What's New?
Dothan's First-Ever Interfaith Thanksgiving Service
On Sunday evening November 23, Dothan’s First United Methodist Church hosted the city’s first-ever Interfaith Thanksgiving Service. The faith community’s congregations participating in the service included: Buddhist, Presbyterian, United Methodist, Catholic, Jewish, Lutheran, Muslim, and the Spiritual Enrichment Center.
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Panama City Congregation's Religious School Visits Dothan
On Sunday November 16, the students and teachers from Temple B’nai Israel of Panama City spent the day at Dothan’s Temple Emanu-El.
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Temple Annual Bill Nomberg Memorial Hadassah Auction
On Sunday night November 2, Temple Emanu-El hosted the annual Hadassah goods and services auction benefiting both Hadassah and the congregation.
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About Us
Blumberg Family Jewish Community Services (the "JCS")
JCS was formed during the fall of 2007 as a separate entity operating under the auspices of Dothan's Temple Emanu-El. We operate much like a typical congregation's Sisterhood or Brotherhood. That is to say, the JCS has its own dedicated resources, officers, and executive director. Oversight is provided by the JCS Managing Committee, a group of six prominent local Jewish community leaders, who set overall vision and strategic direction.
Jewish Community Services executive director, Robert J. Goldsmith, is responsible for planning, organizing, and directing our operations. In carrying-out these duties and responsibilities, the executive director is required to act with the highest standards of personal and professional ethics and honesty to help ensure that JCS operations comply with its mission, purpose and policies as well as the applicable governmental laws and regulations.
Respecting our Mission, the purpose of Blumberg Family Jewish Community Services is to:
- provide relief to distressed members of our Jewish community in the form of emergency financial support (serving the role of larger communities' Jewish Family Services, if you will) and
- advance the Jewish religion in Dothan
Our initiative to advance Dothan's Jewish Community is named the Family Relocation Project.
The Family Relocation Project is truly distinctive, compared to dozens of similar activities nationwide. Dothan's project has been carefully designed to answer your questions/concerns, be your community connection, and help you afford your move to join our community. JCS stands ready to be your community resource (Dothan's "Jewish Welcome Wagon") and provide significant relocation financial assistance up to $50,000.
Family Relocation Project
Jewish Family Service's bold objective is to relocate at least twenty families to Dothan, Alabama during the time period January 2008 to December 2012.
Achieving this objective will truly advance the Jewish religion in Dothan by significantly increasing Temple Emanu-El's membership and will be a cause to celebrate as we recognize the Jewish community's 120th anniversary as a vibrant and respected part of greater Dothan.
We welcome your application for financial assistance from the JCS Family Relocation Project. Please note that our project has the following six guiding principles:
- There is no automatic entitlement to JCS resources. Rather your selection to participate in our project is dependent upon eligibility and qualification, on a case-by-case basis.
- Upon receiving your prospect questionnaire, the JCS executive director will begin working closely with your family to consider your candidacy to participate in the project.
- If your family and the executive director subsequently agree to move forward with the application for financial assistance, Jewish Community Services will require a variety of due diligence steps which include, but are not limited to, providing copies of personal documents, written references, and authorization to carry-out background checks.
- Next steps require that you host the executive director in your current location for an in-home visit and then we will be pleased to have your family visit Dothan (at our expense) to enjoy our city and be welcomed by members of the Jewish community.
- If the project's due diligence process described above concludes with the clear and positive recognition that your family is prepared to join our community, we will require that you sign an agreement stating that you will move to, and remain in, Dothan for at least five years.
- The JCS pledges to safeguard the confidentiality of your personal information throughout this process.
