, hundreds more sponsors started rolling in from around the country. Today, Stromfeld has about 750 individual sponsors all over the US and even a few in Europe who help him raise about $300,000 annually to help support the children of Neveh Michael.
To other Jewish and Israeli organizations, this amount may not seem like much at all, but it has gone to very good use and often very distinct purposes. Stromfeld has also had some successes on additional projects to support his beloved children's village.
After being designated as a critical need following the Second Lebanon War, the Neveh Michael US Board of Directors decided it needed to raise additional money. Stromfeld approached the Jewish Federation of Broward County which allocated $52,000. A brand-new bomb shelter is under construction at Neveh Michael.
Additionally, after much prodding from some of his donors, Stromfeld took on another project raising extra money to provide English lessons for the children ages five through nine. To date he has raised an additional $20,000 toward bringing in English teachers.
His last and most recent interest was actually presented by the Israeli government which is interested in using Neveh Michael to establish the first crisis center exclusively for girls who have been on drugs or alcohol or are pregnant. The government said that if Neveh Michael would initiate the program, the government would fund it. To date, no funds have been earmarked for this project, but Stromfeld is already exploring options on how to help get the ball rolling.
At an age when most of his friends are enjoying their golden years, Stromfeld is finally thinking of retiring. But, this is not the first time he has considered a life of leisure. "I tried to retire three times. God told me I needed to work a little longer. Maybe this time will be different," he says.
Stromfeld knows that finding a replacement will not be easy and that most likely he will need to pay someone to take on his previously volunteer role. However, in today's world, finding someone to fill Jack Stromfeld's very large and loving shoes will not be an easy task at all.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
A Fighting Chance - May 2008
After spending a good part of my adult life in Israel, it took getting attuned to south Florida life, before I first experienced the world of Israeli self defense, Krav Maga.
Living in Jerusalem in the 1990’s, my husband, who has a background in Krav Maga, taught me to increase personal awareness of my surroundings, especially in the wake of the Baka knifing attacks in the early 90’s. But beyond that, I never worried or thought even remotely seriously about the need for any sort of self-defense training.
Then I got to Florida. In the eight years since we have been here, the increase in shootings, rapes, home invasions and an assortment of other crimes has only gone up. The papers are filled daily with horrific stories. Fortunately I have never personally experienced anything, but some of our friends have. One of those friends includes a woman who works as a local bank branch manager. Her bank was robbed during the day only a few weeks ago.
Just this past December, a brutal robbery and murder of a mother and her eight-year-old daughter took place in the parking lot of an upscale shopping mall in Boca Raton. Many, many people were horrified by this terrible crime. The police have yet to catch the perpetrator.
One person chose to do something about it.
A friend of mine, local radio talk-show hostess Joyce Kaufman, is an extremely vocal advocate for many causes, including some that generate much controversy. A gun-toting advocate of the American second amendment, she is also passionate about reigning in illegal immigration to this country and the lack of media responsibility to the viewing, reading and listening public. And those are just a few of her causes.
Joyce decided she needed to personally lower the statistics of rape and murder among Florida women. Working with her station, she arranged for a free women’s Krav Maga workshop for anyone wanting to attend. As Joyce said, it was going to be her Mother’s Day gift to anyone wanting to learn how to defend themselves. And as she said, hopefully she would be giving the gift of life to mothers and their daughters by helping to potentially reduce the horrific homicide statistics in our region.
I love when Joyce takes on new causes. So I signed up for the workshop and dragged my somewhat reluctant bank manager friend along too. Many of Joyce listeners had signed up to come and only about 30 had the guts to show up. The women ranged in age from older teens to grandmothers in their 60’s and 70’s. Those of us that did attend were in for a real treat.
Not quite knowing what to expect, all of us in attendance were fairly timid participants to start. But after watching some examples of the head instructor and his trainers and students (including Joyce), we were all pulled into warm ups and learning basic moves on getting out of some potentially sticky situations.
By the time the seminar finished, I don’t think there was a timid person left. Even the grannies were throwing well placed elbows to the trainers’ necks and kicks to their groins (Yes, making contact. No faking here!). I think just about everyone left with a newfound confidence. And while we only learned a smidgen of how to protect ourselves, we were definitely better “armed” compared to before the workshop.
When I got home, even my husband was impressed with my enthusiasm and how much I learned in such a short amount of time. And I am hoping to sign up for some more sessions to not only solidify the basics of what I have already been taught but also to learn more.
