Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 4 August 1999 — Page 3

August 4. 1999 IND 3

Jewish Campus living up to superlatives

By ED STATTMANN "Biggest... most accessible... best... most community oriented..." The superlatives gush forth like water from the rock at Horeb when Harry Nadler speaks of Indianapolis's Jewish Community Campus. Repeatedly, he emphasizes how, in bold and subtle symbols, the campus proclaims its Jewishness. Stars of David everywhere. Displays emphasizing Jewish history, heritage and leaders, local and global. A huge gleaming metal menorah. Each facility's name labeled in Hebrew as well as English. The decorative windows are sectioned off with straight lines at various angles. If you shrank those windows to a fraction of their scale and pieced them together on a table, you'd find yourself assembling sixpointed stars. Jewish lay organizations are sometimes accused of kowtowing overly to big givers. This center has a wall naming everybody who gave $100 or more to create the campus. "To go down to that level is unique in fund raising," Nadler says. Not only that, but for only $50, anyone can have a brick added to the walk that includes inscribed stones serving as a timeline of the 40 or so most important events in Jewish history. He wants the community to know there are still opportunities for anyone with $50 to honor a loved one, an event, a family: about 40,000 bricks available, in fact. The history walk includes a stone marking the Holocaust. The letters on that stone are fragmented and there is a sidepath from it meandering to symbolize the confusion of that time, between trees whose main trunks have been lopped off at various levels as European Jewry was. The

sinuous path ends in the Albert and Sara Reuben Holocaust Memorial Garden at a sculpture depicting the Jewish people's emergence from the flames of the Shoah. Elliott Gold, the coordinator of the campus, brings to his job 25 years of experience in the hotel and apartments industry and his lifelong devotion to the Indianapolis Jewish community. He not only coordinates the maintenance and operation of the campus, he was in on the planning. He's justifiably proud that it is not only new, accessible and popular, but clean. Clean wherever you go in the whole complex, whether it's the outdoor pool built in 1955 or the rooms packed with equipment for the latest trends in physical fitness. Campus coordinator is a new position, created in the recognition that when each agency and program pursues its own agenda, the brains of the campus are chugging along just fine, but the body may be suffering. When the asphalt is becoming rutted, somebody must notice and get it fixed before it's irreparable. Gold does. He coordinates with the cleaning staff. He pays attention to the traffic patterns. He negotiates on behalf of all the agencies at the campus for lawn care, snow clearing, tree trimming — all the upkeep that keeps the place from looking or being rundown. He knows which rooms and auditoriums are available. He keeps in touch with the people who do the security patrols, not only for the campus but for the nearby Hasten Hebrew Academy and the nearby congregations. Security is enhanced also by use of magnetic swipe-card membership cards that help keep non-members out of

members-only areas and help provide data that can be used in planning for needs as they develop. The full-time professional staff at the campus is about 100 people. The staff expands in the summer to 300 or so. Those numbers don't count the staff at the Hooverwood home of about 230 people. For transportation, there are three vans for seniors and children, two 20-passenger buses and Hooverwood's 35passenger bus. Those buses and a Park Regency bus for the well elderly all have wheelchair lifts. Many Jewish leaders from around the country first saw Indianapolis's Jewish campus in November 1997, when the General Assembly of the Council of Jewish Federations was convened in Indianapolis only two months after rededication of the Jewish Community Center. Since then, many communities wishing to emulate what was done here have sent representatives with more detailed inquiries about the way Indianapolis has built a center that serves the city's entire Jewish community in one place. "No community as small as ours has done it and probably none bigger has done it," Nadler says. In more populous Jewish communities, agencies often are spread out with facilities in various places, he noted. Much of the 40 acres remains available for further expansion, if needed, but already, Gold says, "We use all the areas — even in the woods. There are picnic tables there and places where kids can grow plants." Kids. Midday in midsummer and every day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., the campus is aswarm with kids, but equipped for all ages. White

cribs are spaced along the perimeter of one of the child care rooms. A little further along the corridor are rooms for 1-year-olds, 2-year-olds, 3-year olds. There's good segregation of the crawlers from the walkers — of the diaper set from the post-diaper set. Outdoor play areas from tiny toddlers are separate from those for the 3- to 6-year-old crowd. Safe indoor transportation is available for preschoolers: Parked near the childcare rooms is a fleet of "sixpacks," red buggies that hold six children apiece. "The child care program filled up immediately," Nadler says. On up through the ages, the campus is equipped to meet recreation and education

needs. There's a place for preteens and teens to play pool and video games and there are places where you can stroll or roll safely with cane, walker or wheelchair. Still elsewhere, in the fitness complex, the seats of the fixed weight equipment are color-coded to match the needs of children, teens and adults. Most of the campus is handicapped-accessible. About 400 people a day use the gym. Nadler says it's the best equipped gym in Indiana south of the University of Notre Dame. For those tired muscles after workouts there are massage, steamroom, sauna and whirlpool. The indoor pool schedule includes times for exercise by Continued on next page

rtie §tioe fir§

Experience well made, custom-fit footwear Work, Leisure, Dress or Sports Look Good and Feel Great! Custom and Prescription Footwear • Custom Orthotics Sheryl Hepfer • Certified Pedorthist 20 years of service and care 8528 Moller Rd., Indianapolis, IN 317-471-8880 Hours: Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri. 9:30-5, Thurs. 9:30-7, Sat. 10-2 Come in today for a FREE professional shoe fitting P.W MINOR dWHIUlfc

new balance

Join our stall! We have an opening for a display advertising salesman or woman. Job duties: call on merchants to place weekly advertising with us. Remuneration based on experience and there is room for growth. Call Mr. Cohen at 972-7800

Swedish Massage Medical Relaxation • Pain Relief Call for appointment times & information Raisa Grisham, Massage Therapist 317-259-8054

The JCC announces The Center Cafe Authentic Israeli food & atmosphere The new kosher cafe at the Arthur M. Glick Jewish Community Center opened its doors to the Indianapolis community on June 28th. You don’t have to be a JCC member to enjoy the Israeli atmosphere of The Center Cafe. You just need a good appetite and an appreciation for Israeli, Middle Eastern and American dishes served up fresh daily. Proprietor Tamar David has planned an extensive menu and catering services that are sure to please. Diners have a wide selection from which to choose, including Israeli dishes like hummus, falafel, burekas and salads; Middle Eastern specialties like shish kabob, kuba and rice; European dishes including blintzes and schnitzel; and American fare like hot dogs, burgers, sandwiches and fries. Blended fruit drinks are offered... the perfect snack after a JCC workout! Or, meet your tennis partner for Tuskish coffee before your lesson. And don’t forget to explore the vegetarian menu as well. The Center Cafe is the only strictly kosher restaurant in Indianapolis. Food is prepared according to biblical dietary laws. Meat is meticulously handled and certified by a rabbinical authority; the preparation and eating of meat with dairy products is prohibited. The Center Cafe is a meat and vegetarian establishment. Hours: Monday-Thursday 10 a.m. - 8 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Sunday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Closed on Saturday 6701 Hoover Road in The Arthur M. Glick Jewish Community Center