Florida living has some nice, laid back bits and pieces. But the growing crime statistics have been a real eye opener. I have also become a lot more accustomed to knowing people, like my friend Joyce, who believe firmly in the need to not only be trained physically in self-defense arts like Krav Maga, but also to be armed and ready to defend themselves in that way, should the need ever arise.
In his adult years in England, my husband owned a gun and regularly went target shooting. All the years we lived in Israel, I refused to let him bring a gun into our home. He also doesn’t own one here in Florida. But when he went back to target shooting recently with a friend who owns guns, I did give in and allow him to take our very interested 13 year-old-son with him. When I told one of my close friends in Israel, she was shocked. For good reason too. I was always a peace-loving, sort-of hippie. In the old days I would have never considered saying yes to something like that, especially if it involved my children.
Why did I change? Who knows. I guess all the reality surrounding me, finally kicked in. Here’s an ironic thought: perhaps I could be the perfect advocate encouraging misinformed Americans afraid to travel to Israel because of what they hear from the media. Maybe they should come hear about recent Florida living instead!
Living in Jerusalem in the 1990’s, my husband, who has a background in Krav Maga, taught me to increase personal awareness of my surroundings, especially in the wake of the Baka knifing attacks in the early 90’s. But beyond that, I never worried or thought even remotely seriously about the need for any sort of self-defense training.
Then I got to Florida. In the eight years since we have been here, the increase in shootings, rapes, home invasions and an assortment of other crimes has only gone up. The papers are filled daily with horrific stories. Fortunately I have never personally experienced anything, but some of our friends have. One of those friends includes a woman who works as a local bank branch manager. Her bank was robbed during the day only a few weeks ago.
Just this past December, a brutal robbery and murder of a mother and her eight-year-old daughter took place in the parking lot of an upscale shopping mall in Boca Raton. Many, many people were horrified by this terrible crime. The police have yet to catch the perpetrator.
One person chose to do something about it.
A friend of mine, local radio talk-show hostess Joyce Kaufman, is an extremely vocal advocate for many causes, including some that generate much controversy. A gun-toting advocate of the American second amendment, she is also passionate about reigning in illegal immigration to this country and the lack of media responsibility to the viewing, reading and listening public. And those are just a few of her causes.
Joyce decided she needed to personally lower the statistics of rape and murder among Florida women. Working with her station, she arranged for a free women’s Krav Maga workshop for anyone wanting to attend. As Joyce said, it was going to be her Mother’s Day gift to anyone wanting to learn how to defend themselves. And as she said, hopefully she would be giving the gift of life to mothers and their daughters by helping to potentially reduce the horrific homicide statistics in our region.
I love when Joyce takes on new causes. So I signed up for the workshop and dragged my somewhat reluctant bank manager friend along too. Many of Joyce listeners had signed up to come and only about 30 had the guts to show up. The women ranged in age from older teens to grandmothers in their 60’s and 70’s. Those of us that did attend were in for a real treat.
Not quite knowing what to expect, all of us in attendance were fairly timid participants to start. But after watching some examples of the head instructor and his trainers and students (including Joyce), we were all pulled into warm ups and learning basic moves on getting out of some potentially sticky situations.
By the time the seminar finished, I don’t think there was a timid person left. Even the grannies were throwing well placed elbows to the trainers’ necks and kicks to their groins (Yes, making contact. No faking here!). I think just about everyone left with a newfound confidence. And while we only learned a smidgen of how to protect ourselves, we were definitely better “armed” compared to before the workshop.
When I got home, even my husband was impressed with my enthusiasm and how much I learned in such a short amount of time. And I am hoping to sign up for some more sessions to not only solidify the basics of what I have already been taught but also to learn more.
Florida living has some nice, laid back bits and pieces. But the growing crime statistics have been a real eye opener. I have also become a lot more accustomed to knowing people, like my friend Joyce, who believe firmly in the need to not only be trained physically in self-defense arts like Krav Maga, but also to be armed and ready to defend themselves in that way, should the need ever arise.
In his adult years in England, my husband owned a gun and regularly went target shooting. All the years we lived in Israel, I refused to let him bring a gun into our home. He also doesn’t own one here in Florida. But when he went back to target shooting recently with a friend who owns guns, I did give in and allow him to take our very interested 13 year-old-son with him. When I told one of my close friends in Israel, she was shocked. For good reason too. I was always a peace-loving, sort-of hippie. In the old days I would have never considered saying yes to something like that, especially if it involved my children.
Why did I change? Who knows. I guess all the reality surrounding me, finally kicked in. Here’s an ironic thought: perhaps I could be the perfect advocate encouraging misinformed Americans afraid to travel to Israel because of what they hear from the media. Maybe they should come hear about recent Florida living instead!
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